Good afternoon ABC Kids has started which means I might get about 10 minutes on here before Niall is due to wake up... which could be any time. It seems that he has almost gotten himself down to 1 sleep a day! Last weekend he dropped his usual 10am nap and since then has refused to go down until about noon/1pm... although he dozes for a few minutes during BFing he won't tolerate being put down. He has been sleeping from about noon/1pm for about 2 hours. Today he went to sleep at about 1.30pm so time's almost up. He'll then be awake until just after dinner when we'll have a shower or bath together then he'll go down at 8pm for the night... until his 3am feed (after which he resettles very well after about a 10 minute feed). He wakes up properly between 6/7am.... which isn't too bad. I guess this could all change... but the adjustment is hard. It's all so different to Wade's sleeping pattern when he was Niall's age.

Verity is on school camp this week.... the house is very quiet without her. Last night DH and I had both boys asleep by about 8.15pm and looked at each other and said "OMG how long has it been since we've had peace and quiet at this time of the night!!!???" Then we realised that it'd been about 12 years! And even then it was only for 1 year before Verity was born! (I admit there were a few years before the boys came along that we sometimes had a bit of peace after Verity was in bed but they were the uni years when I had essays to write.) Anyhow last night we dug up some chocolate from the pantry and watched TV together and really enjoyed not having to modify our conversation (or share the chocolate!) It was amazing how weird it was knowing that we could get into a nice deep discussion without the threat of a child barrelling out into the loungeroom demanding something or Verity eavesdropping. That might sound a bit mean... but it's hard work modifying your conversation so that it's child-friendly all the time. Some people might say "why bother?" but when you say something flippant (which your DH knows is flippant) and your child thinks you are being serious it's a concern. If I didn't modify my conversation in front of Verity she wouldn't be the fair-minded and polite young lady that I know that she is... in public anyway! LOL

Nickel: All the kids have their own bedrooms but it is hard to reason with Wade and engage him in 'quiet time' when Niall is asleep. I guess I could come online after all the kids are in bed but that's DH's time generally. So yes, it's just getting too hard. When Wade is at Kinder I prefer to shop/relax in a cafe (if Niall is napping in his pram)/come home and sleep...depending on the length of the session.

I've also been considering hiring a Mother's Assistant. DH has given the nod... so I'm going to find a retired lady to come around and be a Nanna and play with the boys while I do paperwork etc or get her to do a few light chores while I play with the boys. It would just be for 2/3 hours a week. I don't want to use childcare... this would be a much better option... the housework has just been getting out of control and been really getting me down. The novelty has well and truely worn off... remember I've been a SAHM for nearly 4 years... and for 5 years before that I was working in childcare which involved a lot of cleaning... I'm just so over it all... the boredom and monotony is sending me barmy!

Sorry for the mini vent... better go make a cuppa before Niall wakes up!