My baby is no longer a baby

Over the last month or so, bedtime & especially naptime were becoming a battle. Naps became hit & miss & although we always tried, he usually refused to take one. Sometimes he'd throw a leg over his crib or pack n play, but we all kept telling him it'd be a bad owie to fall... in hopes it'd keep him in there. Well, it worked up until last week when he was at his grammy's & when she went to check on him she hears a knock on the door & sure enough he'd gotten out & was pretty pleased with himself. The next few days he'd threaten to do it in his crib, but we'd tell him it was bigger than the pack n play & he could get hurt. Again, that only lasted a short while. The other day my came to our house while I went to work & he gave her quite the fight going down, but she knows he will do that sometimes then go right to sleep. She can't stand hearing him cry so she went out & sat on the front porch. Not 10 minutes later she hears a knock on the front window & a little voice saying "hi gammy". Yep, he was even more pleased this time.
We knew the day was coming, but I just really dreaded the transition into a toddler bed. He's just such a busy body & doesn't do well going to bed anywhere, but the crib. Luckily, his crib turns right into a toddler bed so its pretty much the same thing without a side rail. The whole evening we practiced going to bed & tried our best to cheer him on so that bedtime would go smoothly. We cleaned out his room & took out all the toys & anything dangerous then put a door knob cover on the door. At bedtime he as excited so he let us tuck him in & go out without any problem. I think he thought it was still a game because when he realized he couldn't open the door he was pretty mad. After only ten minutes of rattling the door & fussing, all was quiet. When I went to check on him, I thought I'd find him on the floor, but to my suprise, he had completely tucked himself in & was sound asleep! He slept all night & in big boy undies too!! The last couple nights he's been more testy about going to bed, but does fine once we close the door. I just can't believe its gone so well. (knock on wood). This was the last "baby to toddler" transition so its official.... He's a big boy now! Still wondering where the last two years went...

Letting off some steam!

Its probably not a good time to post since I'm super moody, irritable, and tired, but here goes it anyway...
Today, I'm just feeling BLAH. I started taking Vitex/Chasteberry last week and so far I think its working. I finally started my irregualar period 3 days after taking it. Bad news is... I feel like crap. Contraction like cramps, headaches, nauseated, and super emotional, okay bitchy! lol (Don't tell my husband I admitted that!) Good news is... I think its doing its job. I can literally feel my ovaries aching like they are trying to get back into the swing of things. ;) Hopefully its works and I ovulate and get pregnant soon. This trying business SUCKS!
Maybe bloated should go in the first paragraph, but I can't decide if its my period or I'm just fat. Seriously, I feel like I've gained some weight and from pictures recently I think I really might have. The scale disagrees, thank God, but I just feel mad at myself for it. I've been really bad about sticking to any kind of diet and exercising. I could go on with excuses like I'm too busy (which I really feel like I am), but mostly it comes down to I'm lazy, tired, and more than anything haven't cared because I thought I'd be pregnant by now. Bad, I know because I should exercise and be healthy even-more-so being pregnant or wanting to be. Ughhhh I keep finding myself apologizing to Joey because he's lost so much weight & looks GREAT then here's his chubby wife. I always say one more baby then its "me time" & I'm getting into shape. I really mean that!
School is a pain. I HATE math with a passion and pre calculus is just HARD & time consuming. I have actually done pretty good so far... 100 on all homework & quizzes, 88% on my first test (don't judge, thats a good math test grade for me). I love my online Ethics course, but I feel like I'm so busy with math, work, being a mom and wife, that I end up rushing through it instead of really grasping it & getting to enjoy it. Its easy to do and doesn't take a whole lot of time so I find myself cramming it to get on with other things.
Work is okay... I can't get into details of my job & clients, but lets just say it hasn't been emotionally & mentally easy lately. I took on a new shift so now I'm working Tuesdays along with Mondays & Wednesdays, but its still only 7 hours a week. Totally manageable right? Not really once I add up school & homework time & Grant. I really wish we could afford to have more help with him (like preschool or daycamp/daycare). My mom is back at work since school started & Joey is super busy with work that it comes down to my mother-in-law, who isn't in the best of health, having to watch him the most. She is wonderful & really helps me so much, but I can only put so much on her before it wears her down & she feels sick. Thats the last thing I want so I have to keep it pretty limited. My homework has come down to nap time & bed time which is hard because he refuses nap sometimes & bed time means I'm already tired & its getting late.
The scary thing is I'm feeling like this with one kid, two classes, & a very part time job! Seriously, I don't know how other moms do it!! It makes me really nervous to be in the nursing program with a full load of classes & possibly two kids! We will definately have some re-evaluating to do when that time comes!! Ahhhh
This Saturday I'm having a Scentsy party. I've been wanting to get a few things & so has family & friends so I figured why not! I also thought it'd be a good excuse to have a night of fun with friends. Hopefully it will be just that & not a complete flop. I'm making it simple with appetizer type stuff, but it still means the house needs cleaned & homework needs done ahead of time...
Sorry if this sounds like I'm a downer! Just needed to vent a little. I know things could be SOOO worse & I have it REALLY good. Stress just gets me & PMS doesn't help it. ;)

Question...

Has anyone used Vitex to help with cycle regulation & fertility?
Ever since getting off the pill a few months back, my cycle has been all over the place. Sometimes back to back & sometimes not at all. The times I've been late or its gone really long I get all excited thinking I'm pregnant just to be let down again. (I'm done taking stupid tests until there is no denying it!) Anyway, I have been reading about natural remedies to regulate everything & have heard to try Vitex so today I stopped at the health food store & got me some. Hopefully it works! I would love to hear your stories on all this!!??

Labor Day Weekend in Cascade

My parents rented a house on Cascade Lake for Labor Day Weekend so this last week I crammed to get all my homework done so that we could leave at a good time on Friday... well that stupid math held me back & we didn't get up there until 11 at night. Grant took a long nap (longer than I usually let him because I needed to get my homework done) so he was wired & so not ready for bed when we got there. Him & I stayed up until 2 in the morning! He has an issue going to bed anywhere, but home because we've only left town overnight one other time so I wanted to make sure he was good & tired. I sent Joey to bed at midnight then we crawled in at 2 & it took a good half hour before Grant finally fell asleep.
My parents friends brought up there 4 year old grandson so the next morning they played & played while the guys fished then we all went to breakfast. I had the best eggs benedict ever! Anyway, after that we walked around the different shops then headed back to the house so grumpy pants Grant could take a nap. Everyone else went on my dads boat to fish & Joey & I had a huge battle getting Grant to finally sleep & we took a nap ourselves. That night was the first BSU game & luckily our friends Jason & Courtney were staying at a near by campsite & somebody brought up a tv to watch the game so we joined them. I didn't get to hardly even watch it (which is okay with me) because Grant was so busy finding sticks to put in the fire. We got back to the house at 1030ish & ended up battling with Grant for 3 hours to go to sleep. Ughhh.
The next day we were so tired that we decided it'd be better to just head home late that night. I made a big breakfast for everyone then we played at the lake & fished all day. Joey almost caught a huge trout, but as soon as he was about to pull it in, it got away! We seriously were about to give up since nobody had caught anything then my mom got all excited because she got one. She even stood up like it was some big fish & it turned out to be a tiny little perch. She put it back & cast again & boom caught another one. We're pretty sure she actually caught the same one twice in a row! lol After that we headed back to the house for dinner & had some really yummy elk burger. We let the boys wear eachother out some more while we packed up to go home. We knew we made a good choice when Grant passed out as soon as we hit the road & we got home in like half the time that we expected because there was no traffic. We finally all slept really good that night & it was nice to have Monday to catch up on everything to start a new week.
I'm a bad mom & left my camera in my purse all weekend then realized it the last day, but the battery needed charged so I only got a couple pictures of the boys playing! I'll load them on facebook soon. Its funny because Jet was 4 & was only like 2 inches taller than Grant. Gosh, I wish I could say he gets that height from me! lol