Our new place

On Saturday, Eleanor and I moved into an apartment. Living with family was great...I'm just a territorial controlling maniac, and needed to have my own space. So, we got it. Our very own 562 square feet of space.

I gave Eleanor the bedroom...




My bed is in the living room/office/dining room. It's nice and cozy.

I wish I could say that the sleeping thing was going better, but basically at this point, I'm feeling just like the mommy of a newborn, and there's no end in sight. It's definitely taking it's toll, since being awake with a sassy, stubborn, opinionated two-year-old is no cake-walk either.

Things can only get better from here, right?...

Just incase you're wondering...

I haven't been blogging because....well....this whole thing is turning out to be much tougher than I thought it would be.

I miss Jared like crazy. All the time. Every minute. I think of all these things I want to tell him, and by the time he calls, I blank and can't think of any of them. It's nice when we get to use the webcam, but he's busy out there, and it's really not happening that often. I love seeing him when it does happen, and I love how it makes Eleanor laugh uncontrollably. Yesterday was his birthday, which stunk pretty bad. I'm sure it stunk even more for him. I'm just ready for him to come home and say, 'Where are my girls?' and hug and kiss us.

I love being around family. It's amazing to see how Eleanor is getting to know her grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. I would definitely be way farther downhill emotionally without them around. They want to help me so much, but sometimes I'm stupid and need to prove to everyone that I can do everything for Eleanor alone.

Speaking of Eleanor...her sleep is back in the crapper. I've had a total of about 10 hours of sleep in the past three nights. (My mom was awesome yesterday and let me take a three hour nap at her house while she watched Eleanor.) After taking her to two doctors (such a long and super stressful story), she's on an antibiotic for a throat infection. I'm hoping (and praying super hard) that she'll feel better soon and will get back on track with sleeping. I'm not daring to dream for something as crazy as a nap for her...just sleeping through the night would be amazing at this point.

Oh, and then there was that stupid hurricane thing that had the electricity off for three days and the internet down for even longer than that. (What I meant to say: Thank you God that a huge tree didn't come crashing through our roof or the roof of anyone we know.)

So, that's it. Keep praying for us, especially for Jared's safety, Eleanor's sleep, and that I'll be able to keep my OCD-like need for routine and consistency under control.

mdo

Tuesday was Eleanor's first day of Mother's Day Out. She'll be going only on Tuesdays from 9 to 2:30. The teacher said she was 'fine', which I'm hoping doesn't really mean "she whined all day and drove me crazy, but I'll be nice since it was her first day." All I could get out of Eleanor was that she slept on her 'monkey mat' and that they got to 'eat wunch with big kids.'

Here are way too many pictures of her in her first-day-of-school dress...





Not sure what kind of face she's making here, but she just looks so darn cute with her 'wunch' and her backpack.


Chloe started school too.


This is what I got when I told them to "turn around so I could take their picture." I actually meant the other way, ladies!


While the girls were safe in the competent hands of their teachers, my sister and I went shopping. I scored three hundred-dollar dresses for twelve bucks. Wait...let me say that again...I bought three dresses whose price tags originally said $100 for $3.97 each. Love when that happens.

On the sleeping situation...Eleanor has now gone to bed three nights in a row all alone in her little Elmo bed. I just put her down and leave and she drifts off to Sleepytown. Love when that happens too.

Settling in

So, we're getting settled here in good ol' East Texas. We're establishing a routine, which I think is making us both feel a little bit better. We've also been talking with Jared via web cam, which makes Little Bittie's heart burst with excitement. (So should have done that sooner!)

The sleeping is still just so-so. I'll give you the run-down...nine days ago when we were still at home, Eleanor started refusing to go to sleep. (By 'refusing', I mean became absolutely hysterical at the very mention of it.) This totally rocked my world because we had always just put her in her bed, and left the room. So, for several (read- way too many) nights, she slept with me. I hate sleeping with Eleanor. The main reason is she kicks me and rolls on me all night long, and I wake up feeling like I never went to sleep. I decided when we got to Texas, we'd just go straight for sleeping in the Elmo toddler bed since she wasn't sleeping in a crib anyway. In my head, she'd be so overwhelmingly excited about the Elmo bed that she would just leap in, put her little punkin' head on the pillow and fall into a deep peaceful sleep. Right. When that didn't happen, she ended up back in the bed with me.

As of today, though, she has slept two entire nights in her Elmo bed by herself. I did have to make a compromise...I have to stay in the room until she falls asleep, which, for the past two nights, has taken an hour. I can't say that I particularly enjoy lying in the dark pretending to be asleep for an hour, but there are worse things...like the shrieking and thrashing and heaving that take place if I leave.

I feel like this is all going to get better soon, particularly now that she's actually seeing her Daddy (via the webcam).

Tomorrow, Eleanor starts Mother's Day Out at my mom and sister's church. She'll be going on Tuesdays from 9:00 to 2:00. I think she'll love it...she loved VBS and yesterday (at the same church) ran into her class and started playing before I could even say goodbye. I'm anxious to see how naptime will go...

Here's Little Missy playing in her big-girl bed.

We're here

After a long and....well...long road trip, we have arrived in Texas. We got in this afternoon at about 5 or so.

The girls did so well! We really couldn't have asked for them to be any better. The worst parts of the whole trip were the numerous diaper changes in public bathrooms. SO GROSS!!!

Thanks for all of your prayers! Praise God for our safe travels!!

Plan B

Because of Hurricane Gustav, my sister and I have had to resort to plan B for our respective trips. She was supposed to fly out today, but knew that she'd end up stranded in Houston (and wouldn't be able to connect to Shreveport) because of weather. Soooo....she and Chloe and Eleanor and I are all starting what promises to be a roadtrip-to-never-forget tomorrow.

We are in need of prayer for a couple of things...safety for our trip and peace for Eleanor. She's pretty much a little emotional basketcase. She thrives on routines and consistency, and she has been totally thrown for a loop by this whole thing. She refuses to sleep in her crib. I'm not using the term "refuses" loosely...she becomes completely HYS-TER-I-CAL when it is time to sleep, and says, "No Mommy. No Mommy. I see Daddy," over and over again until I give in and stay with her. It breaks my heart to see her so upset, and I'm just praying that getting settled-in in Texas will be just what she needs.

So, not sure when I'll be back on. Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers and sweet e-mails!!