Sleep deprivation at its "best"

These last couple of weeks have just been tough. There has been so much going on, both at work and at home, and it has just been overwhelming. So, as usual, apologies for the lack of posts. I was going to post last night, and downloaded the pictures to get ready - and there were more than 100! So downloading the pictures took it all out of me and I went to bed. I'm trying again tonight. I think I can make it, but we'll see.

So, to catch everyone up on the last three weeks, here goes:

This is just one of those regular every day moments - Dakota being silly in her high chair and gobbling up her food. 

This is the day after her sick day - I had to take her to work with me in the morning, where she screamed pretty much the whole morning (not so awesome). But, I got her home for lunch, I got her to sleep, and when she woke up, she was a whole new baby. This baby does not look like she barely could stay awake the day before. She got fussy later on, but you gotta grab the smiles when you can catch them.

She pulled this one together herself - just chillin' on the soccer ball. She's such a little firecracker. One of her teachers mentioned to me the other day that when she gets mad, she's a whole different person! It's quite true. She is silly and sweet and loving. But when she is mad or frustrated, she screams, throws, bites, all at once. We're definitely going to be using reward systems and soothing tools with this little girl as she gets older.

I haven't taken a swimming picture in a long time, so I tried to get one good one. I'll get another video one of these days. Jayden is so proficient in the swimming pool. I no longer have to be in the pool with him when he's swimming. An adult always has to be watching, obviously, but I can sit on the side with Dakota while Jayden swims, and he is completely safe. It's pretty cool.

And then, after swim class, the three of us were off to Albuquerque! My mom's mom died when she was 36 (my mom was only 18), so I never met her. August 10 would have been her birthday, so my mom's side of the family gathered in Albuquerque (their mostly home base) to celebrate her life and to have a family reunion. Carmen was supposed to have to work on Sunday, so he couldn't come. Of course, his work trip was cancelled a few days before we left, but he took the opportunity to get a weekend to himself while I braved four flights and two layovers (there and back) by myself with a one and four year old. Oof.
The best part was that I learned our flight to Phoenix was delayed before swim class that morning. I had a very short layover, so any delays meant that I would likely miss my connecting flight. There was only one more flight to Albuquerque after mine that night, so luckily Carmen is fancy and was able to secure me seats on that flight. I also had the option of flying out of LAX and flying direct. In case I ever ask you in the future, ALWAYS take the direct flight. Even driving to LAX, it's totally worth it. Oh well - live and learn, I guess. In any case - we were supposed to leave Santa Ana at 12:30. We left at 2:30. Then our "new" second flight was delayed. We didn't land until about 10 pm. Then I had to gather our suitcase and TWO car seats, take the shuttle to the rental car, find the rental car and then install two car seats while the one year old ran around the parking lot. Thank goodness there was nobody else there, otherwise I would have had to put her in the trunk or something! By the time we got to the hotel, around 11 pm, I was done. More than done.
I will say - the kids were great. Dakota got fussy, but that's to be expected. Jayden was amazing. And even with her fussiness, Dakota was still pretty good. I am lucky I have relatively even-tempered kids. I just wish they would sleep on airplanes!

This was the moment our second airplane pulled into the gate in Phoenix. We had seen about 15 airplanes like this one go past, and each time we were thinking "this has got to be it!" And each time we were wrong. So when this one pulled in, we almost didn't believe it.

Another note - there was another family traveling on the plane - mom, dad, two sisters and a brother with a developmental disability. Somehow their seats got messed up, the girls weren't cooperating, and it was imperative for the brother that he be able to see either the mother or father, and preferable that he sit with one of them. The girls sat across the aisle from me, and the mom and brother sat in the row in front of them (after much hassle and hems and haws from the people surrounding them, including one gentleman who finally moved after being asked). I was wracking my brain trying to think of how I could help, but I really couldn't do much since I already had three people in two seats and couldn't really leave Jayden!
In any case, there was a couple behind me who made some comments about the problems the family was causing. I just smiled a hopefully encouraging/sympathetic smile at the mom and did what I could to help the girls across the way. The younger girl had been watching Dakota so we smiled and "played" across the aisle together. I helped the younger girl with her seatbelt at one point and the mom turned around and said "thank you." I looked at her and said "we're moms - it's just what we do." And at the end of the flight, I made sure to tell her that her girls did amazing and I was so proud of them for being brave and sitting by themselves (one was probably five and the other maybe 10). The older girl was very helpful, and really made it easier for the younger girl. I just felt so bad that the mom got any grief at all for having to ask to sit next to her son with a disability. And the flight attendant was no help whatsoever, which disappointed me the most. 

Sunday morning we had a graveside service for who would have been Grandma Betty. I regret that I never met her, but this service taught me more about her than I had ever known before. From everything I heard, she was an amazing woman, wife, mother, advocate, comedian and generally caring person. RIP Betty Jean Weaver.

(my) Grandad and (my) Mom. Sharing moments talking about Betty Jean.

Dakota and I ended up in almost matching outfits, totally by accident.

Also, if I can ever figure out how to recreate this pose, I will pose in all of my pictures like this. Then I don't have to lose any weight - although if I don't lose any weight, I will have to buy a new wardrobe... Hm, toss up there, although I do love shopping.

Betty Jean Weaver.
She loved people.

This is a recreation of a picture taken many years ago - in one of the funnier and at the same time more touching moments of the weekend, we went to Betty's parent's old house. It is no longer occupied by anyone we know, so Grandad had gone out there a few months ago on a scouting trip and had asked if we could come by and recreate this photo and generally see the house. They said "sure." Then we show up and we are 30+ deep, and we all were wondering if these people realized what they were getting into! We traipsed all over the house, through their yard, into the back yard, etc. They were very gracious about it, but I bet they never again agree to let some random people come visit a home they lived in many years ago.
My sister has the original picture - I don't have it, but it's very cute that this was part of the weekend. Also, just lovely that all the kids could make it and that there was so much love, sarcasm and all around sibling love with these five.

Jayden's first sopapilla. An important moment in his young life. 

All the cousins (first, second, once removed, etc. - who knows, but they're related somehow!) playing on the floor of the restaurant. It was very sweet.

Three generations heading to dinner: Jayden, Mom/Gramma and Grandad/Great-Grandad

Gramma in her element with the young ones. The little girl on the right is Greta, the daughter of my cousin Carly.

Monday morning we hit up old town Albuquerque, one of my favorite places. It's full of galleries, shops and other souvenir-type stores. They also have local artists who bring their wares (usually jewelry) and sell it from blankets on the sidewalk. I have lots of memories of wandering old town when we used to visit when I was young. There are beautiful colors and classic New Mexico buildings. I adored this tall blue door, and Dakota stood out perfectly sitting next to it.

Auntie looking beautiful in New Mexico too. :)

This also helps you understand just how big the door is, since Ellen is close to six feet. (Ellen, like what I did there? Just rounded up a bit?!?)

Dakota smiles.

As usual, Jayden looking serious. But he was having fun. And he got a bead bracelet from one of the local artists which he was very excited about.

Siblings. Not quite posing cutely, but close enough.

And then, after lunch, it was time to fly home. By the grace of whatever higher power you believe in, Dakota fell asleep right when we got on the second plane and slept until just before we landed. I let Jayden play Angry Birds, and I just sat there and relaxed. AND we got a whole row to ourselves, thank goodness. It was a wonderful trip, and I am grateful I was able to go and take the kids with me, but I was so so grateful to be home too.

Jayden loves watching the suitcases come down the chute, but I needed to actually grab the suitcase and get the car seats too.  So I let him stand and watch and tell me when the suitcase was coming. If I could photoshop out the people behind him, you might think he was at a garden or something.

Jayden showing his expertise on the monkey bars. He handles them with such ease.

And then, Wednesday, August 10, we had a mid-week date night to see Adele in L.A.

She is incredible. If you get the chance, GO SEE HER. The show is all about her music, and it is just incredible.

And to continue the whirlwind, on Friday, the whole family flew to San Francisco, and then drove many miles north to Mendocino area to celebrate one of my friend's marriage. It was definitely foggy in the bay, and shortly after this, the traffic was just a disaster. It took us FOUR hours to drive to the wedding location. Thank goodness the wedding wasn't until Saturday, because otherwise we would have missed it.

Dakota was grateful for the freedom to run around after the four hour drive. The wedding was at an inn owned by the bride's aunt out in Philo, California, which is about 20-30 miles off the 101, on windy, curvy roads up and down hills. Those roads are not fun to drive in the dark, let me tell you. I think I scared Carmen the first one or two times I drove them. I got better as I got more practice, but I was so happy when Sunday morning came and I only had to drive straight down the 101 to get out of there!

We stayed in Ukiah, because the only accommodations near the inn were bed and breakfasts and I took too long to make our reservations. BUT it meant we got to visit this awesome park with a rocket ship on Saturday morning before the wedding. It was really hot, like 90+ degrees hot, so we didn't stay too long. But it was good for both kids to run around and get some energy out.

They also had this awesome fallen tree that Jayden could climb on. We counted TWO MILLION rings. Well, not quite that many - but still a lot. It was a really big tree. 

Set up for the wedding. So amazingly beautiful.

They had a polaroid selfie station. Jayden and I got a good one. :) I adore Jayden's expression in this one.

Dakota, with the incredible view behind her. This was before she peed all over her outfit and partly on my outfit. I was trying to avoid changing her in the (really nice) port-a-pottys, but the potty everywhere ruined that goal. Ah well.

 We made it back home Sunday, and had quite a week. Work has been destroying me recently - I worked at least two hours at home every night this week, after working a full day pretty much every day. Carmen had his rotator cuff (shoulder) surgery on Tuesday morning, so Enid arrived Monday afternoon and stayed until Friday to take care of Carmen and help with the kids since I had to work late Thursday night. I was so grateful Enid came - there is no way I could have handled it all, since Carmen really needed someone home with him Tuesday through Friday. It is still not easy now, because Carmen is in much more pain that he was expecting, but hopefully it will heal quickly (like his achilles has) and he will start feeling better about everything.

Friday night was back to school night at Children's Village. We mostly went to Room 5, Jayden's room, because he will have the most changes this year as this class becomes a sort of "pre-kindergarten." He actually will have homework every week, and they will more "academic" goals this year. I'm a little worried about the homework part of it, but we'll survive. And as far as the goals are concerned, one of them is for the kids to count to 30, and eventually 100. Jayden can count to 30 now, and can get close to 100, so I think he'll be okay there.
I'm more worried about his writing - mostly because he doesn't like to do it. But he can write his name. It's hard to see in this picture, but he wrote his name under his picture. He has a big J (with two little "j"s inside it) and then all the other letters. So I know he can do it. He just doesn't like to do it because he can't do it perfectly.
That's one of my challenges with him, is his need to be "perfect." Today he didn't want to color something because he might go outside the lines. I showed him that when I had colored something on Dakota's paper I had already gone outside the lines, and that's totally fine! And then he started coloring. But he often doesn't like to do things if he can't do them the way he thinks they should be done. 

And finally, we are home for a weekend. We were back at swim class this morning. Afterwards, we tried to run a quick errand and then go to lunch. Well, during the "quick" errand, Jayden completely melted. He threw himself on the ground, he refused to leave, he just lost it. I ended up having to literally hold him down to get him in to his carseat. He screamed and cried the entire ride home. At home, he knocked multiple things off counters, including swiping a handful of blueberries off of Dakota's highchair tray while she was trying to eat them. It was a disaster. He finally calmed down enough to eat lunch, and then get to sleep. He was still fussy afterwards, but much more reasonable.

Thursday night both kids were disasters  - Dakota was up from 2 am to 4:30 am and Jayden was up from 3 am to 4 am. When Dakota was in my arms, she was fine. The minute I put her in her crib, she'd stand up, scream and throw her hands in the air. It was horrible. I believe her stomach was hurting her, but I didn't realize that until the morning when I woke her up a little after 7. I had worked late Thursday, got home around 10 and then had more work to do, so I didn't get to bed until about 12:30. And I had to go to work Friday morning on time, so I was up at 6:15 to get ready. So, if you're doing the math, I slept from 12:30 am to 2:00 am and from 4:30 am to 6:15 am. Needless to say, Friday was a rough day.

You know it's bad when you get a 32 ounce soda at 9:00 am. One of my rules is that I don't drink soda until lunch - but there was no chance of making it on Friday. I have been averaging about six hours of sleep per night, which is not nearly enough. So, after a few weeks of six hours per night, to get three hours in two chunks was just too much for me. It's a miracle I (sort of) kept it together during Jayden's meltdown today. I definitely had tears streaming down my face while I was driving home. 

But, like I said, the afternoon was better. Jayden, Dakota and I spent some time in the pool while Carmen watched the Olympics. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was nice to just be outside and to relax. And the kids are pretty cute:

Sibling love, relaxing in the pool. Even though I'm not in the picture, don't worry, I was always within arms reach of Dakota in case she decided to dive overboard (which she has a tendency to do...)

And tomorrow we have absolutely no plans, except that I have to get to a grocery store. I'd love to get a run in, but that may not be possible, we'll see. I have Monday off (although I have appointments from 11-4, so it's only sort of off), so I'm hoping to for sure get a run in on Monday morning. That will help both my mental and physical health, which are both in need of help right now!

The one non-kid related item (or non-my kid related item, I guess), is this:
We won our Ninth Circuit appeal a couple weeks ago! This is huge for us. There has been quite a bit of press on it, and there is more to come. We met with our client Thursday morning to go over everything, and there were definitely tears. This has been four years for us, but close to ten years for her of fighting this debt - and a roller coaster of emotions, thinking she's done, realizing she's not, thinking she's done, realizing she's not, etc.

Here is PLC's press release and some of the press so far:
http://www.publiclawcenter.org/orange-county-mother-wins-ninth-circuit-ruling-bankruptcy-case/

https://thinkprogress.org/everything-wrong-with-how-our-justice-system-treats-poor-people-in-one-awful-case-bfd91a6fa114#.rbo1v5kgk

http://www.ocweekly.com/news/federal-court-ocs-hounding-of-mom-for-sons-juvie-detention-debt-disturbing-7434858

http://www.trialinsider.com/?p=6426

We've heard there will likely be a few more articles too - I'm talking to another reporter Tuesday, and our local paper, the Orange County Register, spoke to our client Friday. It's still not for sure - Probation could appeal, or ask for a rehearing, but they did tell a reporter that they plan to comply with the opinion and plan to let the opinion stand. We'll see. 

Oh, and one more thing - I was quoted in the New York Times! It's not any kind of amazing quote, but the article featured one of PLC's clients and discussed the problems with third party debt collectors. Enjoy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/business/dealbook/debt-collectors-abuses-prompt-consumer-agency-to-propose-new-rules.html?_r=0

And now, here's hoping I get some real sleep tonight. I just need one night of no kids waking up between the hours of 8 pm and 6:30/7 am. I'm not even asking to sleep past 6:30 am - I realize that's not realistic - I'm just asking for eight hours uninterrupted. Please don't laugh. It has to actually be possible!

Social butterflies and worker bees

The last week or so has just been busy for me. I've had an evening work event, I had a work party at our house, I was on a panel this Saturday. Then Sunday I saw a friend in the morning and then went to the concert at the zoo in the evening. There has been a lot going on. But still, we were getting the kids a decent amount of sleep, and they seemed relatively healthy. Until last night/this morning, when Dakota spiked a temperature of 103/104. Now 104 is basically the danger zone where you are 80% of the way to the ER. I didn't end up taking her, but I did get her into the doctor this morning. And - yup, lucky us - she has two pretty bad ear infections. Poor girl. She has been miserable today. She literally slept all day, and then went to bed at about 7. She'd wake up, drink some water, eat maybe 8 blueberries, and then cry until I put her back to bed. Towards the evening, she was finally showing signs of life again. Hopefully she is much closer to her old self tomorrow and can go back to school on Wednesday. Of course Carmen has to go to San Diego tomorrow, so childcare is, once again, on me. Luckily all I have is a filing deadline and an attorney leaving (whose cases I am apparently taking over, even though that was not part of the deal).

Wallace kids on a Paw Patroller. Wait until you see the video!

Running buddy #1

Running Buddy #2

Buddy #2 is not the best running buddy if you're actually trying to run. He likes to take water breaks, to stop suddenly, and to sometimes smell the roses - or just look at their thorns. And if you see an airplane?!? Forget about it.
It doesn't make him a bad running buddy, it just means you have to manage your own expectations going in.

Running through the sprinklers! Because it is HOT.

At Sunsets at the Zoo, jamming to some music. 

Towards the end of the night. I promise, Jayden really did have fun.

Dakota being silly. She thinks every time she tilts her head to the side she's being hilarious. So we all laugh to accommodate her. Because that makes her laugh. And there's not much better than a cute baby laughing.

Jayden used Auntie's bathtub paint to make a butterfly! You have to turn it sideways and squint a little, but it's a pretty good butterfly. The purple paint is a hit, Auntie!
(oh, except that Dakota likes to eat it and nothing on the container says non-toxic; in fact, it says "keep away from eyes and mouth." So yeah, except that it is poisoning my one year old, it's totally awesome.)

At the end of swim class with Maxwell, balancing on the surfboard. 

I mean, seriously. I can't even stand it. This is probably one of my favorite outfits ever. Nordstrom carries this kids clothing brand called Peek Kids, and I adore it. They have these cute t-shirts with quotes on them. This shirt has a quote by Einstein that says "Creativity is contagious. Pass it on." I just bought one (at the Anniversary Sale - yay!) that has some other inspirational quote on there. In a world of girl clothes that all say "I'm so cute," I love that there are girl clothes that are cute (and comfortable and soft) but that are also smart and inspirational.

Jayden with his cat ears at the Sunset at the Zoo. All the kids got them because they were promoting some cat movie there. Jayden's style, where he has the headband in front of his ears, is all his own though.

Poor baby Dakota was not so happy at the concert. I made a judgment call - letting her cuddle/sleep with Daddy made more sense than fighting Jayden to leave early. Who knows if it was the right call or not, but it's done, so we're going with it. Either way I would have had to stay home with her today, so I don't think it impacted her health all that much.

Goodbye hugs. These two are such cute friends. Even when they're getting frustrated with each other. Maxwell: "Jayden, if you don't want to be a cheetah, then you don't have to play the animal game with us." And then Jayden getting sad and saying "I DO want to play!" And then they started arguing about whether a cheetah or a jaguar was faster. One went ten hours and the other went twenty hours. Tough call. Not sure exactly what they were measuring. :)

I love these bicycle pictures. I don't know if you can really tell, but he picked out a yellow camo-type sock and a purple sock today. And pulled them both up as far as they could go. And picked out a bright green sock and a mint green polka-dot sock for Dakota. I seriously just love his style.

My poor sick baby today, during one of her 15 minute periods of being awake.

Mom, I don't know if you can tell, but the blanket we used all day was my baby blanket. It was the perfect weight to keep her warm, but not overly hot. So glad we're getting to use it!

And now it is once again past my bedtime. Hope you all are doing well, and getting ready for August! Seriously. It's August. TODAY! I don't even know what to do about that. Time really flies. Jayden is about to be five. Dakota is about to be fifteen months. In four months she'll be out of the baby room. I don't even know what to do with myself.