Mike Tyson said, "Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth."

I can't tell you how much I love that quote! Isn't it true!!! The plan with a newborn baby is to gently help that little baby get more sleep at night and in turn you will get more sleep and everyone who lives in your housewill be much, MUCH happier. I wrote on sleepless nights here when Maisie was a newborn, and the first few months with Elliot at home I read it quite a few times in the middle of the night to remind myself that this too shall pass. I snuggled more, I was less frantic than I was with Maisie. I had some moments of being really hard on myself and then eventually we found a rhythm and routine that worked for us. (Those who know me well are smiling as they know that I am a white noise junkie... like seriously you walk past Elliots room and you wonder how a 3 month old can actually be vacuuming. He sleeps in a swing, often. We just do our own thing. He's been doing really well, even occasionally giving me very good nights {and still a few not so good ones} however, it is manageable and life goes on.

Last night Elliot slept from 7pm until 5:30 am. (with a daddy dream feed at 10) A victory... or... until our girl Maisie was up literally ALL NIGHT with bad dreams about bugs and spiders. This is the second night in a row with the bugs and spider web hysteria. Being tired does something unkind to us all. I was so irritated that she was up, disturbing the whole house, I tried everything from 2am-5am... "bug spray", different night lights, turning lights on showing her no bugs, I let our dog Frank come in bed and guard her from the bugs, a new doll was brought to bed, each time I would calm her down only to have her come unglued again a few minutes later. Finally, I caved and crawled into bed with her... every time she had a bug freak out... I was right there to gently let her know there were no bugs, and everyone was safe and sound. At 2am I was so mad. Irritated. Wanted to loose my marbles. {Don't tell me as a parent you don't know what I'm talking about} Then... I started to think about life... and how being present and enjoying moments in life isn't actually just about the well rested awake moments during the day. She is my little girl. She is driving me wild with the bug talk but... everyone is ok. We are ok. It's just nightmares and if those are our biggest problems right now... then we are blessed. So, I rolled with it and called on the strength of a million tired mommas everywhere. I snuggled that little sweetie and guided her to a sleep full of strawberries, and sunshine and rainbows and happy safe thoughts. I woke up seriously tired from my one hour of sleep at 5:30 to get Elliot back to sleep... but I felt good about my night. Even though it was rough. I felt like I had caught myself in a lesson. Life was giving me a little punch in the face, messing with my plan. But, I made a choice at 2am, to be a better mom. The freedom to choose our actions is probably the most beautiful gift we have. On suggestion of a pal this morning... we may end up 'exterminating' her imaginary bugs today... in hopes of a more peaceful night. It may get worse, it may get better but these are the moments in our lives. There is no finish line. If every single thing that happens in every moment is there to teach us something... to show us something... I just hope I can be as open and receptive as possible to 'get' the lessons as they come. The plan was to get the newborn to sleep... I had no idea that when that happened, the 3 year old would be not sleeping. Right hook. Got it. I wish you peaceful nights without bugs or spider webs. We are all, a work in progress. No one is exempt.