Here's how our night played out

So, we tried a few of the ideas that we were given last night. The one that I was probably the most interested was suggested by my friend Virginia. She said to put chamomile oil (the link tells you a bit about the plant and the different types of oil they get from it) on their tummies before bed time. I started looking it up and sent an email to my sister in law's friend who is very into essential oils and herbs. I asked her about it and she said it would work great! She also suggested lavender which marketing companies have picked up on and put 'lavender' in nightly washes and creams for babies. The difference between using the actual oils and the cheap Johnson and Johnson baby lotion (or something like it) is how concentrated the oil is and how pure (chemical free) it is. So, we got some and tried it out. I rubbed a little on on their bellies and feet. I'll admit, I was a tad skeptical, but thought it was worth a shot. I have a few reasons I'm not comfortable with stuffing them with lots of solids quite yet (explanatory blog post coming soon) but I really do want them to sleep a little longer. I knew they probably weren't going to be hungry during the night because they had several ridiculously large bottles (over 8 oz) during the day. So, around 8 o'clock, I rubbed the oil on them, let them play a little longer, got them ready for bed and they were in bed by 8:45. I've always 'dream fed' them right before I've gone to bed, and last night that ended up being a little bit before 11. I fell asleep pretty quickly, but in the back of my mind I was sure I'd be waking up soon. Guess what? Not a peep until 4! They slept 7 hours straight! Sophie was the baby that woke up and I debated on if I should give her a bottle or not. I decided on just a binky and she went back to sleep within a minute or two. Then, they both woke up around 5:20 and I gave them bottles. They fell back asleep until 8:30!! YAHOO! Unfortunately, I couldn't fall back asleep until about 6, but I got a few more hours of sleep in! And this was just the first night using the oil. I wasn't sure if it would take a couple of tries to really work, but I really, really think it helped a lot. They didn't really cry much at all and Lillian slept a little over 11 hours. What a miracle.

Now, I'm scared I'm jinxing myself here, so I want to implement a few more tricks to reinforce their new sleeping pattern. I've looked up a few dozen schedules for 6 month olds and I'm going to find something that works for us. Usually, I'm pretty lax about it during the day, but I also realize that kids really do thrive on routine. Luckily, the girls have been setting their own 'schedule' lately and I can usually expect when they'll nap, how long they'll sleep for, when they'll eat, etc, but now I really want to stick to it. I realize that tonight I might be waking up every 3 hours again, but hopefully soon they'll get the hang of it and the 4 of us will be a happier family.

Oh, and the day I wrote that plea for help, my sister in law came and picked up the girls for the day. She took them to Josh's mom's house and gave me a much needed break. I was able to wash all my diapers and get a 'stash shot' (in the cloth diapering world, these are popular to show off your 'fluff'.) So here's my stash (minus my prefolds which are kinda all over the place right now...) all my inserts and liners are already in place inside the diapers and they're stacked by brand.

It's beautiful, right?

I'm also going to write more about that day I had a break from being a mom. I had quite the ah-ha moment whilst shopping at Norstrom Rack.

Now I'm off to spend the day with my girls. I feel energized and I feel great.

Happy Friday!