Goodnight, sleeptight

I've always had a hard time putting Shaylee to sleep.  I could never let her "cry it out".  Mainly because she would never give up.  The more she cried the more worked up she would get.  I have always put Shaylee to bed by laying down by her and watching a movie or snuggling until she fell asleep. 

I have to say I didn't hate it.  I got lots of good quality cuddle time with my one and only and I enjoyed it.  But she is turning 5 soon and with the new school year fast approaching I finally had the realization that there is a better way.

The last year our sleep ritual has been for me to read her 3 stories and then lights out and I'd sing or hum songs until she finally nodded off.  Problem is sometimes it takes longer than I would like for her to fall asleep and it takes a big chunk of my night away and I end up frustrated. 

Solution: Chore chart.  Shaylee gets a sticker for every day she does the following.  At the end of the summer she earns a scooter or toy of her choice. 
1. Goes to sleep by herself. I still read her 3 stories and sing 2 songs and then I leave and she goes to sleep.
2. Only one sippy of milk. (Yes I am well aware that we are way past the sippy age).
3. Pick up her messes.
4. Brush teeth without complaining or playing around.

We have had great success. Bedtime is so much more enjoyable. It's not nearly the time investment that it used to be so I cherish it all that much more. Look at this little sleeping beauty!

                                         She sleeps at the end of the bed to be
                                                            closer to the nightlight.

                                  I don't know why but when I go in and she is sound
                                                    asleep my heart breaks a little bit. 
                          

The Pox

Shaylee is one of the lucky few children who got to experience chickenpox (insert sarcasm here).  She was vaccinated but apparantly a small percentage will still get the disease.  On the very bright side those that do get chickenpox get a much milder case.

Their was no foreshadowing whatsoever of what was to come.  I had taken the Ricks kiddos to play with us at the Splash Park.  We spent an enjoyable afternoon there.  About an hour after we got home Shaylee was exhausted and burning up.  I was immediately worried that she had heat stroke.  I treated her for heat exhaustion until she started complaining of a sore throat.  Game changer.  We had family that had strep throat the week before so naturally I assumed that was the problem.  So I treated her for strep and started an antibiotic.

She got 2 red bumps above her lip.  Weird.  I thought nothing more.  I was talking to Mom on the phone and she in gest said, "Maybe she has chickenpox."  And then we laughed.  That would be ridiculous right.  Do people still get chickenpox?  Where in the heck would she pick up chickenpox? 

The next day Shaylee was complaining of a spider bite.  My reaction...great...another thing for her to complain about.  Yeah, I'm nice like that.  It was about 9:00 that night when I saw several more bumps and it suddenly became very apparent that she had "the pox". 

I googled it and found that her symptoms of fever and very sore throat are classic chickenpox symptoms. The first night was the worst. She could barely sleep. Her feet were covered in sores that itched like crazy. Thank heavens for Benedryl. It saved the day. She just rubbed her feet back and forth on her bedding and when it got really bad she shuffled around the living room letting the carpet scratch her little feet.

I DO NOT know how mothers did this for a week and with multiple children! The worst of it lasted 24 hours. I feel like I had experienced a Motherhood Right of Passage. And here are the pictures to prove it.

4th O' July

I love the 4th of July in Rexburg!  We did the standard Rexburg parade, bbq at Grandma's, then our own personal lame firework show.  I love every minute of it. 

I would have liked to go to the Independance Rodeo (formerly known as the Whoopee Days Rodeo) but we were pretty ready to call it a day by then. 

As this is my first post I'm going to keep it short and sweet so I can focus on how to do this right.  It only took me 2 summers to get it set up so consider this serious progress.

Now to see if I can successfully upload photos...

                                   Poor Shay's worst nightmare.  A dog at the parade.  :(

                                  

                                   This shopping cart is talked to this day.

                                   Check her out.  Not so shy when it comes to candy.

                                   Shaylee, Haylee, Macy, and Brigham.  Without them
                                          the parade would not be nearly as fun.