{"id":1080,"date":"2007-07-16T21:33:57","date_gmt":"2007-07-17T02:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2007-07-18T19:52:34","modified_gmt":"2007-07-19T00:52:34","slug":"beautiful-dreamers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/beautiful-dreamers\/","title":{"rendered":"Beautiful Dreamers"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>I LOVE Night-time with my babies. And not just because I’m worn out by the end of the day and ready for a few hours by myself with Collin (although I’ll admit that’s nice, too). I just really love them at this time of day. One or both of them is frequently grumpy, but our routine is so sweet and fun- I wouldn’t trade this time for anything. The way they smell after a bath, how absolutely adorable Makgill is running around in just his underoos, mis-matched pajamas…Everything…It’s just so precious. Have any of you ever noticed the smell of your baby’s room when they are asleep? I LOVE it. Both of them have a “sleep scent” that is unique to them, and I HAVE to smell it before I go to bed myself. Is that weird? <\/p>\n

Anyway, I decided to write this because a very important part of our nightly routine is about to change, and I want to record everything before I forget. Clara Beth is getting ready to wean herself from nursing. Yes, you heard that right, I still nurse my (gasp!) 13 and a half month old daughter. I know some people are weirded out by that, and don’t worry. I was too before I began nursing Makgill. I have been fortunate enough to let my babies let me know when they are ready to quit. Makgill quit at 15 months, and I think Clara Beth is almost there. The biting has begun, and that is NOT FUN. I’m not the kind of person who thinks that Every mother MUST nurse. It just happens to be the way I chose to go, and I wouldn’t trade it for ANYTHING. And, as many of you know, Collin and I are not having any more kids, so when I finish nursing Clara Beth I will be finished with nursing. FOREVER. I will admit, this makes me sad. So, with all of that being said, Collin took some pictures tonight so I could record our nightly routine.<\/p>\n

We start out in the bathtub. Sometimes we bathe them together, sometimes seperately. Usually, we kind of tag-team, with one of us doing the “bathing” and the other doing the “diapering\/pajamas”. They are almost always in the tub together for at least a few minutes. They LOVE this! (By the way- the water is green because Mak has those Crayola water-tinting things. And yes, we know the tile is ugly. Maybe it will be changed before the kids leave for college \ud83d\ude42 )<\/p>\n

\"img_0012.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"img_0006.JPG\"<\/a> \"img_0020.JPG\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Then comes the task of getting Makgill into his pjs. NOT EASY. He is not excited about going to sleep, but is EXHAUSTED by this point, and the result is usually this:<\/p>\n

\"img_0044.JPG\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

After pjs, but before bed, Clara Beth and Daddy play peek-a-boo around her crib. She NEVER tires of this game. She is in love with her Daddy!<\/p>\n

\"img_0066.JPG\"<\/a> \"img_0058.JPG\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

After a little while Clara Beth and I kick the boys out. Collin takes Makgill to brush teeth\/potty, and Miss CB and I start our routine. <\/p>\n

First we nurse…<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"img_0076b.JPG\"<\/a> \"img_0081.JPG\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Then we read Goodnight Moon, say prayers, sing “Jesus Loves Me”, and I lay her down. Almost Always she cries until Collin comes back in to kiss her again.<\/p>\n

\"img_0085.JPG\"<\/a> \"img_0087.JPG\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Collin and Makgill have a ritual called “Bernie Time”. Bernie is a HUGE, stuffed Saint Bernard that Collin got me from FAO Schwartz when we were dating. They lay on Bernie and talk about Mak’s day, read a bedtime story, and then read a Bible Story. For some reason, Mak only wants to hear Noah’s Ark before bed. He loves other Bible Stories at any other time of the day, but for bedtime it almost always has to be Noah.<\/p>\n

\"img_0094.JPG\"<\/a> \"img_0097.JPG\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

This is Mimi, Mak’s lovie. He picked it out himself at 14 months, and has slept with it ever since. Mimi is VERY LOVED, and it’s really starting to show. Mimi MUST be placed in the exact center of Mak’s pillow, and I am not allowed to lay on it AT ALL (OCD???).<\/p>\n

\"img_0112.JPG\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

After Bernie Time, Mak and I get in his bed. I say prayers and then we sing 3 specific songs: Alive (Alive, Alive, Alive forevermore…), Heaven is a Wonderful Place, and two verses of As the Deer (he calls the second verse “The Silver Song”). Now, I am no singer, but he only wants me to sing. If Collin tries, Mak gently covers Collin’s mouth and says “No, Daddy.”<\/p>\n

\"img_0120.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So that’s our nightly routine. Sorry this was such a long post, but I really want to remember these sweet “baby” times. I know that all too soon they will be bathing themselves and won’t want Mommy and Daddy to tuck them in. I want to be able to “read back” on what bedtime was like at almost 3 and a half and 14 months. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I LOVE Night-time with my babies. And not just because I’m worn out by the end of the day and ready for a few hours by myself with Collin (although I’ll admit that’s nice, too). I just really love them at this time of day. One or both of them is frequently grumpy, but our...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"pp_embeds":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category--2-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmsmithportraits.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}