The End of an Era (AKA No More Babies in Our Room)

Last week was a huge milestone in our "parenting lives."  We moved Bret into a big boy bed and then a few days later, we moved Cody into the kids' room!

Jordan called on his way home from work and had me get Bret ready to go last Thursday afternoon.  As soon as Jordan got home, he put Bret in the truck and they took off for Denver Mattress.  Jordan got Bret a nice mattress, but Bret was almost just as excited about the business card he got from the salesman.  ;)

Happy day for our Big Boy!

Everyone was having fun playing on Bret's new bed!

First night in the new bed!  Oh, his grin!

First morning!  He had an awesome first night...only called me in once, and that was in the middle of the night to ask me if he was three now.  ;)  Notice Serena's nightcap, haha!  Still pretending she's Ma Ingalls these days!  ;)  They've decided they can use the spare bed upstairs as their wagon since they used to use the empty bottom bunk.

 We figured it was best to give Serena & Bret a few days to adjust to the new set-up before adding Cody into the mix.  Things were going super well, so on Monday we got Bret's old crib all set up for our Cody-bear!  Serena & Bret were PUMPED about getting Cody in their room!

All three of them were in that old crib (my mom used it for us kids when we were babies!)!  They were having so much fun practicing putting Cody to sleep! I was just glad the crib held up to their enthusiasm!  ;)

We kept our bedtime routine the same, except that I turned out the lights and sat on the floor to nurse Cody before I sang them their lullaby.  Serena & Bret agreed to stay very quiet in their beds for me while I did that, and they've done awesome with that new part of their bedtime routine.  I guess they figure it's a small price to pay in order to have Cody in their room, because they seriously seem to think having him in there is the most awesome thing that's happened since he was born!

I couldn't have hoped for things to go any smoother with getting Cody moved into the kids' room!  Of course, Cody cried when I left the first time, but the kids were quick to reassure him, and he quit!  He cried a couple more times, and they reassured him again; then I ended up having to go in there a couple times to lay him down, cover him up, and pat his back.  He fell asleep just fine and had a pretty normal night (2-3 wake-ups where I just lay him back down, cover him up, and pat his back are typical for him).  In the morning, he was so happy to have Serena & Bret with him, that he had no trouble staying in bed until it was time to get up!  The next couple nights went better and better, and now I can leave without him crying at all!

First morning with all three in a room together!  They did great!

Having Cody move into the kids' room felt like the end of an era for me.  We co-slept with Serena until she was 17 months old.  Then, I used a bunch of ideas from The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley to teach Serena how to fall asleep on her own and sleep in her own room in about three (very grueling and sleepless) weeks.  Thankfully, by the time Bret was born (about a month after we booted Serena out of our bed), Serena was really getting the hang of sleeping on her own!  So, then we co-slept with Bret until he was about 15 months.  For 7 months of that time, we were in a full-size bed!  It was a little cramped, haha!  Anyway, we had Bret in with Serena for about a month; and then we moved in with Jordan's parents for a month while we looked for housing/job in Cedar Rapids.  During that time (the month prior to Cody's birth), Bret slept in a crib in our room again.  Then we co-slept with Cody until he was almost a year old; then he started to get really difficult to sleep with, so I started having him sleep in his crib all night (which was in our room).  So, in the 4 1/2 years that we've been parents, we've had all of 2 months of no-baby-in-the-bedroom.  Yet, I felt a little sentimental as I tiptoed past Cody's crib in our room those last few nights before we moved him into the kids' room.  Although it's been frustrating at times, it really has been sweet to have those little sleepers near us while they're just babes!  I count it a gift...one I never would have even thought to desire before my children were born...that God gave me a husband who not only didn't mind having the babies sleep with us, but who also felt that it was the most natural thing in the world to do so!  Of course, we are really enjoying being able to access our room freely in the evenings now, and having the light on while we get ready for bed, and talking out loud to each other in the dark!  

It's been a couple months since I've spent any midnight hours in the rocking chair, and I have no one who needs to be rocked to sleep anymore.  It all sounds so neat and sweet now...those years of co-sleeping and/or sharing a bedroom with a baby.  But it was hard!  I will never regret the hours spent in the rocking chair with those precious babies, but there were many times I shed tears as I rocked because I wanted to sleep so badly!  There were lots of nights when I felt so frustrated because the baby I was trying to comfort was inconsolable!  I'll never regret the nights of sharing my bed and giving up my pillow to our babies.  (They have a way of sprawling out and taking over, yet you don't dare move them around too much for fear of waking them!)  But it wasn't always easy; there were plenty of nights when I longed to spread out and sleep in any position that I liked.  I'll never regret the nights I fell asleep nursing them while lying down in bed.  That was one of the best parts about co-sleeping.  But, in all honesty, I did get kinda cramped sometimes, or wake up with an arm still asleep from lying on it in a funny way for the last few hours!  I guess I'm just trying to say that those nights were real, and they weren't always great; but they were precious, and I'd do them over again if God gave us another baby.  

So, I guess it was all true, what everyone kept telling us through those exhausting nights, "They'll grow up so fast!"  "Hold them and rock them while you can!" "Babies don't keep!"  etc.  Just as they said, the sacrifices of time, sleep, and comfort were worth the memories of those sweet babes in my arms.  And now, I have three precious little ones who sleep in the room across from ours (and who I'm called upon to visit a few times in the night still); and they don't fight bedtime, but sleep sweetly and fearlessly.  And I like to think it's because deep in their subconsciousness there is the shadow of a memory...of being rocked and nursed and sang to sleep when they were so small and helpless and new to this world...of safe, warm arms holding them every time they cried out in the night.  That's the gift I hoped to give them, anyway, four and a half years ago when I declined to let the nurses take that first baby to the hospital nursery on her first night.  And though the nights didn't all unfold perfectly, and I didn't always respond to those cries sweetly, and I'm selfishly very glad to have my evenings to myself to spend as I please now, I'm glad I did it.  And I'm also glad God blessed us with small houses and limited space to force me to keep it up even when I felt tempted to quit.  Because who wants to put a screaming baby in the only other bedroom when that bedroom contains a young toddler who has finally fallen asleep?  ;)

As for me, I've grown in my awe of God's love for me as I've seen that no matter how many times I've cried out to Him over the same thing over and over again, He always and perfectly gives the same loving response.  "I love you.  You are My child.  I will not forsake you.  I know what is best for you, and I will give that to you."