L-J's Review of This Time Together, Laughter and Reflection by Carol Burnett

As I've mentioned on multiple occasions, I LOVE celebrity memoirs and after reading This Time Together, Laughter and Reflection, I am eager to read more from older Hollywood Royalty.  Carol Burnett, known for her comedic timing, delivers in every chapter of this memoir.  Her style is short and to the point, giving the necessary information to setup an anecdote while not overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details.  In fact, anecdotal is the best word to describe her tale.  Each chapter is extremely short and immensely entertaining.  She had me laughing out loud incessantly, making the story impossible to put down.  I began the book at about 7pm last night and with constant interruptions (including 10 hours of sleep), I finished at 12:30pm today.

I highly recommend this memoir.  It is definitely one of my favorites.

XOXO,

Battle of the Bed update

This is what we envision... Kailee in her bed ALL night!

Last night we began as we did during yesterday's nap and then proceeded to cry-it-out.  After 10 minutes, Kailee made herself throw-up so we decided to hold off on bedtime until Gavin went to bed.  Gavin was actually asleep (at about 9:30) when I tried cry-it-out again.  I put Kailee in bed, turned off the lights, shut the door, she screamed for 30 seconds and then... PEACE!

Of course the peace lasted until about midnight when she woke up screaming bloody murder and ended up in our bed...

Nap time today went smoothly.  I put her in her bed, shut the door, she screamed for 30 seconds, and then slept for almost 2 hours.  We are back on track!

After a few more days/nights of success at falling asleep, we will move on to tackling the middle of the night wakings.  I have fought Brady on these since day one--while I refused to go soothe her (knowing she'd go back to sleep in less than 5 minutes), he'd go in faithfully multiple times a night.  

We'll be all set just in time to head on vacation where normalcy is impossible.  Oh well!  We'll cross that road when we get there!

XOXO,

Battle of the Bed - Nap Time Edition

After the immense failure of cry-it-out the other night and a holiday weekend--which was no time to sleep train--I decided to work on fixing Kailee's nap time issues.  Her nap time issues began after she decided she could no longer sleep in her bed at night.  As a summertime stay-at-home mom, I was about to go INSANE without at least a short break from Kailee during nap time.  I felt like I NEVER got away from her because she wouldn't nap and insisted on sleeping with us.  That meant Kailee 24/7!

My little monkey continued to boycott her bed
by napping in her chair

Today, I started by getting her situated in her bed with her blankies and reading her favorite book Sometimes I like to Curl up in a Ball.  As I began reading, she started saying, "TV on!  TV on!" and when we got to the last page, she started crying, realizing I was about to leave and shut the door.  However, I changed my tactic today.  I left the door open, knowing full and well that she'd come out.  I set a timer for 10 minutes and every time she walked out, I walked her back to bed.  There were a few times that she stopped crying and considered staying in bed without protesting, but at the end of the 10 minutes, she was hysterical.  I sat her down and told her that I wanted to leave the door open but because she would not stay in her bed, I had to close the door.  The crying worsened when I shut the door.  Then 30 seconds later, it stopped.

At the 10-minute-post-door-shut mark, Kailee stopped the occasional fussing.  She slept for 1 hour 15 minutes.  SUCCESS!

XOXO,

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Kailee LOVES to sing along to songs she knows.  Today, she picked up a dolly that plays music and proceeded to sing along with it over and over again:

XOXO,

L-J's Review of Princess Sultana's Circle by Jean Sasson

The conclusion of the trilogy includes more outrageously horrifying moments but also unexpected hope.  Princess Sultana's risky move to share her story at least brings awareness to the true situation for Saudi Arabian women.  Before reading this trilogy, I was living in ignorant bliss.  Though I had read the fictional account of life in Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns, it makes the reality more appalling when you know it's a true account--as is the case with the Princess Trilogy.

On our nation's birthday this year, I am even more grateful that I was blessed to be born in The United States of America.

XOXO,

Mmmm Delicious! Waffles a la Mommy

Ingredients:
-waffles
-butter/margarine
-candied pecans

Directions
1. Toast the waffles to your preferred crispiness.
2. Slather with butter/margarine.
3. Top with candied pecans.
4. Enjoy!

XOXO,

L-J's review of Princess Sultana's Daughters by Jean Sasson

Princess Sultana's story continues in the second installment of the Princess Trilogy.  We learn more horrors of life for women in Saudi Arabia and how her children are impacted by such a forward-thinking, strong-willed mother.  Princess Sultana's Daughters is as powerful as Princess: A true Story of Life behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia.  It is as difficult to put down as the first.

Reading these books make me even more grateful to live in a country where women have the same rights as men.

XOXO,