Oh, What a Night

I hesitated to post this today after learning of Susan's death -- it seems so trivial in light of eternity.  BUT, my entire purpose in keeping this blog is to remember.  And this was a night to remember...

I decided to take down all of our Christmas decorations after getting home from Blackfoot (another post to come) yesterday.  I worked all afternoon getting things organized, making a DI box for decorations I don't need anymore, cleaning out and up, etc.  By the time I finished, it was time for bed (we had noodles and cheese for dinner and the kids went to bed in that span, too).  It was time for bed, but I was feeling overwhelmed by the clean laundry that had piled up in the laundry room over the course of the holiday week, so I told Stanton I was going to stay up and fold.  Well, fold I did and I didn't finish until after 1:00 am.  I was starting to shut down physically (not seeing straight, etc.), but just as I was getting ready for bed, Cannon started to cry downstairs.  I went down and got him, snuggled him on the couch, and thought I had him settled down, but I was wrong.  He was having a night terror and the only way to fix it was to get him fully awake so he could get back to sleep.  Stanton came out and helped me get him awake and calm.  It took a good 25 minutes or so for him to get fully awake to where he was responding and was over the terror.  So, we got him back to bed around 2:00 am (half hour of snuggling on the couch the first time, 25 minutes of getting him awake).  So, I crawled into bed completely exhausted and slept for about a half hour when we were again awoken by crying.  I don't recognize my girls' cries in the night anymore, they're so rare, but I knew it was one of the kids, so I went down to investigate.  It was little Lil and she was in pain.  I knelt by her bed and she said her tummy hurt, then she proceeded to toss her cookies (or noodles, to be accurate).  Thankfully, it was not a major vomit-fest and we were able to keep it pretty much contained.  I got her out of bed and upstairs to the bathroom where she heaved again and then fell asleep on her towel bed.  I went back to bed and woke up with her a half hour later when the second round started.  She didn't make any mess and went back to sleep pretty quickly afterward.  That seemed to be the end of her illness, as she slept the rest of the night and, save a complaint of a tummy ache, has been pretty much fine today.  I hope it was food poisoning or too much candy at Grandma's because I am not ready for a stomach bug to run its course through our home.  Back to the story -- I got back to bed around 3:30 and slept until about 5:30, when Brigham came tromping upstairs, thinking he was up for the morning.  I sent him to go potty and informed him that, no, it was not, in fact, time to get up for the day (he did the same thing yesterday morning at 4:45 at my parents' house only he didn't go back to bed, so he NEEDED to get more sleep).  He went back to bed and I did, too.  Everyone slept until close to 7:00 and the day started as usual.

I don't experience nights like this often. One of those little blessings we've been given from Heaven in the midst of the chaos of 4 children in 4 years is that they've all been excellent sleepers.  And I am an excellent sleeper.  I don't struggle to get to sleep most nights and even though I have to get up for bathroom breaks regularly, I don't struggle to fall back to sleep.  We have restful sleepers who don't frequently wake us in the middle of the night.
So, a night like this was unexpected and even somewhat unappreciated if I'm being honest.  But I deserved it.  See, not 2 days earlier, I was boasting to my sister that 2010 had been a puke-free year in the Allen household.  The universe always has a good chuckle at that kind of boast and I should know better than to make it.  But I did and I reaped the consequences of it.

I fully planned on getting my kids fed and going back to bed for an hour or so this morning, but life really doesn't allow for that, does it?  I didn't and we got some good things done today.  By noon, I was dragging and I could tell Lily was, too.  So, I declared Quiet Time and Cannon had his nap.  I was able to sleep for an hour and a half and Lily had a rest, too.  Brigham and Chloe played quietly in the toy room together after Chloe was done reading.  All's well that ends well.  I just hope this is ended.  I don't know if I can do two nights like this one in a row.  And I'm thankful for another reminder of how valuable a good night's sleep is and what a blessing it is that I get them regularly.

Edited to add:  The next night was right back to normal, thank the heavens above.