O What a Night

As a general rule, the children are not aloud to sleep in mom and dads bed at night. That's how it's always been . They have their own rooms with their own beds and that's where they are to spend the night. Not saying that's how it should be for everyone, but that's what works for us. Aaron & I both enjoy our own space, and a good nights sleep. I broke that rule last night. Last night was the worse night I have ever had with Audrey, minus the night we brought her home from the hospital. That was bad, I actually called the OB ward at 3:30 am, and stoped just short of begging them to take her back :) However, back to last night my baby girl who usually enjoys going to bed, and once their is rarely heard from til morning, was a little less then herself last night. Her usual bed time is 7:30, but last night i tried laying her down just before 7 because she had a long night the night before, and we had messes up her nap schedule during the day. She was not happy about her early bed time, but I turned off the light and shut the door,.She fussed for a moment but then all was quiet, so I proceeded to get ready for church. As I was leaving I heard her fussing again, so i waited it out and again she seemed to have settled down so I left. Not 20 minutes into church Aaron called for me to come home because Audrey was a basket case. Once home I rocked and sang to her and she calmed down, so i laid her down only for her to start again. This time as it was past her normal bed time, I went in told her to calm down and go to sleep or she was going to get herself in trouble. That did not work, I followed through with my warning, and still she carried on. Not knowing what else to do I brought her down to my room, put her favorite movie on and laid in bed with her. She started dozing off so i took her back to her room, just for her to start screaming again. I was at my wits end at that point. I decided all I could do was let her cry it out. After about 15 minutes she settled down, so I went in and checked on her and she was sleeping peacefully, finally! However, 30 minutes later she was screaming again at this point all rules went out the window . I brought Audrey into bed with me, and set daddy up on the couch. Not that the bed isn't big enough for the 3 of us, but we figured he would get more rest out there then in the room with us. The rest of the night was too bad, other than she wanted to sleep right up against me, and as i mentioned earlier I need my space! She stirred a few time through out the night but settled quickly when she realized she was in bed with me. I have to admit that although I have no plans on letting this become a habit, I rather enjoyed having her sleep with me. There was something special about waking up to my little girl curled up against me and hearing the slow and peaceful rhythm of her breathing. There was also a moment when I woke to her petting my cheek, and when I opened my I eyes, I saw her sweet smiling face, and she said "hi mommy". My heart melted, I love my sweet little girl! As difficult as she can be at times, I can't imagine life with out her. Daddy ended up having a long night as well. John also has come down with the cold, and he too was up a few times through out the night. Thankfully daddy was able to handle that situation, and I found my two boys in John's bed this morning who also had a very long night. Needless to say, we are all a bit tired today, and praying that things go back to normal tonight!