Testing 1,2,3...Testing 1,2,3

Oh my gosh what a l.o.n.g. week this has been. Maisie's sleep continues to be atrocious, waking up every-single-night in the wee hours of the morning for a good hour or so and then still getting up at sparrows fart to start her day. She did nap twice this week but both were hard fought and way to brief. During the night she wakes up screaming and it takes a long time to settle her back down. I've asked if she's having bad dreams or what wakes her up but she seems unable or unwilling to voice what is going on. I hope that this phase passes for Maisie as I hate that something is causing her pain and bothering her and I hope that this phase passes for me as I need a full nights sleep.

Maybe it's because Maisie's over-tired or maybe it's because she's three, or a combination of the two but the girl is testing, testing, testing and pushing limits. I feel like a broken record counting to three and sending her time-out, in fact we were late to school twice this week because she was spending so much of those mornings in time-out. When Maisie's over-tired she she seems to go faster and faster, spiraling into attitude and bad behavior, oh how I wish that she would be able to sit back, relax and chill but this is my girl and we'll work through this. Oh and to top it off, we've had rain all week so confinement & Maisie...not a good mix!

So to calm my frazzled nerves and to give my over worked and stressed hubby something fun to look forward to, I went and booked another trip! Come October Eammon, Maisie and I are going on our first cruise, I'm so excited. Since we're heading to the western Caribbean for a week, during hurricane season, I'm keeping everything crossed that the weather smiles on us and that we have a great trip. Hopefully too, things with Maisie will have settled down and life and sleep will be normal again as we now have five trips planned for this year! Just in case anyone may be interested in meeting up with us, we're heading to Boston/Hartford/Nashua in June, Salt Lake City in July, cruising in October...yeah, Aruba the beginning of December and London to finish off 2009 and begin 2010! Gosh, just typing all that makes me smile and forget about our trying week.

In other news, this coming week I should be posting Maisie's 100th bento over on Maisie Eats Bento. To celebrate I'm doing a bento giveaway so pop on over and give yourself a chance to win a nice stash of bento items. If you've never packed bento, the giveaway is a great starter set and really everything you would need and if you already pack bento, what an easy way to add to your collection.

This morning we ventured out through pouring rain to meet up and have coffee with Kathy & Chani. It was nice to be able to sit down and chat with Kathy as between our schedules we barely get the opportunity to see one another. The girls were both on good behavior and spent time coloring, playing with stickers and for Maisie, with Chani in tow a couple of times, seeing how many times she could use the bathroom and wash her hands. Check out the cute hairband that Chani is sporting, Kathy made it. We tried to get Maisie to wear it but no go. I'm going to have to try again as Kathy's hairbands are so pretty!

The girl's out to kill me!

Last Saturday I posted that I was rested and ready to take on the week. Maisie though decided that I had gotten too much well deserved and needed rest and did her best to suck the life out of me all week. She seems to have decided that sleep is unnecessary for both of us. All week long she managed to skip her nap by never slowing down. I'd put her in bed for a nap and she'd jump around, go the bathroom 8,000 times, change her clothes, sing songs and constant calling to me, basically anything to avoid sleep. So you'd think she'd be tired at night but no such luck. Instead of going to bed and falling to sleep between her usual 7:30 & 8:00PM, she'd still be wide awake and wired until 9:30 or 10:00PM. Then she'd wake up at 2am and want to play or eat something, staying awake for an hour or more only to fall back to sleep to wake up for the day around 7am. I don't know how she was functioning on such little sleep but let me tell you, I was definitely dragging my tush around.

Even though exhausted (both of us), cranky (oh yeah, that would be both of us too), we still did our usual activities. Friday morning Maisie and I went to Miss Tina where Maisie got her haircut. Usually Maisie's just interested in eating her cookies and letting Tina do her thing but this time Maisie actually paid attention and was checking her self out and making sure that her hair was styled properly.

I'm so happy that spring is here and we've been having some really nice weather allowing us to be outside more. Got to get it in before the heat and humidity arrive. Funny thing though, here it is the first full day of spring and I was craving a roasted veggie soup...go figure. I made a delicious and easy Curried & Roasted Veggie Soup which is great served either hot or chilled and even Eammon, the squash hater thought the soup FABU. Go check it out over at Cook Lisa Cook.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Maisie rocks with videos

Oh my gosh, it's been almost two weeks since my last post. In addition to both Maisie and I being sick, I just haven't felt like blogging, being online or even opening up the computer. I've had back-to-back days go by where the computer remained unused and other than a quick check of email via my iPhone I was unplugged. You know, it was sort of nice...Being unplugged, not the sickness bit.

Maisie's thankfully over her stomach bug but before this latest sickness departed our home, it decided to kick me in the tush too...Not fun.

To celebrate the departure of the stomach bug I decided to book yet another trip. So now on our 2009 travel calendar we have Boston in June, Salt Lake City in July, Aruba the beginning of December and London to finish off the year and to ring in 2010.

Back on February 27th Maisie attended the "invitation only" team tryouts at her gym. The tryouts were from 5-7PM and even though that was at the end of a long and very busy day, the beginning of her not feeling well AND her being nap free that day, the girl rocked!! She's not eligible to be on a competitive team until she's five so she was trying out for one of the pre-competitive developmental teams. This past year she was on Fireflies and I figured that she'd move up a level to Hot Shots but instead she was invited to join the Jr. Pre-team, Go Maisie!! Maisie and one other girl from her current team will be on Jr. Pre-team and her other current teammates will be on Hot Shots. Maisie really loves her teammates and come June when the new season starts, she'll really miss being with all her friends. Check out the two Maisie gymnastics videos at the bottom of the post as I think they're pretty impressive for a three year old. But of course it's MY three year old so I'm just a proud, boasting Mama. (And yes, in the top video she is wearing her beloved Little Einstein p.j's and Princess shoes.)

The weather lately has been killing me. On Sunday two weeks ago we had snow, last Sunday it was 80 degrees and Maisie helped Eammon wash his car and this weekend is cold and rainy. One week from spring and I'm ready for some consistently warm Georgia weather.

I just bought Maisie's a hula-hoop and it's her new favorite toy. The girl's really coordinated and can get 6, 7, 8 revolutions going before it drops. Give her a week or so and I'll bet she'll be able to keep it going for minutes at a time. I love that she's having so much fun with it as I have good memories of using mine when I was a child.

I still don't get Facebook and barely ever venture there. I must not go very often as everyone is complaining about the new look and home page and I didn't notice nor do I notice any difference.

Eammon walked in on this conversation and was a bit stunned:
Maisie: But Mummy why is he so sad?
Me: Because you keep breaking his arm off.
Once he realized we were playing with Mr. Potato Head, his concerns were laid to rest.

Back in November when I was in the hospital some medical issues were discovered but this month I got only positive medical news and all those problems are worries no longer. Also positive is that meds that I've been taking since days before leaving for China back in December 2006 are done, finished and outta here!! Hopefully the side effects from taking those meds will quickly vanish too and it will all be just a distant memory.

Today I didn't get out of bed until 4:17 and that wasn't A.M it was P.M.! I just really needed a day to sleep late, relax, read and doze at will. Eammon took Maisie out for brunch and they did a little shopping and it was nice. I feel so refreshed and ready to take on another busy week with the whirling dervish Maisie.

The top video was taken today and the bottom video was taken at Maisie's gym back on February 23rd.

Sick day

Little Maisie's home sick today with what appears to be a stomach bug. Poor little thing has thrown up a couple of times and is running a fever. She's even laying down and resting which is so unlike her, I can't even remember the last time she willingly stayed still and in one spot for any length of time. She now has her own little bucket which hopefully won't be needed but in the meantime, the sanitary cycle on the washing machine is getting a good workout.

Snow day

It's snowing in Georgia today and in Atlanta there are actually white-out conditions! In our area the snow isn't accumulating on paved areas and from the radar images, the storm should pass today and tomorrow the snow will hopefully be a distant memory. I moved south from New England to get away from weather like this!!

I was on a roll doing five posts in a week and then nothing for this past week. The week seemed so busy and before I knew it, it was over. Eammon was in Houston all week for business and I managed to get quite sick before he went away. But thanks to my new three day rule*, I went to the doctor before I got really sick and landed myself in the hospital again.

Maisie is such a character and her new favorite love is band aids. I have to limit her daily access as she'd go through an entire box covering all her imagined aches, pains and spots that are bleeding. How do I know that all the aches and pains are imagined? Because no matter where she hurts, she always requests that the band aid be put on her pointer finger.

On Friday I booked three trips and I'm so excited. In June Maisie and I will be heading up to Boston to visit friends and then in July we're going out to Utah to see some of our bloggy friends. In December Maisie and I will be going to stay with my parents in Aruba. After last year of almost no travel, this should be a fun year.

Today's Eammon's birthday and we're just enjoying a quiet snow day at home with an home cooked steak dinner on the menu for tonight.

* Since being so sick back in November and landing in the hospital for two weeks, I decided that I needed to be better about taking care of myself when I get sick. Now if I'm sick for three days and I don't seem to be getting better I call the doctor.