Let me sum up my last month in a short conversation that the Giant and I just happened to have today. In a moment of silence in our house (also known as nap time), in a rare moment, the Giant and I were lying down talking about this and that, how our lives have changed with kids, ya know, and all I could say to sum up my lack of enthusiasm was "Man, I'm just exhausted. All. The. Time." Yeah, that about sums it up. Two kids takes a lot out of ya. I never imagined being so exhausted but being so used to it that I don't even realize it until I finally lay down.
tonight for the first time in who knows how long, I actually asked the Giant to rub my feet because I realized that the dull ache I was feeling was from being on my feet all day. Maybe I'm a wimp, but seriously, how do people with so many daggon kids do it? I have two and I feel like Momma Duggar by the end of the night, except somehow she doesn't seem half as exhausted. I'm pathetic.
Long story short, its been a long month. Technically its been a long few months, but the last month has been pretty rough. Not all bad to be rough, just lots of challenges. But, as "they" say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? I don't know who "they" are, but I'm trusting "they" are right.
The terrible twos seem to have kicked in full swing around here. Cheyanne is stretching her boundaries every single day. I'm proud of her for being more self-confident and independent, but let me tell you, what comes along with independence is not all rainbows and butterflies. We've had the 2 going on 20 attitude which is new and uh, challenging. Her vocabulary is in constant reminder to use her manners. "I WANT x!" Yeah, lots of that happening. The time outs have started and are a regular. It took her a while to catch on that mommy and daddy were serious about time outs. She bucked all the way down the plank, each and every time, for a few weeks. Something seems to have clicked (for the most part) that when we threaten time out, we mean it. Usually just the threat of time out corrects her, but its not fool proof. As her preschool teacher said hitting the nail right on the head, "Cheyanne does what Cheyanne wants. She is very strong-willed." Ding ding ding. Truer words have never been spoken.
Despise those rough few weeks (that really are still on going some days), she has these precious lovable moments that I eat up. Sometimes you never know who you are getting when she wakes up in the am, either Holy-all-things-Two Cheyanne or Sweet-lovable-I-need-a-hug Cheyanne. Headspin. She has never been an overly cuddly child always needing her own space, but these last few weeks have been pretty awesome for this cuddle loving mom. She comes up to her Daddy and me and says things like "Give me a big hug!" Love it. I think this is God's way of helping our heads not to explode in frustration from those tantrum moments. Life wouldn't be fun if it wasn't challenging, right? Oh, and did I mention that this has been the month of potty training? Yeah, challenging fun.
Besides these new behavior challenges, we've had all kinds of other challenges. Without going into too much boring detail, this month has brought a new schedule for the Giant's flying. Even though its completely temporary, we've had to adjust to a time of little flying which has been difficult for the Giant. I know that its unsual to say this, but it is completely weird having my husband home so much. Don't get me wrong, its been nice. But, this is the longest he's ever been home and frankly, its brought a lot of adjusting for us. Cheyanne loves having Daddy home every night. When he leaves in the morning for work, she always says, "Its okay, he'll be back" to which I always reply, "Yes baby of course he'll be back." Our daily morning mantra. It seems to reassure her that he's around. The down side, its temporary. I would be lying if I didn't say that I have concerns about her readjusting as soon as he starts flying again soon. She is such a daddy's girl. But, that's the life we live, so I'll do my best to adjust with her when the time comes. She's a strong girl and thankfully she is quite flexible so I think we'll be alright.
I didn't plan on writing this long of a post. If you actually made it through the whole thing, thanks for reading! You're a champ. I think I mostly wrote this so that I can remember how things are now down the road. That's what's going on around here that has kept me from blogging. I know it probably doesn't sound like much, but I promise its been a lot to handle this month. Thanks for reading this. I doubt I would have it I wasn't writing it...
