ready to move and sleep

I can't wait until this move is over. I can't tell you how much I fantasize about getting my home back to some kind of order. Having things organized and put away and not in piles or boxes sounds wonderful. Things are moving along though and its just a matter of a week. The moving day WAS Saturday the 29th - all of our help was lined up & childcare for the babies squared away for the entire day - until YESTERDAY when we were told we can't move in until Sunday the 30th. UM...ok then. We had everyhing planned and all of our help scheduled. Moving on a Sunday isn't ideal for us given everyone's church schedules and such but we will make adjustments.
The move-in seems to get pushed later and later. I am trying not to be frustrated. "GO WITH THE FLOW" is my mantra these days. I am trying to actually go with the flow. Hard though. I just want everything in order. Things being out of order gives me a nervous twitch. Ok, not REALLY. But it makes me anxious. And all I need right now is anxiety, right? Not so much.
Anyway, there are many positive things about this move that I need to be focused on. Like the fact that we will have lots more room and that we will have fresh paint and carpet. I LOVE the smell of fresh paint and carpet.

And since I am not busy enough, we have changed the babies schedule to adjust with the new four hour schedule we're moving to at night. We are still feeding every three hours during the day. We've adjusted their bedtime feeding to 8pm and will eventually adjust it to 7:30pm so their bedtime will be 8pm, once the pediatrician allows me to go longer than four hours at night. I can't tell you how I look forward to getting more than 1&1/2 to 2 hours of sleep at a time. As it is now, I get about 4-5 hours of sleep a day - in 1-2 hour increments. I cannot imagine the heavenly feeling of sleeping more than that every night. This new four hour nights thing will allow me a little more sleep which will be wonderful. Now its just a matter of getting them adjusted. This will be the third day and they have done pretty well.
Overall, since we've been firm about their schedules they have been much happier , nap better, eat better and sleep much more. Its amazing, actually. "SLEEP BEGETS SLEEP." I cannot tell you how firmly I believe this now. Since reading several posts on sleep that Jen wrote, I was inspired to buy this book by Dr. Weissbluth and so much of it has clicked with me. I realized that I was putting them to bed way overstimulated and they were exhasuted but not sleeping as well. I also realized that they were not sleeping enough. What a difference this has made. I can see the difference in their waking moods and their overall behavior. I can really see the difference on days that I am not being as mindful of their sleeptime stimulation and keeping bedtime QUIET and sticking to the routine. Its as if they are cranky and miserable and they ACT like they don't want to go to sleep. Everyone, including me, is miserable. But when I stick to the rules, its beautiful. This is all very important to me because, honestly, I have always have been a horrible sleeper. Just like the babies were, I have always gone to bed overstimulated and exhausted and could not fall asleep/stay asleep. And then once I finally fell asleep I was miserable when I woke up - no matter how many hours of sleep I got. I knew this wasn't right. Sleep training them has helped me understand my own sleep problems. Its a win-win!
Don't get me wrong, I have not been very good with the whole sleep thing lately with the move and change in schedule. They are fussing in their crib RIGHT NOW as I type this - when they should be napping. Two steps forward, one step back. But I know now that I can get back to it once we've adjusted to the new schedule and things are back in order. I look forward to getting back into the solid routine with the firm bedtime. Its just a matter of me staying disciplined with the routine and the schedule. I'll let you know how it goes as we continue to 'train' the babies - and myself!
And, BTW - I know that sleep is a controversial issue so please be gentle with your commenting/e-mailing.
I've got lots to pack so gotta go!

Much Love,
Cindy