Mormon Monday: Nap-time Miracle

As I have mentioned a few times before, we've been trying to move Kevin into his own room. At the same time, we've started the weaning process.

This last week, Grig didn't have work, with was half-bad and half-wonderful. We had an incredible time doing things together as a family, and Grig and I had a wonderful date. However, due to an entire week off of work, we are going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel financially. One really good thing about it has been that it has really helped with this transition with Kevin.

Kevin's been doing really well with Grig putting him to bed. It's easier for Kevin to go to bed with him, because Grig doesn't even have the option of nursing him. It is harder when it's me for obvious reasons.

This is how Kevin fell asleep the other day. Priceless. 

However, today Grig went back to work and so it was my turn to try and put the baby down without nursing. I was a bit nervous, but I was confident that I would be able to do it.

Last night was a pretty rough night for our family. Kevin went to bed fairly early, but then he woke up about 12:30 a.m. and wanted to nurse. Being half asleep (I hadn't been able to fall asleep until 11:00 or so), I allowed him to nurse. However, at about 2:30 a.m., I was becoming frustrated with it. He wouldn't stop nursing and let me sleep. So, Kevin and I went back to his room and I told him, "No more nursing." He didn't like that idea very much and so he screamed on and off until 3:00, when Grig came in to switch me. I was doing pretty well, but he said he couldn't sleep anyway, so I tried to go back to bed. At one point, Grig came back in, but Kevin woke right back up. It was nearing 3:45 when I told Grig to go lay down and I'd wake in him in 20 minutes so he could get ready for work.

He was getting frustrated at that point, so he gratefully handed Kevin to me and tried to go lay down. However, he finally decided he might as well get ready for work.

He left at 4:40, and Kevin didn't fall asleep until 5:30. When he finally fell asleep, I laid him down and ten minutes later, I heard a little voice say, "Hi?" It was pretty cute, but not entirely welcome. We sat at the computer for a while, and he finally REALLY fell asleep at 6:30 a.m. I took the dog outside, and then we all went back to bed until about 9:30.

Suffice it to say, we didn't get much sleep last night. So, naturally, I thought he'd take a really good nap today.

However, as I tried to get Kevin to go to sleep this afternoon, it wasn't going very smoothly. He was screaming, and no matter what I did, he wouldn't relax.

Desperately, I began to pray.

I know there are a lot of people out there who think that praying is just superstitious nonsense. However, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we know that prayer is not only needful, but necessary. I use prayer every day of my life, and I've never had an unanswered prayer. Sometimes it wasn't the answer I wanted, and sometimes it didn't come right away, but the answer always came.

Today was no different. As I prayed, I felt prompted to set him on the bed and rub his hair. This calmed him down after a little while, and then he began to get upset again. I felt prompted to look into his eyes and tell him why I wanted him to sleep. The instant our gazes locked, he immediately stopped crying. I quietly sang of my love for every part of him and how he would feel much better if he took a nap. After a few minutes, he laid down on his bed and quickly fell asleep as I continued to sing and rub his back.

Prayer works. I can testify that I know this is true. When we don't know what to do or how to make it through our trials, prayer is the answer. The Lord didn't mean for us to pass through this life alone, but if we don't talk to Him and find out his plan for us, we are going to wander alone.

Kevin is still sleeping right now, and I am so grateful that he had such a peaceful way of going to sleep. Hopefully we can continue on this path and transfer peacefully.

I'll just keep praying and having faith that it will work out.