Reality - Cowboys 24, Redskins 26

I'm going to keep this simple. No excuses, we just lost. Bone-headed plays, straying from the run, 12-men-on-the-field-after-a-Redskins-timeout, nope, no excuses. The Redskins won.

I will say the Cowboys needed that reality check and it's good that it's early in the season. Those guys need to know that it's a long season and they won't win every game just by showing up. They need to come back to reality.

Our neighbors came over yesterday so I wasn't able to engage in the game like I normally do. It was nice to watch football with other people, but the sacrifice is really getting into the game. To top it off, I think I lost in fantasy this week, too.

On a brighter note, we're one day closer to the premiere of Friday Night Lights.

Prediction - Cowboys 34, Redskins 20

Date night last night. It was really nice. Steph and I just went for dinner (Thai) and drinks. It was totally chill and gave us a great chance to just sit and talk to each other with no distractions. As hard as parenting is, keeping and growing a healthy marriage with kids is no cake walk. Thank the Lord for the Nichols (Caitlin and Amy) and our parents for all of the babysitting help they've given us.

Today, of course, is the showdown. Max is in the spirit and Nick's even allowing himself to be swallowed by it. :) Everyone around here not named Stephanie LOVES the Cowboys and always will.

Prediction - Cowboys 34, Redskins 20

Progress, confidence and restful nights....finally

Our sleeping-through-the-night experiment has turned into a full blown routine at this point. It took the boys about 4 days to realize that noone was going to save them from their crib with arms or milk or anything else. It originally took them 20-30 minutes to fall asleep by themselves. Now it's less than 10. If they wake up in the middle of the night, they might cry out for 5-10 minutes, but we don't hear a peep after that. In the morning, their tummies can't really make it past 5 - 5:30 AM, so we've adjusted our waking time. But more often than not, they go back to sleep after that feeding. Problem is, I've got to go to work and then Gracie is usually up, so we haven't been able to reap the benefits of the early morning 2nd bedtime.

We're actually starting to see progress in terms of their schedules. It's not only at night, but during the day. Steph has worked really hard at getting them on an all-day schedule, feedings and naps included. As a result, everyone around the house is happier. You know, I can't think of anything more challenging than parenting. But whenever you see progress made, the sense of accomplishment you feel, even overcoming the smallest of feats, is one of the most joyful and rewarding things. All of the doubt you feel turns into confidence. Whenever you're taking care of multiple kids under 3, confidence goes a long way to get you through the day.

One day until the Cowboys pummel the Redskins.

Go Cowboys!

In anticipation of Cowboys-Redskins this weekend, 2 out of 5 Cearleys are in the right mindset. At least 2 more will be by Sunday.

Picture fun again

From Gracie's first day of school to smiling twins, here are our latest pics.

Happy Birthday, boys!

You turn 6-months old today. I think it's flown by. Your mom thinks otherwise. Be good, keep growing and let's continue to work on your night sleeping habits. You've both done good over the last few days.

There is no real summary and I'm tired of titling things 'recap'

Well, I can say that nothing much has changed around our house since the last post. We are still tired and fighting whatever is in the air.

First, let me back up and send our thoughts and prayers to our family and friends (and everyone else for that matter) in the Houston area who were affected by Hurrican Ike. They are all living without electricity and water and are not expecting anything to be resolved for a couple of weeks. It is a devastating event and I'm just so thankful it didn't reak more havoc.

Gracie was up most of the night last night with a high fever and upset stomach. We think she has a 24-hour bug, but we haven't even approached the 12th hour so there is no way of knowing. She does not feel good though.

The boys....well, thanks to the Baby Whisperer (aka - Nanny Barbara), we have committed ourselves to letting the boys comfort themselves at night. That means letting them go to sleep on their own and when they wake up in the middle of the night, letting them go back to sleep without any food. We started this 2 nights ago and although the nights have been interrupted multiple times, we have held strong to our commitment. We are hoping by the weekend, they will understand that mommy or daddy is not going to pick them up and hold them in their arms to go to sleep and they're not going to feed in the middle of the night. Wish us luck.

Congrats to the Verweils on the birth of their new baby boy - Henry Micah. Born on Monday 9/15. Everyone is happy and healthy. They all come home today.

Nights are so difficult

Tired. Very tired this morning.

Nick has problems getting to sleep. Max has problems when he doesn't sleep. And Gracie has problems sleeping past 5:30 AM.

Allergies are out of control with the Cearley boys and Gracie. Mom is immune to this round.

Kickoff weekend

Man oh man. Christmas in September is now upon us. Yes, that's right - NFL kickoff weekend is a holiday around the Cearley household. It's hard to get anyone to celebrate it with me, but the troops do what they can to appease me. What a weekend full of football. First off, the Cowboys dominated. Their defense looked suspect for part of the game, but they controlled that game. Brady going down for the year? Now, that's changed the landscape of the AFC and in fact, all of football. The Rams are a disappointment. They looked horrible. Rookies stepping in and making an immediate impact - Ryan, Flacco, Forte, Felix Jones, D. Jackson, etc... Indianapolis, San Diego, Cincy, Seattle - ouch. And the best part about it, we have 2 more seemingly excellent games on tonight.

All this has made things around the house a little bit more bearable, at least for me. The twins didn't do so hot on Saturday night, but they did good last night. Gracie is going constantly and that is a challenge for us to be patient, engaging and at the same time, dutiful to each other and the daily workings of our lives.

More video - Gracie terrorizing the boys

You'll see a couple of things in this video:

1. Gracie singing 'Ding, dong, the Wicked Witch is dead!'

2. The boys' personalities

3. Gracie almost doing great damage to Nick's head