relief.

Routine can be tough especially when you've had none for 2 1/2 months. This past week, Avery was a bear in the morning and has definitely been struggling to settle down at night. Most days when I pick her up from school, she looks like she has been hit with the tired stick.

Then to top it off, she saw a commercial on Animal Planet (which I consider to be a pretty kid-friendly channel), about a little girl in India who cries bloody tears... Maybe you have seen the one. Avery has obsessed on this idea and visual and fears she is going to have bad dreams. She will say "That girl is going to get in my head tonight. Why does she have those bad tears?" To which are valid concerns, and I have no answers.

For the past few nights we have been placing a small white cross under her pillow. I have told her that the cross will protect her from the bad dreams. It has actually allowed her to feel safe and fall asleep relaxed. Every morning that she has woken up since we started this, she is all smiles, full of relief. Thank you Jesus.

I can identify with all of these stressors. I dreaded bedtime my whole childhood. I would beg to sleep with Lisa right around sunset everyday. I swore someone was breaking into the house everynight (in Mission Viejo...a.k.a. "The bubble"). Whatever it takes to relieve her anxiety...we'll give it a try.

And just for fun, I wanted to give one of these cute digital frames a try that I have been seeing out in the blogosphere...what do you think? (a big shout out to Erin for helping me figure it all out! smooch!)