See Ya Sebastian

We are leaving this town for the city; we will be Berliners for the next week and a half. Or Muenchen-ites... Germans. I would love to blog while overseas, which is always fun and new, but I wont be bringing a laptop. With the kids' endless things I've had to pack, my laptop just isnt worth it. New priorities. But someone will have a computer I can borrow to say "Whats up!" or "Was macht du?" which doesnt translate to whats up but thats all I got. It means What are you doing? hehe

But dont even think about robbing our home while we're gone cuz the Holts are in the Glig House! Maybe she can blog for me while I'm gone. The house is very inspirational.

Ciao.

La La La

Its not always about Sunnylee- Lachlan and I had a trip out alone to attend a baby shower. I know, not the kind of thing that makes boys happy, but sometimes we drag them to these things, like Lachy's little playmate Brodie. We forced them to lay next to each other just like we'll force them to be BFFs. I hope they have something in common later in life besides a love for beer. I see these 2 parting ways when Brodie goes off to the Citadel and Lachlan stays behind to attend CC...

In other Lachlan news, there was a poll. Certain events made me wonder if we were spelling his nickname correctly for this crowd (Americans). The Aussies chimed in and there was a great debate amongst the countries. Not really, it wasnt that dramatic. But the majority ruled for "Lachie" with emphasis on the "Lach" needing to be kept in the nickname. Since we were already basically doing just that, I kept "Lachy. For all of my 3 blog readers, its pronounced "Lockie", just not spelled that way. Too bad so sad.

Here is a snapshot in time of a low moment in Sunny's toddler-hood. She is sitting on a bar stool, stuffing herself with crackers, all the attention from the waitstaff is on her, and she's at a gorgeous seaside tiki bar in Florida, but is she happy? No. Far from it. Is she acting nicely? No. She's Sunny B for 3 weeks running. "B" standing in for a not-nice word...

  Jason and I  play tennis. But playing after Sunnylee goes to bed is coming to an end. Since our Oma is leaving next Monday, so are our blissful nights of tennis, alone... I will miss this.

Oh, Lachlan is owning this blog post! He got a new toy this week. These baby gyms are a hot commodity, sold out on BabiesrUs and everything. And they go for $70-90! Can you believe that? No, no one can. I certainly cant pay that price for a piece of fabric with dangley things, both of which I have at my house. I did end of finding the mat at a consignment shop which comes highly recommended by myself. Consignment shops are the BEST. Its where you find items that first time moms thought they needed, used once, then tried to sell because they realized one tiny fast growing baby can only use so many swing/bouncy chairs/musical crib soothers/play gyms... What I'm trying to say is that I got this play gym for $3. It didnt have toys but the Gligs are in no short supply of those. I hung some on and have been neglecting Lachlan ever since.

Neglecting Lachy to make this:

And lastly a pic of Sunny with her babies. Since we already have a live baby in the house, Oma wanted to name them. The American Girl doll was named Lisa. I've heard this is a popular doll name in our crew. But I didnt name it. So we wanted Lisa this morning, but she was in the car. Sunny and I go to fetch her, hand in hand. Oma said, "Go get Lisa" and now Sunny calls her that. Only is comes out as "Jesus". Here is Sunny playing with Jesus and some of his disciples:

Did I mention what she calls Lachy? She calls him Sockie (or Saki if you're a fan). I say "No, its lalala Lachy" and she says, "Lalala Sockie"....

Vent

No sleep for three days (kids, what else).
Long road trip with said-kids to Jupiter, stressful.
Wanted to run, too tired.
Wanted to sew, serger broke.
Wanted to fix a quilt project, I suck at it.

I could probably go on but its too depressing.
Cant wait for bed.

A Jog Thought

Finishing my 16th mile yesterday was easy, finally. After 3 weeks of logging miles, starting sloooow since cooking Lachlan for 9 months then nursing him for 6 weeks, I am back! Now on a scale of Kenyan to Sumo wrestler, I am no longer a lumbering Tricerotops as I pound the pavement. Nor am I that gazelle, but I am definietly lighter on my feet and the movements feel smooth again.
The last two runs I've managed to misplace my iPod or it was just not available at that moment, so I ran without music. In the past, not having my iPod would mean not running that day, an unbearable torture- running in silence. But my last two runs have actually been my best.
I can think without music; I make myself go through each moment of my day with Sunny and Lachlan and decide what I need to work on (patience! They're only little once!) I also spend lots of time thinking about my marriage and ways to... just be us again- like nights out ALONE together (something we did Friday night and it was similar to The Notebook- Jason remembered who I was and how much fun we can have together-- how we used to be in Noosa when we first met, and it was great).

After my runs I am recharged and I usually reward myself with a beer (icey can of Coors Light, yum!). I am ready to face the kids and husby again. I've decided since the in-laws have been here that mommy-time is important. Its something I am totally going to keep up, long after the original Gligorovs have flown home. Even though the Mommy Guilt is always there when I leave the house without the littles in tow, even if I'm going to Publix, for them, I ignore the guilt as much as I can. Screw it, mommy's need alone time too!

Upcycling

We've had more-than-usual events this year, plus a family that loves to send cards. After staring at them on my corkboard for 4 months, thankful someone cares about the Gligs, I wondered what I would do with them all (and the ever-present question in the back of my stay-at-home-mom brain, How will I save money today?)

Some of these will go into Lachy's baby book:

Someof these will go into me and Jason's... file in the filing cabinet

(hmm, note to self: make this memory file more romantic somehow):

And then my favorite idea, recycle them! Not in a throw-in-the-right-colored-recyling-bin way, but upcycle them, a new term that means taking the original product and turning it into a different functioning product (maybe I'll submit my definition to Webster, see if he likes it for his book). Its not a word I came up with, I see it on ETSY and so I just copy the concept. Also, I've got upcycled items here:

(made by Brooke for Lachlan from a mens tee)

And here:

(made by my mom for Sunny from a pillowcase)

This is what I did with the cards I wanted to keep to make

into new birthday cards for my family and friends.

Take the cards that you like the front of, without writing on the inside cover of the front:

Then cut off the fronts, leaving the inside with the messages to... be thrown away.

Aw... so sad. I used my scrapbooking cutter thing to make straight cuts:

& I didnt take a picture of my finished product, but I wrote a simple message on the

back of the new card/postcard and Sunny & I made a trip to the mailbox and sent it away
 in an envelope that I've had saved in this box, where the rest of my new upcycled cards now rest,
 waiting for birthdays:

I know, right? Check out the organizing! I'm not Jenalee/Katrina organized, but parts of my life are...

Just know that if you recieve one of these upcycled cards, that I do love ya, I just dont have much $$$

Not Quite a Gazelle

I finally got around to running Monday afternoon. Its been 10 months since my last run which was a July 4th 5k (I was pregnant then and didnt know it yet!)
I've put off running long enough, I think Lachy is at least 6 weeks old now!
I lumbered along my route feeling heavy; on a scale of Kenyan to Sumo wrestler, I ran somewhere in the middle, like a rhino maybe. Or a triceratops. It was as difficult as running ever is, I had to push myself.

But it felt nice. My muscles in my legs burned, my hair flew around free, my music was amp'd up. I cruised into the driveway havent not walked a bit, 2 miles and 24 minutes later, the Scissor Sisters cheering me on through my iPod.

The Real Story

Introducing Beau: here she is stalking me before we even met (like most of my relationships start).

We smiled at each other from a distance. I only meet my potential partners abroad anyways. 

Dont get me wrong, she likes to travel, Beau. Here we are over by the butterflies.

Eh, what the heck. I went for it. I'll admit it, Im easy. Clearly.

We were married 3mo later. Thats how Gligs roll.

& we also reproduce quickly. This practically happened before we even met.

But then Beau got Baker-acted and left me in the background pulling my hair out.

Achievements

I thought I did something today worth while....

Easter Weekend

After many many questions about what the Gligs will be doing for the weekend, and after many many answers of..... "uhhhhh"- I decided we WERE doing something. I am not sure yet, but I will document it with photos.

Friday I took the two littles to a book store in Vero that is super cool. We sat and listened to story time, they both ate during (one had cookies, one had milk- guess who), and I managed to leave without buying a thing! I was impressed.

I got my hair cut. And left the mini Gligs home with their daddy for the first time alone. Eh, I was gonna take Lachy, but then I decided to take a break instead. Well deserved.

Saturday Meme & Papa came! They cooked us an amazing steak dinner & we had happy hour on our deck after a hard day of painting the guest bathroom and the nursery.

I cut a pretty flower from my garden that bloomed just in time for the holiday

Then the Bunny came! & Sunny wore her Easter outfit from Meme as she hunted these eggs down. Lachlan wore his smartest suit/onesie. Hated it.

Sunny: "And then.... I left Sebastian! Went for a holiday in Okeechobee, I heard its nice this time of year. My cousins live there and I know the Bunny left a few baskets with Meme somehow and she needed to drop them off to them...Ciao mom and *dad!"

*dad was 'sad'. 5 minutes later he was happy as sam watching golf.

Our Social Future

During dinner, the Gligs ate pizza and we casually kept glancing out of our large bay window throughout conversation, commenting on everything going about in the neighborhood at that moment (we eat dinner so early the entire 'hood is usually still out doing fun stuff)- Jasons 18 year old neighborhood BFF who plays table tennis with him drove off from his home, we commentated a predictable [fake] death for a dog walker since the 100 year old guy across the street was careening down the road, back from his daily meal at the Moose Club, and I scouted the playground for possible young/cool looking families.

Jackpot! Cool/young looking family! Young mom, little blond toddler, 1 year old midget boy who look like Sunny. We scarfed the pizza as fast as we could, tied back Sunny's hair so she only looked like half a ragamuffin (her best time of day is before lunch, after that we usually dont take her into public), shoved a piece of chewed crust into her grubby little fist, then argued over who was going over. I won, to stay home. Jason's accent negated the blood on his shirt and his slight intoxication (all the better to get chatty, like he needs that......) I wasnt making any friends looking this hideous. After my hair appointment on Friday, sure, I'd meet people. But lifelong Sebastian friends are currently residing in Jasons hands as I type...

Garden Haul

What Sunnylee, Lachlan, & I (ok, Lachy was in the Moby, didnt really see much) picked out of the Glig Garden today. Been eating fresh cucumber salads for days. Yum!

Our First Month as a Family of Four

Where have the Gligs been?

Birthing this:

And fattening him up into this:

I've wanted to blog so bad but you can see where I'm having a hard time finding an hour to sit and think and type. It doesnt help that our laptop is incapacitated and its unable to leave its Big Brother, the Desktop. Its monitor is blank so sometimes I use it through Desktop's monitor.

BUT- we have a new laptop currently riding along the highway in a FedEx truck on its way to us, its new family, where it will probably battle juice spills and toddler toes stepping on it and buttons being pried off by little fingers. Wish it luck.

Lachlan has been wonderful. He is snuggly and loves his momma. We sleep together at night often, usually from his first feeding around 11p through his 2nd feeding at 3a. Its his own crib before and after that, where he sleeps curled up on his tummy, free from the swaddle that his sister slept in for the first 6mo of her life. It is so different with him. In the best way. I thought if he was any different from Sunnylee that it meant it would be difficult. But its not. In fact, its way easier.

Sunny LOVES him. In a very smothering, motherly way. He's the first thing she wants to see in the morning; she wants a peek into his crib. She points out his ears, eyes, nose, hair. Over & over again. She helps to change his diapers. A great big sister, no jealousy at all.

Jason gets lots of Sunnylee time and I am up to my neck with Lachlan. We agree its different this time around- mainly the amount of time he's spent with Lachy, which is not a lot. When I'm feeding him every 2 hours, it makes sense that Jason's occupying Sunny. Sometimes Lachy and I even sleep-in in the mornings while Jason and Sunny eat and watch cartoons when she wakes up. Anyways, its a nice give and take. Working well for us.

Glig Laundry Detergent

So cheap it should be illegal. Or Tide should be illegal.
These 3 ingredients can usually be found at Publix and/or Walmart.

• Buy a 5gal bucket with a lid from Home Depot.
• Fill with 3gal of hot water (bathtub works for this).
• Boil 5 cups of water on the stove in a large pot. Add an entire chopped up Fels-naptha soap bar to the pot and stir until dissolved (I just use a knife and slice into small shredded pieces. Ps. This concoction likes to boil over the pot, rapidly. If this happens, dont panic! Just turn the temp down and after everything is finished your stove top is ready to be scrubbed with a nice smelling new cleaner you made, and spilled all over it).
• Pour into the 5gal bucket once dissolved.
• Add 1 cup of Borax (powder) and 1/2 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (powder) to the bucket of water. Stir. And let sit over night.

It gels up, and then before using, you get to stick your arms into the bucket and squish the gel between your fingers until the entire bucket is mixed and able to be poured into your favorite Tide container. We use a 1/2 cup per load of wash, or a capful from my Tide bottle. We keep the bucket in the garage with the lid on it and refill our smaller bottle as needed.

You will have leftover Borax and soda for the next several times you make a batch of detergent, making this the cheapest stuff ever. Enjoy saving money  :)

Cloth Diapering, Glig Style

People cloth diaper their babies for many reasons and I get asked all the time why we do it. It was never something I considered until after our Baby Shower Diaper Supply ran out and we began buying our own disposables and then I really started looking into it when Sunny was one and I got pregnant- I was buying 2 sizes of Pampers which was eating into my personal shopping money. After I decided that we could only save so much money letting Sunny just be naked and pee as she pleased outside, I started to cloth diaper her. So we do it for that and that only- to save money. I dont care about the environment (sorry!) or the harmful chemicals in disposables (really? What about all the chemicals in EVERYTHING else, every single toy and baby equipment we all own.....?). And there really isnt a huge cost when it comes to washing and drying these suckers either. We make our own laundry detergent, wash on the smallest load, and hang dry the diaps outside. We're in Florida! The sun does the work for me...

Ok, so the point of that paragraph is... Why do you want to cloth diaper your baby?

Everything I learned about cloth diapers... I learned from Brooke. Or trial and error. Or online, which is difficult since there are a LOT of diff types of cloth diapers, and everyone online likes to speak in a weird cloth diaper code (lots of acronyms).

I'd suggest joining http://www.babycenter.com/ and then joining some of their groups about cloth diapering. There is one subtlety titled, Cloth Diapering. Its a good place to start. And then there are groups about each brand, about selling used diapers (this is huge! Buying these expensive diapers used is not weird, its totally acceptable and done!), and about.... pictures with your baby IN the cloth diapers, whatever. There is a lot of info there. This is where I discovered that women on these boards have 60-100 cloth diapers and are gonna probably be on a new reality tv series soon if they dont start controlling their obsession.

After some research, Jenalee & I started using gDiapers. They looked super cool but had 3 pieces you had to rig together, almost each diaper change. Sure Jason and I figured it out, but forget letting the grandparents do it- too much work. & Jena and I both came to the same conclusion- these diapers leaked, making disposables look so desirable that she quit and I sold mine.

After more research I zeroed in on my favs so far. They were the least amount of pieces- 1!- and have amazing reviews. They also have a new design on the outer part which makes them super cute. They are the Bum Genius brand and we bought the 4.0 All-In-One Elementals (see how confusing this is, there are SOOOOO many names for these things).

Makes it only 1 piece and easy. Each diaper change you get a new diaper, just like disposables. Thats easy to remember, right? I guess the downfall to that is that you need at least as many diapers as you change each day. Sunny's old enough that she only does about 6 changes a day and we currently have 10 BGs (bumgenius). We will get more as... we get more money, lol. They are one of the most expensive (I got ours on sale at http://www.cottonbabies.com/, free shipping, for $19ea) but I know what I'm paying for now- the assurance that they wont leak! That I wont lay awake at night and wonder if I should let Sunny fuss back to sleep if she wakes up or check that her jammies arent soaking in pee! Its nice to have peace of mind, especially in the middle of the night concerning your baby. We're also paying for convenience and the fact that our parents can cloth diaper our baby without a big drama.

I mainly cloth Sunny while we are at home. But if we leave the house I grab one and bring it with us, even though I also have back-up disposables in the car. Plus wipes. And we have a cute 'wetbag' I bought on ETSY to throw in any wet/dirty cloth diapers to take back home to wash.

Then the washing part... Its not exciting, its not that fun. But its worth it. If Sunny has a dirty diaper, immediately after changing we dump it into the toilet then into a bucket, with a lid, that sits next to the toilet. There is nothing in the bucket (sometimes people have a 'wet' bucket that they think may be cleaner? Its filled with water, detergent, vinegar, anything you want- but it sounds messier to me). After the diaper bucket is full, you run out of cloth diapers, or its been 2-3 days, we wash. I toss everything in the bucket into the wash with some vinegar, or nothing if I forget, and do a rinse cycle. Smallest load and hottest water. That finishes in about 10 minutes- then I pour in the detergent that I make myself, and do a whole cycle, with the same small load and hot water. Then I hang to dry. And in the meantime, if all of the diapers are washing/drying, we have to use disposables! So... I need more cloth diapers. I sometimes time it so that I only do half as many diapers in the wash so I always have some clean/ some washing/drying. But I really do just need more diapers.

Watch the youtube video here on the EXACT diaper Sunny wears- same colors, same snaps, same All-In-Ones.  It clears up exactly what to do and how easy they are:

Just a thought I woke up with

You can grow up to be whatever you want to be.
I know when I was younger, the people who told me this phrase (teachers, guidance counselors, my parents) had good intentions, but not realistic intentions.

I for one will not be telling my kids they should be whatever they want to be. Of course I believe they could be anything, but thats besides the point. My daughter can be a teacher if she wants and my son can get a Phd in French Poetry. But what no one tells you when you're 17 is that there isnt a need for more teachers by the time you finish school and to use a degree like French Poetry you'll have to move. To France.

My useless degree in Business Management (& Education now!) is what sparks this blog post. I wish someone had sat me down and said how important it would be in my near future for more pharmacists or IT techs. That majoring in those subjects would "guarantee" I'd have a job, or jobs to choose from even, and not a job I'd have to move to Miami or New York to find, but one I could find in any town I preferred to live in.

So, as I said. I wont be telling my children to be whatever they want. Yes, they CAN be whatever they want, but to have more control over your life, your job, your happiness, you SHOULD be what the market needs you to be.... Just a thought.

Take What We Can Get

It's been a good evening. After Sunny whined and cried for "snack!" and denied my offering of yummy oranges, I demanded we leave the house. We walked to our neighbors for a beer and to socialize our 1 yr old with their just-turned-two year old.
If Sunny's not being pushed down by her, hit, or having things thrown at her, this little girl is smothering her with hugs, trying to hold her hand and drag her around like she's her baby, or feed her with various play utensils. There is no happy medium so Sunny is always on guard. Its her BFF, though. Talks about her all the time.
She taught Sunny how to grab at things and hold them fiercely to her chest while announcing "MINE!" Its the worst. Which is what I thought until we got home for dinner. I made amazing Thanksgiving dinner in Feb: a fresh stuffed turkey breast with squash and peas. And Sunnylee ate it all. I'm talking bite after bite after bite of peas. Really, that could've been all she had and I would be happy, just like any mother. There was the other stuff she ate so I was just happy-happy. In perspective, Sunny screams "Mine!" But she also eats peas and eats most meals well, whereas the neighbor kid had mac n cheese. I saw before we left.

Almost Famous Mocha Frappe

Print this out or write it down and prepare for the beginning of a beautiful addiction. For those who dont live in a town with a Starbucks on every other corner, this Frappuccino will fullfil your craving. FYI, even when your toddler is begging for a sip, I'd reccomend not giving her one even though you think the coffee flavor will immediately turn her off. It does the opposite in fact. Makes her scream with delight. And sign for "more". I aso dont recommend discovering this treat when you're 8mo pregnant. There's no predicting how many I will drink before Baby Glig #2 pops out.

*Give yourself time to prepare these, since the choc syrup needs to cool and the coffee ice cubes need to freeze.

For the coffee ice:

3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups warm strong coffee

For the chocolate syrup:
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ounce milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frappes:
1 cup reduced-fat milk
Whipped cream, for topping

Directions
Make the coffee ice: Stir the sugar into the coffee until dissolved, then let cool. Pour into a 16-cube ice-cube tray and freeze until solid, about 3 hours.
Make the chocolate syrup: Combine the sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and slowly whisk in 2/3 cup hot water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking, until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 5 minutes; do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, honey and vanilla until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool.

Make the frappes: Puree 8 coffee ice cubes, 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 to 1/2 cup chocolate syrup and 1 cup plain ice in a blender until smooth. Pour into 2 glasses, then repeat to make 2 more drinks. Top with whipped cream and more chocolate syrup.

This recipe is from the Foodnetwork, seen here http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/almost-famous-mocha-frappes-recipe/index.html

Monday Catch Up

Its possible that I will fall asleep before finishing this post.

We had a rather busy weekend, like most weekends in the Glig's January/February schedule. Jason went to the Keys with my brothers for a bachelor weekend for Matt. We attended a Superbowl party and Jason golfed with my brother Robert this morning, Monday. I had a baby appointment followed by shopping and socializing with the girlies Friday, a 2 year old party Saturday, and Okeechobee plus play dates with Sunny's friend Beau up through today.

When the Gligs got home to Sebastian, it was all business though- major cleaning. I did everything at my level- counter tops, surfaces, kitchen, etc. whereas Jason did the floors and picking up. I am unable to bend over and clean/pick up Legos and tea cups and stuffed animals. Too much pressure and effort at this point in the pregnancy.

We had all the windows and doors open in the house. The wind was blowing at hurricane force, knocking things over inside and out- it blew one of my fav pieces of art off the shelf in Sunny's playroom which crashed to the floor and glass shattered everywhere. I would've been more upset, but the quickness in which Jason came running to our 'rescue' made up for it. I was impressed with his concern. I predicted a "What was that?!" from him but instead got a dash to check on our safety. I shut all the windows/doors at that point, noting the temp from 82* inside, an increase from when we first got home! I couldnt stand the heat or wind any longer. I put the thermostat on 75* and went on with our afternoon in peace, the wind howling outside unable to get in finally.

Jason did some computer work and then we sat on our deck and talked about life until dinner arrived. Yes, it was delivered. Home made, fresh from the oven, from our neighbors. It is the first meal in our meal exchange 'program' that we have going on right now with them. We made them a Thai curry 2 Mondays ago and this was our first time having one of their meals. Remember, he is a chef on John's Island, a club so exclusive that his mother cant even eat there. We are pretty lucky. Ok, so he made a lamb ragu, is what he called it. I call it (not to his face!)Hamburger Helper, but classy of course. No powdered cheese. The lamb must've taken ages to make, but whatever- it was amazing. I think Sunnylee ate more than I did! She can scarf down some pasta....

We are 34 weeks this week with Baby Glig #2, or 8 months. As of my next appointment next week I will be seeing the Dr weekly until the babe arrives. Its gone by quick, really. I had been sick since 30 weeks, just getting over that last week and I'm not exaggerating, it was at least 14 days. Now sleepiness has crept in, just like the 1st trimester. I am tired by 11a! I drag along behind Sunny until her nap time when I can finally rest, too. Then drag behind her until her daddy comes home. The baby is ready, I believe, trying its hardest to kick out. I was reading a magazine in bed the other night and the baby kicked it right off my stomach. I dont recall this much power (and moving so often) with my first pregnancy, although it must've been similar.

We are finalizing plans with what we're gonna do with Sunny when its go time. The plan is to not plan anything until it happens and whoever is not working and available will take Sunny for the delivery time. I need to mention this to my brothers so they know.... Mom and dad will want to be at the hospital for the delivery, but after that they will take Sunny for a couple nights until we get home again. That's the 'plan'.

Goodnight. Its 8p, I'm going to sleep now.

Picture Frames

I did something this week. Productive. Something to check off the list of tasks I've been needing to accomplish. I ordered wedding photos AND put them into my frames that I've had sitting out, blank, for at least 5mo (I didnt get too crazy, I havent ordered any other wedding photos, just these 5, lol). But how nice right? Now I can almost start buying picture frames again since I put myself on a ban, No Buying Frames until I filled up the ones I have.

Cuz this scenario has been existing in our home since we bought it in April:

And this:

But I did order the photos for the frames above my bed (2nd photo). They're just not in it yet.

Parenting a One and a Half Year Old

We've "let" Sunny go the past few weeks and I am happily typing away this morning to say that we are getting back to normal, back to where we want to be.
She is a good eater & a good napper, but this toddler thing had come out of her and she changed. Every 10 minutes (or each time she finished her snack) she was at the pantry or refrigerator needing another. Begging, stamping her feet, pulling my hand to the door. Sometimes it worked, she got raisens. Other times I said "No" and she'd throw herself around, real tears, toss anything in her hands... Then she'd straightened up and grabbed my hand with big eyes and try and pull me towards the panty... *sigh
Then her naps were the issue. She learned a new cry & liked to test it out for 20min+ at naptime. It did wonders, kept her out in the house with her parents, it pushed her naps back in the day to almost non existant (scary!) and it even got her rocked to sleep followed by a pleasant nap in mommies bed.

All these things had to stop. She wasnt sitting at her highchair and eating meals anymore, she was too full from crackers so she'd throw her dinner around then scream until she got down and was able to sit in daddies lap. She was waking before 7a. That is just wrong in this house. We have a "Do not disturb until 7a sharp!" rule here and she is breaking it!

So... we did this:
-stuffed her with breakfast, when she is most hungry
-a smoothie gets her "through" until lunchtime
-no snacks until dinner!
    --- This is difficult, as Jason is usually home by 3 and she looooves to manipulate between us, or basically go to her daddy for anything she wants. But its a rule now, so in order to keep her mind off snacks, we cant be so lazy and hang out inside. We go outside for bikerides, wagon pulls to the park, deck time where she plays in her sandbox, etc etc. You should see her put down her dinner now! Stuffing it in her mouth long after Jason and I have finished. Its nice to have a hungry child with an appetite! Nothings worse than sitting down to a meal, not hungry. I feel like throwing food around then, too....

Naps:
Pushed it back farther in the day (it used to start anywhere from 10a-1130. Yesterday I managed to make her last until 1230. She started whining for her Lambies then). She slept for 2 1/2 hours. Also pushed her bedtime back a half hour to 730p. I will push her nap back even farther until its at 130 or 2p. I think. To make sure she's extra tired and whatnot....

As I type this it is 730a; she's woken up consistantly at 645a for weeks. It worked. A+ for our parenting skills this week.