Like a ton of bricks . . .

The last two days have been slightly better. On Sunday night he slept 12 hours, and he slept for almost 4 hours yesterday afternoon (he's usually a one hour napper) before I finally woke him up! I'd say he was overtired, for sure! I'm just not sure what I could have done to stop that, other than not take the trip. He just WOULDN'T sleep at my sister's apartment.

While things have been slightly better, the tantrums have not stopped. But during my time watching Jack sleep on Sunday night, I was trying to figure out how I could have ever raised my voice at such a sweet little person. I've done really well at remaining calm and just leaving the room for him to have his fits alone. And when he hits or kicks, I pick him up, put him in time out and tell him how sad I am that he made that choice. I feel like even though his behavior is staying the same, I'm getting better at handling it. Though, I am feeling like I can't really leave the house with him. I was planning on taking him to the library tomorrow after his nap, but I might change my mind.

To answer the question/respond to the comment that everyone has seemed to ask about on twitter and facebook . . . yes, I realize he's probably ready for a big boy bed. And to be honest, we were planning on converting the guest room to Jack's new room (to make room for baby) this month anyway. But to be even more honest, as I look at work responsibilities for this month, I'm not completely sure that will happen until sometime mid-summer.

And while I realize he's ready for a big boy bed, I also think that this is partly a matter of obedience v. disobedience. Yesterday, when I was putting him down for a nap Jack said, "Jack can climb out of crib." And I said, "Yes, Jack can climb out of his crib. But mama says,'No, no.'" And he repeated me. He knows what he's supposed to do and he needs to obey whether he wants to or not. This is no different than the time out chair. I put him there for two minutes and he doesn't move. Well, he squirms, but he never gets down. And that's only because the first few weeks of time outs, we took him back to the chair repeatedly until he got the idea . . . mom and dad are in charge. SO, yes, while I know that this probably a sign of him being ready for that change, I also think we need to teach him that it's about obeying mom and dad. After all, he'll need to stay in the big boy bed once he starts sleeping there, right?

On top of all of this, our "busy season" has hit like a ton of bricks. I have so much to do, and our Tuesday/Thursday babysitter was officially done until the end of April. I have someone who can start on May 15, but that seems like a really long time from now.

So, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and tired by Jack's new stage, stuff to get ready for the summer, the number of photos I have to edit, cards I have to complete, etc.

Tonight, when I was putting Jack to bed I said we were going to pray and he said the phrase that he says seemingly hundreds of times a day: "I do it MYSELF!"

Ok, fine by me.

We folded our hands, bowed our hands and he proceeded to say, "Thank you, God. Thank you God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen."

It's these kids of moments that keep me going.