Sleep

Gone are the days of sleeping until noon in college in my cozy dorm room in the winter. Gone are the days of sleeping in on a Saturday morning after a long week of work at the office. The definition of how much sleep I need used to be 8 hours. These days - I'm praying for 5. Its amazing how essential it is, yet how little I seem to get. Last night was the night of all nights. It all starts with the problem of me putting my sleep first and not helping Rene' learn to sleep through the night. Her little internal clock is now set. I know this because she wakes up at midnight and 4 on the dot. And because I want to sleep too, I nurse her and put her back to bed. Well weaning is coming soon and I am foreseeing a nightmare ahead when I want her to be totally weaned and she's still waking up at night, expecting "the ninny" as we call it at my house. That was probably TMI - but we're all family. ANYWAY - I prepped Andy for the fact that when she woke up, he was going to have to put her back to sleep because if it were me, we all know what would happen. He was game....... Midnight - like clockwork - and crying for the next 2 1/2 hours. The poor man tried everything from rocking, to the lullaby CD, to holding, to rubbing her back - you name it, he tried it. And well, it ended up like every other night. Except since the girls share a room Paige was up most of that time, then ended up in our bed because she couldn't go to sleep because of all the crying, or course.

So at this point, I know that you readers aren't ones for posting comments, but I am desperately needing some help from across the nation. I need tips, stories, and encouragement. I fully realize this is my fault as Andy has been so nice to point out. I don't know how I got so soft.

On a funny note - my other 2 are into switching beds. Zack sure looks peaceful sleeping in the pink and purple butterfly sheets while his sister snoozes in his room with his beloved "Copper". I just might be creating another habit we'll have to break.