Some monster cookies and a little sleep deprivation.

I had an entire post ranting about my daughters sleep issues, and it definitely got deleted.  Since said deletion I have had bestowed on me a whopping 9 hours of sleep by my toddler.  And also…I feel…Jesus.

So, in a nut shell.  Penny has stopped napping completely.  Its been nearly 3 weeks.  She has a new SUPER early bed time now because of it, which is rad.  But the bad part is…along with early bed time has come a really terrible thing called “Night Terrors”.  If you haven’t experienced these, first hand, you are super lucky.  They suck.  And there is pretty much nothing you can do about it…and all of your parental instincts in this area are actually the WORST possible things you can do.

So last night we tried something different and decided to just let her work it out.  She had a fit for about 8-10 minutes and then it was over.  We did a couple of other things, but we don’t need to go into that.  What works for Penny may not work for your kiddo.  And I also don’t really trust it unless it works for more than one night at a time.  I’ll update with results.

So back to the no napper.  Because I don’t get a 3 hour break in the middle of the day anymore, my work time has been chopped in half and I haven’t had much time for blogging, and keeping up with orders is turning into a tricky sort of thing.  It is also pushing me to try and do more things with Penny.  You gotta fill up that day, right mamas?  So the other day, after a quick trip to targe (naturally), I decided it would be fun to bake some cookies.  They had some little sugar googley eyes and I though little monster cookies would be festive.

After a brief explanation to Penny that these were, in fact, nice monsters…not scary monsters…she was on board.

I love this sugar cookie recipe, because it sort of reminds me of those yummy store bought sugar cookies.  You know…the ones with the pink frosting, that never seem to lose their chewy-ness (which probably isn’t a good sign). If you don’t feel like clicking the link, I’ll include the recipe at the bottom of this post.

It makes me super happy when Penny wants to help.  She gets so excited and shouts an incredibly enthusiastic “OKAY!” when I say things like “do you wanna pour in the flour?” “do you want to mix-a mix-a”

Penny actually decorated these on her own.  Our friend Ruthie (who we LOVE!) frosted them, but she was sole responsible for the sprinkling and eye adding.  I actually think they turned out pretty darn cute.  What are the treats you like to make during this time of year?

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.