A Celebration and a Meltdown

Part 1: Preparations
On the 1st day of Christmas my true love made 200 gingerbread men for me.
and you.
and you.
and you, and you, and you.

And while we're at it, how about 4 dozen sugar cookies!
I had some help from the kids with these.
Then after they were in bed, I realized all of my gingerbread men were homeless! Oh no! So that led to the not-so-brilliant idea to "whip up" a dozen graham cracker gingerbread houses.

Mistake.

FYI- making homemade royal icing after midnight calls for disaster...
...which I had. (FYI-don't try to reuse the Wilton Royal Icing containers for homemade icing unless the result you seek is concrete hard icing splattered all over your microwave.)

Icing batch #2 was usable and I constructed little shelters for my gingerhobos until 3am relatively disaster free.

I said "relative" because having let the kids help earlier in the day put us in a state of disaster throughout the entire kitchen.
As seen here.

and here.

aaaaaaaand here.(Mmmmm confetti cupcakes and sugar cookie snowmen)
The frosting explosion pushed me over the edge and I cried.
over frosting.
I've gotten so soft.
I also saw a hearse today and cried again.
I know. Sleep deprivation makes me weepy.

Eventually, I got everything put together and I crashed into bed.

Question. Was it worth it?
This morning when Reese woke up she was serenaded with a harmonious (harmony meaning I am in one key and Aaron is unknowingly in another), rendition of the Birthday Song. When she went into the kitchen for breakfast, she saw this:
and before I even made it out of my room, she had RUSHED back down the hall to tell me,
"MOM! The ELVES came to our house last night and they left us candy and GINGERBREAD HOUSES in the kitchen!!!"

Her excitement was priceless.
Absolutely, it was worth it.

"Get Off Of My Bed, Yeah That's What I Said..."

Tonight's the night.

We've been meaning to put the girls in the same room for a few weeks now. We had one failed attempt and gave up.

Reese:
-takes 10 minutes (sometimes longer) to put to bed.
-requires a 100 item long list of "Rainman" activities that MUST be done in order before she can settle down for the night.
-sleeps with the closet light on
-sleeps with the door cracked open a precise distance (using a stuffed dog for measurement, and he MUST be facing her, and the ears must he folded down)
-sleeps with a hoodie sweatshirt on over her jammies, with the hood on and sleeves rolled once.
-has 4 loveys. "Kitty", "Brown Bunny", her PINK Care Bear, and "Baby".
-Baby must be wearing his pajamas (yes, he unfortunately came with a change of clothing) AND his hat. The hat must be pulled on tight, but "not touching his eyebrows".
-If I am the one putting her to bed, she will NOT sleep unless she has had a chance to say the following to me: "goodnight mommy, goodnight Brother, I Love You Mommy, I Love You Baby, Sweet Dreams Mommy and Baby"
-I MUST reply with "goodnight, I love you, sweet dreams" followed by a promise to give Dad a hug and kiss when he gets home.
-While she changes into jammies, she needs a detailed agenda for the following day, and sometimes the day after that.
-The final thing is always her calling a question from her bed to me (escaping down the hall) "Mommy, can I twirl my hair".
Me: "yes, Reese. Twirl your hair. Whatever....just. go. to. sleep.
Reese: ok, but not too tight?
Me: fine. I love you. good night!

And that's how it's done. This is of course AFTER scripture time, prayers, potty, hug and kiss for mommy, hug and kiss for baby, and a drink. in. that. order.

OCD much? I really believe she might have it. We all know I do. Perhaps it's genetic?

Love her.
Ridiculous I know. But we've got it down and it really only takes about 10 minutes.
If I can't sacrifice 10 minutes to put my kid to bed...well that's sad.
Anyway, Reese thrives on routine....and change in the routine (especially at bedtime) can be catastrophic.

For example: Last week, Aaron tried to bypass the steps and just stick her in bed the other night so he could return to March Madness. He aborted her whole plan, and sent her to bed.

Repercussions? Reese goes psycho. Total meltdown.
Aaron tried to play "bad cop" amid the hysterics, and finally just said "goodnight" and locked the bedroom door.
Repercussions? Reese craps her pants, then gags from the smell and throws up on the floor. The hysteria approaches the "hold my breath until I pass out" stage.
A quick clean up, change of clothes, and a "goodnight mommy, goodnight Brother...etc" later, Reese is sound asleep in her bed.

We don't mess with "the routine".
Before you go thinking I'm screwing up my kid for giving in to crazy behavior...she DOES adjust on vacation, and goes to bed without problems when she sleeps at Kasey's. Her routine is a comfort at home. I put up with it because I too, have a psycho bedtime routine. I get that.

So back to the issue at hand.

Quincy:
-takes 30 seconds to put to bed.
-sucks her thumb
-has two blankies and as long as they are there she doesn't care WHERE she sleeps
-sleeps in a very dark room (I took the blackout curtains down last week to help her adjust to more light) with the door closed.
-We walk in, put her in bed, hand her the blankets, say "good night" and close the door.
DONE.

Reese was once this way too....a long long time ago. Then we took away the pacifier and all Hell broke loose. We messed with the routine and Reese will make us pay for-ev-er.

TODAY:
Quincy wakes up from nap with the dreaded words.
YUCKY MOMMY.

Poo.
EVERYWHERE.
Everything is in the washer.
The mattress, crib skirt, EVERYTHING, had to come apart to be washed.
The walls might need a coat of paint to recover from the nastiness.

With a crib in pieces and freshly washed "two blankies", I guess tonight is as good as any night to move Quincy into Reese's room, where there is a clean, assembled crib waiting for her.
We've been prepping them for the big move for awhile...especially the last week.
I have a battle plan.
I hope it works.
We will probably pay for it later.
Wish me luck.