Three Thought Thursday: Episode 51

1. First and foremost, Merry Christmas to you and yours! I hope your holiday week has been filled with lots of smiles, lots of family, lots of good food, and lots of laughter. Just like ours! We finally made it down to The Woodlands yesterday and have been enjoying lots of fun and relaxation ever since. The relaxation parts are usually induced by food comas, but hey, prior to this week, I hadn't gained any weight at all with this pregnancy. Quasi-dreading what the scale is going to say when I return to Lubbock. But then again, I'm nearing the end of my first trimester so it's just about to get to the time where a pound or two won't be such a bad thing. Bring on the chocolate dipped, peanut butter lined Ritz crackers! The boys sure are loving Christmas, just as I dreamed they would in my mind. Man, it is so much fun to see Christmas through their eyes! All the excitement at the massive decorations they see out and about the town, the mere anticipation of getting to open the endless presents under Pinkie and Pa's tree....not to mention the fact that both Kolbe and Rudy are totally aware of "Santa Claus" this year. Kolbe gets the whole idea. Rudy is just well aware of who the character is. Meaning everywhere we go that he sees a picture of Santa he excitedly exclaims "Cause! Cause!" So precious! Another thing that just continues to make my heart smile is how the boys beam with pride and wide-spread smiles each night at dinner when we sing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." And are eager to go to mass each week to see them light a new candle on the wreath, knowing they'll get to light theirs that night too. They love it. And I love that they love it. I really has made my holidays. I hope there's been something special, whether small or big, that has made your holidays as well.

2. I'm convinced my three-year-old has a sleeping disorder. For real. There's got to be something not right! In fact, I'll be honest. Though I won't "publish" this till the morning, I'm admittedly writing it at 10:30pm Wednesday evening because I don't know what's going on the morning but with something like fourteen people staying at my parents' house, I'm not so sure I'll have time to write my post. Anyway, I'm sitting here typing away while said three-year-old flails around on the bed, refusing to sleep. I know. I know. Part of it is all the excitement of being at Pinkie and Pa's house. Part of it is the wonder of knowing that everyone all the cool aunts and uncles are in the other room and he just has to know what's going on. But really, part of it has got to be some weird sleep thing because really, this goes on at home every night too! I'm really at my boiling point with the whole thing. You know, the point where the bottle of Benadryl is tightly clenched in my fist with my rosary in the other as I try to convince God to help me make a good decision not to medicate my child merely for the purpose of sleep. (man, he slept well when his allergies were completely out of whack and it was the only we could use to get his sneezing to stop!) The scenario is simple: we do our best to tucker him out, making him as active as possible, and then put him in bed at appropriate times. You know, a nap and bed time. We do the same for his little brother. Only his little brother is a professional sleeper. Sure, he may take five or ten minutes to nod off into peaceful dreams, but he goes to sleep and sleeps well every nap and every bedtime. Not Kolbe. The fights he puts up last usually from forty-five minutes to two and half hours. Not even kidding. Like I said, I'm writing this post at 10:30pm while I wait for him to fall asleep. Nap time isn't nearly as bad as bed time. Usually I put Rudy down for his nap first and then spend some quality one-on-one time with Kolbe, going over letters, reading books, or playing a board game. That's enough to make him drowsy and he often falls asleep quickly. (only when at home, though) Bed time is a whole different ball of wax. It's endless getting out of bed, making loud noises in his bed, basically anything but sleep. We recently tried shortening his nap and have thus far found it to only make things worse. He sleeps less making him horribly grumpy in the afternoon which usually results in at least one or more melt down. Then he proceeds to dwell on the fact that he knows he's tired and forces himself to stay up late, even though his nap was short and he's completely exhausted. I just don't get it. He has the sleep pattern of a college freshman at the age of three. And yes, I know people write books on stuff like this. And I've read them. And I suppose I'm just going to have to keep trying out all the endless tactics that the obviously more intelligent parents than me suggest. Bottom line is: I'm tired. I want to sleep. Even if I lay with him, he doesn't sleep. Must get child to sleep so I can sleep. The end.

3. I can't believe that this is episode fifty-one. As in next week is the last week! I really can't believe it! I created a new year's resolution and actually stuck to it. Didn't miss a single Thursday. Man, time flies. And for my holiday reading, I really am going to go back through all the weeks of this past year and re-read some of the things I've written. I'm fully expecting to laugh at some of my ridiculousness, cry at some of the long gone emotional moments, smile at some of the bits and pieces that may not be the same now as is months gone by, and appreciate all that has happened in my life over the past fifty-two weeks. I'm not sure what I'll do next. I haven't decided just yet. Continue Three Thought Thursday? Change it up and try something different? Give it a rest all together? I doubt I'll choose the last option, because man, if anything this has been a huge outlet for my sometimes completely closed off world that I live in. Sometimes I wonder, if not for my weekly post, did I really say anything to any adults other than my husband this week? You know, other than "What aisle are the almonds on?" Who knows. Maybe Three Thought Thursday Volume Two. Or maybe something new. I've got a week or so to decide!