Sleeping is a very popular topic for anyone who has young children. Actually, it is the first thing that I think of when a person asks us, "How are the girls?." My mind immediately traces back to the night before or the past few nights, and Sydney's and/or Abigail's sleep patterns seem to dominate the conversation. Maybe it is because sleep for Mama and Daddy is precious and the loss of it can feel devistating, or maybe it is because it affects so many other things. If the girls sleep well in the night, then they will usually take good nap(s) during the day, be more cheerful, and make our lives so much easier. Early in their lives (like in the one month picture above), we were very apprehensive to go into their room and comfort a crying baby because her sister would awaken and complicate the situation - imagine the 4 of us out of bed at 2:30 in the morning and playing for an hour as if it was the middle of the day! Now the girls will usually sleep through a screaming sister! How are they sleeping now? Good! Other than a this week's cough and cold with Sydney that wakes her up on occasion, the past two nights have been restful.

Another facet of sleeping that can be an issue - going to sleep. I've heard of other families that have had trouble with this, but Sydney and Abigail, for almost every night of their 19 month lives, have gone to sleep easily. Rebekah thinks that they just like their beds that much! Our nighttime routine has not changed much over their lives - pajamas/diaper change, brush teeth, cup of water (or milk bottle early on), read a story and/or prayer time, hugs and kisses, and PACO and LEO! Paco is the fist-sized stuffed dog that Sydney is fond of, and Leo is Abigail's 'liger' (tiger, lion - we don't really know, so we'll go with Napoleon's favorite - the liger). The girls literally run to their room, now, and scream "Paco, Paco, Paco!" because they are so excited! Mama and Daddy have been able to count on the two or three hours after the girls go down as "us" time - how nice.