early morning

Today started at 3 AM! I heard the thump, thump, thump of little feet running. E had to go potty. No big deal. So I got up and helped him go to the bathroom then was going to put him back to bed. He decided that he was hungry and needed a snack. [Now I know what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night hungry and in most cases the best thing to do is just eat a snack and then go back to sleep in 20 minutes instead of laying in bed thinking about how hungry you are for 2+ hours.] So I got E a snack cup and put some multi-grain cheerios in it (a little healthy at least!). In the mean time he has managed to scream and get J rustling in her sleep. No more do I get back to bed and J comes down the hall saying she has to go potty and it is not fair that E gets cheerios and she does not! So I get up again, get her a snack, wait for them to finish eating, and then send them off to bed again. By now it is about 3:45 not too bad right? Just get comfy and start to doze off when I hear the TV on in the living room. What the heck? Up again! I go out to the living room to find that: E turned the TV on while J turned to channel 3-6. What else? DISNEY CHANNEL! Those kids are too smart for their own good sometimes. And of course since Playhouse Disney’s schedule runs on Eastern Time the cartoons have already started, it is a little after 4 AM now. So back to bed for the two kids after fighting and trying to get me to let them stay up and watch cartoons. Once in bed E decides (after I leave the room) that he is going to start kicking the wall next to his bed. Yes, the wall that is shared between N’s room and the big kids’ room. Now E woke N up and she is making a little bit of a fuss in her room. I decided to leave her in her crib and see if she would just put herself back to sleep. Apparently J had a different idea because she ran into N’s room shut the door and turned on the light as well as the TV (making sure to change the channel to 3-6!). When I heard this through the baby monitor I was not a happy mommy to say the least. EVERYONE BACK TO BED!!! Now pushing 4:30. I don’t know how long it took the big kids to fall asleep but I did not hear them again until after 8:30. N (much to my surprise) went right back to sleep! When I was in there I picked her up, gave her a hug, and told her it was still the middle of the night and she needed to go back to sleep. I left the room, shut her door, and did not hear her until 7:30. I don’t know how much she understood but at least she was not up for the day at that point. Now I am sure any mom can relate (dads may differ but moms anyway) once I got back to bed I laid there. Tossed and turned, tossed and turned, I just kept waiting for the next shenanigan to unfold. Finally around 5:15 I let my guard down and fell asleep. Needless to say when my alarm went off at 6:30 I did NOT get up. I crawled out of bed at 7 so I could have a cup of coffee with T before he left for the day.

I decided I could be a crab and grumpy all day or I could just not let it ruin my day and put me in a bad mood. So when J got up and was mad at the world I just put her back in her room and let her come out when she was done being a grump. *So far* we have had a good day! Nothing too catastrophic and we even made chocolate zucchini bread! {Which turned out super yummy!} T has a long day today and won’t be home till at least 7 so we will see what the rest of the day holds… at least we are over half way! = )