And the Mommy of the Year Award Goes to...

So, for anyone that's in our lives on a consistent basis, you know that poor little Ryder has had a ROUGH go... From being admitted to the hospital at 5 days old (which included NUMEROUS times of torture for him and me, both physically and emotionally), to being "starved" to death while I was nursing. And of course, we can't forget the time I dropped him in Target ON MOTHER'S DAY. Oh, and there was the 2 complete falls down our long steep stairs... Yep, I'm a great mom folks! ;) Anyone who would like to contribute to his counseling fund, just contact me.

So, this morning, Tom got up at his usual 5a to get ready for work. As he walked down the stairs, he turned on a light and Ryder woke up. Not sure if he was already awake or if he heard Tom tumble over the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. Either way, he was awake. I have a rule: I NEVER get Ryder out of bed before 6a, even if he's crying. I do not want him thinking "the earlier the better!" and I refuse to leave my warm covers before 6a, and even that's pushing it! So, back to this morning... Ryder was MAD that no one had come to get him yet. I simply allowed him to scream. The bigger boys sleep thru anything so I wasn't worried about having 2 more bed-bugs join me in my nice, warm bed (can you tell I LOVE to sleep?). Tom was still downstairs eating and making his lunch for work. I was coherent enough to know that Ryder was (still) screaming and could hear Tom's spoon hit the side of his cereal bowl, but my eyes were not open. All of a sudden, I heard a loud "THUD", followed be even louder screaming. At first, I thought Tom had gone out to the garage and was moving something around and Ryder was even more mad because now he KNEW someone was downstairs completely ignoring his every attempt to make it known that he was indeed awake and ready for his day. However, the hall light turned on and I heard what sounded like elephants running up the stairs. It was Tom and he was racing to Ryder's room. At this point, I'm still laying in bed. I knew Tom was going to his room and I thought I'd see how it played out. About 5 seconds later (and more screaming): "HONEY! Ryder just fell out of his crib!!!". In my fight to keep my eyes open, I asked, "did you put him back?" and he said "Yeah, I didn't know what else to do!!!". Umm... what? why? It was obvious at that point that our day was beginning. So, Ryder screamed louder. I went and got him and he was sobbing. I felt terrible for not just getting him when he woke up. It certainly wasn't my fault that he fell out of his crib, but still... So, he had a bottle in bed with me and then I finally dragged myself out of bed to get a shower at 5:50a, and was greeted by a smiley 13 month old... I never actually went back to sleep--I just laid there. He did too actually, which was nice. I had to be ready for daycare kids to get here by 6:10a and at that moment, was totally regretting ever taking them on. But, I made the commitment so I follow thru. Just to add to this story... The said daycare kids didn't get here until 7:15. Awesome.