Sunday, April 6, 2008

Projects

Tonight while I was making dinner Dan was busy doing some jobs around the house, so I didn't have help with keeping the kids out of the kitchen. I hate trying to cook with little people under my feet! But I broke out the playdoh and they played quietly until dinner time! I have a new love for the maker of playdoh.

Thank you Playdoh!
Chair Project
I've been saying that I'm going to re-cover my kitchen chairs since we moved more than two years ago. The kids have managed to get them nice and dirty and I just don't have it in me to spot clean them. So I bought some fabric and, with the help of my lovely friend Kate, re-covered them last night. I think they look a lot better! I am seriously contemplating making vinyl slipcovers for the kid's chairs, but it seems like something only a grandma would do. I did at least scotch guard the fabric so hopefully it will help repel some of the stains.

Before-Ugly stained chair

After-Nice striped chair
Paci Project
It's a good thing the chair project went so well, because the paci project has been a disaster so far. I decided yesterday that Ava is ready to give up her pacifier. She only uses it at naptime and bedtime but she's starting to try and keep it after she wakes up. So I thought she was getting too attached and it was time to say goodbye. I've been telling her for a while now that we were going to give her pacis away to the babies so I told her in the morning that she was a big girl now and the babies needed them. She didn't seem to care. Until nap time.

When it was time for her nap she went down ok with her blanket and bear and was quiet for a few minutes. Then the screaming started. She never mentioned the paci, just cried and screamed "mommy" "daddy" "bottle please" "all done" etc. It was so sad. She would calm down a bit and then work herself up again. This went on for more than two hours! I would check on her every 20 minutes or so, but we finally gave up and got her up. So she had no nap. She didn't even seem tired.

At bedtime I thought it would be much better because she must have been exhausted. And it was! I told her she would get a prize in the morning if she went to sleep like a big girl with no paci and no crying. She cried a little, but was asleep within ten minutes. Yay! She woke up around 12:15 am and screamed for two and a half hours. We would take turns trying to rock her and calm her, but nothing was really working. She didn't want to be rocked, she had taken her pants off and wouldn't let us put them back on, she was just mad! We finally brought her into our bed, but she was still so angry that she wouldn't lie down and she kicked and screamed some more so we put her back in her bed. About half an hour later she was still screaming "mommy's room" so we tried it again and she finally fell asleep with us. I think it was like 3. Then she woke up at 6:15 this morning. She will NOT be getting a prize.

I am seriously wondering if I even care if she has a pacifier at night. Is it worth it? I feel horrible letting her scream like that and I can't get any rest until she's quiet. At least I won't be here tonight so Dan will have to deal with it. We are so exhausted we may skip church this morning. I can't imagine bringing Ava to the nursery! I hope she gets the hang of it soon. I seem to remember 3 days being the magic number for getting kids used to a change.

9 comments:

Kate said...

aww. poor himmels. and yes, the chairs look effing fanTAStic! although... i'm pretty sure i scotch-garded while you took care of the light and any errant arachnids. :-)

Anonymous said...

I love the chair covers. Good choice of fabric!
Love, Mom

Lindsay said...

Love the passy, hate getting rid of it! Hence, Marin still is using hers. I keep thinking it needs to be soon but I need to gear up for that!
Your chairs look great. That is the wonderful thing about upholstered seat covers, it's so easy to change. If you change the colors in your house or they get dirty just re-do them, that's what we do!

Kathy said...

LOVE the chairs...good job!!!
Just let the kids drop whatever they want on them...now you know how to change them and make them beautiful!!!
Oh....the paci. We've been told by two different docs to get rid of ours..but, it's Isaac's comfort...and I can't bring myself to do it. AND my 5 year old is a thumb sucker...and I can't bring myself to cut off his thumbs to stop him either. I'll just pay for braces and speech therapy! No harm!
Kathy

Jessica said...

I say, if you're really dedicated to breaking her of the paci, then wait it out the three days. If nothing else she'll be so exhausted from screaming all day and night that she'll have to fall asleep eventually!
:)
Not much comfort, I know.
We never really had major paci issues. Elizabeth rejected hers on her own (to our dismay) and Dylan prefers his own thumbs (also to our dismay).

I have a chair recovering project all set for tomorrow! Just need to get the staple gun from Bob...

Unknown said...

Man have we been there with the pacifier! They say "pick your battles" & at 3am it seems to be a silly battle. I wish 3 days was all it took for us but Abby was seriously addicted! It took us a long time & until she decided she was done on her own it was a usless battle on our parts. But then Abby is one of the most strong willed people in the world, so it, I'm sure it won't be as hard for you. Good luck! I remember Gina had a good idea for getting rid of paci, but I can't remember what it was...you should ask her! Good luck!
Allison

Anne Marie said...

I totally feel your pain- Owen does the same violent, relentless kicking and screaming when he's half asleep and miserable about something. You guys are doing good- it's easy to question whether getting rid of the Paci is worth all the screaming. It's up to you, but I say, try to stick it out because if she does see that Paci again, she's probably going to hang on to it even tighter. Owen's made it 3 weeks now, and he's getting a better night time routine down. He even made it through a whole trip this weekend and only asked for it once at night. He's gotten to the point where he say's "Please, have my binky... no, please have water." So, there is hope- 3 days was not our magic number, it's taken about 2-3 weeks- but Owen's not so great at dealing with change. Good luck- and, nice chairs!

Anonymous said...

Go with your gut Andrea. Your gut obviously said in the begining to 86 the paci so stay strong. Yes it will be tough and may last a long time but when it is over and done with you will all forget how tough it was.

Unknown said...

Wow..your chairs look great!

I give you alot of credit for trying to get rid of the paci. Arianna uses hers for naps, bedtime, car rides, and thats about it. She used to have that thing in her mouth 24/7 so I'm happy that we have limited her with that. All I know is that I'm not at all looking forward to the day when I take the paci away.

By the way, I was reading up on all your posts and have to tell you I am so sorry you had such a hard time with the pharmacy. We've been lucky to only have Arianna on 1 medication and we haven't had any problems. I could just imagine how frustrating that must of been for you. Glad it's taken care of.

Can't wait to hear the results of Drew's blood work. I am still so upset about our lab losing Arianna's blood.

Hope you all have a blessed week!