Bedtime Issues

Brayden is going through a phase right now that is not working out for me. I'm not even sure that you could call it a phase yet because it's only been happening since Thursday.

He is having issues being scared at bedtime. I have no idea what triggered it. I honestly have no idea if it's real or if it started out being an excuse to get out of bed and he's figured out that it works like a charm every night.

But Thursday night, he kept getting out of bed and saying that he was scared to sleep in his room. I normally put Brayden in bed for the night around 8:30. Well, he was still up at my normal bedtime of 10:00 saying he was scared. (Oh yeah, this was going on that night I was writing that post and he kept getting up) Soooo, by that point, Tyler & I just wanted to be able to go to sleep so we gave in and let Brayden sleep in our bed. Oh, the humanity!

[Let me interject here with a little bit of important info: Brayden has never slept in our bed or our room. It's just not something we wanted to deal with. As a baby he slept in a pack & play, then he moved to his crib, then to his big boy bed. We've never had issues with him wanting to sleep in our bed because his entire life has consisted of him sleeping in his own room. So, now that we're having this issue I've realized some things: when I'm falling asleep at night and when I wake up in the morning, I love him being in our bed. I love feeling his little body right up against me as I'm falling asleep and I love waking up to his sweet face every morning. However, I do not love waking up several times a night because I'm about to fall off the bed or because his leg is propped up on my side like I'm only there to serve as his prop. This is why I need a solution!! I work people - I need sleep!]

This is not us, obviously :)

Friday night we went to the Halloween store and there was a spider there that jumped out at you if you stepped on a button. It scared Brayden to death every time, but he kept stepping on the button so obviously he really loved it or he has other issues. When we got home, I opened my door of the car and this bug came flying in that I couldn't see. But I could hear it. And I promise it sounded like a raptor. Yes it sounded like a dinosaur. I promise. I screamed bloody murder and jumped out of the car. You can imagine what effect this had on Brayden. He too started screaming and when I ran around to get him out of his seat, the bug flew in the back seat making that awful noise. At this point, I saw the bug and it was only about 3 inches long, but still. Brayden was crying and shaking and he had his legs clenched together so hard I couldn't even unbuckle his car seat. I finally got him out and we got in the house, but at this point, I knew there was no way he was sleeping in his bed that night. I attempted to put him in his bed but when he came out 30 seconds after I walked out, I gave in and let him sleep in our bed again. It was a traumatic experience, ok?!

Saturday night, he fell asleep on the way home from Shelby so I carried him to his bed and he woke up, but went back to sleep on his own. However, he woke up about 1:30 and came in our room saying he was scared. (One thing I should mention: if he ever comes in our room after I'm asleep he pretty much climbs into it without a fight from me because I just.want.to.sleep.)

Sunday night, we had more of the same thing. 8:30 to 10:00 up numerous times saying he was scared. Scared of the shadows, scared of his playroom because it was dark, scared of the bug (yeah, the same bug from 2 nights before). By 10, his daddy caved in and let him get in our bed. This has to stop!

But here's the thing: I am not ok with him really being scared and us just forcing him to sit in his room and try to get over it. We are his protectors. As he grows up, I want him to know that no matter how scared he is, his mom & dad will always be there to comfort him and be in his corner. I will not allow him to sit in his room in fear just so we can sleep soundly.

But at the same time, I don't want to be taken for a fool by a 3 year old who has figured out how to work the system. You see my dilemma here?

I've already decided I'm going to cut the shows that have even a little violence that he's been watching. He has a light in his room so it's not like he's trying to go to sleep in the pitch dark. I've tried to explain to him that God created the dark so He's not scared of the dark and He will be watching over him while he tries to fall asleep - that didn't work.

I'm at my wits end and I need advice! I am hoping this passes as quickly as the rest of time seems to pass around here, but any suggestions in the mean time would be greatly appreciated!

Weekend in Review & Exciting News!

Well, another great weekend is in the books! This was our last low key weekend for a while. We've got Asher's birthday party next weekend, Bentley's party the weekend after that, and then we're going to the beach the first weekend in October! Yay!

Friday night we went to the Halloween store. Brayden has been talking about what he wants to be for Halloween for several weeks. He changes his mind pretty often so I'm not committing to anything until we get closer. Anyway, I told him we'd go to the Halloween store to get some ideas. He fell in love with several costumes, but I think he decided what he wants to be for sure. We didn't buy it so we'll give him a couple of weeks and make sure he still wants to be that. If he doesn't change his mind, he will more than likely be . . . a firefighter! :) I'm very happy with that choice so I hope he doesn't change his mind. At first he was leaning towards a tv character and I really want to avoid that!

After we left the Halloween store we went to eat dinner at one of my favorites! This was our view and it is even more beautiful at night than it is during the day.

 

Saturday we didn't do very much. Just went and got groceries and went to the park for a little bit. Saturday night we went down to the barn to have a little fun with the Thornburg clan. Debbie recently bought a horse swing that they hang from the rafters in the barn and the kids LOVE it.

Sunday we went to church, hung around the house, took a boat ride with Papa, and went back to church. The boat ride started out like this:

About halfway through, though, he ended up like this:

I'm pretty excited to announce a few things about my blog! I have officially bought my own domain name for my blog. The web address is now: www.hangingwiththehuttons.com. It will redirect you if you type in my old blog address, but I'm not sure how long that lasts. I've also signed up with Diamond Doll Designs to have my blog designed. I'm on the list for October so it will be a little while before my blog looks different, but I can't wait!

Hope you had a great weekend friends!

Cultivating A Heart for Jesus in Brayden

It is so important to me that Brayden grows up with a love for Jesus in his heart. I am so grateful to my mom for always displaying God's love throughout my life. (I type this as my child cries in his room because he doesn't want to go to sleep tonight. I feel a little hypocritical. ;))

Our pastor shared something on Father's Day (I think) & it was so eye opening to me. I had never thought about it before. He said you can't take anything with you to Heaven except for your children. Wow! Let that sink in! I want to make absolutely sure I do everything in this life to ensure Brayden (& any future children) spend eternity with me and Jesus. He also said that while it's important to show them how to strive for excellence academically and it's important to help them hone in on any athletic abilities they have, the most important thing to focus on is their spiritual lives and their love for God. What a great reminder that as he gets older, I should always remember to focus more on his relationship with his Heavenly Father than what grades he brings home or what extracurricular sports he participates in. Those things are important, but in the grand scheme of things they don't matter.

*Sidenote: He just came out of his room and told his daddy that he didn't get any loving from his baby girl mommy. I'm telling you, this kid is hilarious and really knows how to turn it on when he needs to. I'm sorry. Clearly I can't write posts until he is completely asleep.*

Obviously, one of the most important parts of teaching Bray about Jesus is leading by example and I feel like I'm not doing a very good job in this area. The main areas I need to work on are having love/compassion for other people and to stop being so judgmental. It is totally up to us as his parents to show him what's wrong and right. I really want to start doing some things with him to help him learn what showing love to other people is all about.

I pray that he'll have a group of close friends that he grows up in church with. I honestly believe that was one of the most effective aspects of my youth years. I had a core group of girls who were at church every time the doors were open praising God and we actually wanted to stay on the straight and narrow. I hardly dealt with peer pressure at all because of the people I surrounded myself with. That's what I want for Brayden.

I can not imagine spending eternity without my baby boy. I love him so much and I cannot imagine Heaven without him there. Sometimes, I wish God would go ahead and come get us now so I won't have to worry about Brayden growing up in this terrible world and so I'll know for sure he's going with me.

I can only pray that I'll do my part to show him the love of Jesus and teach him how to do his part to show the love of Jesus to others.

 

First Day of 3K

Yesterday was Brayden's first day of 3K.

Just for comparison, here is his first day of 2K last year:

This kid melts my heart!

Brayden is like me in a lot of ways. He likes to follow the rules and he wants other people to follow the rules. When we went to the McWane Center, he had to put things back where they belong. He also does not like change. Which is why I could sympathize with him this morning when he kept saying "I'm too scared to go to school, I don't want to go". I can sympathize because that's exactly how I felt the first day of school. I finally told him that even though I couldn't be there with him, God is always with him and he could talk to God any time throughout the morning if he was feeling anxious. When we were walking through the parking lot into the church, he said "God please be with me at school because I'm a little scared". The morning dragged by as I wondered how he was doing. Even though I don't have any more first days, I think I'll be just as nervous as Bray on his first day every year. When I picked him up, he said he had a great day and that he played with Enman, Anna Catherine, and Colin. He said he made some new friends but he couldn't remember their names. He asked if he was going back tomorrow.

So overall I think he had a great day!

Labor Day Weekend

We had an amazingly awesome, jam packed Labor Day weekend.

Saturday
On Saturday, I worked that sale I mentioned in my post from last weekend. Even though I had to be there at 6:00 6:50 and it was pretty hot outside, it was still a lot of fun. I got to hang out with some fun people and I got to work a cash register!! Best thing ever! When I got home from that, I was pooped! I got a shower and curled up on the couch with my favorite boy who I'd missed all day.

Sunday
Sunday we got invited to Todd's lake house and we decided to take him up on it. We got there about 11 and spent the day on the pier. Brayden really enjoyed the Mass Panic raft they had. His daddy did too. :)

The 3 of us got to take the jet ski for a ride and Brayden loved it!

After that we took a boat ride. Brayden got to help Uncle Todd drive a little bit.

He split his time between his daddy and me while we were riding.

I love this picture because it captures one of the many conversations he has with his daddy.

Brayden was struggling to stay awake toward the end of the ride, but he never fell asleep.

Todd grilled chicken for dinner and we had a great evening. The plan was to come home after dinner, but we decided to crash at the lake house. Sure, it meant I had to sleep in regular clothes and contacts, but it was fun. Ok, ok, it was a little too spontaneous for this Type A person but I survived! ;)

Monday
We woke up pretty early Monday morning to get ready to come home. The sunrise was so beautiful - it almost made the spontaneity worth it.

Once we got home, we met up with Nana to get Bray some new shoes for school. Tyler cooked a Boston Butt while we were gone shopping and brought it over to Mom's when we got home. We had a delicious dinner together to end a wonderful weekend!

Liebster Award! :)

When I first started blogging, I was doing it strictly for memory keeping purposes. I wanted it to be somewhat of a digital scrapbook since I knew I'd never have the time or creativity to do an actual scrapbook. I wanted to be able to print out my blog into a book and look back to see what we had done. My blog still mostly serves that purpose, but lately I've wanted it to be more. I love reading the blogs I've found - especially the posts about motherhood, serious and funny. I also love the recipe and fitness posts. I don't think I'll ever reach the point where I'm really inspiring people with my blog, but I want to make an honest effort. Which is why I was so excited when Brittany nominated me for the Liebster Award.

The Liebster Award is an award for new bloggers with less than 200 followers. It exists to help find new blogs to read and also help promote the blogs of people who don't have a huge following yet. Other than family and friends, I don't think anyone else reads my blog, which is why I was pretty excited that Brittany thought of me!

The criteria, should you accept this award, is as follows:

• Thank your nominator by linking back to their post.
• Answer 11 questions posed by your nominator.
• Make a list of 11 facts about yourself.
• Nominate 3-5 up and coming bloggers with 200 followers or less.
• Provide a list of 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
• Publish your post and contact your nominees with the awesome news!

Questions from Brittany:

1. What is your favorite song? Hmm, tough one. I love music so I don't know that I could nail down one favorite song. Pretty much any song by Casting Crowns (recently reminded again of how much I LOVE their music!) and Point of Grace

 

2. You have three hours to yourself - what do you do? Either take a nap or go walk around in any store by myself :)

 

3. What is the last book you read? The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer (would totally recommend it too)

 

4. What is your favorite candy? Oh wow, there are so many! Probably Swedish Fish or anything sour. I have to be in the mood for chocolate to crave it

 

5. What is the last movie you saw in theaters? I honestly have no idea. I don't like movies and I definitely don't like paying money to watch them

 

6. What do you love most about yourself? My work ethic

 

7. What is your favorite season? FALL!!!

 

8. When is the last time you had a date night? Maybe a month ago? I can't remember

 

9. Are you an early bird or night owl? In my pre-mommy life I was definitely a night owl. Now that I have a child who ALWAYS gets up in the 6:00 hour, I try to go to bed pretty early

 

10. What is your favorite Bible verse? Matthew 17:20:  He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

 

11. What is one of your family traditions? Opening new Christmas pajamas and a new ornament for the tree every Christmas Eve (the ornament is something I've started with Brayden; the pajamas are what my family did when I was growing up and I've continued it)

 

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I do not like to be touched. I even get uncomfortable when people around me touch each other.

2. Oddly enough, I touch my child all the time and cannot get enough hugs and kisses from him. He is the only one though!

3. I am extremely Type A personality. I can't stand when I'm not in control and I need to know what's going to happen ahead of time. I like to read the spoilers for the Bachelor so I'll know who is chosen before I watch it.

4. I do not like to clean house (I think this one could also read: I'm lazy).

5. I love to drive.

6. I am extremely introverted.

7. My primary love language is quality time.

8. I love ice cream.

9. I love to get new clothes, but I hate shopping.

10. I love my job, but sometimes I wish I were a teacher so I could do something that would have an impact on others. Plus I wouldn't mind having 3 months off. :) It would help if I could actually teach though!

11. I cheer for both Alabama and Auburn. I want them both to win every week and when they play each other, I want the team to win who would benefit the most from it. I am very much of the mentality that it is just a game!  

 

My nominees are:

1. Bruce at Bruce's Blog

2. Jackie at Losing It One Day At A Time

3. Patti at Living on Faith Alone

 

These folks don't blog very often so they may not want to participate, but since I really like when they do, I'll nominate them anyway! :)

 

Questions For My Nominees:

1. What is your favorite recipe?

2. What is your favorite restaurant?

3. What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?

4. Where is your favorite place to go on a date?

5. What would be your dream job?

6. What is your favorite high school memory?

7. What has been the best day of your life?

8. What is your favorite tv show?

9. Where do you want to live when you retire?

10. What is your favorite vacation spot?

11. What's the best vacation you've ever been on?

 

Sunday Social Linkup

I'm linking up with Ashley for the Sunday Social for the first time! I love this idea!

This link up is all about summer! I honestly can't believe summer is pretty much over. It seems like we were just ringing in the New Year!

1. What was your favorite trip/vacation/activity this summer?
My favorite would definitely be the week long beach trip I took with my family at the beginning of the summer. You can read about it here. It was seriously so much fun and I can't wait for next year!

2. What was your favorite outfit look/clothing item of the summer?
Well, I tried some new looks for the first time this summer. I was given a bag of clothes by a friend and there were a pair of skinny jeans in it. I would have NEVER bought these myself, but I tried them on and really liked them. I still haven't quite determined if I'm skinny enough to wear them, but I've been wearing them anyway. I also bought a maxi dress for the first time this summer. It is so comfortable!

3. What is one thing you wish you'd gotten to do this summer?
Hmm, this is a tough one. I can't really think of anything. I got to take a week off and go to the beach, I got to take Brayden to the McWane Center and the zoo, we're about to leave for the lake right after I get done posting this and get ready. I can't really think of anything else I wish I'd gotten to do. I guess that means I had a great summer!

4. What was your favorite song of the summer?
I'm not sure if it was released during the summer, but I've really been loving You're An Overcomer by Mandisa. I also love He Is With Us by Love & the Outcome and Hey Ho by The Lumineers.

5. What was your favorite movie/tv show of the summer?
We cut off our tv back in April and now only watch Netflix. I watched the entire series of Friday Night Lights at the beginning of the summer and I've been watching Melissa & Joey lately.

I'm so excited that Brittany nominated me for the Liebster Award so I'll be doing a post about it tomorrow!

Hope you're having a great Labor Day weekend!