Some announcements that can't wait for the Christmas card!

No, I'm not pregnant!  Ha ha ha. 

Announcement #1:  The kids are sleeping by themselves!!!!!!  I.E. Not with mommy and/or daddy!!!!  If you know anything about our sleep situation saga, you probably don't believe this announcement.  It has been a perplexion of the highest proportion for a period of time, the length of which we need not get into at this juncture.  [Is perplexion a word?  If not, it is now because it's the perfect word.] 

It has been kind of a miracle.  Is there a kind of miracle?  A whole miracle then.... mostly because our daughter is miraculous.  We have tried every tactic under the sun.  For kicks and grins, we decided to give it another go.  Roy set the date:  Labor day.  On that day, after returning from a weekend trip, the kids were going to sleep away from us.  No ifs, ands or buts.  (Yeah, right - we had tried this before, we knew the fated ending of crying, hysteria and begging... and finally caving in.)  This time, it was different. 

I read stories to them in their new bed.  (They're sleeping together but hey, at least they're not with us.)  We tucked them in, kissed them good night, and for the first time in hmmm m mm time, we had the night after 9:00 to ourselves.  It. Was. Strange.  And great.  And sad.  What made it work?  Ivy took it up on herself to help baby Roy get to sleep.... and in the process, owned the title of 'big girl' which included not needing mama all night any more.  About this, I am sad and learning to let it be ok with my heart.  [Especially when I want to snuggle with her and she says, No, I can just go back to my room.  Sniffle sniffle.]

It's been 2 weeks tonight.  It has not been entirely smooth, but almost every night they have slept in there like the magical stories we've heard about other kids who do the same thing.  I feel like a mom in a story book.... where the kids get up a few times in the night, and then trot their happy butts back to their own bed. It's a book I like... a different book than the one that ended 2 weeks ago that I never thought would end, so in that regard I feel like I'm living in a dream.

Announcement #2:  Our kids are no longer babies.  I mean - duh, right?  But this month, wowzie boy howdy, it's like - somebody let the racehorse out of its pen in the growing up department. 

• The whole sleeping alone thing.  
• The whole no-more-potty-accidents-for-Ivy thing. 
• They gladly will play together for long periods of time, neither wanting or needing us to be with them the whole time.  
• They are eating things like peanut butter crackers, and getting bananas all by themselves.
• Ivy is really getting good at using scissors and she told me today she wants to be a painter when she grows up!
• Baby Roy is saying things like "Go away, leave me alone."
• They both just transitioned into bigger kid classrooms at school and 
• I. Am. Not. Ready. For All. This. Change.  Mostly.  But I am because it's wonderful.

Announcement #3:  I got the most awesome glasses at a great price online!  I'm a sucker for good glasses.  There is concensus that I look better with glasses than without --- so I have to have good ones because it's kind of like I get to choose part of my face. 

All of these things may still end up in the Christmas card.  So you can skip that part if you want.