Wednesday, May 13, 2015

White noise



I KNEW that baby number five was going to be so easy! I had had twins my last go-round, my other kids were MUCH older, and I was a seasoned pro--I had seen it all. Of course our life was much different this time around too. I was now homeschooling so this baby was just going to have to go along for the ride, and be an expert car seat sleeper. We were just going to nurse on the go, and I would exclusively breastfeed the whole first year so that I would always have the best food available wherever I went!

Well, our sweet precious Abigail came and joined our family. She was everything I had anticipated in another baby—except easy. My experience in babies still hadn’t prepared me for THIS baby; once again testifying that no one can really be an all-inclusive baby expert.

B is the WORST sleeper! Sleeping was never her strength. She was constantly taking cat naps so she was constantly tired. I would put her down for naps a half-a-dozen times a day. She didn't fall asleep easy so I was spending so much time rocking her and putting her down. The whole first six months of her life was spent this way. I was exhausted and tired. After she fell asleep, any noise would wake her up. Well a home with four other homeschooling kids means that there is always noise. I noticed once that during Max's birthday party she slept like an angel! There was so much noise right outside her window. That is when I realized that constant noise may be better than an absence of noise for her. 

I turned to my FB friends and was recommended a cheap white noise machine. The day it came in the mail was the day my life changed. I plugged in that little machine and it played 10 different noises--the one B liked the best was the plain and simple white noise. It is just a static sound to block out all other sound. I never wanted to "get a child dependent on those things," but I just needed the baby to SLEEP!

I was thinking of that sound today. I was thinking of the white noise in my life. Not physically noise, but the sounds that drown out everything else. What do I have in my life that blocks out noise. Specifically the noise of The Spirit. What am I not hearing because I have my phone in my face or the TV on? What am I not hearing when I have the radio blasting? I don't think these things are bad, I just think I use them too much, and they play interference with the Lord. 

Often times B still wakes up at 5 am for a feeding . She will then go back to sleep and I will sit in the stillness of my house. This is when I read my scriptures and listen. This is when the Lord can actually get through to my spirit. This is when my white noise of the world is off. I am trying so hard to listen.  

2 comments:

  1. This is great! White noise--so much white noise! I'm re-committing to seek for quiet times (much easier for me with just Tom and Gracie (our puppy).

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  2. Your family pics are gorgeous! Amazing!

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