Sleep Deprived and In Need Of Caffeine

{via}

What. A. Night.

The storms started rolling in just as I was getting the kids ready and settled in bed. Thunder. Lightning. No rain yet -- but it was on the horizon. S was in bed, not feeling well from a touch of a virus. As I was tucking L in and about to leave the room, Daddy knocks on the door and informs me S was in fact sitting in the hallway waiting for me, scared. The thunder had already gotten to her.

I went and laid with her a little while until it sounded like it was done. I left her to sleep and hopefully feel better. At that point, L was quiet and clearly asleep in bed. M and I took ourselves to bed around 945pm ... and my eyes never got a chance to rest once we turned off the lamp.

First S came in and asked for a simple hug and kiss. I gave them, and walked her back to her room. As soon as I laid back down in the bed, L woke up fussing. I calmed him, laid him back down and walked down the hall, ready for some sleep. Sleep that I never managed to get.

Once again, as bed time approached, more storms came ... and never really let up. I wound up in bed with S, and when M woke me up to tell me that L had been screaming {of which I never heard due to lack of a monitor in the room} I went and got him and brought him into the bed with his sister and me. The thunder continued until well after 2am ... and the kids never settled and fell asleep. At that point, I was tired of being kicked, pushed out of bed by little bodies, and overly tired. The storm was audible, but so far off at that point it was nothing more than a soft rumble. Like a growling belly.

I brought L back to his room, kicking and screaming for his sister, his daddy. Anyone that would "rescue" him. Twice more I had to go into his room and pick him up from the floor, where he had laid in a pile behind the door, scratching and asking for saving. Placed him back in bed, and then had to go tend to his sister, who still wouldn't settle for the night/morning.

Finally, a little after 2am, I was able to curl up on the couch, close my eyes, and drift off to sleep. No little people waking me. No kicks or grunts or questions about midnight snacks. No flying elbows or dolls or security blankets. Just me, the ceiling fan, and the back of my eyelids.

It lasted all of 2 hours, when the alarm went off to get M ready for work.

I'm tired. Its Friday. And I'm already over the day. It has barely started -- and I'm already counting down until naptime. We were supposed to head to a play-date, but because of last night's phantom fever, we won't be doing that today. Chances are, we will, however, find ourselves at some kind of drive-thru. A snack for the kids who never seem to stop eating, and caffeine for this over tired Mama.

And once nap time hits ... you can bet that I'll be joining in on some of that mandatory fun!