I've seen the future....

And I like what I see. I've seen the future, because the future is now. Amazing what a little time can do for a situation, any situation really. For a person who thrives on instant gratification, time is otten the enemy.

But here I sit, 8:36pm on a Tuesday night. I have read two magazines. Two, while the magic of Elmo lulled my son into his pre-sleep state. The girls had a walk after dinner, bath, then bed at 7:00. I cannot believe this routine crap works. Maybe its just a cruel trick the few nights of uninterrupted sleep in a row has done to my mind, but I really think its working.

My husband deserves the credit and I proudly tell the world about our success, though I realize they do not, can not, grasp the magnitude of this milestone. Our kids are sleeping though the night. There I said it, against the fear if I spoke the truth aloud or admitted it to myself even in thought... poof! One of them would awake.

Sure I'll be up several times throughout the night for a wet diaper or four. There is no real such thing as completely sleeping through the night (is there? yet?) but I will take a few diaper changes then right back to bed over our previous up and down all damn night battle ANY night.

A few weeks ago Kenny put the ban on babies in the bed. He said he wanted his wife back, but really I think he just wanted the covers and some room. The queen size bed wasn't cutting it with 3-4 of us at a time! I didn't really mind them there. We kept a baby on constant rotation all night long. You never knew if the one you fell esleep with was goingto be the one you woke up with depending on who cried out next. As soon as one woke up, the other cuddled up one in my arms went back to their bed and a fresh body molded to mine.

Sure, my arm was asleep all the time and my hand was numb half the night, but damn they are good cuddlers. And smell way better than my husband. I was throwing my shoulder out of whack from always being in the baby cradling position. But I loved them and thought it was sweet.... until I realized I would get more sleep if they just slept instead of crying until mommy came to the rescue like they knew I would.

So we tried it his way. A few nights of torture (for me) otherwise known as the Cry It Out method and viola. All of a sudden they are sleeping without even getting up for a bottle.

My babies are growing up. They eat a lot of real food and are down to two bottles a day! Two! They used to eat every two hours. Wow. They have one nap a day, at the same time, no more tag teaming us with that one up, one down bullshit. I can actually plan stuff around naptime now because I know they will be ready to go to sleep for an hour or two from 10:00-12:00 everyday. They roam the house pretty freely, busting out of the baracaded living room that was maybe more of our comfort zone of safety than their preferred play area.

Time has passed, distorted by the trials of the past year we've faced. Sometimes it seems like if flew by, but most of the time it feels like I've lived a whole lifetime in these past 12 months. I was still hobbling around with them inside me fighting for space against my ribs and internal organs less than a year ago and here they are now fighting each other at their first birthday photo shoot!