Houston, we have a sleeper!

Well, first I guess I need to apologize?  I've been a *little* busy these past few months with no time for blogging.  But, then again aren't we all busy?  So, I know you understand. 

Mirabella has been an excellent baby.  Very sweet. Perfect addition to our family.  After our third child who was not a good sleeper (though a sweet boy!), it has been a RELIEF to have our sweet Bella (the 4th child) who enjoys her sleep.  

Well, except for last week. And the week before. And the week before that. She was sick the first two weeks of this poor sleep trend. Last week we were transitioning her from her bassinet in our room to her own room in her crib where her parents were starting to need to sleep like statues and not move a single muscle or she'd wake up.  She didn't like her crib at first, but we are relieved to have some kind of consistency for about 4 or 5 nights now.  *crossing fingers*

And, this process along with a conversation with someone the other night reminded me of a time when we were transitioning our third child (who did not sleep for more than 5 hours in a row for the first 19 months of his life...) to his crib.  

And THAT is what inspired me to blog again.  Weird, huh?  It was just like-
Bam! This should be a blog post.  So, here it is.

The only reason this story can be a blog post now is because we can now laugh about it.  It was not really funny for a very long time, but we can now laugh.  I wouldn't ever wish it to happen again, but now it is a tiny moment in our history.  Or, should I say my history.  My husband was sleeping.  Rare at the time but needed. 

He was working a full time job in a school and a part time job as a youth pastor.  The strangest things happen when you first become a youth pastor.  There's this sort of initiation.  It's the kind that kids give their substitute teachers only worse.  This one was in a string of many incidents that almost always involved our second car, markers, and sometimes saran wrap. What the teens never realized is that it never truly affected my husband.  He really didn't care that his car's windows had words written in window markers even if there was misspelling involved.  He didn't even care about the saran wrap and the vaseline they used to make it stick.  Even the litter from the saran wrap containers in the yard were not even a cause of concern for him. He didn't like it, but he was a good sport.  To be honest, I didn't care about any of these things either.

(Well, except the time I had to take his car to a business meeting last minute and there was nonsense written all over the windows.  I have to admit- I was annoyed because I was concerned it could affect my success at that meeting.)  Anyway, there was really only ONE thing that bothered me about this kind of strange torture done to the undeserving Toyota Corolla.  This was my baby at the time who hardly slept a wink.  And, my dogs who at the time barked at every. single. sound. coming form the backyard.  

One night in a time thankfully far away, I was rocking my little sleepless baby boy.  My husband was asleep. He needed to sleep as juggling two jobs was taking a toll on him.  I was rocking the baby, nursing the baby, singing to the baby, and everything else imaginable to help this child sleep.  It was late.  I don't remember what time, but I'm thinking it was after 11pm on a weekend night.  The baby started to doze off.  I had the movement perfected so that I didn't step on any parts of the floor that would squeak while rocking.  Miraculously, his body was feeling limp.  I didn't want to get overly excited yet.  I stayed focused. Finally, I leaned over the crib placing him in the crib, my hands still under his body and cradling him. Slowly, millimeter by millimeter it seemed I was able to get free. Miraculously, he didn't wake up. Hallelujah! I wanted to shout it from the mountaintops, but reality set in. I wasn't out o the woods yet. It was an old house, and though I had pretty much memorized which places in the floor would creak, I hadn't slept for a long time. This fact alone could foil the entire operation. I breathed in quietly and started my exit from the baby's room treated each step as a potential trip wire that could activate the baby's alarming cry. I couldn't believe it. Was it really happening? I could see the light from the hallway and flawlessly escaped the room without a single cry. Maybe, this was the beginning of a new era where sleep would be possible! Briefly I started imagining the possibilities...

And, then, the dogs heard something. Something unfamiliar like the sound of teenage girls trying to be quiet. The whole house erupted in a cacophony of barking that only my two pugs could create. The baby immediately woke up crying uncontrollably. And, thus began another very long night for the books for a very tired mommy.<sigh> 

So, what's funny about this?? Not very much except for the crazy lengths that parents go through to get some sleep.;) 

*Disclaimer: Despite the horror of not sleeping from the countless past pranks of certain teenage girls, I still love those girls regardless. :)  One person who led most of the pranks actually bought the outfit for my sweet baby in the picture on this page, and she is a special part of my life. I might have some pranks in mind for her  when she has children however.;)