December 8

It's about time for this bedtime phase to pass. It's getting ridiculous, and I'm over it. If only Lily understood that message. I've tried telling her, but she doesn't seem to get it.

Last night was bad. Phenomenally bad. Chris and I tried to go to bed at 11:30, and Lily decided she wanted to be awake. I nursed her, patted her, ignored her, did everything I could to help her get to sleep until at least 12:45. Then I gave up and Chris took over, pacing with her for another 45 minutes. Then she woke up at 7:30 this morning, ready for the day. Of course, as soon as I woke and saw the clock, my brain started whirring. To be on time for church, we have to leave the house around 8:30. That meant I had an hour to pump (I pump for 20 minutes each morning to express breast milk so that I could - in theory - leave Lily and know she'd still have something to eat. In reality, she won't take a bottle so I've been donating all of my milk to a friend who adopted a baby who is a month older than Lily.), make breakfast, eat breakfast, force the children to eat breakfast, get dressed, get the kids dressed, get Lily and her diaper bag together, get all the stuff together for the 30-minute car ride there and back...

But then my brain went to Lily. She had a rough night, so she'd be ready for a nap early. That meant that she'd be tired right around the time we arrived at church, but she wouldn't nap in the nursery, so she'd have to go at least 4 hours without a nap...

So I found Chris and asked if we could stay home today. He was just as tired as I was, so he agreed readily. But Caleb and Daisy heard our conversation and immediately objected. They wanted to go to church! Chris felt that we needed to encourage that sentiment, so he volunteered to take the big kids while Lily and I stayed home. 

As soon as they left, Lily fell asleep. She slept until right before they returned. It was a good choice.

Everyone was cheerful and awake when Chris and the kids returned home, so I hustled them all outside for a second attempt at Christmas card photos. It was another bust - no clear winner. I'm holding a few back, just in case I don't get anything better, but here's an outtake:

Caleb has his arm wrapped around Lily while he's saying, "Heeeeyyyy!"

Lily is confused about why she's out in the cold.

Daisy has refused to put her arm around Lily, but has her hand on Lily's leg instead.

And they're all piled on a cute little bench that my dad found for them. I love how perfectly they fit there - what will we do if we have a 4th?

But I didn't get any pictures where all three children look darling at the same time, and I didn't like the pose enough to warrant Photoshopping faces. Hopefully I get something good when we go on our traditional Christmas tree hunt on Tuesday!

Now for some sweet Lily photos: 

Hi, Baby! What are we going to do with you?

I'm pretty sure the solution is to make the girl sleep in her crib. That will fix everything, right? The problem is that she sleeps just fine during naptime; bedtime is our only issue!

Isn't it a cruel joke that babies fight sleep so much, yet adults beg for it? Not fair, God. Not fair. (But thank you for blessing us with this darling baby. I suppose You can do whatever You want.)