Those Couches...

Exhaustion seems to run in waves around here. With the adults that is. Rarely do the kids ever come close to thinking they absolutely NEED to rest. But occasionally, on very rare days, perhaps reality hits them, too.

Laura is constant motion. Always moving, exploring, talking, doing. And really quite pleasant and cute while doing it all. Lately however, we've had a few days where her very regular nap times weren't an option and she handled those days better than I ever hoped. Most of the time, anyway. But the other day it seems that she might have reached her limit. She just couldn't keep up. At about 4:30 she settled down to watch PBS and those eyelids wouldn't stay open. I smiled at how peaceful she looked. How relaxed she was. How sweet, and quiet, she was while she slept.

These thoughts brought so many things to mind - those first 18 mos where we listened to her every breath through the night, and counted the regular pauses, because of her severe sleep apnea. Or the fact that she's sleeping without the pain of severe reflux that kept her awake night after night, or even the fact that she's sleeping on her back and not her stomach as is her normal way so she could keep her airway clearer. We no longer worry about things like that. She sleeps peacefully and that would have been enough to bring a smile to my face at that moment. But the thought that brought the biggest smile was where she was sleeping.

Those white couches... my gift from God came with those white couches. Yes, My Donald, the almost confirmed bachelor, wooed me on those white couches. And I recall thinking over and over again how he couldn't really be serious about a long term relationship with me because I already had two growing boys. Boys. Two. Boys. Growing rapidly. Growing boys and white couches don't go together. So dating someone who purchased white couches for their home seemed to say that they weren't really in the market for adding growing boys in to the household. Thankfully I was wrong. Very wrong. I think it might have been on one of these white couches where he actually broached the subject of lifetime commitment. And I could have cared less at that moment about those white couches. And it seemed he wasn't too concerned, either.

Five years later those couches have come full circle. They were cradling our daughter while she caught a quick nap. Not once did Don even think of moving her. Not once did I worry about her penchant for slobbering while she slept. We just enjoyed the peaceful moment while she caught up on a few moments of rest, sleeping quietly while the world calmly went on around her. While she slept like a princess on those white couches... The Lord definitely has a sense of humor, doesn't he? :)