Happy Birthday my little man!

So I'm way behind... I know.
 It's taken me a bit to have enough time to just sit down and write on here without falling asleep with my hands still perched on the keyboard!

The big day has come and gone.

What big day?

My handsome little man Kai Nicolas Russell has turned 2!

Oh my gawd I just can't believe its already been TWO WHOLE YEARS!!

Time flies when your having fun I guess!

Of course little man asked for a Spiderman cake:

It may not be a fancy Pinterest cake, but he was absolutely thrilled,
So I was pretty proud of myself :)

We had a ton of fun... eating spaghetti, and cake, having water fights, and of course opening presents!! Kai loved all his presents.. but by far the coolest are the paintings his Auntie Dani made for him:

This gurl has skill... I'm so proud of her!

Kai was more than excited to add them to his collection..

All and all it was a perfect night! 
Now its just a countdown till the BIG birthday party in two weeks! 

Tylenol? Earplugs? Maybe a Margarita??

 Damn, my headache is back.

I've been brainstorming what to write about for the last few hours, hitting a mental roadblock. As I sit here staring at the screen willing the words to come to me I listen to my son wail over the monitor on the table beside me. It's been like this for the last few nights. He goes down beautifully. Brushes his teeth, gathers his things, gets pj's on & climbs in bed. We read a story or two, and then I turn on his music &  he falls asleep with no issues.  

It's been bliss.

But about an hour or so after he will awake with a piercing scream.

I don't rush in, because I know he's ok but get to him as fast as I can. To which he will hold up his arms for comfort. I hug him to calm him down, and he immediately ceases screaming. He cuddles close as I wipe away tears & begins to fall asleep right away. 

I wait a few minutes & then attempt to lay him back down but as soon as he notices the shift in my body he goes straight and stiff, wailing once more. Holding his legs out like he has full charlie-horses in both at the same time, unwilling to re-bend them. At this point he essentially becomes inconsolable. 

Sometimes I try to cuddle again. Sometimes I try to wait it out.

And then there are other times, like tonight... that I just can't listen to the close proximity screaming any longer. Those times are when (after many warnings) I kiss him on the forehead, tell him I love him & remove myself from the room. 

Of course this causes a full on meltdown.

I busy myself. Laundry. Dishes. Straightening. Dusting.

My house has never been so clean.

But the wailing continues.

I will go in after awhile, when the screams begin to die down, ask him if he wants to cuddle. Sometimes it works... Other times he begins to play around, bobbing his head or kicking his feet. This is when I will again kiss him on the head, & leave the room.

Another. Meltdown.

And it goes on & on like this for hours until eventually I either give up and go lay in bed in my own bed with him (which still can take hours & turns me into a half-functioning zombie) or I just finally let him up, thus throwing off his entire schedule.
 Like that is not going to happen anyways.

I'm at a loss.

I know this is normal behavior. I know it's just a phase.
But by god am I EXHAUSTED.

I've thought about investing in a multitude of earplugs & coffee,
 but I'm just not sure it's going to help.

Help? Ideas? Backup?
Someone to tag in and take a shift while I take a spa day?

No?!

-_-


Damn.

Aaaaand he's out of bed again. He's out the bedroom door and at my side with big sweet eyes before I can do anything and offering me his blankie & a book.

Guess we wont be going back to bed anytime soon.

 
Double damn.

Seattle Sun

We took Kai on a sunny day trip to Seattle the other day.

While there I wanted to take some pictures for my friend Art from over in Moscow and I thought I would share them with all of you as well.

Kai loved the marketplace... that's my favorite part too!

We bought him a strawberry coconut fruit roll.. you can't tell, but he really loved it!

I've always loved these little lanern people everywhere.

Kai wasn't to sure about the pig.

He kept trying to sniff & touch the Gum Wall... I think it was a bit confusing.

He thought this little skull baby was hilarious.

Yum! Coffee beans!!

The views around here are spectactular!

Have a Great day!

Don't forget to check out
my photo blog Pocket Memories