No shoes are ever comfortable for me [cry] Any kind of them makes my foot swell [illgetu]

Poor Lexa! Just one foot?

You're looking beautiful, Steel!

Thank you Livi darling! I felt like having a fancy stroll in the garden balcony. :D
How are you today?

You're welcome! You did a brilliant job!

I'm doing ok, still kinda tired, but I've managed to somewhat sort of catching up on sleep, but I'm still a zombie, for the most part.
How're you?

Poor girl. I think that's one of the hardest parts of parenting. Trying to be responsible and loving on so very little sleep. Is it worse than it was with Becca? I hope that things settle down and you start feeling better soon.

I'm pretty good. Tired, and overwhelmed from all of the tutoring sessions that pop up around finals time. I could use a break, for sure. But I need the money, and the kids need the help.

It is, but only because I don't just have a newborn, but I have to keep up with Becca as well. Who has started to kind of fight naps, unless they're on her own terms. :/ [zzz]

That's good, aww! How many more students have started coming to you for last minute help with classes? :)

Yeah, I kind of figured it might be harder with two. Of course she would fight naps the minute you need her to like them. [rofl] I'll bet that's frustrating as heck.

And yeah, I have more students calling last minute, and my normal students are wanting to add extra sessions.

It really is! And lately it's what's been causing the most frustration. That's my eldest daughter for you. [gonk] But here's to hoping that we can figure out something that works all around and helps me get a little bit more sleep than I have been getting.

Sounds like a lot of work. But at least it's more money. [hug]

She's at that extra stubborn age, too. I'm sure that's not helping anything at all. *hugs*

It is a lot of work, but yeah, the money is good, and I need income for sure. Luckily there is Monday to tutor and Thursday afternoon.

Last flurry of activity before the end of the school year! Pretty cool, even if it's a bit stressful squeezing it all in and taking care of yourself.

I have no idea what to suggest about finding ways to sleep or encouraging Becca to take naps so you can, Livi. Soki was 10yo when Otto was born and either in school or able to just give me some space so I could nap when he did. I think you will find a rhythm to it all though [hug]

Otto's last day of school was yesterday and it was bittersweet. He was in a hybrid pre-K class with some students who also have high-functioning autism with kids who were "normal". One of his biggest challenges at the beginning of the year was socialization. He was in a program last year and became close with 2 other boys who were in pre-K with him this year, and they all sort of clung onto each other (sometimes literally) at first. Yesterday, I saw him give other kids hugs and some of the students sought him out to say good bye. Love the teachers he had and my goal is to stay in contact with them even though he will be at a different site next year.

It is definitely a flurry! Haha.

Awww, I'm so glad that Otto had such a good class this year. Hopefully next year ends up being just as good! Endings are always bittersweet.

Oh, I am not even going to mention her tantrums. [gonk] Yeah... we've got our hands full at the moment. [yes]

We just need to find a routine. [yes] And that's proving to be harder than we'd like.

I think I may go and try to find lunch, and then seen if Alex can watch the girls for a bit so I can try to get in a short nap. [zzz]

Elmira: I know that her age is playing into it, for the most part. And it's starting to drive me kind of frustrated.

I've never experienced wanting to just hang out with any of Lily's teachers, but Otto had two this year I really dig. The special ed teacher he'll have next year (he'll be in another hybrid situation with a special ed teacher and a Kindergarten-only teacher next year) is someone I was acquainted with when Lily went to the elementary school. She is waaayyyy out there. Spiky hair, tattoos, and fun. Absolutely not like the stuffy teachers we usually dealt with who often assume I'm stupid and learn otherwise really quickly. He'll work with her pretty much the entire time he attends elementary there unless she retires.

---------- Post added 05-24-2014 at 02:02 PM ----------

Livi ~ I do empathize. I just wish I had some advice about it.

Otto is challenging me a lot lately. I know he wants to assert his own authority over different situations, but there are times when he is not the boss of a situation. He has privileges revoked when it's out of hand.

Taking away Becca's privileges wouldn't work for us. She'd just throw a tantrum that would probably top them all. *sighs* I love my daughter, but lately she's been testing my patience, quite often.

I just try not to show my frustrations often because I don't want to make it worse by snapping at her, even when I feel like it. [yes]

I'm to that point where I'm so exhausted that sleep is not totally cooperating. :/ Like I want to sleep, but it's not totally wanting to work with me.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure any advice I would give would be worthless, since I don't really have any raising experience with children. But I hope that it works out. *hugs* About time for me to go tutor. See you guys later!

I was pretty lucky with Otto because Mark worked nights and had a 3 days on, 2 days off type of shift. He'd sleep and I'd have to deal with no sleep until he was able to stay awake to take care of Otto. This went on for a while before Otto was on a decent sleep schedule. He had a terrible case of reflux until he was at least a year old, so we constantly had to keep an eye on him even when he slept. I'd put documentaries on the TV or read something painfully boring if I had trouble falling asleep. Sending you some good vibes so you can rest [heart]

Oh gosh, babies with reflux are so miserable.
I used to read Mark Twain's short stories when I had a hard time sleeping. Not because they're boring so much as they're overly complicated. That stopped working by high school, unfortunately.

Poor Amane. What do you do all year? Also, have you thought about getting some therapy for the bug issue just so you're not so miserable for most of the year?

We've lucked out with both girls, so far *knock on wood* with both of them not having reflux, but the boys had awhile of really struggling with Benji and reflux, but they managed to figure out what was causing it - I can't remember now, but they did get it under control, thankfully. But it was really hard on both of them because at first they had no idea what was going on. I got woken up in the middle of the night for quite awhile at first.

I feel like you're letting this fear get the better of you. :(

Sorry for evaporating. Both kids home all day and it's just not possible to avoid intervening. AND we are into the first week of summer break [gonk] The reflux was part of Otto having hypotonia/low muscle tone. First few months after he was born included having him sleeping upright. We used his infant carrier in a swing (for the carrier). I don't think he was able to sleep through the night without a bout of it during the first year. I napped a lot.

Amane ~ we're not plagued by gnats too much this year - yet. But they are evil.

Naps, when Becca allows me to have them, are amazing amazing things! [yes]

Glad they finally figured out what was causing it. I'll bet they were so worried. Haha.

I'll bet with a good therapist and a lot of perseverance you could at least get to a point where you weren't terrified all the time. Obviously the fear isn't going to away, but at least you can get to a point where you'll be able to handle it.

No worries. I have been working on some art. Oh the fun of summer with kids. [lol]

---------- Post added 05-30-2014 at 08:09 PM ----------

Also, I swear to god that bananas just spontaneously produce gnats!