Pigs are flying!

I never thought this day would come. Ever since we put Nicholas in a big boy bed in early March, he hasn't taken a nap in it. Sure, he takes a nap on me or Jon after he falls asleep in the car, but never in his bed.

But I still put him down for "nap time" every afternoon when he's home. Nap time normally means he reads to himself, plays with his stuffed animals, and does strange things in his room. He was making tons of noise in there today, and I could hear him reading "Cat in the Hat" to someone (maybe just to himself). So I left, went downstairs, had lunch, and then came back to check on him. I really came back to take him out of his room and go play....but he was sleeping!

I quickly looked out the window to see if pigs were flying, but no. Nicholas had removed all the blankets from his bed, all the sheets, and is sleeping on the mattress cover. But he's napping! On his own, and in his own bed! I thought this day would never come!

On a side note - 3 days until comprehensive exam #1. Then 3 days after that I have comprehensive exam #2. Then my life will be back to normal, although I forgot what that is. I haven't read a book that's not exam related since January. I haven't played many games, had fun, or done things that aren't exam related since January. I wonder what it will be like, having this time back.

Today's day

There are some days you don't want to repeat. This is one of them.

I had to wake up at 6:15 to make sure Nicholas and I were ready to go about 7 to get the car to the "car doctor" (repair shop) at 7:30 for it's 10k oil change and check-up. This was after an awful night where Nicholas ended up falling off his bed twice, and not wanting to sleep in it after the second time until we laid EVERY stuffed animal he owned under it. It was a trying night, and a more trying morning.

They told me it would take 30 minutes. It ended up taking 1.5 hours. How do you occupy a kid on a car lot for 1.5 hours? Luckily a fire engine came to be serviced (or something) and so he spent 20 minutes looking at that. We spent 20 minutes looking at some ambulances. We took a walk on the street, but Nicholas complained about the noise and that it was too cold. We colored. He played with his Elmo car - to the annoyance of everyone else in the waiting room who had to hear "zoom zoom goes car." Then we watched the car doctors at work. All this while I was still trying to wake up.

On the way home he fell asleep, but the drive home is only 30 minutes. So when we got home I was hoping he would stay asleep, but no - he woke up. So we had 30 more minutes of crying. He wanted to paint, so I got out the paints. He made 2 pictures, then starting painting the table. So painting time ended. He was a total ball of energy today - and cranky energy - and I was tired.

At this point it is only 10-ish. So I threw him in the bathtub. Which was fine until he wanted to jump in the tub or throw water out of the tub. Neither of which is an acceptable activity, so, with a huge fit, he got out of the tub. Then he cuddled on me and let me sing him some songs. That part of the day I am happy to repeat anytime. But then came time to put on a diaper.

Does any other mom feel like a rat when they put their kid down for nap time and they scream? It makes me feel horrible, even though I know he won't remember it. He has this way of yelling "mommy" that makes me want to go back in there and cuddle with him, even though I know leaving him alone is better. So I put on my iPod for 20 minutes, then went back in. What didn't surprise me was to find him reading to his stuffed animals.

Then we took a walk. And another walk. And another walk.

Then came the best part of my day - Evan came over to take care of Nicholas so I could study! Evan then got stinker, I got a nap, and then I got to study at the library at CSUS until class time. As a bigger plus, I got an A on my last midterm ever. I am not going back to school after this. I was thinking of going for a PhD, and have decided maybe some other time, when kids are grown. But not now.

So now its bedtime again. Nicholas is sleeping. Jon is helping do laundry, and I am tired.

My new favorite item in the house

So, everyone has a few favorite things of theirs in the house. In the past mine have included (and still include) my laptop, my sewing machine, my son and husband (when they are home), pictures and some of my favorite shoes. But I have a new favorite item - my Serta memory foam mattress topper.

See, my mattress is old. Not that old, but old. It has gone through a few moves, and has been used on a regular basis. So the springs are getting creaky, there are dents forming in it - all what happens as a mattress ages. I thought we would get a new mattress soon, but then I started looking at prices and said, "let's put it off." In the meantime, you wake up with all those aches and pains you get when you mattress isn't that great.

Enter the Serta memory foam mattress topper. I got mine at overstock.com, although I am sure there are other places you can get them. I got the 4 inch one, since it was not that much more expensive than the 2 inch one. And what a difference it makes.

You simply place it over your old mattress, under your mattress protector and your sheets. Then sleep. It i so fabulous. You don't even know there is an old mattress under it. You wake up feeling great, the way you should after a good night's sleep. Even better - it doesn't transfer motion. So when the husband rolls over, or Nicholas jumps on his dad in the morning, I don't move because there is no motion transfer. It is nice.

Anyways, it is my new favorite item. I just wanted to let people know they are out there because it is MUCH cheaper than buying a new mattress and makes the bed just as good. On the other hand, the bed is not 4 inches taller.

How time flies

Is it really April 12th already? Time flies so quickly.

Happy late Easter everyone. Michelle and Eric (Jon's brother and wife) were here with their five kids this past week. Wow. You know how one kid makes a mess, and two kids make more of a mess....imagine 5 kids and the noise they make. I am continually amazed that Eric and Michelle are sane. I certainly couldn't do what they do.

We had an Easter egg hunt for the kids on the Saturday before Easter. Nicholas has never done it before, and he just had a bag to put them in (which he didn't care about). Nicholas and Micah (they are both 2) were given a head start and Nicholas ran to an egg stared at it, then picked it up and looked at me with a look that said, "Now what am I supposed to do with this." So I showed him how to open in. That was the end of any reservations Nicholas had. There was candy, bubbles, chalk, and play dough to find in the eggs. Nicholas was an "egg finder" as Jon says. He would find an egg. Open it into the bag (or the ground) choose something to eat, then move on to the next egg. He had a ton of fun, and I really want the pictures Eric took because I forgot to bring my camera.

The Wednesday after Easter we went to UC Davis' Mind Institute. Nicholas has been going there since he was 3 months old. If anyone has kids, you should go there. They need kids to participate in experiments all the time. They watch movies and this thing tracks their eye movement, or they play with toys and someone watches how they do. Or they can sit and talk with an interviewer and answer questions. It is great. You help them understand how children develop and your kid gets a prize - Nicholas chose a little bendable frog this time. The coolest one we ever got was a t-shirt (6 month size) that said "I graduated from UC Davis Mind Institute." Older kids get giftcards to Target for participating. Here's the link: Mind Institute

Click on the link to get there. Everyone who can should participate it is great. They even will rate your child's vocabulary and development.

Well, as usual, I am working on my comprehensive exams. They are in 17 days and 21 days. If I can only pass them both I will be good.

Jon is slaving away at the Department of Finance. He's looking at some serious work time next week, but until then he's going the 8-5 thing and Nicholas and I love having him at home.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

It took forever to get a picture of him looking at the camera. He was trying too hard to eat the cookie dough! He totally takes after his Cwalina side in this; Cwalina's love cookie dough. Nicholas and I made cookie dough (Nestle makes nice containers to store it in). He poured the chocolate chips in, cracked eggs, and put everything (pre measured) into the mixing bowl. Then he stood there while the mixer turned. When I went to put the dough into the plastic container (to keep the extras safe) he started eating it. So I got him a spoon and he totally enjoyed himself!

Who knew - kids like cookie dough. Except he's been asking for it for dinner ever since. That's too bad.