Crying it out, and other things. . .

*SIGH* Until Braelyn I never had a child that didn't sleep through the night.  On occasion the boys would wake if they were really sick, or had a bad dream--but that was it.  Right now, we are going on about 2 weeks of Braelyn waking up about 3 and then every 30 minutes or so after that.  We tried putting her in the bed, but honestly, she takes up more than Jason and I combined--and it's really not a good habit to get into.  When we were in Florida I let her cry it out once, I was in the room, I could see her and I knew she was fine-but when Daddy got there it was a no-go!!  He kept saying, she just sounds so upset.  .  .(insert eye roll here, she has him completely wrapped)
Last night I was DETERMINED that she would cry it out.  .  .She cried for 20 minutes and FINALLY gave it up.  You have to understand, she is VERY dramatic and really if you didn't know her better you would think she was in some real trouble in there.  I pretty much had to threaten Jason to stay put!!!  When she was all done, I went in to check on her and what does she do--SITS UP AND STARTS SCREAMING AGAIN (doh-smacking my head).  .  .oh well, I tried.  After that she woke up once more, cried for a second and went back off to sleep.  Here's my question--at what point to I take her to see if there is something wrong (i.e. ears??)??  I suspect she is teething, but I don't want to just keep doping her up.  She's really been waking about when her Motrin would be wearing off so that's a sign there is something going on right??  Okay, I'll give it to the end of the week.  .  .

Braelyn after the girls lost Trivial Pursuit on Thanksgiving-ha!

.  .  .other things.  .  .HOW DO YOU GET YOUR KIDS TO KEEP THEIR ROOMS CLEAN?  I've tried so many different methods, easy organizing things so that they can drop their stuff in buckets, or in a drawer, etc.  .  .but it's not working.  I go in and do a clean out about once every couple of weeks, throw things away, choose things to donate, etc-but the CRAP (and I do not use that term lightly) just multiplies!!  Camden has built in shelves and he displays EVERYTHING, his argument is "it's his room, technically he's correct but I get anxious every time I walk in there b/c of all of the crap.  Anxious & frustrated that everything I've worked so hard to make nice and neat is now a flipping mess again!  Do I just let it go and let him have his space, or do I stay worked up all the time trying to get him to keep it tidy??

Me and the Boys at Margaritaville for Evan's Birthday

Are y'all ready for Christmas?  I'm not.  .  .thinking about Braelyn and my decorations is exhausting and I haven't even lugged them out yet!!  :)  I've been trying to do things here and there this week to get me in the Christmas Spirit!