Picture Day at School

Yesterday was picture day at school. They looked great - and I still don't know how we did it - coincidentally Tuesday night was one of the worst nights the boys and I had in a long time. Derek was out of town and lately doing the single parenting for bedtime/nighttime has been challenging. Aidan has recently decided he can't sleep alone and wants to be in our bed. It could be that he sees Hatcher in our bed before he goes to sleep and often when he wakes up - since Hatcher goes to bed after him and most of the time wakes up before him and comes into our room. Either way...it has been so incredibly exhausting. When there are two of us, we can each take one of the kids and ensure they are asleep somewhat timely. But, when it is just one of us...man o man is it trying every last bit of your patience and stamina. Tuesday night for me was no exception. I put Aidan down first - he finally went to bed around 9 pm. Then it was Hatcher's turn, he was finally asleep around 9:40 pm. So - off I went to clean up from dinner, finish the laundry, pick up the toys, make the lunch for the next day and lock up the house...etc. I made it upstairs around 10:30 and decided to catch up on the blog - wrapping the Burt's entry up around 11:30. After brushing my teeth and crawling into bed, i realized I was still so wound up, so I watched one of my many backlogged recorded shows. And, I finally fell asleep around 12:30 am. Just shy of 2 am...Aidan woke me up screaming, "Mommy, come here...come here Mommy!" - over and over again. So I finally went in and for an hour tried to get him to sleep in his bed. That never worked, so around 3 am i called it quits, went back to my room to let him cry it out. At 3:15 Hatcher got up, and came into my room. He had pee'd in his bed and the sheets were soaked. I wasn't about to change the sheets and get him back to sleep...hell, I hadn't even had 2 hours of sleep yet myself. So as Aidan contined to scream for me, I changed Hatcher's clothes and put him in my bed. After laying there for 20 or so more minutes, I thought this is stupid. Tomorrow is picture day and these boys need some sleep. So i went and got Aidan and brought him to my room. It's now 4:15 am and with both my boys in bed with me, I think FINALLY, we can all get some sleep. But no...the thunder and lightening show began. Everyone was up and talking about the rain and storms. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I think everyone energy finally ran out just before 5 am and we were all asleep. Promptly at 7, Aidan woke up and asked to go downstairs for breakfast. SERIOUSLY? So I ignored him thinking he may fall back asleep - hell, I surely would. But...no, who am I kidding. The kid hopped over my body, got down off the bed, went down the stairs himself and got into the fridge and retrieved a yogurt and milk. By the time I realized what had transpired, I went down to the kitchen to find Aidan eating yogurt on his black table, with the fridge door propped open by a chair - which he used to get what he wanted, and the silverware drawer still ajar from him choosing the right spoon for breakfast. We were all up - it was pitch black outside and pouring down rain! Good morning Chenin - here's hoping you have a special day! Here are the pictures I took of the boys before dropping them at school for picture day!