Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

So, as I related in my last post, we had a wonderful time last weekend with family.  It was not, however, all smiles and giggles. When you have two parents who prefer to be close to home, you end up with two children who prefer to be in their usual environment.

The kids travelled remarkably well.  Boo slept most of the trip, and Little sat in her carseat and talked and played the whole time.  Yep, you read that right, she talked the whole trip.  She is her mother’s daughter.  They made the trip home nicely, too.

The problem arose from being out of routine for four days and being with strange people people we don’t see often.  I’m not a strict scheduler (although, sometimes with Boo I wish I was), but we do have a definite pattern and rhythm to our days.  The kids know when we’ll eat, when it’s naptime, who we’ll play with, etc.  I also have two children who sleep in their own beds, in their own rooms, and in the dark.

All of this was thrown out of whack while we were travelling.  Because of the number of people involved, mealtimes were somewhat sporadic.  Because of the laid back nature of our visit, naptime would sneak up on us.  And because of space issues, Little slept in the room with us.

She was totally thrown off by the fact that Boo and the sun rise before 6 o’clock a.m.  Waking up at 5 one morning, 5:30 the next, and 5:45 the last made for one irritable girl well before her normal naptime.  Add to the mix that there were 4 children age 3 and under and 10 adults living under one roof with another child (age 5) and several other adults coming in and out, and Little was having a tough time with overstimulation.  She did wonderfully the first couple of days, but by Sunday she was definitely ready to be in her home with only her Mommy, Daddy, and brother.

Then there was Boo.  His tummy trouble that was aggravated by something(s) I ate; the poor guy was crying in pain on Saturday, and there wasn’t much we could do to comfort him between doses of medicine.  He also decided that it was a good time to attempt learning to suck his thumb, so I don’t think he slept as well as usual because he was knocking his paci out of his mouth and waking himself up.

Overall, the children behaved well and were in good spirits, but there was enough crankiness to make me glad we don’t travel again for awhile.  Or, maybe I was the one who was overstimulated and cranky; I know I was happy to get home Sunday as well.

Yesterday Little and I got new ‘dos.

This was Little’s very first haircut.  She was born with a headful of hair and never lost any of it.  Because of that we had two issues: first, her hair was uneven – her “original” hair is very straight and her new hair has some curl; second, the longest parts of her hair came almost to her waist.  In order to even it up and get rid of her scraggly look, we got it cut in a blunt cut that falls just above her shoulders.  It is absolutely adorable, but she does look more like a little girl now.

She was a very good girl while her hair was being cut.  Our hairstylist is also a good friend, so Little is comfortable with L and I think that made a huge difference in her willingness to cooperate.  She sat in the chair like a big girl and was remarkably still; she even said “thank you” when L was finished cutting.  I was very proud of her, and I just love her new ‘do.

As for me, I went a little shorter in the back than the cut I’ve been sporting since January (which was pretty short already); the front is the same length it has been, but it is styled a bit differently.  I also got some copper highlights that I’m loving (settled on copper because Matt was very against the red-red that I wanted to do).  Just something fun and a little sassy for the summer.

It was fun to see Little’s first haircut, and I enjoyed getting a little pampering.  We had a nice “girls night” with L.

I would love to share pictures, but I’m having trouble with iPhoto; maybe I can get some posted after my tech guy is home to help.

I’m torn between my desire to share pictures of my adorable (um…yeah, but I’m a bit biased) children with all of you, my lovely readers, and my desire to protect the privacy and security of my little ones.  This is an issue I’ve debated with myself for as long as I’ve been blogging.  I feel that most of what goes on in the mommy-blogging sphere is safe and on the up-and-up; however, this is a public domain, and I don’t know who might be lurking that I’m unaware of.  As much as I enjoy talking about my children, as much as I would love to share with you their beautiful names, and as much as I would love to post picture after picture of their cute faces, I’m just not sure I can do it in good conscience.

How much info do you share about your children (names, pictures, etc)?  How did you decide what to share?  Have you had any experiences that would cause you to re-evaluate?  Please share in the comments.

...at the end of the day you have spit-up on the front and back of your shirt and your bra

...in addition to all the spit-up there is new-baby poop on your shorts

...you are happy to have time to clean the bathrooms

...four hours of consecutive sleep is a great night’s sleep

...you never know where on your person you might have various unidentifiable substances

...you have more joy in watching two little people grow and develop than you ever thought possible 

I’ve sacrificed coffee, mexican food, sleep.  The first two were tough because they were unexpected, but the third definitely has the most impact on life.

It’s not that he is a bad sleeper; usually he wakes up 2-3 times to eat and then goes back to bed.  There have been those few nights where I’d had coffee or mexican food or the random nights he wakes up for a few minutes and it isn’t feeding time; those are to be expected, he’s only 5 weeks old.  But then there was Saturday night when he decided that it would be a good idea to stay awake from 1:20 (eating time) until 4:00 just because he didn’t want to go back to sleep.  His daddy says he can no longer sleep between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

I’m thinking of changing the name of the blog to “The Diaries of a Sleep Deprived Mind.”