Naps....

Naps are very, very important at my house. First of all, because my normally happy baby is cranky without them. Second, because when I've worked, am working, or both, I need my sleep. Third, because unfortunately, I'm one of those people who need more than the average 7 hours of sleep in order to function well.

This week, I was scheduled to work Wednesday night, Thursday night, and be on call Friday night. And, I was unable to get Talia into the daycare at the hospital any of those days. Usually when I work 2 in a row, I take her to daycare in the morning after I get Kyle off to school. Alec is old enough to let me sleep, so he plays downstairs while I sleep. Unfortunately, no daycare today. So, since we're slow, I signed up to be called off. Just in case, however, I needed my naps. Talia did not cooperate today. She only slept 45 minutes this morning instead of her usual 1 1/2 hours. I figured, ok, that means she'll take a good afternoon nap. No such luck, she woke up crying 1/2 hour into her afternoon nap, and I could tell she was still tired. It's my bad luck that she's discovered that her crib is really confining when she's trying to roll around. And to top things off, I hadn't been called off yet, so I was thinking I would have to go into work on less than 4 hours of sleep. So, I felt like a horrible mother, but I laid her back in her crib after comforting her, covered her up, gave her her pacifier, and even though she started crying again, I left her and went to my own room. I shut my door, and turned off the baby monitor. I could still hear her, and she settled down in about 3 minutes, but I still felt terrible. But I really, really needed whatever sleep I could salvage in order to work tonight. I ended up getting called off at the last possible minute. I was so relieved...I was barely functional, and incredibly cranky. My husband came home early, and I went back to bed and got a solid 2 hours. So I feel much better, and peace reigns in my house again. (My family has learned that if mom's not happy, no one is, and they all want mom to be happy).

Alec did the cutest thing today...I was driving him over to school, and he was singing in the backseat. Then I realized what he was singing....he was singing one of the songs from "Guitar Hero II", and pretending like he was playing the guitar. Now, Guitar Hero is not a game he can really play, although he tries occasionally, he just doesn't have the processing skills yet to manipulate the guitar. He does watch Kyle play, and Alec is my performer. I was trying not to laugh out loud, so that he wouldn't stop. He sang all the way to school.

I was just noticing that even though most of Christmas is all picked up, my nativity is still up on my mantel. I always have a hard time putting it away, but this year it has been especially hard. I wish I had a place to display it all year, but it's pretty big (it's the Willow Tree one). I guess I might get that far tomorrow. Or, maybe next week. Maybe.