What a Weekend!

Okay, I'm having problems loading pictures, so the visuals from our activities Saturday will have to wait. Sorry. I know it has (again) been a little bit since I was one, other than the brief note about the Rock and Gem Show that I put up yesterday. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Madison was refusing to take naps. That meant that she only slept in the car on the way home from the Earth Day celebrations on Saturday, crashed on the couch at 5pm Sunday (which meant staying up until 10pm that night) and crashed in her car seat when I went to get Kellen from school yesterday. Needless to say, I was a little frazzled by the time I got to yesterday evening.
Monday evenings are a Bible study group that I go to, and I was SO very glad I went last night. Steve had a very late night meeting (not home until 1030pm) so I took both kids with me to the church. I had both of them go to the bathroom, had Maddi in a pull-up just in case, and told them that they weren't to come out of the nursery until I came to get them. Short of broken bones or blood, I didn't want to see them for the next hour and half. There were two other girls there, both older than Kellen, who stayed in the nursery with them. This meant that I got to focus all my attention on the study group and enjoy just a little bit of child-less time. Yay! It really helped put me back on track :)
I mentioned to Robin (our group leader) that I was having problems getting Maddi to sleep and she gave me a couple of things to think about. I usually play Enya (musical artist, for those not familiar) while she goes to sleep, and sit right next to her bed, where she plays with my hair, and this can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour to accomplish. Robin said to nix the music and sitting next to her bed. The music, however calming, keeps their mind running. And we really can't have her permanently attached to my head the rest of her life; let's be realistic here! So I did it last night. 5 minutes. That was it. I removed the music and sat on one of her little chairs by the door reading my scriptures and she was out in 5 minutes. Hooray!
Today, being Tuesday, is our story time at the library. This time, Madison and I walked. Not the stroller. She walked. It's about a mile to our library. I gave her a piggy back for maybe a couple of blocks and across the major street we have to cross, but that was it. It's been kind of a drizzly day, so I took a hat for her in case it actually tried to rain, but it was mostly just chilly. After a walk there, stories, playing with the other kids, and a walk back, we made tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch and she went straight down for her nap with a repeat of me sitting by the door with my scriptures again. I love it! I know she's going to reach the point where she doesn't need the nap anymore, but I still need her to take it. I HAVE to have that break from her or my nerves are shot by the end of the day. At the library, I mentioned this to my friend Winnie (who does daycare) and she said that most days she plays really loud music while she's making lunch and has the kids dancing all over the living room to wear them out. Then she feeds them and they promptly sack out! I am going to have to keep that in mind :)
All of this avoiding the nap thing is my main reason (excuse?) for not blogging much the last few days. But, with her down now, I have had a chance to regain some of my sanity. Since we were just at the library, I have a couple of books for me so I am going to sit down and read for about the next hour until it's time to go get Kellen from school and take him to piano lessons. Blessed quiet!