8 HOURS

I can't remember the last time that I got 8 hours of sleep. I honestly think I am way more sleep deprived than I ever was with newborn babies in the house. Of course, it is totally self inflicted. For some strange reason we have never given our girls a curfew. I know, we need our heads examined. (Parenting is actually just a science experiment. We don't have it down to a science yet. We are making minor adjustments with the baby of the family.) Anyways, both girls have been blessed beyond measure with great friends and haven't gotten into too much trouble (or at least they haven't gotten caught) and we intentionally decided this was an area where boundaries were not needed. So now they can pretty much roam around town all night long! That is really not true. They can be found at a friend's house watching movies, drinking coffee (another reason their bodies can handle late nights), and just hanging out. Teen-agers and young adults are by nature night owls. My kiddos have also inherited their nocturnal state from their mother. Besides being a natural late niter, I am also blessed with not being able to actually fall asleep until everybody is home and tucked in safe and sound. This makes no sense to me because when Abby is in Chicago I never give her night life a second thought. When she is back home, however, my mommy obsessions kick in high gear.
After midnight. That is when the good stuff always happens. That is when our girl talk happens. During the day it is hard enough to have any conversation whatsoever. Brother Bear is always shooting us with a Nerf gun, dart gun, climbing the door jams and doing ninja moves on us. We love him dearly but he is crazy! So last night I got to enjoy my one on one with Big Sister (1:15 a.m.) and right after she went up to bed Baby Sister came home (2:10 a.m.) As I was crawling into bed at 2:45 a.m. I was counting my blessings. The short night was a very small price to pay for the time I had my girls each to myself.