A Good NIght's Sleep

Is for me 100% completely unattainable.

Why I expected it to be any better on this trip is beyond me. We'll start with the night before we left. Nerves, I guess. My stomach was in knots and hurting rather badly. What to be nervous about? Well 20 hours in a car with 4 kids and hoping to not lose my cool or sanity along the way. So when Steven woke up at 4:30 to get ready to leave and I was already up, he knew we were in for a wonderful trip.

Saturday night we reached our checkpoint, Atlanta. After driving all day and having a great dinner with old friends, I was T I R E D. And the second I hit the pillow I was O U T. So far gone that when the hotel's fire alarm went off the first time, I slept right through it. The second time, I rolled over, opened one eye, and asked "is that an alarm?" I barely heard the manager on the intercom letting us know that the fire department was walking the building looking for a faulty smoke detector and to remain calm and stay in our rooms. No problem-o. And rather shocking that I didn't jump right up and scope out some men in uniform. And the remainder of the night I slept through the beep, beep, beeps. But woke up repeatedly whenever Emma decided to stick her foot in my nose, her leg on my hip, or her arm on my forehead. Sleeping with her is truly like sleeping with a monkey.

We stayed in Atlanta on Sunday as well, to take in some sights and have some more time with our friends. It was a great day. And my turn to sleep with Kathryn. Who is one of the main reasons I am up all the time. My favorite, usual 2am alarm clock. Night terrors. And it was pretty bad that night. But coupled with whatever she was freaking out about, she was talking in her sleep and crawling all around the bed. Emma had lost her monkey status.

And the other reason I am up at all hours, came into play last night.

We're at my mom's. And since my baby brother moved back in and took over what was the guest room, Steven and I am staying in the "study". Which has a daybed and a trundle. And also decorated with several Salvador Dali prints. Which is the main reason Kathryn is NOT staying in there. Could you imagine her night terrors waking up to that??

Since the daybed is bordered on three sides and my giant of a husband could only sleep in it if he remained in the fetal position, I took the high bed. Plus I didn't really relish the fact of him accidentally stepping on me in the middle of the night having to take a bathroom break. Not that he's that much better off. I've done nothing but eat since we left the house and am packing on the pounds! And we haven't even had the feast...

So I'm on the high bed, he's on the low bed and the distance between us is deep and wide. And my husband snores. Loudly. And a lot. And the majority of my evenings consist of calming Kathryn down and trying to get him to stop snoring. At night, I don't worry so much about Alli going off to college in a few years. Because then we can institute the whole separate bedroom phase of our marriage.

We had a sleep expert talk with our MOPS group the other day. And he mentioned a few fixes for snoring.

Elevated pillows... don't work
Sleeping on one's side... don't work
Breathe strips... don't work
Nasal spray... doesn't work
A gentle "honey, you're snoring"... works for about 3 seconds
a swift elbow to the ribs... most effective, but results wear off quickly

So to make a long story short, none of the above worked last night. And I couldn't reach him for the last few options. And everyone is irritated with me this morning because I am not in a good mood, I'm cranky, and bitchy and just not nice. Because I'm tired.

And on the way home, I think I'm booking a second hotel room all for myself.