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!