Operation Franny is under Way

OK, so you may or may not know, Franny sucks at sleeping in her own crib all through the night.  She also sucks at any kind of normal sleep schedule for a 20 mos. old.  That being said, we are all tired and cranky over here b/c no one can seem to get a good night's sleep EVER!!

Look at all the places she will sleep though:

 

 

And so, we started the Mission: Operation Franny.   And at this point we are in major Operation Failure Mode!!

My job was to keep her awake all day yesterday.  Of course, I had to pay a sitter to stay home with her while we were all in the car doing what we do best, drive to various activities.  But, Mission accomplished:)

Hubby's job, while I was out, was to put her to bed and if need be, let her cry it out.  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... this is maniacal laughing at it's best here people... Got home at 10pm last night and guess who was still awake and NOT in her crib??  Yup, the lovable little Franny Girl.  Mission FAIL

So, she fell asleep on the couch and was hustled upstairs to her crib for some sleep.  Probably fell asleep around 10:30pm...and woke up at 2:28AM (she usually makes it to 2 or 3 in the morning and than we bring her into bed with us so we can all go back to sleep).  This time, however, we did not go get her.  Instead, we proceeded with the 'Cry it Out' method.  The rest of our kids were in the other bedroom (Kyra on the floor) so as not to bother them.  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (here's that pesky maniacal laughter again... hey, I'm tired)

She cried on and off (mostly on...with maybe a few couple minute breaks) until 8:00am this morning when I had to get up.  I'm not sure this whole cry it out thing is gonna work for Franny...what do you think??  I know it's only been 1 night, but shouldn't they pass out sooner than 6 hours of crying??  And I know, some of you are thinking, why let her go that long...but I guess we are trying here people.  Franny has always been the one that will cry and cry and cry (she is relentless) when she's in that crib.  I've tried several times for naptime and gotten the same results.

She fell asleep on the couch this morning and slept for 4 hours (probably would've slept longer, but I needed to wake her up).  So, now, did I just ruin what little sanity we all had and is she now going into a different direction of sleep???  Who the hell knows!!

Where is that pesky Super Nanny when you need her??  And why does it always look so easy when they do it on TV??  Have they never had a Franny before??

I just don't know what to do with her...  I know, persistence is the key here... and I could be throwing in the towel to easily...but, really, it's never been this hard before.  I'm seriously considering moving our couch into her bedroom so she'll sleep... think that will work??  Yeah, probably not.

So, to my dear beloved readers- I would love to hear your Sleep War Stories and how you fixed them.

Hoping you all slept better than me!!

And just so you know, I am on my way up to put her in her crib with the hopes that she will cry herself out before midnight:)

The Franny Chronicles

OK...so it's finally here... an update on all the WONDERFUL things Franny can do these days.  Some, I wish they wouldn't ever learn to do and some are a bit more endearing:)  To make it interesting, I've got some pics (couldn't get everything b/c some things are a bit more dangerous for her to be doing so I actually have to run to her instead of the camera..lol)

1. She can open the front door... hence, we must lock it at ALL times!!

2. She climbs up and stands on anything and everything in her path:

 

3. While I am in the shower, she does this (knowing that I have wet hands and can't do anything about it)

4. If you are foolish enough to take her into the other bathroom, she will bring you all the cleaning supplies while you are stuck on the bowl:

5. She is constantly trying to feed me things:

6. She makes a mess EVERYWHERE in my house (food, books, toys, etc)

 

7. She is constantly trying new hiding places:

 

8. She likes to put Baby C's bib on and put his binky in her mouth even though she's never used one:

9. She likes to dress herself (as well as take things off...including her diaper)

 

10. She is constantly climbing into the Pack n'Play and can't get herself out (and sometimes, she still climbs into the exersaucer and can't get out..)

Sleeping, now that's a whole other entry...coming up next if I can stay awake long enough to write it...

Here are a few things she does that I must run to her instead of the camera:

1. She opens MY drawer and grabs the scissors b/c she wants something cut open (love having the older role models around)

2. She has figured out how to get my 'kid' lock off of my baking supply cabinet and helps herself to chocolate chips, sugar and flour

3. She opens the back cabinets and always manages to grab the powdered drink mix...which she will now open and play with

4. She can open my rice bin and loves to play with that

5. She goes down steps like she's running a race making my heart beat faster and faster b/c I keep seeing her tumble down them (think concrete steps here... and she's really fast)

So, that's about all for now... hope you enjoy reading and seeing what Franny's been up to lately!!

My Army Party

So, as most of you may or may not know, my little man Max turned 4 yesterday.  Wow... where did the time go???  When I asked him what type of party he wanted, I totally thought he would want something to do with cars, trucks, etc.  He loves his matchbox cars and trucks... but, low and behold, an Army Man party is what came out of his mouth.  Hmmmm, ok... I can work with that.

Now, with Max being 3 going on 4, and it is the middle of the summer, there were only a few friends to invite.  It was a great little party for his friends... at least I think so:)  Here's what we did:

As his friends arrived, they had to check in and get camo'd out for our Training Course:

Once their faces were painted, each 'soldier' received a dog tag and was instructed to await orders for Training!!

We had about 6 'stations' all over the yard that included:  driving around cones, jumping through hula hoops (aka tires), dash across the sand to go through the 'monkey' bars, go down some slides, go under some rope and save a soldier... here are pics:

 
 

yes, there are soldiers frozen in ice that they had to rescue.. fun

Once they were finished rescuing soldiers, a small snack was served while their grub was finished:

 

And of course, no birthday party would be complete without an Army Man Cake and some Camo Cookies:)

Each 'soldier' left the party with a customized 'camo' bag (brown paper bags that were colored in by my daughter) containing: camo sunglasses, a green 'support our troops' bracelet, camo bubbles, some army men, glow in the dark patriotic tattoos, and they each received a water bottle:)

This was probably the most 'budget' savvy party I've had in awhile.  I didn't go crazy with food and I didn't wind up with too many left-overs:)  Max loved his party and as you can see, passed out cold:

his room was completely dark except for flashlight and glow sword... flash on camera made it look light..

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend from one Honest Mommy to the Next:)

Special thanks to my Hubby for staying up late with me while I finished my cake and cookies, helping to clean the house, go to the store for food, and cleaning up afterwards!!  Love ya:)

Also, thanks to my brother for snapping away today when I handed him my camera:)