Hello from the Charleston — one of my favorite cities in the world! I’m drinking mimosas on the beach with my best gal pals today soooooo I wrote a 5 on Friday post before I left for my trip!
one. They day before my girlfriends arrived I tacked on a work trip to meet the attorneys in my firm’s Charleston office. As part of my trip I got to spend the night at my favorite place ever — Fulton Lane Inn (fullllllll review on this charming bed & breakfast we stayed in for our babymoon a million years ago!)! and eat a delicious dinner at 82 Queen.
two. In other exciting news — back at home our shower glass is finally getting installed. It’s only been 234723945 years of showering sans glass with tons of floor towels but it’s finally happening TODAY!
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| Caroline’s adorable new ice cream sheets for her big girl bed! |
three. Big Girl Bed Update/HELP: It’s only been a few weeks since we transitioned Caroline to a big girl bed and we are having the toughest time keeping her in bed and going straight to sleep. I don’t want to scare her about NOT being allowed to get out of bed because she has already surprised us once by getting up, escorting herself to the potty, leaving evidence of a healthy #2, washing her hands and escorting herself back to her bed — which is awesome. So the potty is the exception to our threats to stay in bed. However, most of the time, after we’ve put her to bed she will get in and out (sometimes staying up hours past bedtime) to fish through her dresser drawers, play in her closet, turn her lamp on and off, etc. We’ve already removed almost everything from her room short of the clothes in her dresser drawers and bribed her with treats for staying in bed and going to sleep. We had hoped with nothing to play with she would just get bored and go to sleep — nope, I found her one morning this week wearing ELEVEN pairs of underwear and a pair of tights that she helped herself to from her dresser.
Help! How do we get Caroline to go straight to sleep when we put her to bed? Give me ALL the tricks and tips.
four. I promised the EASIEST and most delicious burger recipe earlier this week! Here it is — combine 1 packet of onion soup mix (dry) with 1.5 pounds of ground beef. That’s it and oh my gosh, they are goooood. We’ve made these a few times recently.
five. Ok, I need some major help! I recently squeezed out the last of my face mask cream and am ready to try a new one. Here are my mask requirements: 1. suuuuuuuper moisturizing 2. for suuuuuuuuper sensitive skin. Basically, I need some Gatoraid for my face. Please share some recommendations!!!
Charleston is my spirit home – lol! On getting a little one to go straight to sleep? Well I'm not sure if there is anything that will do that (other than Benadryl but no) I remember having to put a tv in the room, turning it down low, and within five minutes my own daughter would be out. I'm sure that's just so negative these days. Mama needed sleep though. That is a great burger recipe – tried and true here too! Yay for all the home renos. Enjoy yourself to the hilt!!!
Have the best time away my friend!I don't have any great tips for Caroline – it took us 6 weeks to get Ellie to stay in her bed. And we just stuck to a fir voice, hold her hand and escort her back. It EVENTUALLY worked!!! x
Charleston is my FAVORITE! And I have no tips for the bedtime thing because our 3-year-old still isn't nighttime potty trained, but the "OK to Wake Toddler Clock" really seemed to help us, in addition to an incentivized sticker chart (if he doesn't get out of bed/scream/yell/wake his brother up) and gets five stickers (out of 7) in the week, he gets a trip to Dairy Queen. He's pretty motivated by stickers and food (ha!) so that has helped a lot! We make our burgers the same way, just add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, and they're the BEST!
So we actually had to REMOVE her OK to wake clock because she kept getting t off her nightstand and bringing it to her bed as a toy. Aghhh!!!
Those burgers sound amazing!! I'll have to try!
We used the "wake up clock" at first and it worked great about 2 months.. until my daughter realized that clock didn't really stop her from getting up haha. Now her room is bare.. closet and every dresser drawer has the kid proof locks on them. She has NOTHING to play with but her pillows. Most nights she stays in, but naps are 50/50 these days.. ugh! She will spend the whole 2 hours I leave her (mama needs a break whether she sleeps or not lol) running around, using her pillow as a sled off her bed, or looking out the window. I just stay firm and leave her. I also use LOTS of bribing for naps. "You can wear your Ana dress if you take a nap. You can eat popcorn if you take a nap. I'll give you whatever you want IF YOU TAKE NAP AND STAY IN YOUR BED!!!!" haha. Good luck!
My 2.5 year old son now sleeps in his room for naps and bedtime and I owe it to reading tips from the book Moms on Call. A easy "must read!" The writers are Christian pediatric nurses and their advice is written with love and experience and WORKS!
So our daughter is 6 weeks younger than Caroline and has been in a big girl bed since March. We are still struggling with keeping her in bed, but our issue is the middle of the night. To get to sleep we've been most successful with an after-bath iPad video in Mommy and Daddy's bed to help wind down, then we go up to her bed read a few books, sing songs, lights out. It's been working better than anything else we've tried! That being said, Sydney isn't falling asleep until around 8:15 so it certainly cuts down on grown-up evening time. Good luck!!
I just got back from a week long vacay in Charleston! I'm so jealous that you are there and I'm at work, haha.
Christina, I may not comment often, but I just wanted to share that I love getting to follow along with your world. Your kiddos are the sweetest and I am super excited for all the new house/ job happies in your life right now! I love the blog world as a way to keep up with people from high school. Have an amazing weekend in Charleston! I hope to get there someday soon! I have heard SO many good things!
We are just trying to transition from a crib to a bed, and I am all sorts of confused about how to get her to actually stay in bed. It works when I rock her to sleep and then put her in the bed… she stays! But, ain't nobody got time for that and it's obviously not a long-term solution (or a good habit). Interested to see what others suggest!
I'm laughing so hard about the underwear and tights. How can you even try to be mad at her when you see that?? Hilarious! So, we used My Tot Clock. I think it's about $50 (a little pricy, but worth it for my sleep). It has 4 different colors. Blue is night time. Yellow is day time. You don't get out of your bed unless your clock is yellow. Exception is bathroom. There's also a red light for time out sessions and a green light that we used for bedtime routine. I would set the green light for 10 minutes and when it turned to blue for night time, that meant no more books, no more songs….it was sleep time. It took a few weeks to get it down, but it worked great for us!
We used a clock too that lights up when they can wake up. It's been so long I'm not sure what ours was called. We also told our boys "You are not allowed to get out of bed until it's time.". Once we put it that way, they listened much better than when we would say "If you get up, xyz will happen". My kids have always been scared of the words "not allowed"…it's like their trigger word to make them behave! So weird but I doubt it will work much longer!! Also, blackout shades in her room so she doesn't wake up as soon as the sun comes up! And a noise machine set to continuous white noise to block out sounds that might wake her up. Good luck!!! :)http://thatinspiredchick.blogspot.com/2017/05/friday-favorites-12-51917.html
It's not necessarily a mask, but I purhcased straight Vitamin E oil from Trader Joes, and I put that on, and then steam my face…or at night I mix it with my night cream, and it works wonders! Also, take the collagen supplement!
Oh man ELEVEN pairs I am cracking up so hard at work right now. She has determination that is for sure. Also lol-ing at gatorade for your face! Can you put toddler proof "locks" on the dresser/closet so she has nothing to play with, but you can still keep stuff in them?
I love Philosophy's Purity for a face wash and Beauty Counters Brightening Line for a mask and moisturizer. I have very dry and sensitive skin.
Oh my goodness, that trip sounds like so much fun! Enjoy Charleston! I have no tips for Caroline, but oh my goodness, her antics do make for funny stories!
This isn't a mask but the Active Hydration Serum from Rodan+Fields is amazing. It increases hydrations levels by 200% within your first use and doesn't bother my sensitive skin at all. You can use it morning and night for plump and hydrated skin. Plus there is a 60 day money back guarantee in case you don't love it 🙂 I am a consultant but wouldn't recommend something that doesn't work :)I can't wait to try these burgers. I get the best recipes from you!!
For my daughter it was the threat of having her door locked that did the trick. My son was totally cool with the My Tot Clock. Every kid is different — so not the advice you really are hoping for but keep trying things until you find what works for Caroline! Hang in there!!
Ohhh I need to try that burger secret! Want to know my burger secret? Lawry's seasoning and (this is alittle weird but I promise it makes them so good) a splash of heavy cream. It makes the burgers SO juicy!
Charleston looks dreamy!! That burger recipe sounds right up my alley! Going to try it next week!
We put the mattress on the floor at the foot of our bed or let our children sleep in the chair and a half in our room. They could watch a short show and have a drink and then off to sleep. Sometimes we would sit in there with them, but most of the time they fell asleep pretty quickly. Both of our children transitioned to their own rooms by the time they were 4. It seems like a long time, but fighting a young child over going to bed is no fun and neither is listening to them cry.
Caroline's sheets are so cute!! And now I am definitely adding Charleston to my bucket list–it looks so pretty!!
Do you think Caroline would like a sticker chart? So every time she stays in bed (and you don't come in to her wearing 11 pairs of underwear) she gets a sticker. And after so many, she gets a prize?
Your shower looks amazing!!!!! YAY for no more towels to do the work!
I love Caroline's sheets! My daughter is a few days older than Caroline (May 2) and she's been in her big girl bed/room since she was just over 2! I can't imagine doing it now – she's so much more opinionated and strong-willed! Good luck. What worked for us last year was that we set up the bed in her new room and would play in there during the day on weekends and then eventually started to do bedtime routine through stories in the new bed and then put her to sleep in her crib. Eventually, she decided she just wanted to stay in the bed. She almost never gets out of bed on her own, but she's always liked sleeping. The morning is our hard time but we have the clock that changes color and she's usually good about not getting up before the clock turns green (unless she really has to pee!) We had to put the clock up on her high dresser, along with her lamp, since everything on her night table became toys.
Beautycounter's masks are ah-maz-ing – So luxurious and hydrating! Full disclosure: I am a Manager w/ Beautycounter, but I would not recommend something I don't believe in myself. I'd love for you to try a sample if you're interested!
My girlfriend in the Navy is getting transferred to Charleston and I am hoping to visit soon! I've never been but it looks like an awesome city.