Sleep... what is sleep?

Sleep... ahhh this is such a beautiful word! As kids we hate it, as teenagers we relish in it and as adults it becomes a vague concept that we lust after. I remember the days where I could sleep, and I mean SLEEP: that deep, nothing wakes you up kind of sleep. It was wonderful. Maybe all that sleeping in the teen and college years prepares you for the lack of sleep you get as an adult. I don't know.
       I remember the first year and a half of being a mom, I felt, so much of the time that I was doing something wrong. That I must of been a horrible mother because of the issues we were having at our house. You see, we were blessed with this beautiful, rambunctious little boy, but boy has he given us a run for our money in the sleep department. I think that we soon realized that he was different. He held his head up the day he was born and was already tracking us with his eyes. To say he has a lot of energy... well that's an understatement. We spent most of our evenings in that first year and a half in utter stress. We tried all the methods of trying to get him to sleep. I read all the books, talked to the Drs. We tried EVERYTHING... and again and again people kept telling me that "we just needed to let him cry it out!" ummm hello! Don't you think we have tried that? I mean this in the kindest way but until you have a child like this there is just no way that you can possibly understand what this is like. I get it, I have a baby that is a great sleeper so I can see how it is so hard to understand this perspective. Our nights would consist of bouncing on the ball for hours while he screamed, and then finally bouncing him on my chest until he fell asleep and he would only stay asleep if he was snuggled right up next to me. Fast forward 3 and half years and our almost 5 year old still has these issues. As I have become more confident in my ability to be a mom and the decisions we have had to make for our family... and the massive amounts of research I have done. We have come to accept and realize that this is just the way that he is wired. We love how much his brain is always working, how incredibly kind and sweet and smart he is. This is just the way God created him, and I know as he gets older it will end up serving him for the better. The more I read and research I am comforted by the stories from other parents who have been in this place, and too felt like they were alone.
   We have tried many different remedies and medications, and tactics to make bedtime easier, and sleep consistent and it has been futile.... until recently. I started using essential oils back in October to help with the sickness in our house. Every time I have used them I have been amazed at how well they work. Trying something new, I always go into it  thinking " it isn't going to work for this!" and once again I am amazed.... so I thought I would try it for sleep. I tried playing with different oils to see what would work, at first we weren't very successful until we tried Vetiver and Cedarwood in the Diffuser. Now I am not going to tell you that these oils have fixed our problems 100%... we still don't get sleep continually at our house BUT, no joke since using this combo in our diffuser bedtime is peaceful and short. He is usually asleep within 20 minutes without screaming, getting out of bed, staying up until 10 because "he can't fall asleep". I am incredibly blessed to say that we have finally found something that works! Something that isn't harmful to his body. Something that is all natural and I could not be more happy! There is a light at the end of this long tunnel that someday   (and I think soon) we will all be sleeping peacefully through the night.

 My friends, I cannot wait for that to happen!