Heaven.On.Earth

From the time our boys were six weeks old and started sleeping through the night, we had very strict sleep habits and routines for them.  We agreed to this as soon as we decided to start a family.  Sleep is just too important to me and I knew I wanted my children to give me as much of it as possible.  I almost died those first six weeks with both boys, but I made it!  Then once they started sleeping through the night, they both continued with it with our training.  There were a few nights of crying it out (although, honestly, I can’t remember them, they were so few, but Shannon assures me we had our share!) and we’ve had a few stages with them getting up in the night with fears and such, but through it all, we remain firm that they sleep in their own beds, most of the time.  I tell you all of this in order for you to understand that I never got to watch my babies sleep next to me.  I always wondered what they were doing as babies while falling asleep.  I wondered if they were talking to themselves, staring at the wall, looking around or lying with their eyes closed.  We were right before the era of video monitors (at least before they were reasonably priced), so I just didn’t have that luxury.  And while I am so extremely pleased with our boys’ sleeping habits due to our strictness when they were babies, I have always missed this part of the baby stage.  They got so used to sleeping by themselves and putting themselves to sleep that I couldn’t really rock them to sleep.  They needed their own beds with their own space in order to sleep.   Mac couldn’t even nap with me as he got older.  Occasionally, he would slip in our bed in the mornings early and fall back asleep in our bed. But as soon as I woke up and started moving, he would wake up.  Now, Patrick is a little different.  He loves to sleep so much that he usually doesn’t care where he is and will allow his dad to nap with him on the weekends.  I usually don’t get that luxury as I am not too keen on napping (I think it has to do with having to get up and going once I’m asleep…like my body just needs a full night if it’s going to go to sleep, but I guess that’s its own post…).

You’re probably asking yourself, why the heck is she rambling on about her kids’ sleeping habits?  Well, I’ll tell you.  Every once in awhile, this happens:

And I am in complete heaven. 🙂