Since you've been gone!

Is anyone else singing Kelly Clarkson right now? No? Well let me help you out:

It's been a little bit since I posted an update. We've been experimenting with different lengths of times between updates to see about reader stats. I think the daily updates was getting a bit overwhelming for folks. Maybe we'll settle in with something on the more weekly level.

Read on for a list of things that have happened since we spoke last.

Are you ready to be amazed?

Very rarely do we have a Saturday in the Blakely household that is free and clear of plans and obligations on the calendar.  Amazingly, today was one of those rare days!  We had a friend coming to take a look at our HVAC system at some point today, so we didn't make any formalized plans either.

It's yuckies up in there

"It's yuckies up in there," is what Noah says when he discovers a spot, a mess, a stray leaf, or any other "yucky" item in the house. We find it hilarious that he identifies "yuckies" as being "up in there." We also have no idea where he got that one from.

It Finally Happened!

Well folks, it finally happened! Noah slept through the entire night in his toddler bed!

Last we updated you, we were still sleep deprived and trying every trick in the book to convince Noah that there was nothing wrong with sleeping in his room.  While we are still sleep deprived, last night Noah slept from about 8:45pm to 6:30am! Hallelujah! 

Last Friday while Noah was still at daycare I went ahead and took apart his crib and stashed it in the basement.  I won't lie, I wanted to both leap for joy and sit down and cry my eyes out at this new development in our little boy's life.   

I decided to make a few new arrangements to his room since there was a gaping hole where the crib use to be.  However, I didn't want to change things too drastically for fear it would add to the sleeping problem.  So I moved his toddler bed where his crib was and created a cute little reading/activity corner on the other side of the room using some of the decorations from his birthday party  that he loved so much.  

He was very excited about the new decor, but still wasn't sleeping well.  There have been nights where one of us has slept on the floor next to him.  We have taken turns going into his room for the many middle of the night wake up calls to get him back to bed and to sleep. We've tried new and old stuffed animals, new sheets, new pillow, and a flashlight.  

But it turns out our persistence and time have proved to be most effective in accomplishing the feat of the big boy bed...either that or he just lulled us into a false sense of accomplishment and we will be in and out of his room all night again for two more weeks.  Pray that's not the case...I'm just starting to feel human again.

Happy little man after snoozing the night away!

Sleep? What's that?

So as you've read, Josh and I have been struggling to get shut eye the past several nights.  Our dream child when it came to sleeping, napping and going to bed has revolted and we feel like we are in the newborn sleep deprivation haze all over again.  We still have no idea what the problem is.  He is taking his naps on a mat at school just fine like always, but something about his room and his crib is freaking him out.

Hostage situation

Let me just put this disclaimer right up front: Trying to get our son to sleep is not the same as a true life, scary as heck, hostage situation. That being said, I've been able to draw up some interesting parallels. Last night was another doozy which led to another Mickey mug kind of morning.

Is it time to go to sleep yet?

Yesterday we both had off from work so we had a wonderful family day full of playing and eating healthy. We topped it off with a new, to BB, movie: Tangled! Noah loved it and we got to relax going into the evening. Although the terrible twos showed their ugly head a few times, it was overall a great day. Little did we know that this was all a set-up for one heck of a night.

Bee bow party

Thanks for being patient with us as we worked through August and the business that comes along with it. Now back to our regularly scheduled program: gushing about our little one!

GQ has a picture spot

So thanks to the first day photos from the other day, BB now has a photo spot in the house.

This morning we found BB "reading" a newspaper.

Our little GQ BB

Today BB started at his new school. Some of you may not know that his last school ended up closing due to finances. God works for good in all things, of course, and so some of the teachers from there began their own! We are so excited for BB to be at KidzRUs. After the jump are some photos of our little GQ BB in his "handsome shirt" for his first day.

It's a Mickey mug kind of day

For those of you that don't know, we've been having a sort of rough week around the Blakely household. We've had a broken phone, a leaky roof, an explosive dog, and an adventurous baby boy. That means that this morning was a Mickey mug kind of morning.

Pavement 2, Blakelys 0

Well this is just not our week here in the Blakley household.  To add to our woes of a leaky roof, yesterday evening I was pushing a cranky toddler in the stroller and holding an excited dog on the leash at the same time, and as the cranky toddler screamed and the dog pulled me forward we hit a bump in the sidewalk in just the wrong angle causing my three month old iphone to be launched from the stroller and land perfectly screen down onto the pavement. Now it looks like this:

Noah's First Haircut

Well, it was time.  The baby mullet had gotten out of hand.  As much as I adore those blonde curls, the sweaty mess of hair that was coming home from daycare every day needed to be taken care of.

Half naked in the Tractor Supply parking lot

Well if that doesn't get your attention, I don't know what will!

We made it!

Lyndsie made it home from her week long mission camp. They had a blast building a ramp for an older woman to get in and out of her home. I wish I could have gone but I had a fun time with my family around our house. They were so helpful in watching Noah, working around the house, and keeping me sane. Although it started out a little rough, the week ended well!

Switching gears

Someone asked me last week if I'm the only person who wears a tie during the summer. "We're casual around here during the summer!" My response was typical of me, I pick my outfit depending on what is on my calendar for that day. If I'm getting office work done, I'm business casual. If I'm moving furniture in the residence halls or doing teambuilders with students, I'm casual. If I'm meeting with a Vice President or presenting to a group of professionals, I'm business. Attire sets the tone for your interaction, whether we like it or not.

I got kicked out of my house yesterday

So, as I've mentioned before, Lyndsie is away at a mission camp with the FUMC youth. It is sounding like a fantastic experience for them! Folks who have been with the blog for a while know that I also suffer from a ton little anxiety. Well yesterday morning it all came to a head and my mom kicked me out of the house for the afternoon.

Daddy daycare

As you know, loyal readers, Lyndsie is the Minister of Discipleship with Youth Emphasis at the local United Methodist Church. This week, she has taken a group of youth on a mission trip to southwest VA. In fact, you can follow their adventures over on the Fusion blog. Check out our blogs we love page to find the mission blog.

My son's arm is not your chew toy

Well, it was bound to happen eventually, I suppose. Noah got bit today by another kid at daycare.

Yup, another human bit him. I bet you thought I was going to say something about the dog snapping at him. Nope, a person.

It turns out, our daycare provider has a rule that the bitee's family does not get to know who the biter is. When Lyndsie told me that, my immediate reaction was, "what, do they think we are going to retaliate against a two year old?"

The sad truth is, someone out there would do exactly that.

Parents of the world, how about we agree to one thing: let's treat our kids and each other with respect? Accountability and discipline are, of course, necessary but let's keep the whole vibe supportive of one another. We're in a little club here parents, let's stand together and not make things harder on each other by forcing daycares to set up rules that prevent the flow of information.

Loyal readers - what rules have you gotten frustrated with in the past? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Go with the flow

So, overall, we have a fairly well-adjusted two year old. Certainly, he has his share of toddler moments but overall he's a pretty happy little guy. Folks ask us all the time how he got to be such a happy guy. Other than the grace of God himself, we're convinced it's due to our strict adherence to a routine.