Those were the days...

Our first home in Macomb, Illinois

I remember when DH and I first got married, we truly relished our days off...as in we slept half of the day away!  I'll never forget one of our first Saturdays as a married couple in our new home and having a church member throw rocks at our bedroom window at 8 in the morning because they needed someone to let them into the church!  But who needs rocks thrown at your window at 8AM when you have two little ones in the same house with you up and at 'em by 7 on a Saturday morning?  Yup, it's true.  I've failed as a parent because apparently my children have yet to learn the importance of Saturdays being different from every other day of the week.  The good news is they are still young, so I still have time to teach them this important fact of life, right?;-)

Actually, truth be known, when I heard the click of Lucy's light switch and the sweet baby coos coming from the baby monitor early this morning, I smiled.  (OK, maybe after I rolled over and groaned.  Ask my college suite-mates--you really don't want to speak to me for my first 30 minutes of awake time in the mornings!)  I smiled because while I would LOVE to sleep in on our one "day off," my children getting up at their usual time means something pretty monumental in our house: MY CHILDREN ARE ON A SCHEDULE!!  I realize this isn't a big deal for some of you, but it's pretty huge in our house considering we've been going through the grueling process of sleep-training!

Putting Lucy to bed (right after I worked out-so I'm all red)

When I was pregnant with Lucy, I was CONVINCED that my child would be on a strict schedule...and of course, she blew those ideas out of the picture like the big bad wolf blew the house down.  We tried everything, but our little Lucy just was not a sleeper.  Now that she's in school, she has FINALLY gotten adjusted to a routine (it only took us 5 years!), though she still fights it quite a bit in terms of going to sleep, but she's VERY punctual when it comes to when she wakes up each morning.  (I never recall being so bright and cheery in the mornings when I was her age.  The child literally opens her eyes and is ready to greet the day with a smile and a big burst of Lucy-styled energy!  She's up with the sun usually, but I guess that's just another way she lives up to her name of being a light bringer:) 

A friend suggested a glowworm might help Gabriel be happier in his bed since he wasn't wanting to be by himself.  I'm pretty sure he liked the idea;-)

Then came baby #2...and I decided it would be best to not have any expectations of scheduling.  I was hopeful he would be a better sleeper, but I prepared myself for him not to be.  However, like most second children, he is COMPLETELY different from his sister.  This boy THRIVES on a schedule, which was obvious yesterday when I had to wake him up early from his morning nap to take DH to the doctor.  Poor baby boy's day was thrown completely off:(  He still shares quite a bit in common with his big sissy though--like putting up a fight to go to sleep:/  It's getting much better though, and while it may take awhile for him to give in and fall asleep, he's taking great naps AND has been sleeping through the night in his crib!  We're still early on in the sleep-training, so I expect some bumps along the road, but I can definitely enjoy these moments when things go well, right?!:-)

I remember people telling us before Lucy was born, "Just you wait until you have a baby...your days of sleeping in will be OVER!"  First of all: I loathe the first three words of the aforementioned sentence more than any other!  It's like people are WISHING unhappiness upon you or something.  But, I'm happy to say they were somewhat wrong:-)  While Lucy wasn't a great sleeper, we still did get to enjoy some late mornings...(even if it was because she had been up half of the night...but that's beside the point:)  Those days are few and far between now, but I can look back on those early years of marriage and say, "Ah yes, those were the days!" and then I can smile at the present ones and say, "And yes, these are, too!"  You see, something I've learned along the way is to cherish every single moment IN the moment.  I wouldn't trade those newlywed days for anything.  DH and I truly grew as a couple, and I am so thankful for the time we had just the two of us...but I wouldn't trade anything for these days now either.  We might not get as much sleep as we used to, but from sun up until sun down we are blessed by the two greatest kiddos on the face of this earth.  Every day is a gift, and it is my prayer that I will treat it as such...plus, I've learned the joys of every parent's secret weapon: the NAP!;-)

G'nite all!:-)