Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas. Yes, I do mean it. May you have a very Merry Christmas. May you smile about, celebrate, and rejoice in the gift of God--His precious Son.

I'm sitting in our living room enjoying the lights of the Christmas tree. I don't really enjoy getting out of my warm bed early each morning, but once I make it to the living room, I really like it. I like the time spent with just God and I, I like the quiet, and during Christmas I really like the lights. Gary has programmed the tree to be on every morning when I get up. Thanks honey.

So I'm here, all alone, and more tired than usual. Something happened last night, during the night, that was unusual in our house. There are very few nights where I get to sleep all night long. There is at least one child who seems to wake up and alert us to their presence at least once every night. Sometimes we need to get up to address to problem, sometimes they can fall back asleep on their own. (pause pause pause)

As I was writing, I heard the bedroom door open and there stood my dear son Garrison. I quickly put away the computer as he ran to me and we snuggled together in the chair. Let me share with you the conversation that followed.
Mommy (that's me): "Garrison, do you know what day it is today?"
Garrison: "What is it?"
Mommy: "Today is Christmas. Today we celebrate Jesus' birthday. Happy Birthday Jesus!"
Garrison: "Yeah, and I'm going to give Jesus my clock book as a present." Know that Garrison's clock book is a favorite!
Mommy: "Really, that is a very nice thing to do for Jesus."
Garrison: "Yeah, and He can play with it and I will help him do it, just like this (and he proceeds to turn the hands of the clock)"
Mommy: "Garrison, I love you and I know that Jesus loves you so very much."
Garrison: "Yup."

So, now that the stockings have been opened, I'll get back to my early morning thoughts.

So, last night things were different. Noel started putting up a fuss a little after one. Gary got up with her (we have a deal that he does the little things and if they get longer, then I take over. I have a difficult time getting back to sleep if I get up, so I do the longer ones since I'd be up anyway. If you have questions about our system, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment.) and changed her diaper. She had more to drink than usual, so I suggested that this might solve the problem. Gary changed her, came back to bed, and fell asleep within five breaths--I counted. I continued to listen to her moan and cry. After fifteen minutes, I decided that something was amiss. I went into her room and discovered that I had neglected to turn on her heater and it was quite cold. Not only that, but I had not put her pajamas on at night. She was in such a comfy outfit and I thought that she would be able to wear part of it again in the morning. . . .so she wasn't wearing her super warm pajamas. My little girl was cold. It took several more trips, some rocking, and finally a glass of milk to get our little girl back to sleep. I was up for over two hours. One hour later, I was awakened to Garrison crying in the bathroom. I stumbled in and there he stands without his pajama top on crying. "What's wrong?" "I'm all wet." "What?!?" "I have to go potty, I'm all wet. . . I can't get my pants off." I bend over and discover that he is indeed covered with pee. I take off his pants and see that we forgot to remind him to put on his nighttime underwear (pull-up) before bed. He had wet everything. Just as I am going to his room to change his sheets, get new pajamas, and nighttime underwear, Simon wakes up and says, "Simon potty. Simon potty. Simon potty." I wake up Gary and ask for help. Minutes later, everyone is warm and dry. Twenty minutes later, everyone except me is asleep. What a night.

Parental error. That is what happened last night. It is a very unusual occurance. During the day--all the time, but I have nighttime routine pretty down pat. Perhaps we would have had a full night of sleep without parental error, but who knows. I didn't turn on the heater. I didn't put on her warm pajamas. I didn't remember nighttime underwear. I missed out on about three hours of sleep last night.

I'm thankful that my Heavenly Father didn't make a parental error when He sent Christ to earth. Now that I'm the mom of two sons, I don't think I'd give them up for anyone, let alone crazy selfish sinners. As I was laying in bed last night trying to get asleep for the third time, I thanked God for doing the right thing and not forgetting anything. He never slumbers, never sleeps, has so many children and isn't losing His mind (unlike me). Happy Birthday Jesus and thank you Heavenly Father.