Our bed . . .

. . . is a very, very, very, fine bed. And, along with being the biggest bed in the world, it's also made up with the softest possible sheets and blankets, so I think it might also be the coziest bed in the world. Not only is our bed a big, soft, cozy bed, it's also a Family Bed.

I first came across the concept of the family bed when I was 19 years old. Up until that point, I had literally never heard of the idea. I was baby-sitting for a family with 3 kids and they all slept together. Initially, I was a little horrified. They slept together? What a nightmare! But then I thought back to my own childhood, and remembered the many nights where I longed for the comfort and safety of my parents' bed, and the idea started to make a little more sense. I realized that the kids I was baby-sitting for were some of the most fabulous, secure kids I'd ever met, and I was even more convinced. The final straw was learning that mamas who sleep with their babies don't have to get up in the night to nurse the babies. They just sleep right through it. SOLD! I totally, 100% converted to the Family bed in that moment. Because I am a mama who needs her sleep. So three years later, when Lukas and Jasper were born, our bed became a family bed.

A few nights ago, when I came downstairs after my bath (our bathtub is on the third floor, our bedroom is on the second floor), this is the scene that greeted me:

Who could ask for anything more?

Our Family Bed has changed a lot over the years. It started out as a king-sized mattress on the floor when the twins were born. Then, when they were about 18 months old, we splurged for a simple bed frame and raised the mattress a foot off the ground. It remained that way for a couple of years. When Zeben was born, we added a full-size bed (and frame) to the picture, with a bed rail separating the two beds (I was worried that the big kids might squish the baby in the night). When Zeben started rolling, we ditched the frames, and moved the two mattresses to the floor (and no longer worried about the baby getting squished). And now, our bed looks like this:

Three mattresses (a king, queen and full) all filling up the room. It really is a bedroom in the fullest sense of the word! We've discovered that the secret to the Family Bed is making sure that everyone has enough room (and enough blankets) to spread out if they want to. These days Luke and Jaz start out the night in their own beds (across the hall), and then join us sometime between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. (and occasionally they even sleep through the night in their own beds). Usually Lena and I get to fall asleep spooning each other (with Zeb off to the side), so we still feel like we get some good kid-free time in our bed. And it's working well for our kids too. They say co-sleeping is their favorite thing that our family does. It's even better than ice cream.