Alive and Kickin'

Yes, I am still alive. I know I have been rather MIA lately on this blog, and I apologize for that. I also haven't been making my rounds on all of your blogs as often as I used to, and that makes me feel sufficiently craptastic. But as we all know, life can be rather demanding sometimes and I have been dealing with all those pesky things in life such as working, children and trying to stay sane.

The good news is that my daughter is sleeping again. And not only is she sleeping, but she is sleeping GREAT, even better than she was before her sleeping problems arose. I want to thank you all for your awesome advice. It was so helpful to have a variety of advice and things to try from all different kinds of moms and dads with all different experiences. In the end, we went with melatonin (after checking with the doctor) and letting her cry unless she had to go to the bathroom, and in that case one of us would go up, bring her to the bathroom without stimulating conversation and put her back to bed with a simple "I love you, goodnight." It only took about three or four nights, and each night she woke up less often and cried a little less. For the past five nights, she has gone to bed happily, without a problem and slept straight through the night, often sleeping late in the mornings and waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed. No more fears. No more monsters. And she actually enjoys snuggling up in her bed at night again. Can I get a "hallelujah?"

So this mommy is pretty happy because she has gotten lots of much needed sleep in the past week. Yay for sleep! Just like anything, you really take for granted a good night's sleep.

I am taking time this week to take some stock in my life and make some important decisions. I need to simplify, prioritize and downsize, as well as get serious about starting my book proposal. So I will try to visit your blogs, but I may not get to posting around here this week. Captain Dumbass and I will be over at He Blogs, She Blogs on Thursday though, so be sure to check in. And as always, my column over at SexIs Magazine goes up on Wednesday.

Thank you again to everyone for all your support and advice--it is greatly appreciated!