There is definitely crying. Possibly screaming. But it's that very far away, muffled screaming that in a dream seems to be just playing in the background - coming from the speakers in the mall or over the hilltop or the house next door.
Then suddenly...I am awake, and the screaming is very real, not muffled and exactly 2 inches from my right ear. For some reason, my first move is to look at the dimly lit clock...3:34. Then I jerk my head back towards the screaming. It's Ainsley.
I reach over and begin to say "What's wrong?" When I feel the cool wet covering both the kids. Freddie is crying now too. My groggy brain is not registering exactly what is going on. Instead, I look to the ceiling wondering where the leak is coming from (because obviously a leak would come through not only our roof, but the room and floor above my head) and then after a few minutes of confusion I realize the leak is Ainsley.
Our no nighttime accident streak is over.
I pull Freddie out of bed and put him on the floor...still crying, but generally escalating towards the scream. I flick on the light and scoop Ainsley, still partly asleep - I think, out of bed and plop her on the potty. I pull her soaked nightgown over her head and stand there a bit dumbfounded as Ainsley shivers and whimpers.
Poor baby. What a horrible way to wake up.
I'm again drawn back to reality by Freddie's screams. Poor baby, what an even more horrible way to wake up. It's one thing to wake up in your own pee...quite another to wake up in someone else's.
I pick him up and start sifting through the linen closet. I had just changed the sheets earlier in the evening, so the extra set must be right...
in a heap at the foot of my bed...
with milk spilled on them from yesterday's breakfast cereal. Damn! Mental note...buy one more set of sheets, or two.
Ainsley is now standing behind me naked, shivering and whimpering "Mommy, I'm all done." I decide to focus my attention on getting her clean and warm. I wipe her down with a baby wipe...we'll need to bathe tomorrow. Then I put her in her warmest jammies. She then curls up on the floor next to my bed and falls right to sleep.
Freddie is still screaming, and wet, and cold and angry.
At the very bottom of the closet I find a pink flannel fitted sheet. Where the heck did this come from? When I say pink, I mean PINK. No flat sheet to match. Not surprised considering I'm pretty sure I've never seen this. Hmmm...yellow flat sheet for a twin bed...done.
I place Freddie next to Ainsley and this only intensifies his screams, but Ainsley remains sleeping. I quickly make the bed, as quickly as one can at 3:47 AM.
I put Ainsley under the covers only to start her crying once again. I call Brinkley to come comfort her and cuddle with her. He obliges.
Get. Freddie. Changed.
We go upstairs and he cries through the whole process.
When I get back downstairs Ainsley is fast asleep, with Brinkley sprawled out next to her. Brinkley is not budging from the bed. I climb in to bed and whip out the boob to finally stop the Freddie screams.
Both children and the dog are fast asleep before me...now I'm kind of awake, kind of uncomfortable with the addition of the 70 lb dog to my bed and kind of thinking about how great it would be to sleep in tomorrow - maybe I should call in sick to work. Oh, and Clif is so sleeping with these kids this weekend. I'm sleeping in the guest room.
Sorry no pics again folks, but I'm at work and just thought this story would make you laugh!
