The Rays of Sunshine

It's 4:30 AM and I am laying on the couch, listening to my son cry, which he has been doing for the last hour. No one in the house can sleep. I want to go pick him up; I want him to lay down and go to sleep, neither of which happened. Why didn't I just go pick him up? Every since I have become a parent I have heard the word "consistent" so many times. "What ever you do, make sure you are "consistent."" For me that is the most hated word. Why? Because it is SO HARD, and the one thing I have struggled with the most! I would have loved to go and pick up my screaming child, comfort him back to sleep,and then fallen asleep myself,  but what have I gained? What did he learn? If he cries long enough he will get what he wants.  NO! I need to teach my child that there are times, that crying will not give you what you want. Plus after 2 hours of crying I felt the needed to be stronger than my 1 1/2 year old, and I needed to "win" this one. Do

As you all know, ever child is different, my child is no exception. We have struggled with him sleeping well, since he was born, and as a mom with a full time job, sleep was something that was needed. I was one of those moms that insisted that my child would not sleep in the bed with me, AT ALL!  I had heard to many horror stories and I didn't want to get attached to him in the bed, and the baby get attached to sleeping in the bed. Then it happened. After many nights of crying it out, NOT working, and me being sleep deprived, I broke and put him in the bed with me. Ahhh finally sleep. It was great, for a while, then it became a problem. Even though he was sleeping most of the night, there was something missing. Daddy was no longer in the bed. I missed him, I wanted him back in the same room with me. After a few failed attempts to move Derek out of the bed, and a visit to the Dr. office, thinking there was a reason he was not sleeping though the night, I realized that I have t

WOW I have a 19 month old child. That's crazy, awesome, and sad. My little boy is growing up so fast. My brother and sister-in-law just had their second child, and I was able to be there shortly after the baby was born, and it brought all those memories back to the surface. I am not ready to have another baby, but I was so happy to hold a newborn, and love on him, but it just reminded me of how fragile and tiny they are. As I see my 19 month old son run around, that is what I want to focus on, and how big he is getting.  We have snow!!!!! Its our first snow of winter, and here in the south, everything stops for snow. We had snow last year, but Derek was to small to enjoy it, so we were blessed with snow again this year, and Derk has a blast playing in it. He really didn't know what it was, but it sure was fun.  There's nothing like the Love between a Father and his Son. This month has been a good month for our family. Derek is really growing into something amaz