More sleep woes

Little Sister will. not. sleep.

At. all.

Last night we put her to bed around 7:45. She FINALLY crashed at about 10. I lost track of how many times one of us went into the room to get her to stop-jumping-in-the-crib-and-lay-down-for-the-love-of-everything-holy!

And what's worse is that Big Sister is so freaked out by bad dreams that she would rather have a fussing Jumpy-McJumperson going strong for hours than be left alone to fend off the monsters.

And the Purple People Eaters. Yes, that was the inspiration for the drawing. She had heard that song in preschool a few times but never knew what they were singing, until her genius Mommy filled her in. Now, it is the stuff of nightmares. And ominous stories involving spiders and heroines who save the day by removing his lungs.

Yes, his lungs. Don't ask me how. I have no idea.

I couldn't make this stuff up.

So both children have been going to sleep at about the same time that I usually go to bed.

But the worst part is that Little Sister is still getting up early. In fact, this morning she decided that 6:30 was too late, and our little Early Bird was grabbing worms jumping in her crib before 6. I had told both girls that they would be staying in bed until after 7, no matter what. I offered Big Sis the option to go into the spare room, and I think she took it at some point. But NO ONE went back to sleep.

I remember something from my favorite sleep book that said that kids often wake too early from actually getting too little sleep, rather than too much. And that makes a lot of sense, because the other piece of the puzzle I haven't shared yet is Little Sister's new found addiction to three hour naps.

So we're sleep training here. Which means we're testing the limits of my sanity, and with all of my anxiety and hormonal woes of late, those limits are a little tenuous.

I put Little Sister in bed tonight right before 7 and right after she tossed a plate of pizza and strawberries on the floor. She actually went down without a fight.

But, heaven forbid I should get off that easily, Big Sis stepped in to fill the void. After special treatment (watching the same Angelina Ballerina movie we've seen ninety-two times this week and playing Pixie Hollow with Mommy) we got ready for bed. She whined the whole time. As soon as she leaned back against her pillow, she said, "I can't sleep." And then she said it again after tiptoeing out of her room & down the stairs.

I almost lost it.

I think every Mommy has a few things that push her buttons more than anything else. One of mine is sleep. I know how much it messes EVERYTHING up when my kids (or I, for pete's sake) don't get it. And I know how much work it is to get either one of my children to go back to sleep after having been abruptly awaken from what amounts to be a short catnap. So I hate when one has the potential to mess up the other's sleep.

It's a super anxious time for me because I feel powerless. I have no control over the situation. I have to try to make one child know that I mean business without upsetting her enough that she wakes up her sister. She holds all the cards.

I don't even like sharing the cards.

As I type this, all is quiet. I told Big Sis to count as high as she could, or name Disney Princesses, until she fell asleep. But I'm still waiting anxiously for Little Sister to wake up from what she has surely understood to be a nap. The sleep book says either don't go, or at least only "check & console."

Could make for a long night...

Any of you mommies out there have any advice?

Or Valium?

Nightmares

Big Sister has been having a rough time going to bed lately. She notices every shadow, every noise and every movement of the curtains (or the calendar, or whatever) as they are blown by the fan.

I think this is due in part to conversations with kids at school. We were at a birthday party this weekend, and one little girl kept talking about "zombies and werewolves." I must have looked a little shocked because her mother rolled her eyes and said, "Scooby Doo." I tried to tell Big Sis that at the end of every Scooby Doo episode, they find out that the zombie or werewolf is really just a crotchety old man, but she doesn't believe me.

We don't "doo" Scooby at our house, but that doesn't mean we are free from scary villians. The Princess & The Frog spooked Big Sister enough that she hasn't wanted to watch it again. And Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and sometimes even Aladdin are too scary for her to watch by herself.

But there is another "monster" we've discussed lately. One about which Big Sis knew very little, until I opened by big mouth. And now, well, she thinks about it a lot. And draws pictures.

(warning: this is not a cute little drawing like the Earth Day fable... I'd hate for someone else to have nightmares!)

And she even sings a song.

Can you guess what it is?!

Song for Sunday: which one do you want to be?

Todd Agnew is one of the coolest guys I've ever met. I was thinking about him today as I watched person after person avoid eye contact with me as I stood by my Compassion display at church. When we worked for Student Life, he pitched Compassion so well, he made it so REAL, and he made our selfishness sound SO ridiculous, that I ran out of packets. I liked his songs before that night. I LOVE them after. This one is probably my favorite.

My Jesus
by Todd Agnew

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Then why do you look so much like the world?

Cause my Jesus bled and died.
He spent His time with thieves and liars.
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant.
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land?
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand?

Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins.
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars.
He loved the poor and accosted the rich.
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that you follow,
This picture of the American dream?
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
or fall down and worship at His holy feet?

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins,
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part?
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him.

Cause my Jesus bled and died.
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these.
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church;
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet.
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud.
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd,
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud.

I want to be like my Jesus!

Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means
to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You
but then You died for me

Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like you Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!

An Earth Day Story (ok, I'm a week late...)

Big Sister has been illustrating and "writing" lots of stories lately. Here's one about environmental stewardship, since I missed Earth Day last week. If you want to read a long post about being green, here's last year's post. But I think you'll agree this one is much shorter though equally effective.


"Once there was a boy who littered and made the whole earth dirty.


And then there was a girl who recycled, and she made the whole earth beautiful."

The End.

Beat It, Bullies!

(I have several sponsorship packets for any of my IRL friends who haven't yet discovered the joy of child sponsorship through Compassion International. It's so easy to get started and for $38 you can send those bullies packing.)

Further Confirmation

Little Sister is in bed with Mommy & Daddy after waking up at the butt crack of dawn 6:30. As she wiggles around trying to settle in, a train whistle is heard in the distance.

Little Sis: D'you hear dat tchrain, Mommy?

Mommy: I do!

Little Sis: (not scared, but astonished) It's right in our house, Mommy. It's right in our house!

Little Sister's Surgery

Today Little Sister had tubes put in her ears and her adenoids removed. I know it's a very common, even "routine" procedure, but it was a big deal to us!

Aside from some helpful advice from a few friends who have been through this and the extremely vague information the ENT gave us when we scheduled the surgery, I had no idea what to expect. I was relieved when I found out that she could eat breakfast this morning, although she had to be finished before 7 AM. Then she could have clear liquids until 10. She handled it all pretty well until about 10:30, when she and Big Sis usually have a little 2nd breakfast. Yeah, we're hobbits like that.

Fortunately, we had to pick up Hubby and be at the hospital by 12, so I distracted her with getting dressed, loading up the car and traveling. Right before we got to the hospital, though, she got upset again. Little cries of "I hung-ee. I want candy!" kept coming from the back seat.

At the hospital she forgot about food as she took in everything. I love children's hospitals because they think of everything. There were no rough transitions as we shuffled through registration rooms and waiting rooms- there was always something new to point out. Even the step-on scale had toys hanging on it so she had to step up on it to get a closer look.

When we got into our family waiting room, she started to get a little frantic again. This room, the one in which we spent most of our time, was actually the sparsest room of them all. I brought along a few toys to keep her distracted, but when they stopped working a nurse came to the rescue with some cool Vtech toys.

We talked to everyone under the sun. Our nurse, a nurse from the anesthesia team, our ENT, the anesthesiologist, etc. etc. etc. Little Sis looked like she was taking in everyone and everything, but she was still getting restless. Then they gave her some Tylenol with Codeine and a sedative, and while we let the drugs kick in we finally convinced her to let us change her into the snappy hospital gown. She was relaxing, even wobbling, as she sat on the bed and played with her toys, but she still freaked out when they started to wheel the bed away. I had to carry her into the next room.

But soon, the sedative worked its magic. My sweet baby put her head on my shoulder and said something like, "I think it's bedtime." I cuddled her and prayed for her safety and cherished the moment. Okay, I cried a little.

Then a man on the anesthesia team said it was time to take her. I lifted her up to him and she didn't cry at all. She just looked at him with a somewhat confused but mostly blank stare. And wobbled into his arms. And just like that, we went back to wait.

People say the procedure is really quick, and it is. The doctor came back to report to us (and told us there was infection again in both ears) after probably a half an hour. But since her adenoids were removed, she had to have a breathing tube and recovery took a little longer.

When they finally called me to go back into the recovery room, I was not completely prepared for everything going on. She was very agitated and wanted nothing more than to remove her IV and toe monitor. Her cry had a seal-ish sound to it and her breathing had the croup strider, results of the breathing tube, and I had to wrestle her while they gave her a breathing treatment. Even after we left and went back to our family recovery room- even after they took out that blasted IV- she still was really agitated and almost inconsolable. I tried my best, and when the nurse brought us a popsicle, she finally quieted down and ate it, laying on my chest, her eyes fluttering closed as she slowly chewed each little bite.

When the popsicle was gone, she got fired up again, but by then Daddy had returned from grabbing lunch, so I let him work his magic. He has always been better at getting Little Sis to go to sleep when she is worked up. She slept until we woke her to check vitals, change her clothes, and head for home.

Her second "awakening" was much smoother. Although she was still groggy, there was no crying. And when we asked her if she wanted to go home, she whispered her precious, "yes" and helped us get her dressed. As we walked out of the room, she turned and called, "Bye Bed!" I asked her to tell the nurses "bye" too and she slipped back into her sleepy whisper. As we left the unit I heard them talking about how adorable she was.

She slept all the way home, but when we got home she wanted to eat and play. She had her favorite (applejacks) and insisted on walking (and jumping) all around the house even though her footing wasn't exactly steady. She stayed awake until bedtime came, and then she was restless and clingy.

I don't know how the rest of her recovery will go, but the first day is amazing. I wasn't sure if we were doing the right thing by putting her through this, but now I'm convinced by the fact that she did so well combined with the realization that we would have been back in the pediatrician's office later this week with double ear infections if we hadn't.

Here's hoping the rest of the road goes smoothly. I'm very thankful for our friends & family who have been thinking of and praying for our Little Sister. And SUPER thankful for my mom & dad for coming down to help out.

We'll keep you posted! (whether you want to be or not, really... ;)