Cosleeping, Sleep Training, Sleep Deprivation.. OH my!

Well our Sweet Lil Jaxsen is officially 16 months old and we are so over CoSleeping!  Its sweet and precious and its a sex life killer! Haha TMI but its true!  For the past year we have been rocking him every night, every nap and for the most part holding him while we sleep. Its sweet and its precious like I said but I dont want to be in the same place when he is two.   Before anyone starts throwing the hate comments about oh they grow out of it, enjoy it while you can etc.. I know far to many people who still have 5 and 6 year olds who they cant get out of their bed.   As A mom of 3 toddlers I need that time during the day when they are all sleeping to get things done.  Having to hold him for 2 hours in the middle of the day just doesnt work.  Not being able to snuggle my husband bc a baby is constantly on or between us SUCKS.  We can leave him in the recliner for a little bit, which he loves, but it never lasts long!

Love this sweet lil boy and will always sneak in as many snuggles as possible but the time has come!  Starting at nap time yesterday I started putting him down in his bed.  Well actually his sisters bed! haha I moved Benjamin and Cloee in together for a while and Jax gets to get used to sleeping alone in the Princess room!  But he needs a place alone where he can fuss and be crazy with out waking everyone else up.

The first time was awful!  He fussed (not cried, no tears) really more like threw a big ole fit every time i walked out. For an hour and a half I put him back in the bed prob 100 times hahah!

He has never taken to any certain animals or blankets but being stuck in a princess room he found Dora and loves her! hahah

This is his sweet lil pouty face!  hahah Love it!

He would fall asleep and then the second he realized he was alone it would start all over!  I actually was bad and put in baby Eisenstein sleepy time DVD and it helped a lot.  When he was throwing his biggest  fit i would just say get back in your bed and watch your show.  Hed get back in bed and look at the tv and then shut his eyes.. Oh was it a draining night! 
He slept 6 hours strong then when he woke up at 3am it took me another hour and a half to get him back to sleep!

Nap time today it was much easier!  It only took about 20 mins!  I am hoping tonight is even easier and tomorrow even easier.  Who knows! Maybe he will finally learn to sleep all night! haha
Love my sweet baby but I so want our bed to be our bed and our bed alone! The biggest problem for us has been sticking to it.  Usually I end up giving in when its 3 am and I am exhausted but Im not doing it this time!  Were holding strong and sticking to the plan! Jax is well taken care of and I am not a cry it out fan but throw a fit it out is fine and the fits are getting shorter and shorter!  Progress people! Im excited!

Crazy sleeping toddler fun

This Video is Exactly Benjamin!

So I have to share a sleeping pic of each of my kids and tell you the insanity that surrounds!

First there is Benjamin, the oldest! Our 3 year old! He has to have very specific things in his bed and a very specific routine!

He must have all 27 dinosaurs in his bed! Most are 2 inches tall or less but one is like 2 feet tall! Lol

Then all his sports ball pillows, the cast of Toy Story, 4 very large monkeys, several small pillows and his tiger bebe!

Then there is Princess Cloee! Shes 2 and she has to sleep in her princess castle! And inside her castle she has 4-5 blankets, all 6 of her Minnie Mouses, an assortment of zebras an elephant and which ever other thing she has favored for the day!

 

Then you have our sweet little cosleeper who refuses to sleep alone... Its sweet until you get a foot in the neck! hahaha

Are anyone elses kids this crazy? lol!  Some days I wonder! hahah

Rest for tired mommies

Monday I got to do a guest post for Barb at Second Chance To Dream and yesterday she shared an awesome cute tutorial here on Monkeys & Tutus! I wanted to share my guest post with my readers just in case you missed it because it was something very close to my heart!  
If you havent checked out Barbs Blog, you have got to! It is full of lots of great crafts and tons of cuteness and fun!!!  Here is what I shared with her readers

For the past 2 years one of my friends has been trying to get me to go to this moms group Bible study with her and I always ended up waiting too long and all the childcare spots filled up and I ended up missing out but this time I finally got on the ball and got registered!  It actually started last week and I totally forgot about it, yeah that happens with 3 under 3.  

My friend got me the book and I have been reading it and loving it!  

It’s called ‘Brave,honest questions women ask’ by Angela Thomas.  

I had never heard of her and I was a little skeptical for a few reasons.  One I’m super busy and barely have time to read and I really don’t even like to read books.  I know horrible, but I just don’t have the patience to sit down and read a book lol.

Anyways, I started reading and LOVE it! The first weeks title is ‘I am worn out!’ go figure and of course that totally got my attention.  While reading through and answering the questions, my world was rocked.  How many of us as women are simply worn out?  I know stay at home moms, working moms, single moms and every kind of mom you can imagine and no matter what the circumstances, at some point or another we are just worn out.  For me I feel worn out simply because I don’t get breaks, time to myself etc.  Its not even necessarily that we are nonstop its just the fact, as other moms can relate, mommys job is never done.  There is always laundry to do, there is always messes to clean etc. (I really encourage you to get this book because there is more just in the first section than I could even begin to touch on, its amazing!)

How often have we read this passage, read it over etc and how many times have we really read it, acted upon it and taken it to heart?

I also love how the Message Version says ‘He energizes those who get tired’

I cannot tell you how many days I go through thinking about how tired I am, how worn out I am and how I simply never take time to rest in Him. I can get busy blogging, playing with kids, household stuff and the never ending list of business and often forget to just stop and put my hope in Jesus.

Vs 31 in the Message says ‘But those who wait upon God get fresh strength’

Seriously we (at least I know I) spend so much time stressed, worn out and even frustrated that we forget that God is there and ready to give us strength when we need it!  On Pg 19 of this book she says ‘When we put our hope in God, he is able to exchange our weakness for His power’.  Wow what a revelation. 

For me I am learning in the midst of being worn out to stop and breathe and thank God for what he has given me and place my hope in Him.  

I constantly refer to myself as a sleep deprived mommy and with a 11 month old who still wakes up 2-5x a night, I really am but God promises to give us strength in our day to days when we hope in Him.  He promises when we are weary and burdened He will give us rest when we come to Him!  

Matthew 11:28 'Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest'

I hope this encourages us as mothers to just stop, even when surrounded by chaos and say God, I know my life is crazy, I am tired and weary and worn out but I put my hope in you, I trust in you and I know that my strength is in you!

I want to leave you with this verse because it helps me remember that I dont have to do it alone, I dont have to figure everything out but when we listen to Him, He keeps us on track! How exciting! 

Proverbs 3: 5-12 Message 

^5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
    Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
    your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
    give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
    your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
    don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
    a father’s delight is behind all this.

Thank you so much Barb for letting me share my heart with you and your readers and I hope that it brings some encouragement for some tired mommies! 

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