Back it up... Deck Demo

June was a very busy month. Punctuated in an ugly stretch of horrible sleep for our family.

In May Ryan's family visited briefly- on the way to see his sister Jenna graduate from Bible school.  While they were here, they helped us tear down the deck at my Mom's house. It was a BIG deck and they did a FAST fantastic job!!

 A blast from the past... Friendly's 1st Birthday August 2010:

As you can see, it was a very large deck. We left the smaller part. But last year she had the giant (junk) trees taken down, and this year it was decided that the larger area of the deck was eating up precious yard space, and prime area for gardening. So Ryan and his brothers and Dad did this:

And then they did this:

Building some awesome 8ft wide steps- BEAUTIFUL!

 And when it was all cleared up it looked like this:

 We are now in the (tedious) process of laying patio pavers down in that nicely shaped smooth area. Over a few weekends we've picked up the pavers as we could (they are HEAVY and we needed around 70- I can't remember the official number right now). And then one Saturday Ryan and I moved 5,665lbs of sand- we are a force to be reckoned with!

So back to May the week after Mother's Day when the folks were in town: it was a rushed and VERY busy weekend. But we cannot say how much we appreciated the help! It would have taken Ryan the ENTIRE summer to accomplish what they did in 3 das. They seriously rock.

And Grandma B. Got to have lots of special time with her grand girls which was nice and allowed me to do what I love: HELP making things happen. :)

Grandma Debbie and her 2 older grandbabies

Oh so back it up to the sleep deprived thing... It all kind of started that week. Our girls - well really the older two especially- are very sensitive when it comes to sleep. I think most little kids do best when they are kept to a set  (and fairly strict) sleep schedule/routine. The older two have always been very early risers, and it doesn't seem to matter when they go to bed- they are up and at em by 6/6:30 most mornings. And I know for a fact some times they lay awake in bed for an hour before that (they aren't allowed to get up until 6). Pip is the kind of kid (so far) that if you put her to bed late, she'll sleep late- it is awesome. The older 2? You put them to bed late? They wake up EARLIER. And a few days of that and they spiral (apparently) into this horrible over tired cycle that = less and less, and worse and worse sleep. This is the lesson we learned from that week.

The deck demo went late for 3 nights. Not wanting to take them home and wrangle them into bed alone (because honestly, bedtime is very much a two person job with these 3! And honestly, I've been struggling with some serious burn out the past 4 months and the thought of trying to do it after a long day - well I knew it could be fairly peaceful and pleasant with Ryan's help (I mean we both tag team, he has a kid or two- I have a kid or two depending on where we are in the process and it's all under control. Alone? Some one is always doing some thing they shouldn't, and it quickly meltsdown to a mix of bouncing off the walls, manic crying/laughing, and it gets pretty chaotic. So it was: peaceful-ish with Ryan's help...Or Ugliness alone and probably resulting with all of us in tears.)  Usually I am a bit of a sleep nazi - but I figured, "it's a special week- it won't kill them - we'll just put them to bed when we're done for the day." And so we did.

The problem? Friendly woke up at her normal time... The next morning and the morning after that and the morning after that, and then she stopped/refused to nap (she still naps 45-90 minutes a day)...After a couple weeks of this  she started having night terrors/nightmares and then she started sleeping less and less because she was scared to sleep. By the middle of June Ryan and I were at a complete loss and I was BEYOND burnt out.

Thankfully, with some extreme focus (obsession?) on sleep, naps, and some supplementation we were able to get Friendly back to her more-happy-better-rested self. :phew: (I mean, PHEW!)

All this was a good lesson. Loosey goosey doesn't work for the kids we've got. Sleep Sargent Mama needs to stick to her guns (even when burnt out) about naps happening (or rest time for Roo), and bedtimes can only be broken once in a while (and only once in that while!!!).

So it is behind us. That awful awful awful awful stretch of no good very bad sleep. I thought I was sleep deprived with just the night waking I deal with from the teething Pip (which a good night is 2 times, a bad night is 6 or 7- she is cutting molars). Add a not sleeping 3 year old to the mix? Oh my word.

Enough said.

Friendly and Mama on a walk after the Sand Hauling Day (she desperately wanted a special walk with me- in general the girl LOVES any thing one-on-one)

Pictures to come of the finished (or more finished) product SOON!