Someone must be praying

someone out in blogland must be praying for us, because ever since i posted about the problems getting Joshua to bed, there haven't been any problems. so i haven't had the opportunity to try out the suggestions I got. So if it was you, thank you, thank you, thank you. It is seriously a miracle. He has gone to sleep on his own, in his crib, for the past two nights without any crying what so ever!!

Thanks

Thanks for the feedback on the bedtime nightmare:) Funnily enough ever since I wrote that blog, Joshua has gone to sleep without a problem. Mostly b/c he has fallen asleep before being put into the crib. Anyway, I think next time I will follow your suggestion Heidi, of the gradual withdrawal. Thanks for mentioning the babywhisperer site. I have been on there before, but not in ages and didn't even think about going there to see what they had to say. I don't mind letting him cry for a few minutes, but I find the 1/2 hour to hour long crying/ screaming sessions way to hard on me.

anyway, thanks again for the responses. I really do appreciate them.

HELP...

Bedtime has become an absolute nightmare. We somehow along the way got stuck into a bad habit. We would stay in his room until he went to sleep. So a couple of weeks ago we decided that enough was enough. He was going to learn to go to sleep without us in the room. The first couple of days weren't bad. He hardly cried at all. Maybe for a total of five minutes. I remember thinking to myself, boy this was a lot easier than I thought it would have been. Well things have gotton worse and worse. He now cries and screams---it sounds like someone is trying to kill him (it's horrible)--- every night and tonight was the worst. It lasted an hour and he kept climbing out of his crib... AHHHH....what do i do... I've tried to make his bedtime routine as soothing as possible, but it doesn't help.. As soon as he sees that crib coming closer he starts crying and screaming. So any suggestions of any kind would be greatly appreciated. thanks muchly.

Spanking

Okay, yes a very controversial topic, but one i am struggling with right now and could use some imput on. I used to not have a problem with spanking until i had a child and then read a lot of stuff on spanking vs not spanking. right now i use time outs and they seem to work ok i guess. I don't want to harm my child by not discipling him properly. The problem is that a lot of people say that if you don't spank, your child will become unruly and undisciplined etc and it seems that they think the only way to have an obedient child is to spank.. However, my parents spanked us when we were kids and all, except me (oldest child syndrome), rebelled. I know someone whose parents never spanked him and he never rebelled. Now it could be a personality thing, who knows. My question is do any of you know people who weren't spanked and turned out okay.

Community

I have been thinking a lot lately about community. Mostly this stems from a book I recently read by Claiburn (blanking on his first name right now) called irresistable revolution. I really like the idea of community. It means sharing, reaching, and caring with and for those around you. It means moving away from my individualistic tendencies and becoming much less me centered. It is, i think, my ideal. However, it is an ideal that i've realized doesn't at all come naturally. Sure I want to share, but do I want to share when I don't have much myself or when it's my favourite thing, and what if it gets broken or wrecked and I never get it back. Sure I want to share more of myself, my thoughts, dreams, hurts but then too what if the person i share with laughs at me behind my back or shares things that mean a lot to me with someone I don't even know. But, i do want to let go and yet I don't want to because it sure is safe and comfortable in my individual world, although, often a tad boring.

Don't you ever wonder if there is more to this life we are living? I do and supposedly b/c i am apparently a christian (all though sometimes i wonder) I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. I know that I am often tired of being entertained, tired of the mundane and I want to live a more gritty, real existence where I reach out more to others, spend my time on more worthwhile things. Yet, I feel trapped, unable to change and break out of this prision (and yes to me it feels like a prision alibet a comfortable one). I read of people intermingling their lives with others and reaching out tirelessly to those that are hurting around them and I long for their lives. And this book, oh i just remembered his first name: shane, made me long once again.

A working girl again

So, a week ago Ken and I were talking about all the expenses we have coming up, car needs a timing belt (wow, is that expensive by the way) and water pump, family holiday we realized is going to cost a lot more than we figured and we realized that our savings is little by little shrinking away, b/c Ken just doesn't make enough to cover all these extra things. So I said to him, I think I need to get a job.

Now I was thinking maybe something at night, there are trillions of fast food places around here that are always looking for people. I know with my education I should be able to get something better, but I can't leave Joshua during the day b/c I would only feel comfortable leaving him with his grandparents (and they live in Abbotsford) and b/c it takes a really really long time for him to get comfortable with someone he doesn't know. For example, he will rarely let our landlady pick him up ( he squeals if she does) and he sees her almost everyday. Plus I don't really want to miss out on these years if i don't have to. It goes so fast. I can't believe he is almost two. Anyway, I can't say I was really excited about working in fast food, but extra cash flow would be great.

Then wouldn't you know it the day after Ken and I where talking about me working, I got a phone call from a friend at work who needed someone to look after her son, who is one. I wasn't sure at first. You know thought it might take away from Joshua and how would napping work etc. But after talking it over with Ken and a few other people I realized this was probably the best option for getting some extra money. So here I am looking after another kid and although this is only day one it seems pretty good so far. They both nap at the same time too---bonus!!! So once again I am a working girl.

life

So, my parents are finally back from Egypt. For those of you who don't know, they have been in Egypt for the past two years. My mom was teaching at a school out there. So, it's great to have them back. I spent a week out in Abbotsford with them while Ken was in Gautemala on a missions trip. I thought it would be good for Joshua to spend some extended time with his grandparents so that he could get to know them. Joshua is a little funny with people, especially older women, for some strange reason. He does not like to be picked up or touched by people he doesn't know very well, but seems to have a particular aversion to women over men. For instance while he was very upset that my mom sat beside him in the car, he actually turned his head away from her and was trying with his whole body to get as far away from her as possible, he didn't have a problem with my Dad being next to him. He would take my Dad's hand, but if my mom tried to touch him or hold him he would squeal. Very Strange. He did get a little better with my mom by the end of the week though.

In other news, my husband got sick as soon as he got back, so for a while there I was taking care of him and my son. Phew, what a lot of work that was. thankfully he got better, but it was the longest bout of sickness he's had since i've known him.

Not much else. We are going camping next week for the first time with Joshua, so it will be interesting to see how that goes. It will also be really nice to going away with just us, even if only for a short time.

At the end of the month we are going to a cabin with my family and i'm really looking forward to that. we all had a great time in Mexico when my youngest sister got married, so it should be a lot of fun. Hopefully all will go well with Joshua in the sleeping department.

Well, not a very exciting post, but just wanted to catch you up on life, since it's been a while since i blogged.