waking up happy

How does someone wake up so happy every single time? 

He is the best sleeper I have ever seen, but comparing him to the rest of this house anything would make him look good. He falls asleep on his own, wakes up happy and plays in his crib until I realize he is up, takes 2 short naps or one huge one during the day, and sleeps through the night! 

I know I need to lower the crib again! 

the land of sleepless nights

The littles are up around 7.

Weston takes his usual naps

Ryan doesnt anymore, I can maybe get one every other week or so, and if he does he plans it so nicely that he is asleep the exact amount of time that his brother is awake.

Ryan goes to bed at 8

Weston at 9

by the time I am done doing a combination of:

taking a real shower- the kind where I am childless and can shave my legs without a 3 year old smacking my butt and laughing

cleaning

dishes

laundry

working out (rarely)

organizing

tackling house projects

working- editing, emails, marketing, phone calls, prepping client galleries

blogging here

catching up with friends on facebook...

its about midnight. I go to bed every night when I can't keep my eyes open anymore and my body is so tired it hurts to move. There is always 100 things that still need to be done too.

Then about 10 minutes after I lay my head down and fall asleep the kids start tag teaming it.

Weston wakes up for a feeding

Ryan has finally pooped and needs to be changed

he also requests a snack of some sort

both need to be rocked and cuddled back to sleep and then wake up a few times before they are out

its 2 am and I finally sleep.

Start it all over again at 5 am.

Good morning at 7 am. 

And its all mom-sleep. The kind where you have one eye open and can still hear every little creak and every ruffle of blankets. never deep, always on guard ready to fly down the hall and soothe kid 1 before kid 2 has a chance to be woken up by crying. 

Guys, I am beat. 

mom hours aka we dont sleep

Hubs and I were talking about our schedules last night and then it came up with my friend Amy today. I go to bed between midnight and 1am and then up with the kids around 7. And then between those hours the kids tend to take turns being up. If hubs works late then we can trade off a little in the morning and take some quick naps and I swear that is the only way we can survive.

But we barely are. I am tired every second of every single day. Here is the tricky part- even if I take a nap or even if I get 12 hours of sleep a night I am still tired. All the time. I have seen a few doctors who run test that come up with nothing. I have said I am going to start vitamins but havent gotten around to it yet.

I was this way before I had babies too, so I cant blame it on them- all the way anyway. To top it off I do not have low energy children. They are busy and go-go-go all day long! I want to be a good mom for them, I am trying so hard! They know I am tired and sometimes agree to nap at the same time in the afternoon. It is rare but wonderful.

Are you a tired mam? What hours do you keep? Go over to facebook and share with everyone.

on babies, pandora, and heaven

More often than not my days are crazy, loud, and chaotic. The house gets trashed, my patience is worn thin, multiple tantrums are had- this is one of the many reasons I love bed time. I love it not for the first guess of I am finally rid of the kids for a while but because of moments like this and this. Its a time where we can come together as a family and unwind from the waves of the day.

Tonight I pulled on my bathing suit and hopped in the tub with both boys for a while, then we got all lotion-ed up and in pj's. We read the scriptures, had family prayer, and then we split up. Daddy with Ryan and me with Weston.

If you ever want to know what heaven is like I have a feeling this is as close as it gets...

Its turning on the Priscilla Ahn playlist on pandora that you have carefully crafted to perfection over the last 2 years or so. It's leaving the shades open so the glow of the moon lightly rests on your baby's sweet smelling skin. Its gently curling up in the well worn rocking chair with the babe while the slight creak in the chair and the melodies flowing from your phone lulls you both to sleep. Its your baby's hand laying on your breast and how you can tell how asleep he actually is by how tight or loose his grip is.

Moments like these remind me why I love being a mother more than anything else in the world. It is my calling for sure. I love the newborn stage where times like these are plenty and I also cherish the toddler stage where he can call me by name over to his bed and ask for a "little bit cuddle mom."

If there is anyone out there who questions whether the trials of parenting are worth it I have one word for you-

Absolutely.

mantra

Monkey's sleep problems have been discussed on possibly every page of this blog. I really thought I had tried everything til a few nights ago... After saying bedtime prayers I was blessed with a little mommy revelation you could call it.

I looked my boy, a baby no longer, put my hands on his cheeks and told him-

"You are so brave, you are so strong. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! You do great things everyday and tonight you are going to go night-night all by yourself. Its because you are a big boy now and so grown up. Remember you are brave and strong, I love you, Goodnight ok?"

And to my amazement, he said yes. Showed me his muscles and watched me walk out of the room. It worked again the next night and today for nap. Sometimes all we need is someone to believe in us. This little nighttime mantra made a big difference for my boy. A little confidence in ones self can go a long way.

I believe in tough love sometimes but God showed me that night what my son needed was a little TLC.