Getting Some Zzzzzzzzzzz's

I have not had a decent good nights sleep in, oh, well over a year now. This really is no surprise since I am a mom and sleepless nights are to be expected. But damn, I need to sleep. I've even started to notice small bags under my eyes, a disturbing sight to me, especially at my age.

I was thrilled when my daughter started sleeping sleeping through the night, in her own room, in her own bed. It took months of 'training' but she finally did it. But as soon as that happened, my baby boy was born and the nights got rough (again).

It's not like I'm asking for a full 8 hours (that went out the window a LONG while back). But a consecutive 6 or 7 would do me just right. Instead, I have to put up with late night to early morning 'wake up and feed me' sessions for my son (luckily I learned the art of breastfeeding while lying down, half asleep). And now Princess has taken to wandering into my room, to MY side of the bed, for ME to pick her up and put her next to me so she can fall back to sleep. It doesn't happen every night, but some nights it can happen twice. It is exhausting. I even bring her back to her room most nights, lie with her until she falls asleep and then head back to my room, only to wake up next to her the following morning. No wonder I feel like a zombie come daybreak. Most mornings I just want to hit that snooze button. Thank God for nap time and Saturdays.

I remember when I was a teenager in high school. I could sleep most of the morning away. Most Saturdays, I usually roused sometime around 12 noon. I was a teen... I didn't need to get up early (except for school, of course). I didn't need to see the sunrise or hear the birds sing. I had my whole life for that, I just wanted to sleep (one of my favorite pastimes, I might add). Besides, I liked to stay up late (a resident night owl, I was up past midnight most nights) And we all know late nights and early mornings do not mix.

It wasn't until I became a mother that 6 a.m. became a familiar hour to me. But I lucked out because as soon as Boobie was on solids, he was sleeping until 7 or 8 a.m. I felt bad for all the other mothers who complained that their kids got up at 5 am EVERY morning. Not my Boobie. And I felt blessed. I did try to make 6 'o' clock a usual time to 'rise and shine' for me, but it was hard. However peaceful and beautiful 6 a.m. was, I had to fight myself out of bed at that hour. I spent many mornings rushing Boobie off to Kindergarten because I just had to get in one more hour of sleep.

I am glad to say that moving to Cost Rica changed all that. Maybe the time difference helped too, I don't know. But I found it odd to sleep past 6. I felt like I was missing out on something. I like to start my day early now. And not just because I have a mountain of shit to do, but because I get a better handle on my day that way. Plus, if I sleep past 8, I feel I've wasted my day in bed... never a good thing when you feel life catching up to you.

But what I wouldn't give for a full nights sleep these days. I don't mind waking up early (it wouldn't be so hard if I could get my ass to bed before 10... I guess some habits are hard to break). But I actually look forward to the day when I can slip in bed and sleep, undisturbed, all night. I can only imagine what that's like these days.

I guess I just have to count down the days (months) until the baby is sleeping through the night. I can't complain too much though. While I don't understand how babies, my baby, can function on so little sleep most days, I still get enough sleep to get through the day. Although, some days, by midday, my body is BEGGING me to put it down for a nap, it's not like I am missing too much. What's the saying anyway? "I can sleep when I'm dead, right?