Share Our Lives – February 2025

Hello and happy Monday!

How was your weekend? After a few busy weekends, we were back to a split weekend of a busy Saturday and slower Sunday. That being said, yesterday was all about getting my house back in order, picking up groceries and running errands. Travis was sick all last week, so it was just me getting the kids where they needed to be and dealing with school, so the house wasn’t as tidy as we like and the fridge was pretty bare.

Anyway, hopefully, we’ll have a more “normal” week.

It’s the second Monday of the month, so I’m co-hosting Share Our Lives with some of my favorite bloggers.

In January, we discussed…

• Saving time on chores

This month’s topic is tips for falling asleep.

Well, I’m certainly in the stage of life where working full time and the kids’ schedules combined makes it pretty easy for me to fall asleep. Your girl stays tired! That being said, of course there are some some standard suggestions, but I have a few “musts” as well.

It’s actually kind of crazy to think back about sleeping. As a parent, I guess I probably haven’t been fully rested in over fifteen years. Will I ever be fully rested again? You tell me!

I don’t think I’ve ever really been one to sleep in, but in high school and college, I’m sure I wasn’t up early unless I had to be.

I’ve always been an excellent napper…Travis and I have that in common. I think my napping started in college. There’s nothing better to me than knowing I get a nap on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

When we had that stretch of winter weather recently with some extra days off school, I loved the luxury of a weekday nap. The difference in Travis and myself is that he can nap literally anywhere. The running joke at family functions is “where’s Travis?” especially after a good meal. He’s most definitely somewhere squeezing in a twenty minute nap somewhere.

I’ve always been grateful that the kids have been great sleepers…and I attribute that to having them on a great schedule from day one…and even once they were old enough to sit/stand in their crib, if it was before 7 am, I’d go in their room and lay them back down until at least seven…and then they eventually slept even longer and took great naps. Both babies slept through the night by 10-12 weeks.

The only issues we had with sleep were the first night anywhere…whether we were at Trav’s mom’s house, KC, a hotel or on vacay…it seemed we were up, off and on, all night the first night for probably the first couple years of their lives.

Anyway, now, of course, if she has nothing going on, I have to wake Hadley at noon most weekends. Hayden has never slept in as long as Hadley, but he’ll sleep when given the chance. He often sets an alarm for 9 on the weekends to get up and moving and then get his run in.

Anyway, back to me! Can you tell I’m proud that my kids are good sleepers? haha! Sleep is very important to me.

It’s probably been about seven years ago, I wasn’t having trouble falling asleep, but I would wake up around 3 or 4 and not be able to fall back to sleep. It’s like I couldn’t shut my brain off. So, my doctor prescribed me some medicine for sleep. I was wary about it and would only take half a pill a few nights a week. I don’t like taking medicine unless I have to, and have heard about dependency with sleep medication.

Eventually, I decided I didn’t want to take the medicine anymore. Then, I can’t remember who shared it on Instagram, but they suggested Olly Sleep gummies. (Of course, talk with a medical professional if needed…I’m not a doctor!), but I’ve been taking this Olly gummy before bed a few nights a week for about five years, and I’ve never slept better! Now, the dosage is two gummies. I’ve only ever taken one…and sometimes I take half of one just to ensure I will go to sleep easily. I only take them a few nights a week as of course, I want to know I can still fall asleep on my own. I’m guessing I’d be knocked out if I took two!

I get these at Target, and oddly enough, I’ve purchased a small travel pack a few times at Old Navy…in the area by the cash register.

I was just in Old Navy yesterday and saw them there again.

For probably just as long, I’ve used a weighted blanket. When I got mine five or six years ago (maybe longer?), BlanQuil was a popular brand that was shared often on social media. I believe mine is twelve pounds, and there were a variety of color options. I just chose a tan color, but eventually, I took the weighted blanket out of the cover, and now it just goes under my comforter. It’s twin size, and when I make the bed, you can’t even tell it’s there. The twin size is great because Travis doesn’t want a weighted blanket, so it’s on my side only.

When I searched for this brand, I see their Instagram page, but nothing has been posted in a couple of years. The brand seems to be in store like Walmart, but the lightest blanket is fifteen pounds.

My twelve pound one (out of the cover), seems similar to this one.

Anyway, when I’m not sleeping in my own bed, I truly miss it. I don’t get hot with it on, and it’s just the perfect weight for me to feel secure.

Lastly, I’ve been sleeping with a sound machine since the kids were born. That might sound backwards as of course, I needed to hear the kids at night…but they’ve slept with a sound machine since day one, so I would hear their sound machine through the monitor in our room. Once we didn’t need the monitor anymore, I missed that sound, so we got one for our room.

Once the kids got their own rooms around three years ago, we bought a second sound machine, so they could each have one. Those aren’t anything fancy…just a light weight sound machine with a variety of sounds and a little nob to turn them off and on. Anyway, we still have one of those, and I keep it in my travel bag, so we always have one when away from home.

A couple of years ago, when I decided the kids needed to start setting alarms in the morning to at least begin the wake up process, I got them each one of these clock/sound machine combo, and they’ve been perfect. They are small, come in a variety of colors, and have lots of sound options. They are easy to pack and if we’re going somewhere and sleeping in two rooms, Hadley will pack hers.

Hadley turns hers up so loud that it sounds like she’s sleeping under the sea!

The rest of us prefer white noise.

I remember my dad always had a SleepMate sound machine when I was a kid. I worked nights for years, so the white noise would help him sleep during the day…and drown out any noise my brother and I would make on the weekends. I still sleeps with a sound machine and packs his when he comes to visit us.

Of course, limiting caffeine and screen time before bed are suggestions that I’m pretty good at adhering to…but a girl needs to read her Kindle before bed most nights, ok?

If I can’t sleep, I try to control my breathing and take little (or deep) breaths, depending on the the situation. I sleep on my side, but if I need to a minute to relax, I lay on my back and breath. I also think of the abc’s with a word for each letter…and sometimes if I need to think harder to wear my brain out, the abc’s have categories (food, cities, etc)…and then hopefully I eventually fall asleep.

So, my trifecta of melatonin, weighted blanket, and a sound machine help me great a pretty good night’s sleep at this stage of life!

What sleeping tips do you have?

The Super Bowl was quite the bummer for us Chiefs fans. No matter who is playing, I always wish we had Monday off after Super Bowl Sunday.

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