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Post by beaglemom on May 6, 2016 5:04:39 GMT
I hadn't really thought of it before..but we have named some of our cars. Dh has a 1987 Jeep CJ7 that he has had since high school (doesn't currently run) our 3 year old ds calls it Daddy Jeep Car. He also has a 2010 Mini CooperS convertible - plates are Mtn Mini, but ds calls it Daddy mini car and calls all minis that as well (but will distinguish if they are convertibles or not). 2016 Suburban - Snow Car - we drove it to colorado for thanksgiving because it was much better than the mini or prius for driving in the snow, so the name stuck. Even though we live in California and don't get snow. Dh got a black 2013 Tesla Model S P85 and when we picked it up and they walked us through the setup there is a screen where you input the car "name," we hadn't told anyone we were getting the car and the plan had been that I was going to drive it for 6 months while we waiting on our new car. But we found out at pick up that the new car was going to be ready two weeks later. So it became the Dadmobile. We picked up my dark gray Tesla Model X 90D less than 12 hours before I gave birth to baby #3. Since dh's is dadmobile and since it is my "minivan" it is the mom-mobile. Love it! Before it I drove a Pruis, it was never named. I realized today that even though dh's car's name is technically dadmobile the kids call it "jump seat car" since there are jump seats in the trunk. And that is where they prefer to sit.
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Post by beaglemom on May 5, 2016 23:23:02 GMT
What annoys me is that costco has good enough records to know that I purchased something. but not good enough to tell me exactly what or to just refund me. No I have to go through the list and my freezer, figure out what I bought and then bring it in. I know they bank on the fact that people aren't going to go through the hassle. So annoying!
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Post by beaglemom on May 5, 2016 20:03:26 GMT
So glad your church is willing to help them!
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Post by beaglemom on May 4, 2016 4:51:39 GMT
I hadn't really thought of it before..but we have named some of our cars.
Dh has a 1987 Jeep CJ7 that he has had since high school (doesn't currently run) our 3 year old ds calls it Daddy Jeep Car. He also has a 2010 Mini CooperS convertible - plates are Mtn Mini, but ds calls it Daddy mini car and calls all minis that as well (but will distinguish if they are convertibles or not). 2016 Suburban - Snow Car - we drove it to colorado for thanksgiving because it was much better than the mini or prius for driving in the snow, so the name stuck. Even though we live in California and don't get snow.
Dh got a black 2013 Tesla Model S P85 and when we picked it up and they walked us through the setup there is a screen where you input the car "name," we hadn't told anyone we were getting the car and the plan had been that I was going to drive it for 6 months while we waiting on our new car. But we found out at pick up that the new car was going to be ready two weeks later. So it became the Dadmobile.
We picked up my dark gray Tesla Model X 90D less than 12 hours before I gave birth to baby #3. Since dh's is dadmobile and since it is my "minivan" it is the mom-mobile. Love it! Before it I drove a Pruis, it was never named.
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Post by beaglemom on May 1, 2016 4:51:52 GMT
Forgot to add...I would like to try Hello Fresh, I keep getting coupons from Zullily for them. But I keep having problems since our billing address is a PO box, I should try to figure it out!
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Post by beaglemom on May 1, 2016 4:50:49 GMT
We did Green Plate first. I liked that they were paleo/gluten free. But the kids (3 and 5) didn't like the food and it was expensive. We have been doing Blue Apron for a couple months now. We love it. The kids are willing to eat it. We do supplement some, since it alone really isn't enough for 2 adults and 2 kids at 2 servings per meal. I think that 4 servings for the family ones would be too much food for us. We have I think had one that I wasn't a fan of, the rest have all been really good. We have also used some of the recipes and techniques on their own since we liked them so much. I love not having to think, I just pick one of them and follow the directions.
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 30, 2016 4:52:47 GMT
Thanks all. Dropped soup at the inlaws. Came back home and had soup with dh. Dh and kids are now in bed and I get a little time to myself. To respond to a couple things. Normally I don't mind doing the whole thing. Just with the new baby this year at someone else's house, I just really wasn't wanting to. Yes most people celebrated last weekend, but since the inlaws were out of town and the other two couples tend to really only celebrate the holidays with them as well, it got moved to this weekend. Dh has cold symptoms, the rest of us feel fine. Soup was made and refrigerated shortly after (in keeping with foodsafety.gov). Dh was not in the kitchen or around the soup at any time during the process.
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 29, 2016 21:05:04 GMT
Thank you for the validation! I made a double batch so I have more than enough. Dh wasn't in the kitchen last night when I was cooking. And there is part of me that thinks it is a combo of lack of sleep (1 month old) and that today was supposed to be his first day back from paternity leave (after 5 weeks off). He is working from home down in the office and staying away from the rest of us. I'm letting go of the guilt and I'll drop enough of the soup off at my inlaws for those going tonight and not worry about it! And leave a note that if anyone is worried throw the soup in the freezer and I'll pick it back up to have at home.
Before I joined the family the matzo ball soup was always made from the box. I do very little from the box (soup, cakes, cookies, etc). So I after a neighbor that is in her 70's made us a batch after dd was born I was determined to learn how to make it from scratch. It tastes so much better!!
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 29, 2016 20:15:07 GMT
Dh's mom usually "hosts" Passover. I say "hosts" lightly as she makes the charoset and salad. She asks me to bring the matzo ball soup, brisket, dessert, an appetizer, and usually a side of some sort. Fil usually makes salmon. They were visiting dh's sisters last weekend and did Passover there so I thought we were off the hook. When they host there are two other couples that they usually invite.
I got an email Wednesday night from one of the other ladies saying that since mil didn't have it this year she was going to because we couldn't not do it. And she added in her son and his fiance to the guest list. I didn't respond till yesterday, because I was torn about going and i was hoping dh would say we didn't need to. Since we have three kids (5yrs, 3yrs, and 1 month) and the other couples are all in their late 60's early 70's other than the son and fiance. The lady hosting hasn't had kids in 30 years and I was stressing about having to monitor our kids at her house. But dh said we should go. So I rsvped and to be polite I asked if I could bring anything - silly me - I thought since I have a one month old and we live 30 minutes away she would say no don't worry about it. But she asked me to make the matzo ball soup. So yesterday I went shopping made a huge batch and it is in the fridge.
Well as we are going to bed last night dh says he isn't feeling well and doesn't know if he is going to work today. This morning woke up and decided he didn't feel well enough to go to work. Now he is saying he doesn't feel like he should go because he doesn't want to get anyone sick. But when I said then I didn't want to go he didn't get it.
I don't want to have to wrangle 3 kids by myself in a non-child proof house. My inlaws won't be helpful in terms of kid management and while my kids are well behaved 3+ hours in someone else's house for Passover Sedar is asking a lot! I can drop the soup off at my inlwas with instructions for re-heating, so they will still have the soup. Also I'm not jewish! Dh's family is "culturally" and I say that loosely. They do Passover (sometimes remembering to no to leavened for the time - usually forgetting), the do the candles and presents at Hannukah, and they fast at Yom Kippur (mainly so they can whine about how hungry they are and how hard it is to not eat for the day). The only time that I know of in the 15 years that I have know my inlaws that they have gone to synagogue is when they were in Eastern Europe for Yom Kippur and that was only because they were somewhere that had a famous synagogue.
So what say the peas. Do I need to suck it up and take the kids and go? Or do I get a pass since dh isn't going?
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 24, 2016 5:04:32 GMT
So awesome! Dh keeps saying he wants to build an underground garage....I keep trying to figure out how to get a sewing room out of it too!
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 22, 2016 0:31:39 GMT
I went to the one out in northern California a couple weeks ago. It's the second one I've been to, they are fantastic. The photo is the shoes I got for my kids, I just wish the shoes worked for me! link
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 18, 2016 3:21:17 GMT
My mom's parents moved into a retirement facility that had fully independent living to hospice and everything in between. My grandfather died a year and a half ago at 85, he had Alzheimers and at the end was no longer the man we all knew and loved. My grandmother is now in the assisted living wing of where they lived. My dad's parents are in their mid 80's and are living on a 100 acre farm in the middle of nowhere Vermont. My dad's sister lives with them, she has never been able to hold down a job and they are happy having her there so it works for them.
Because of watching their parents my parents have said they will move to a long-term care facility when the time comes.
My inlaws on the other hand....They are in their mid-70's. They are currently active, but they are slowing down. When you ask my mil her plans she says that when fil dies she will move in with her favorite daughter. Sil lives `1200 miles away.
Fil is crazy. Their house is a mess. It should really be bulldozed, but he keeps claiming they are going to remodel. They have been trying to since 2009 but the town won't approve any of their plans. And the last "remodel" they did they spend +$300,000 and you can't tell that anything was done. His current plan is that they are going to remodel and build another master suite. And then his plan is that his oldest granddaughter - who is currently 11 and lives 1200 miles away - is going to come go to graduate school nearby and live with them and take care of them. Putting them in their late 80's/early 90's. In reality it will probably fall on me. I am dreading it.
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 16, 2016 20:03:24 GMT
I asked about it for my third child and was told that they don't like to do it for too long because it can increase risk for jaundice. I had an experience very much like the above description. I was seriously impressed with the team. I delivered 5 minutes after walking into Labor and Delivery. thankfully I had been in a couple hours before so they knew my name and had a chart already started.
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 16, 2016 4:43:54 GMT
I can float with no effort, can hold my kids on me with very little effort. Dh sinks like a rock! I am overweight now, but I was super, super skinny when I swam in high school and still floated very well then. My 5 year old isn't a fan of back floating, so I'm not sure with her if she takes after me or dh. Ds is only 3 and we need to get him in swim lessons!
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 8, 2016 0:36:45 GMT
We have hundreds, well probably thousands of books. I would love to have the space back that they are occupying. Does anyone know of a service or organization that you can send you books to that will give you the ebook version in exchange? I do reread books and so I have a hard time getting rid of them, but if I could have an e-copy that would make it so much easier!
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 8, 2016 0:34:14 GMT
I think I need to find a new teacher that I can pass them to, that would make me feel better. I was going through and found the shelf that had 15-20 about writing letters (the jolly postman, Dear Mrs. LaRue...), my Cinderella collection (20 or so different versions), my alphabet book collection (at least 200 of those), my poetry section, artists....I know that many of these don't make sense for me to keep, but man it is hard to let them go!
I wish we could store them all. When we remodel we are losing the room that i have been storing them in. And we live in a geodesic dome and there is very little tall flat space for bookshelves. Maybe I just need to look with a more creative eye at the space we do have to figure out what I can make work!
Now what I really wish is that there was somewhere/someone that I could send my paperback adult books and get the ebook version back. I do re-read books - especially series when new ones come out. So I would love a way to get credit for all the books I have already purchased and get them as e-books. Can someone invent that for me??
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 7, 2016 23:55:20 GMT
I am worried about the opposite. DH's parents have a house stuffed full of crap. Fil loves to buy "stuff" when they travel and they take at least two major trips a year. He can usually cover their dining room table (that seats 8-10) with all the things he buys in a trip. We live 15 minutes away. My sils live 1500 miles away. They say they want stuff, but I don't see them ever dealing with it. And i could see both of them being convinced stuff is worth something. Me I would just have a company come give a quote and take it all away. It might not even be worth that.
My mil keeps bringing up that they are redoing their will. But they don't/won't talk to us about what is in it. In the past they had said they were leaving their house the their children - which just seems like a horrible idea to me. Why leave a house to three different people, two of whom live out of state. Plus we (dh and I) are the only ones that could conceivably buy out the other two. And their lives are very established out of state.
Also their current end of life plan according to fil is that my oldest niece (who is currently 11) is going to come go to graduate school in California and live with them. Which would put them in their late 80's early 90's when she would be ready. And then mil says that when fil dies she is moving in with her oldest daughter....the one that is 1500 miles away.
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 7, 2016 2:23:19 GMT
One question I find helpful is "Would I buy this right now at full price, given my current needs?" If the answer is yes, I keep it. If no, it gets donated. Special Ed schools would probably love your books. They typically don't have good funding for salaries or materials. You should be able to get a tax letter. Thank you this was very helpful. Some of the 4th/5th grade books I keep looking at well in 5 years dd might be interested in this...but the reality is in 5 years if she is really interested I can buy it then! Now to sort through the hundreds of books and box them up!
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 6, 2016 1:52:16 GMT
I taught for five years during the height of California's education budget crisis. I taught 2nd, 4th, and kindergarten. None of the classrooms had very good book selections when a started, so I bought a ton of books with my money and then took most of them with me when I left. The last year I taught I had my dd (who is now 5).
I was always a huge book person so I had no issues buying the books. But now we are about to do a major remodel and the room that I have been storing my books in is going away. All 4 walls have floor to ceiling bookshelves that are full of books. 3 are full of kids books, the last one is adult books. My head knows I should be able to get rid of a ton of the books, but I just can't let them go. So now I have a 5 year old dd, 3 year old ds, and a week as a half old Ds. I got rid of most of the longer chapter books figuring that we'll get dd the ones she wants when the time comes.
So how do I decide what to keep and what to let go of?
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Post by beaglemom on Apr 1, 2016 3:28:57 GMT
dh put a deposit down on one for his mom. When he was 16 he crashed his mom's Peugeot and told her that some day he would buy her a car. Yesterday was her birthday and we're taking get out this weekend. Can't wait to see her reaction when he tells her!
She currently drives a Leaf and is always concerned about driving anywhere because the range isn't very big. So it will be nice for her to have more breathing room on range.
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 31, 2016 15:23:50 GMT
I have well over a dozen puzzles ranging from 500 - 1500 pcs and would like to donate them somewhere useful. I was thinking of a retirement community or rehab location but I'm not sure if they would be interested. Has anyone donated items like these and if so where to (other than Goodwill, etc.)? I live in San Jose, CA so a pretty big area to work with! Thanks for any help! I would contact the VA in Palo Alto. They have a huge facility and I'm sure they would love them.
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 28, 2016 2:26:50 GMT
I'll echo what others have said. You need to be licenced by each sorority to be able to sell product with their letters on them. I'm a ZTA and I know they are strict on stuff needing to be licenced to make sure it is accurate.
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 24, 2016 20:05:25 GMT
I was TOTALLY anti Disney and didn't get it. Then we took our kids for dd's 4th birthday last year. We are converted! We have been back twice since and have season passes now.
Then we took our kids for dd's 4th birthday last year. We are converted! We have been back twice since and have season passes now. I couldn't imagine going without the kids, for me the fun is seeing them have so much fun. We lived in LA for a number of years and people always wanted to go when they visited and I just didn't get it, all I saw was miserable crying kids. But going with my own kids has been a blast.
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 23, 2016 1:55:53 GMT
Done! I answered for both the mom ones since dd turns 5 tomorrow and has both AG dolls and baby dolls. She is actually getting a new AG doll tomorrow (that I bought on sale a year and a half ago) and then when her new baby brother arrives (any day now - I'm due Sunday) he is "giving" her a girl bitty baby since she is having a hard time that she is getting another baby brother rather than the baby sister she asked for.
To add for the clothing - her favorite is when I make stuff for her and her doll that match. But she loves anything that she can get on and off herself (my preference too!).
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 18, 2016 23:32:41 GMT
hugs!
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 14, 2016 3:31:22 GMT
I vented some stuff on the other vent thread from a couple days ago. But more stuff has been added. I am 38 weeks pregnant, my due date is Easter Sunday. Thankfully we got through dd's birthday party on Saturday, but her actual birthday is the 23rd, she'll be 5. We also have a 3 year old ds.
I know that we are very lucky, dh has very generous paternity leave. But he is driving me nuts. He has a bunch of stuff that he feels like he needs to get done before the baby comes. Stuff that he has known about for at least a month, if not longer. But he decided to take dd to colorado to go skiing for four days a couple weekends ago. He spent last Mon-Wed skiing with work. And now is stressing and has been held up in the home office all day working. He came up to eat and informed me that he has a meeting tomorrow night, dinners Tuesday and Wednesday night. Wednesday night is the one night a month that is supposed to be mine - I have bookclub, my one non-child thing a month. I told him it was fine, but that I'm getting a sitter because I am going to book club, I read the book, I am the designated dessert bringer and I don't know if I am going to be able to go the next couple months.
I have been trying for months to get him to help me with moving the kids rooms around in anticipation of the baby coming. He decided a week or so ago that we should finally do it. I am on restrictions from lifting too much and he knows this. But I can't get him to finish doing it.
I just hope this baby stays in at least another week. I need to finish getting dd's birthday stuff and easter together and whatever else I can manage.
At least we got the car we have been trying to get for the last couple weeks we finally took delivery on Friday. But while we were there we learned that the other car that we have on order with them - that we weren't supposed to get till end of 3rd quarter/early 4th quarter of this year may be here in 2 weeks. So now instead of having 6 months to figure out payment we have 2 weeks. On a very expensive car and dh's stock sale window just closed and doesn't reopen till April. We talked to them and reminded them that we have a baby coming so we might have to push back delivery on the car a week or two, which thankfully they were okay with. But seriously how do you tell someone as recently as a week ago that their car won't be ready till Sept/Oct and then just kidding it will be ready in 2 weeks??!?!
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 13, 2016 3:06:11 GMT
To be honest I love ours. I had a gift card and needed new plates and needed to have a lot of plates for an event. I ended up purchasing 2 sets of catering boxes from Pottery Barn. www.potterybarn.com/products/caterers-12-piece-dinnerware-set/ We have had them for 4.5 years. Use them everyday, our kids use them to (they are 3 and 5) and we have 24 dinner, 24 salad, 24 of each of the two types of bowls. We have only broken one - and it was a bowl that slipped out of dh's hands when he was washing. They are fabulous, I don't think we have any chips. Yes, they are just plain white, but they are well made and look nice and I can change up placemats/napkins/tableclloths nightly for a different look if I need to. Plus finding serving dishes to match - since they are white - is really easy. I love them!
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 11, 2016 6:57:35 GMT
I'm 38 weeks pregnant so I realize a lot of this vent is hormones.
But we are hoping to do a remodel of our lower level in the next couple months. Currently all our bedrooms are down there. I have been trying to convince dh for months that we should just move up to our upper level where we will be living during the remodel. He kept saying no lets just wait till we have a remodel date (which we still didn't have). Then a couple weeks ago he changes his mind and decides we should do it before the baby comes. Since then he has gone to Colorado for four days to ski, he did take dd(almost 5yrs), but I had ds (3yrs). Then he spent Mon-wednesday in Tahoe on a with ski trip. I have been doing as much as I possibly can, with lifting restrictions and such. But there is still a lot to be done. As party of all this we needed to get ds a new bed, finally got dh to go look last weekend and the mattress was supposed to have been delivered this week. After no word I tried calling today, was told they should bed contacting me tomorrow. I just want the stupid mattress!!
And tomorrow we are supposed to pick up our new car (that was delayed because they decided due to chipped posting to give us a new hood). The car delivery is almost an hour away, especially with traffic. I get to drive everyone to work and school in the morning and then pick them all back up do we only have one car and then due to the car delivery. Then from there dh is taking fil to a warriors game and I get to drive the kids back home in the dark, in probably stormy weather in traffic. Once the kids are in bed I need to make dd's cake for the party.
Dd's birthday party is Saturday which I have also done everything for, dh smiles and nods when I try to talk to him about it. My parents last minute had to go out of town so they can't help with party set up and when I mentioned it to my mil she told me that she has a pedicure scheduled for right before the party and will probably be late to the party.
Dd's actual birthday is the 23rd- my due date is the 27th. And it pisses me off to no end that's my in-laws have decided that they should take a standing vacation to Cabo every year the week of her birthday. Especially when they make a huge deal out of having to always be with the oldest granddaughter (this baby will be grandchild number 9) on her birthday. But the other kids they could care less.
And to top it off this will be the third time they have scheduled themselves to be out of town on my due date. Yet with their daughters they were at their houses (out of state) for two to three weeks surrounding the births of all six of their kids. Yet we live 15 minutes away and do all kinds of crap for them and they go out of town. Dh jokingly said something to them about it and his mom's response was well have the baby early before we leave.
And to top it off mil's birthday is the end of the month, she is already trying to plan when we can take her out to dinner and I refuse to commit to anything because I didn't know when the baby is going to arrive!
Good Lord pregnancy hormones!!
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 11, 2016 0:18:34 GMT
I will be pissed if they take Grimm off. And we really second chance but wtf they put it up against grimm? Huge mistake. Mysteries of Laura is stupid. So is csi: cyber. And bones.... Please give Angela and what his name back their money. I seriously dislike them poor. i agree completely with your comments on Grimm and Bones. Grimm is by far our favorite show, I can't believe it has such issues!! It is the one and only show we are caught up on and actually watch on a weekly basis. And the Angela and Hodges losing their money was just stupid. There should have been a way a long time ago to get it back. I am a little behind on that one, but still love the show.
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Post by beaglemom on Mar 10, 2016 3:14:55 GMT
We had that problem with both of our kids. Was killing me - granted both still like one of us to stay with them until they fall asleep at night, but that is usually 15-20 minutes tops and I read on my tablet while I wait.
With dd (now 5) we thought it was because of new baby (ds - now 3). We finally made a pallet on the floor and said she could sleep there. She did that on and off for a month or so and then stopped. With ds at first we were letting him come in our bed, but he liked to pet me as he fell asleep which it about my worst nightmare. We were able to pull the mommy has a baby in her tummy and there isn't room in the bed anymore. But you are welcome to sleep on the floor, he did that 5-10 times tops and hasn't had issues since.
With both kids we told them bring what you want in, you know where your "bed" on the floor is and go back to sleep. I think the fact that our room is normally at least 10 degrees colder than their rooms, floors being even colder may have factored in as well.
DS just turned 3 in January and I have noticed with him that if he skips nap he falls asleep much easier, but he tends to wake up in the night more (proportionately) now he just requires a hug, a kiss, and a fix of the covers. But I still have to get up and do that. If I limit the nap to 2 hours or less it seems to work well, but it does take him longer to go to sleep at night.
Fortunately or unfortunately our kids seem to be like us, night owls that have a hard time getting up in the mornings. We will all sleep in on the weekends, sometimes needing to wake the kids at 10. So can't really complain there. But I get the not getting any down time!
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