Zzzz

Yes, those are Z's, because that is what I have been getting. Sleep. Wonderful, blissful sleep. The other night I finally broke down and put Sienna in her own bed. We bought a crib from a nice older lady in Columbia Falls, (more about her later) cleaned it, set it up, and put her in it that very night. It was a sad night for me. My last baby, sleeping in her own crib! She's only six months old, for crying out loud. I figure she may as well take advantage of sleeping with us while she can. You can't very well be twelve years old and sleeping with your parents, now can you? Proof it wouldn't have lasted forever. I was so ridiculously stubborn about leaving her in bed with us, that I didn't really believe that her sleeping problems would be solved by NOT sleeping with us. So imagine my shock and disbelief when I only had to feed her ONCE, yes I did say ONCE, (notice the caps) the ENTIRE NIGHT. Note that that does not mean I only woke up once. I was awake the first few nights probably a dozen times, just to make sure she was still breathing. I just couldn't believe that the child who had eaten every hour since she arrived on this planet could go 4-5 hours without eating.

Needless to say, I have adjusted quite well to this new situation. I had forgotten what sleep felt like! Although I still have the urge to go get her out of her crib and snuggle her, my sleep deprivation wins out and back in her crib she goes. We are all the happier for it. Also, I should add that Sienna is now mobile. She gets up on her hands and knees, rocks back and forth, gives up, collapses to her belly, and scoots her little chubby self wherever she feels she needs to go. Today, it was over to Avery who shared her piece of toast (Sienna only eats cereal, fruits, and a few veggies-I wasn't thrilled about her new food group) and later she tried some soy milk from Avery's bottle. I'm not certain how I feel about her mobility yet. She also has gotten two teeth already. If you can't tell, I am very amazed by her. She seems half grown compared to the twins. But they're all pretty amazing. Just all so very, very different.

So back to the elderly lady in C. Falls. I found a crib in the Mountain Trader that we went to buy from a nice lady named Virginia Crawford. She is 72, her husband is 77. As Carl loaded the crib, I talked with her about many different things. As she is telling me about her great-grandchildren, she mentions that last March, she and her husband adopted all five of them. Four girls, two of which are twins, and one boy, ranging in age from 4 years to 9 years. This woman is 72 freaking years old, and raising 5 children. I do not know how she does it. It gets even crazier. In August, she was in Idaho visiting one of her daughters with the kids, and her husband was fixing something on the roof of their house and fell off. He had to drag himself inside, as he was home alone, call 911, and wait for them to come get him. He broke his back in several places, his sternum, and for some reason not known by his doctors, cannot swallow anymore. The result of this is that he is completely bedridden, and has to be fed through a tube by Virginia every four hours around the clock. The good news is that his bones are healing, but the swallowing thing they can't explain and don't know if he will ever recover. As I am listening to her story, I am thinking about how often I feel sorry for myself, feel overwhelmed by my own three children, and am realizing how hard other's have it! To be 72 years old and raising a family. To be all that those children have, to not know what would happen to them if something happens to herself or her husband. To now have to care for your husband like another child... I guess I am just writing about her to ask that whoever is reading this remember to pray for them. They need it so badly. Also, their house is tiny-way too small for so many young kids. They were finalists for Extreme Makeover Home Edition, but a family in Billings was chosen over them. I am going to try and bring the kids out to my parents house here and there to give her a break, but anyone who knows me knows that I do not have a ton of free time to spare. Yet at the same time, I cannot allow her to go on with no help. She seems to have no one. So lets at least pray for her. Our God is bigger than our situations. I have experienced his big-ness firsthand! He is faithful to me, and I believe he will be faithful to them as well.