Why I Own a King-Size Bed

I don't usually like to post pictures of myself...particularly ones where I am looking so lovely. I came across this one when I filled up my memory card and downloaded it to Costco to be burned into a disk. Apparently, this was the scene Steve left on his way to work.

Really, this is my fault. When Paige was born, Steve was traveling 6 nights a week. Elizabeth Smart had just been snatched from her bed in the middle of the night, so to protect my baby (and keep me from leaving my bed to feed her in the night) I kept little Paige in bed with me. Sadly, she has never grown out of it. I swore not to do the same with Claire. She learned early on to sleep in her crib by herself, as we struggled to teach Paige. When we put the condo up for sale, oblivious to my graveyard shift, our Real Estate agent ALWAYS seemed to book 9 am showings. It became easier at that point to let the girls sleep in our bed as to leave 2 less beds to make in the morning! Habits seem to form quickly, and are hard to break. Plus, with Steve needing to go to sleep early and me needing to sleep in, it is so much easier to let the girls stay up late watching tv in our bed to accommodate both our crazy schedules!

Despite our efforts, someone still ends up crawling in during the night, and most of the time I don't notice until I nearly fall off the bed! Although it is FAR from ideal, we keep telling ourselves that one day our "snuggle-buddies" won't want to snuggle with us anymore and we should savor each moment.

My guess about this picture is that this was a Friday morning. Usually, by Fridays I am so exhausted that it is no surprise to me that I forgot to take my glasses off. (At least my mouth is closed and I am not drooling!) Bode starts off in our bed so that Steve is sure to hear him cry in the night while I am at work, a habit we keep vowing to change starting every weekend! Claire probably came in shortly after I did, wanting to snuggle, at which point Paige would have woken up in her room alone and moseyed across the hall to see if there was any room at the inn. Paige probably climbed up from the foot of the bed, pushing her way under Steve's arm, and slowly but surely pushing him right out of bed. At which point, he got up and asked her to "keep his pillow warm". While I am grateful that both girls have finally learned that heads go at the top of the bed and feet stay at the bottom, (as opposed to feet in mom's ribs and head in daddy's back) they still manage to take their half out of the middle. Notice that Paige's Ballerina Barbie even has more room in the bed than I do! Maybe Paige's plan of buying another king-size bed isn't so bad after all!