The Lacher Family

Sorry for the blog being somewhat silent. During the day I am trying to spend as much time with my 3 precious girls as I can, and at night, I am going to bed as soon as all the girls are tucked in since nights have been a bit…well…rough to say the least. Speaking of which, bedtime is actually giving me anxiety at this point. Seriously. Not good. Each night during prayers, I pray that Julia will learn her crib is a safe place to be (yep, I said crib…she seems to like that more than the brand new pack-n-play in our room so we are just rollin’ with it) and that she will sleep longer periods of time. And each night, as we take turns being up with Julia, I am in tears with God telling him I will praise Him in the storm, and that He decides when and how to answer prayers, but that I really really hope He will work a miracle in the sleep department.

So…back to last night. Dan put Julia down at about 7:15pm and then we got Emily and Norah tucked in. We both agree that longer term we will probably shift Julia’s bedtime to closer to 8 so we aren’t trying to put 3 kids down at once, but as of right now staying up late isn’t really a good option. I decided to go to bed and literally was crawling in a bit after 8 because, as I said to Mom and Dan, “Based on how long Julia typically sleeps at one time, I have just enough time to get ready for bed and lay down before she wakes up.” So I went to bed and Dan came to bed at some point, not sure when. When I was awakened by some pre-crying whimpers, I looked at the clock…and was shocked to see it was 9:30! She slept on her own for over 2 hours! She was also up at 10:30, 12:00, and 2:30…but she stayed in her crib the whole time! Praise God! We were able to just pat her back to soothe her back to sleep. After the 2:30 wakeup, she awoke again at 2:45. I had just been in so I sent Dan in…and he never came back. She was pretty agitated – and awake – at that point so he was able to get her to sleep in the rocking chair for a few hours, and that is where they stayed until almost 6 this morning. So…to recap, Julia spent about 7 hours in her crib last night! This is such a miracle. It may seem small to all of you…but it is a huge boost to this mama’s psyche today.

Now let me be clear. In no way am I saying I don’t want to hold my child. If I had to hold Julia all the time, I would. Her needs WILL be met. But I so desperately want her to feel safe and secure here in this home, and to know that if she needs us, we will come to her. Last night was a great step in that direction.

My mom leaves tomorrow to go home. I am so thankful for all she has done for us while we were gone and now that we are home. It will be sad to see her go. Glad to know I have friends around that are willing to lend a helping hand. I promise, I will try to remember to ask for help. We do plan on sending out a link soon where you can sign up to bring us a meal. So many of you have offered to do this, so we want to make it as easy for everyone as possible. So be watching your email for that. Thanks for your continued prayers. Most critical needs are certainly still the sleep stuff, that Julia would stop her skin-scratching, and strength for me as all my reinforcements (my mom and my wonderful husband) leave in the next day or so.