This post is for those moms who couldn't say "yes" to the always anticipated question: "Is she sleeping through the night yet?"
Its 12:15am...I know a lot of you may still be up at 12:15 am but I haven't been up this late since prom (ok I may be exaggerating a little but for those of you know me and not to mention make fun of me for my early to bed sleep habits, 12:15 now 12:18 is late). So, why am I up and not sleeping in my comfy bed? Ask Rose.
She is 8 months old and has never (I repeat never) slept through the night. I never slept through the night while I was pregnant. So, that has been almost 18 months of not sleeping through the night. Rose still wakes every three hours to eat and if she doesn't nurse she is not happy. Because the hub doesn't have milk makers, guess who gets up? For a long time I didn't mind and actually enjoyed this quiet, one-on-one time with my little girl; however lately we have realized that Rose is cranky and mom is cranky and an intervention needed to be done. Throughout pregnancy and post I have read up on different "methods" of how to get your child to sleep through the night and thought..."don't worry she will sleep through the night on her own." Many, many people gave me advice after answering the dreaded question but I just thought I would never have to try them because tonight would be the night she would do it. Well, maybe it would've been tomorrow night but here we are. I recently talk with my sister-in-law who needed help with
Nano. She tried the "cry it out" method (basically and barbarically letting them cry and to not go into the room unless they were hurt or the house was on fire) and found much success. We decided, hey lets try it for two nights and see where we are. (Please remember that Rose is 8 months and, lets face it doesn't need to be eating around the clock, and from what I have read, this technique should not be used on babies that are under 11 lbs or 4 months old).
So, we are in night one....wakes at 11:57 screams....12:07 I look at the clock and can't believe it has only been 10 minutes...12:10 decide to make this post...12:20 still screaming...12:37 she is unbelievably not crying anymore....12:38 I sneeze and wait for the baby's reaction...12:38 1/2 no reaction...12:41 still quiet and I look in to make sure she is okay...12:42 Rose is sitting hunched over asleep...go get the hub to make fun of Rose for sleeping sitting up...12:45 hub carefully lays Rose on her side...1:00 maybe I will go to bed and let you know how the rest of the night turned out later.
Well, here we are...SUCCESS! Rose slept until 5:30 and I did feed her for two reasons: I was feeling sorry for my baby who hadn't gone this long without nursing since she was in the womb, and two because I was going to explode. Then she slept until 8!
Thanks E for the advice! It is always easier when another trusted momma gives you some personal advice and support. I will update in a few weeks to see where we are.
Here is the original picture. Rose (6 months in this pic) is looking very cute but as you can see, the floor is terrible, A's feet and the table legs are in the background. 
Well, after experimenting a little, this is what I ended up with. I could work on it forever but I decided I needed to move on so here is the next pic I worked on...
I didn't get very far :) Hopefully after a few more tutorials and more practice, photoshop will not seem as intimidating. I would appreciate any advice from all of you photoshop junkies.
Happy Birthday to the best dad and lover of all! 
