Answers

Since we have switched to the new visitation schedule it has been more of a nightmare picking Ms. M up from her dad's then it usually was.  I don't know if it is because she was used to being at his house for a good week at a time or if she is just taking a while to adjust to the frequency that she is staying with him.  Either way it has been tough on her and it has been nothing short of a disaster every single night.

I am trying so hard to keep her on a set bed time schedule to hopefully help with us getting up earlier and her not getting a nap so much anymore but she gets thrown off when she goes to her dads house.  I have been at my wits end and have shed many tears over this situation and her being a monster every single night.  Just when things start to look up she sees her dad or goes to her dads and we start it all over again.  It has been awful and so I have been praying and hoping that the transition will start to be better and it will be amazing!

When I pick her up she is usually sobbing because she doesn't want to leave her dad and I completely understand that.  I would be lying if I said this alone doesn't make me upset because I want her to be happy to see me.  Why would she be when her dads rules are very, very different from mine and she gets away with more?  I have tried to make it easy on her to go from dads to moms by asking what they did and by saying what we will be doing.  I feel like if she knows what we will be doing and making it exciting that she will be good with whats going on.

So I picked her up yesterday and she immediately ran to me and hugged my legs and as she hugged me her entire body began to tremble she was holding on so tightly.  I told her what we'd be doing when we got home and she was so excited!  She had two skinned knees and she told me what happened and then insisted on showing me where it happened, in the exact spot.    She didn't try and run and being a wild Indian when it was time to go.  She did want to play in her dads car but she cooperated when it was time to finally leave.  She was content when we told her it would be three more nights and she would be staying at her dads again.  She would be having a sleep party as she calls it!  On our way home she was happy and eventually fell asleep.

Her falling asleep on the way home is always a little nerve wracking because I know I will eventually have to wake her up when we get home.  She had eaten dinner at her dads but still needed a tub time.  The half awake-half asleep state of a child can be very scary since you don't know if they will wake happy or angry at everything in sight.  Luckily for me she was a sweet and caring girl!  She was excited to take a tub time and when I said it was time to get out she was okay with that and put up little to no fight which is a miracle all in itself.

When I was getting her ready for bed she said she was hungry and I said she would be able to have a snack while I read her a couple books and scriptures.  She chose blueberries for a snack and sat quietly while I read to her.  We had gotten out of the habit of reading scriptures every single night with packing and moving and this past week has thrown a fit when I start reading her Book of Mormon reader and surprisingly she loved the story and wanted to look at the pictures and tell her own version after.  We said prayer and gave loves and then she was off to dream land!

My prayers were answered last night in the biggest way possible!  I thanked my Heavenly Father that he knew what I needed the most.  I needed my child to not sass me and act meanly towards me.  I needed her to go to bed easily, without a fight.  I needed her to be her normal loving and caring self and she was.  It made my night to know that she was happy and content.  To know that she was okay and not upset and miserable.  It was the blessing that I needed the most.  Our Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us and he will answer your prayers in his own time and when we need it most.  I am forever grateful for the night we had last night.

I love Ms. M so very much but it has been very difficult to deal with her when she is crying for hours at night over everything.  I just was having a really difficult time with how bed time was turning out and how upset and miserable she was.  She was becoming one of those kids that would need a drink, or need to go potty, or need a hug, need a kiss and although she had all of those things prior to lights going out she just wasn't wanting to settle.  Then she would be waking up in the middle of the night needing to go potty again because she had drank water in the middle of the night.  Last night she still said she needed extra hugs and extra kisses but she was okay when I went to finish up laundry.

Our doors are always open at night just in case she is scared in the middle of night and she needs me, I can hear when she calls for me.  It was just more peaceful in my home and I could tell that I had more patience and the Spirit was still in our home.  While we were saying prayer I was almost in tears because I was just so overwhelmed with gratitude that it was so peaceful and happy at bed time which has been the worst part of the day for both of us.  So grateful for this little miracle that made my night so much better!

Nightmares

These past few days have been more then rough on us and I wish I knew the answer to solve it all.  We been doing our new schedule with visitation and because of her dads lack of a structure it has been hell when I get her back the following day or even that night I get her.  At her dad's although she has her own her room and own bed she still ends up sleeping on the couch downstairs and falls asleep with the television on.  This might be okay every once in a while for a special treat but every single night she is over there is hard when I get her back and actually have her in her own bed every single night and trying to get her back to a sleep pattern we were on before the visitation.

I know that something has to be going on in her little mind because by the time we have bedtime it is all down hill.  We have been having dinner, bath and then our bedtime routine.  Our bedtime routine usually consists of tub, lotion rub down, dress, teeth brushed, stories, scriptures and prayer.  The past two nights after we read stories she insists that she needs me to lay by her.  I will lay with her for a little while and when I get up to leave the screaming and huge tantrum starts.  I am at my wits end and am quickly losing my patience over this.  I can clearly tell that she is tired because of how she is acting but she still wants to play and be up.  That doesn't go over well when we are out the door by 7:20 every morning at the latest.  It is tough waking an extremely tired up who now that she has slept some refuses to get out of bed.

I have asked her dad to help me with her sleeping but he either ignores me or says that I can't tell him what to do on his time.  He is right I can't tell him what to do when he has her, on his time.  I would only hope that he would step up to the plate and actually parent our child instead of trying to make her happy.  Bed time would be easier if it was the same at both houses but it isn't so it has been a nightmare at my house.  The other night as I was turning the lights out Ms. M asked me if she could have a movie on, umh no it is lights out and bedtime now.  She has never been the type to just fall asleep if a movie is on.  She will have little slits of eyes just so she can finish the movie.  I have picked her up numerous times from his place after he volunteered to watch Ms. M and it has been well past 10:30 or 11 pm and she is still wide awake and watching a movie.

I am seriously at a loss of how to handle this situation and it is just getting more difficult to deal with.  I feel bad for yelling and want so badly for bed time to be easier so that our house is happy and not so stressful and so that the Spirit is in our home but it just hasn't been lately.  HELP!!

Boondocks

I have decided that Boondocks is another place that I just don't find very fun to be at but Ms. M sure LOVES it!  Her dad had her for a couple hours and invited me to come along, which was really generous and nice of him.

Ms. M seriously LOVED going down the slide there and we kept trying to coax her into going face first on her belly but she was too nervous and scared about it.  She won some cool dinosaurs and was running around like a mad women, running from one thing to the next.

After playing for a while, I was STARVING and said it was time for dinner.  It was 8:30 at this point and very late.  We all went to Iceberg because I wanted an ice cream treat afterwards.  It was delish!

Travelling to China

Sweet #makaboo told me she was going to see her nana and papa. I told her to get a bag ready so she did. She packed her bag and we went on our walk to nana an papa's to china. We walked a couple blocks before I broke the news that it was too far to walk. She honestly thought it was down the street. On our way home she was so mad and said she had monies to buy a ticket. Guess we will be saving for another trip to china to see nana and papa!! 

Determined to walk all the way to china to see her nana and papa. She even called her nana saying she was coming to visit. After I told her it was too far she called papa to tell him she needed some monies to buy tickets to visit him! Haha she is upset she can't fly there right this second.

Indoor Swimming

This weather has been so bipolar lately with sunshine then freezing cold and snow and then sunshine that I needed a change and badly.  Jenny has an indoor pool that we go to on occasion and when I asked Ms. M if that is what she wanted to do she was jumping up and down with excitement!  To the pool we went and it was fun!  The pool is supposed to be heated but it wasn't super warm and I ended up not playing in the water for too long with her. Ms. M loved it though and is getting very good at kicking her legs and we have been working on using her arms as well.  There is only so much arm moving you can do with floats on though.  After it was off to bed and boy was Ms. M tired, she zonked out almost immediately!

Girls Lunch Date

Jenny and I went to lunch with one of her friends who is getting married shortly.  It has finally heated up outside and I think I got a little tan from it, at least I felt like I was sizzling. I am so ready for sunshine and nice weather to happen here and so sick of the snow.  It has been such a tough winter this year and LONG!

Isn't her ring GORGEOUS!!  It was obviously too small for my fingers but I wanted to try it on for size!  Beautiful and so unique!

Sleeping Bug

I got off early from work today and Ms. M hadn't had a nap yet.  We ran a few errands quickly and then I put her down for a nap.  She decided that sleeping inside of her pillowcase was the best way to take a nap this time!