the dreaded 5:30 wall!!

So, I mentioned that I'm teaching A to sign right? We decided to start with more... so 3 times a day this is how it goes:

M- Do you want more (sign)? More? (sign)
A- *screams bloody murder*
M- NO, do you want more? (sign)B, would you please stop distracting him?
B- but mommy, he's waving at me!
M-I know, but I'm trying to teach him how to do this
B- oh, A DO YOU WANT MORE??!?! then waves again
A- Kind of, emphasis on kind of, claps his hands together...a little
M- ok, thats a start here you go.

3x a day. several times in a meal actually.

On a good note, he's sort of getting it! We have started working on up too... but this is going to be a slow process.

Anyways, back to the title of this post. Ever since I started staying at home full time, I have noticed that we hit a huge wall at 5:30 every night. Everyone can be in a great mood, and things will have gone super smoothly all day long. J leaves for work at 3, and by the time 5:30 gets here we hit a wall. Not only hit a wall, but hit it and then fall off the cliff behind it... so to speak.

The boys stop listening and start fighting, my head will inevitably start hurting, I'm trying to cook dinner and see to them at the same time, the house gets trashed.... and we go into survival mode until bedtime. By the time they get in bed I'm too exhausted to do much of anything else. It's miserable... and I'm not sure how to fix it! So far, this is the very most frustrating thing about staying at home. The 5:30 wall. Hopefully, I will come up with a magical fix soon. Very soon!

M-I-C-K-E-Y...

When B was a baby, my parents promised him that for his 5th birthday they would take him to Disney world for his birthday. And believe it or not, last week was his 5th birthday!! SO off to Florida we flew! 4 adults, a 5 year old, and a 1 year old...



It was one of the most amazing vacations of my life!

We spent 7 crazy paced days in the "Happiest Place on Earth" and made a million memories. It made all of the hard work and planning totally worth it... and now? I'm working on a scrapbook for the pics! (and maybe just a little thinking ahead towards the next 5th birthday trip : ) )

Oh, and my other new project (besides the Disney scrapbook you say?) is teaching the boys a few signs. B seems genuinely interested in learning spanish and sign language thanks to the Sprout network... and A hasn't picked up any new words besides HI! and da da da da, so we think it'll help in his communication. Who said stay-at-home-momhood was BoRiNg?? lol Did I mention that I know like, 2 signs myself?? And none of them are things that would help with a 1 year olds communication skills?? So I'm going to have to find the signs, learn them, teach them to the boys, then teach them to J and my parents so that everyone who's with A will know what in the world he's talking about! Yeah... BIG project!

I'll keep ya updated!