Ambitious

I think it's safe to say this will be my last post before Christmas. Which I'm sure is a total shock to all of you since I've been posting so often these days...

And because I'm lazy mostly I'm just going to use pictures to catch you up on the goings on around here as well as to entertain you.

First of all, I'd like to introduce you to our Christmas tree. It's um... huge. I'm kind of the one in charge of picking the tree. My requirement is that it be almost tall enough to touch the ceiling, however, because we have a rather small living room the Christmas tree usually takes up a considerable amount of room. I was sort of in shock after we brought our tree in this year and it began to warm up and the branches began to fall into place. Enormous. It is beautiful though and worth the amount of space it takes up. A has defined it as perfect and B has amazingly left it alone mostly, only pointing, smiling and touching it occasionally. It's a good thing we have two entrances to the room because it fills almost half of one of them.




We taped 'The Polar Express' off of television and Miss A has been watching it once a day. It's pretty astounding to look at even though it's a few years old already. It's also rather frightening in several parts. I still haven't figured out why kids movies always seem to have to have scary stuff in them, it makes no sense to me. As far as I'm concerned if it was that stressful to get to the North Pole I'd rather not go, however it does seem like the kind of dream Miss A would have.

Which reminds me, the other morning she woke up early crying. I went in to see what was wrong. She told me she had a dream that Santa was here and had brought presents and Baby B had opened hers already. I asked her if that upset her. She told me no, that Santa had said B was guilty. I asked her if Santa was angry with B. "Him was." I have to admit that my heart was warmed by the fact that she is protective of her sister, even in her dreams. Even when she had a right to be angry with her. I have no idea where the 'guilty' part came from but it amused me.

Baby B still continues to struggle with sleep and I continue to struggle with having so little of it. I fantasize all the time about the summer when my sister has volunteered to keep them for a couple of nights. Two. whole. night. With uninterrupted sleep. Heaven. Here she is sleeping in each of her beds. Her crib and her playpen. I really don't care which one she sleeps in. I'd just like her to stay in one for the duration of the night.




I can do what you are doing is going strong around here. Which make me insane some days. It seems B is constantly screeching about something that her sister has that she doesn't. Miss A is extremely patient for the most part but occasionally goes in her room, shuts the door and plays by herself. B has recently learned to say her name in her own way and I don't think I'd be giving away to much by sharing it. She stands outside her door and yells "AUDRA!" It took me a while to figure out she was saying her name and not just yelling some random thing because it sounds a lot like other non-words she says. I do think she's on the verge of really talking because she seems to be coming out with several things lately like, shut and gum. (um!) (thanks to my mother, the gum lady.) Anyway, I often repeat a mantra to myself - enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, but when she's crying or screeching yet again it's sometimes difficult not to wish her older and less whiny.



Anyway, hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and enjoy the season rather than stress about it.

Limbo

I am healed. Walking normally and stuff. And yet, here I sit with a bandage on my ankle and can't really do much. I was supposed to go back to work yesterday but I won't actually be going back until next Wednesday. I think I could have gone to work if it weren't for these dumb staples that I can't get out until Tuesday. The thing about having a bandage on your foot/ankle in the summer as opposed to the winter is that you aren't inclined to wear socks and are going outside in the dirt and it therefore becomes filthy. I will do my best not to be embarrassed when I go get it removed along with my staples but it feels a bit like going to get a physical when you haven't changed your underwear in two weeks. Okay, maybe not THAT bad.

I am actually have more pain in other areas of my body. Mostly because the rest of it is having to overcompensate for the current weakest link. Yesterday I hyper-extended my left knee which I am sure is directly related to my bum ankle. Also, the muscles in my lower back and arse (that's the technical term isn't it?) are KILLING me. I will be having a massage on Friday and I hope that I can get comfortable enough to enjoy and benefit from it.

A call for help here - Miss A has the mother of all canker sores under her tongue. It is actually two right next to each other. That in itself is bad enough but the real kicker is that it is aggravated by her thumb sucking. (yes, she still does that.) Last night she was up at least four times inconsolably angry because she was involuntarily trying to suck her thumb and would wake up because of the pain. And there was a thunderstorm. Which didn't help her mood any. I had to move the baby to the playpen in the living room because there was no way to deal with both of them at once and with all of A's carrying on it was only a matter of time before she woke her up.

We began swishing with salt yesterday but today I tried an Alum swish which I tested first and it wasn't too dissimilar to salt but has a numbing effect. Miss A is not a fan of either method but I have some leverage by telling her that she won't be able to go to a friend's pool party with a sore in her mouth. This mostly does the trick in helping to convince her. I also threatened that if she doesn't help me help her feel better that she'll have to sleep in the basement tonight because I am not going to listen to her crying and try to comfort her unless she does.

I think it's safe to say I need some more sleep. But then, when don't I? So does anyone have any experience with canker sores and possible remedies? I am actually considering taking her to the doctor to get antibiotics or something to heal it faster and that is so usually not my thing!

Dear Baby B,

Let me start by saying that I love you. You have the sweetest disposition, you are funny and strong and amazing. I can't imagine our family being complete without you.

Having said that, I have no idea how such a small person can wreak such havoc upon an entire household. It is one thing for me to be tired. I (for the most part) can cope. The thing is you are (repeatedly) waking up your Dad and your sister as well. And as you know they are one and the same in regards to lack of sleep - M I S E R A B L E. You can't possibly enjoy their company under those circumstances, I know I find it challenging.

And it's one thing for me to be tired but you are also robbing me of any 'me' time I could possibly scrape together. Staying up until 11 or 12 am means that I can't really chill with your Dad when we're watching a show. Your squeals, giggles and smiles are adorable but if I'm being honest, they lose most of their charm after 9:00 pm.

I might be more flexible if I could be sure that when you went to sleep at midnight you would not be up until 6:00 am. (Not that I wouldn't appreciate it if you slept even later.) That's only 6 hours. I really don't think that's too much to ask. Instead, you are up several times. Often at least 4 times. I am not against experiments in letting you 'self soothe' but unfortunately because you share a room with your sister it's not possible.

I would like to give you the benefit of the doubt. I would like to believe that something is bothering you and waking you up and not that you are playing some sort of evil manipulative game with me as our family physician has suggested. (Well, the word 'evil' is mine, not his.) You can't possibly enjoy getting up that frequently.

And as I'm sure you've noticed I certainly am not enjoying getting up that frequently. The sleep deprivation takes me places I never wanted to go. I have yelled at you, said unpleasant things. I feel terribly about it but to be fair, this is no way to live.

At this point, I am surviving on the knowledge that this can't possibly go on forever. Glass half empty people would tell me that you'll then move on to yet another horrific stage. I am going to try and imagine my glass half full. That one day (very soon) you will give me (and the rest of our family) a break. You will more consistently sleep through the night. I don't think this is too much to ask as you'll be an entire year old in only THREE MONTHS!!!

It is just a tiny piece of the whole puzzle but it seems to be the most important one. Otherwise, we have no complaints. We give you an A+ in every other area but your sleeping issues are dragging your overall grade to an F-. I don't even think there is such a grade as an F minus but you have invented it. Congratulations. I'm being facetious. Please cut this crap the heck out.

Love,
your very tired, cranky, stressed, resentful, uncharacteristically angry Mom

P.S. I'm not one to make threats but I'd like to point out to you that once summer comes our new chariot could make an excellent bed.

Photos...because I'm too tired to write a real post.

The inevitable has happened. My body has been a trooper through all this sleep deprivation but it finally reached it's breaking point. I am sick. Awesome. I took my first sick day, I don't know... maybe almost ever, yesterday. Can't call in sick from the mom gig though. And then Baby B slept decently. Go figure. Anyway, here are some photos since I've been too lazy to write.

Crazy kid. I'm almost positive she'll be walking by 9 months. Lord help us.



Since this winter is never ending we are trying to make the most of it.





This was taken at the annual fundraiser/dance party that I/we attend. Although I paid dearly for it the next day in exhaustion it was worth it for the sanity I gained.



I notice the photo is very similar to the one taken two years ago. Strange. I love wearing hats when I dance... don't know what that's about.

Way Beyond

I am so way beyond writing a cute little post about how tired I am because my baby won't sleep. Things are bad over here folks. Desperate in fact. With every passing night I feel the life being further sucked out of me. I've tried keeping it in perspective, imagining that one day when she's older and actually sleeps we'll laugh about it. But it's looking more like we'll be saying "Remember that kid we had? She was nice but she didn't sleep worth a darn so we had to let her go." And hey, let me say that I'm no wimp. I totally knew what I was getting myself into here having another baby. I was prepared for a considerable lack of sleep. Call me crazy, but I was banking on having at least four hours at a time by the time the baby was 7 (almost 8!) months old. One - two hours at a time just do. not. cut. it. Not after this many months.

I've had her to the doctor numerous times (see previous posts) but they currently appear to be stumped. She is on a nose spray right now which I am conflicted about giving her because the pharmacist wasn't in favor of giving it to a baby. She discussed it with my doctor and he insists that it's not a problem to give it to her for the short period of one week. I am ready to pull my hair out what with the obsessing over what could be the reason for her frequent wakings? - sickness? medication for sickness? teeth? too hot? too cold? hungry? tummy ache? allergies? What? What! WHAT???

And watching Peter and Miss A suffer is not helping either. They are both exhausted as well. It's hard to tell with A. She doesn't seem to be bothered by the crying in the night but she's been sleeping in later which I think is a sign that her sleep is in fact, being disturbed. And yesterday she was having trouble listening which in her case always seems to lead to injury. Thus she is sporting a bump on top of a bump on her forehead. I feel badly that they have to share a room. And I would be trying to let Baby B cry a bit longer to see if she would self soothe and fall back to sleep. I try to be patient with her but after three or four times of getting up, I pretty much have none left. Not to mention that I barely have the capability to walk properly anymore. I hate losing my temper with her and everyone else in my family. They obviously don't deserve to have my fatigue taken out on them. I never seem to be able to stop myself before I say something or take a tone I later regret.

It's a bad scene over here. Somehow putting it down here makes me feel a little less burdened with it...

Life at Our House

It has been crazy. We were only away from home for two nights over the holidays but it seemed to take Miss A two WEEKS to recover and be rested again. Baby B must have been having a growth spurt because she was consistently getting up at around 3 am, 6 am and 8 am. It was... tiring. She seems to be getting through most of the night right now on a fairly regular basis. I don't find the getting up so frequently too difficult except on the Saturday mornings when I work at 9 am. But the time Saturday night rolls around I am exhausted and it feels like it takes me days to recover.

My Mom is still living with us. I'm not sure for how much longer but I know that they have begun the painting so that should be a good sign. It has been an interesting time. I hadn't realized how precious that hour or so Peter and I spend together curled up on the couch watching one of our favorite shows is. Somehow it's just not the same watching the Game Show Network with my mom before bed. She is wonderful to our girls but I know I'll be in for it when she moves back home because they have both become used to much extra attention. Miss A always has a playmate and Baby B always has a lap to sit on. I expect there to be much crying once we are on our own again.

I can tell that the whole situation is getting a little tiring for her as well. The novelty is wearing off and she's needing some space. Thankfully her bowling and cards have started up again this week so she has gotten out to do her own thing in addition to getting out to play Bingo. (In case any of you didn't know, my mom is 72.)

During the night when the baby gets up I never know what to do. I usually come out to the living room to feed her so that I don't totally mess up Peter's sleep (he tells me not to bother but it becomes very obvious very quickly toll interrupted sleep takes on him) but my mom is sleeping on a hide a bed just off the living room and I know it disturbs her if I come out there. (She also tells me not to worry) Depending on how often she gets up I switch between staying in our room and coming out to the living room. It's just a frustrating situation.

And then there is the cold. It has been like, ridiculously cold here. And I live in Manitoba so I'm not just being wimpy about it. It's the kind of weather where you inevitably end up cooped up inside most of the time except when you HAVE to go out. Miss A is getting major cabin fever. Now that the craziness of the holidays are over we'll be getting to the YMCA on a regular basis again, cold or no cold. As a humorous kick in the pants by mother nature the cold lets up long enough just so we can have another big dump of snow on top of the already obscene amount we've already had. But to show you that despite my complaining we still try to make the most of it when the weather is at least warm enough that you can go outside without your face freezing off in like, two seconds... here are some photos.





I think Miss A's red face is a good indication of just how cold it is here lately.

I've started my second month back to work. Generally it's been a much smoother transition this time than it was last time, going back. However during the last week before Christmas my boss was rather cranky and for some reason he seemed to be directing it at me. I know I'm not imagining it because several of my coworkers have brought it up to me and expressed their surprise and displeasure about it. I'm hoping he has gotten whatever it was out of his system and we can start the new year off on a better note.

And to end this whiny post here is a funny story and an interesting observation from Audrey.

Yesterday, when we had arrived home and were just walking into the house our neighbor was just leaving. We waved to each other and then he specifically greeted Miss A. She turned to say hello and promptly walked right into the snowbank. My neighbor and I both found this highly entertaining, and as I was pulling her up out of the deep snow and brushing her off he proceeded to say "It's been a long time since I've had that effect on a woman!" And this had me in stitches because our neighbors are two married men.

And the observation was:

"Mom, my hair is brown, like poop."

Hey, Let Me Out of Here

Do you ever have that feeling that you are trapped inside yourself? What I mean is, do you ever feel like the real you is on the inside watching this other, awful version of yourself behave horribly?

I've been feeling like this a lot lately. Like I'm inside listening to myself talking to Miss A in a way that I don't like, hearing that edge to my voice, knowing that I'm being overly harsh. Sure I can say that I'm tired from being up with the baby for an hour or so each night. That it's wearing me down. It's true but I feel it's a cop out. Miss A didn't have a choice about when we decided to have another baby. She couldn't tell us to wait until she was a little older or a little less demanding so that I wouldn't get so frustrated with her all of the time. Although, I'm honestly not sure if that would make a difference.

I know that when I'm getting after her it's for a reason it's just on those days when I feel disconnected from myself I hate the tone I am taking with her, how I sound when I'm disciplining her, how unnecessarily harsh I am. It makes me sick actually. And even though I recognize myself doing it, I can't seem to stop. Not at the time or in the future. It's a terrible feeling.

I'm hoping this lack of patience and calm is just a product of sleep deprivation in which case it won't last forever. Also, Miss A started preschool TODAY!! So perhaps spending a little bit more time apart, when she can have fun, learn, and be stimulated and I can... do whatever I need to do, will help the situation. AND Peter and I are taking a yoga class together starting tonight! With any luck this will chill us both out a little, give us a break to spend time together and make us feel refreshed. We can only hope!

In the meantime, here is my school girl!

Glutton for Punishment

So B wouldn't settle down until 12:30ish last night, followed by the usual night feedings. And then Miss A decided to get up at 7:30 this morning. This is the kid who NEEDS to sleep until 9:00.

Yet I am sticking to my plan to have her wear big girl panties starting today instead of pull-ups. This seems like a very bad idea considering how little sleep I've had and am likely to get anytime soon.

That said, we have had zero accidents thus far. We are going to a paddling pool this afternoon, so we'll see how that goes. So far it's been good for bribery purposes.

And now some pictures. This one's for Beth. I believe this would qualify as "smooshy face".

Did I Mention...

How much I miss naps? Not naps of my own (I'm not much of a napper) but I really wish Miss A still took them. Especially since she's been getting up a lot at night these days, which I hope is due to the cutting of two year molars and not just a habit she's getting into. Last night at around 4:00 am she called from bed "I need Dada to take me to the Doctor!"

The previous night was actually worse and then we were out of town the following day and I managed four hours of driving, miraculously without even the urge to fall asleep at the wheel. I did however have what I call a 'fatigue headache'. So actually, I could go for a nap these days. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only tired one. We settle for quiet time on the couch together. I take what I can get.

Working the System

Isn't it funny how things just evolve? I mean, at one point, things are going along all fine and dandy and then all of a sudden you find yourself somewhere completely different and you think "How did I get here?"

For instance just a couple of months ago Miss A was consistently sleeping through the night. On the rare occasions she did wake up I could easily rock her a bit and put her back to bed. In these past couple of months things have gradually shifted. One particular night, she kept waking up and I was repeatedly going in to comfort her, finally I decided to leave her for a bit thinking she'd fall asleep as she always had before. Instead she climbed out of the crib. This was a turning point. Obviously, there would be no more waiting for her to fall asleep again. If I wouldn't come and get her out of bed she'd just do it herself.

What has evolved is the following. If she cries in the night (which is happening more and more frequently) I promptly go to her, whereas before I would wait her out and she'd usually drift off again quickly. What I found was that rocking with her a bit wasn't working. She seemed to not settle back down if I removed her from bed. What I resorted to one night was giving her a bottle and then going back to bed. To my surprise this worked like a charm and it could be done with little interruption to my own sleep.

The downfall? It would seem that I have been getting up almost like clockwork at 3 am to give her a bottle. I'm finding this to be a problem. I don't mind doing that sort of thing every once in a while, as a treat, to help calm her down and get her back to sleep. What I feel is happening is that she's working me. That she's waking up in the night and instead of just rolling over and going back to sleep she knows that if she cries out I'll make her a bottle and she could really go for a bottle right now.

Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal. I think it is. I miss the girl who slept through the night. I miss my sleep. I am fully aware that my nights of half decent sleep are numbered and I'd really like to take advantage of them while I can. So what can I do? I'm trying to come up with a game plan. Feel free to give suggestions. I would also take words of encouragement.

And now, a mish mash of photos to amuse you.

Worn Out, Worn Down and just plain worn...

I don't think I've complained for a while. So I'm due for a good rant.

I am tired. So tired that I'm sick. You know when you sort of get a cold from sheer exhaustion? That's what I have. My nose is runny and I've been fighting off a headache all day.

This fatigue is the result of several nights of poor or just plain rotten amounts of sleep. I have chosen to believe that Miss A is teething. She has cut both of her first molars on the top despite the fact that there is no sign of her top cuspid (fang) teeth or anything on the bottom other than the two central incisors that she's had for months now. This chart tells you approximately when all of their baby teeth are supposed to come in. As you can see A does not follow this chart in the slightest possible way. The only reason I care is because the fact that her teeth are coming in all willy nilly means I had NO FLIPPIN' CLUE what teeth she might be cutting. Knowing might help to explain her crankiness and help me to respond accordingly. At the moment I'm assuming she's cutting both her top and bottom molars. Why? Because I can't imagine her being more irritable and miserable than this.

It seems to be affecting her appetite hugely. The kid who normally eats everything and anything can't even tolerate the old stand by foods that she'll ALWAYS eat. Actually, I think her appetite is fine it is the fact that eating hurts that causes her to eat less. Last night at supper I made one of her favorite meals. She ate an adequate amount but then when I gave her yogurt which is always well received she actually threw it on the floor when I wasn't looking. When I asked her “Did you throw your yogurt on the floor?” she replied “No.” I then tried some ice cream thinking it would feel nice and cold on her sore mouth. This should have been a huge hit. After a few mouthfuls she refused this as well. If the kid won't eat ice cream then there is definitely something wrong!

The worst thing of all is that due to my lack of sleep I also lack patience. She is more needy and demanding and I am less equipped to deal with her behavior. Doesn't parenting sometimes seem like the cruelest joke is being played on you? Like – Although you are totally unable to deal with the slightest thing, such as spilling a tiny bit of cream on the counter without bursting into tears, you have this toddler who is completely unreasonable and inconsolable to look after. I almost start laughing sometimes because I can't believe how ridiculous things can be. Those are the times when I feel like I must really be going crazy.

Anyway, I am crossing my fingers for a good nights sleep tonight. Which will also make this fatigue sickness thing disappear and turn me into a perfectly patient, happy, wonderful mama by tomorrow. Yup. That's gonna happen.

Sleepy Head

We have been having some issues over here at my house. Some sleep issues. Now I know that several of you would say that I deserve it. After having months of restful nights when Miss A slept for at least ten hours in a row. But it's payback time. She has consistently been getting up at least once every night. What's worse it's usually at around 4:00 AM. Yuck. The worst part about that hour or the next three is that they are so close to morning. You have already been sleeping a long while, but not long enough. When you try to go back to sleep your body is confused and thinks that you've slept enough and it seems to take forever fall asleep again. If she must get up, any hour earlier than 4:00 AM is preferred.

On a few rare occasions she has decided that 4:00 AM is a totally acceptable time to get up. I strongly disagree. I am firm and insist that she, at the very least, must stay in her bed. She will chatter away to herself and play with her stuffed toys, aquarium and crib toy. Eventually she falls asleep again. I then have no idea how much sleep she actually got since I usually fall asleep despite still hearing the chatter coming from her room.

Some of you may be surprised to learn that I am still breastfeeding. Not a lot. Just first thing in the morning, before and after her nap (if I'm not working) and before bed. Oh yeah and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT if she gets up. Since she went for months sleeping through the night, not nursing at all I know that she can do it. Therefore I can't say that hunger is the reason for her waking. We've even tried giving her a bottle in the evening to help 'fill her up' in case she's just not getting enough from me. (Breastfeeding so infrequently has definitely decreased my milk supply)

I know that her waking up could be due to any number of reasons. Growth spurt. Teething. Nightmares. Who knows what the reason is. I do feel lucky to have had it so good for so long. However that doesn't make it any easier to deal with now. In fact it may be harder because I've grown accustomed to getting more sleep.

Now here is the part where I ask the internet for advice. Or suggestions. First let me start by telling you that I don't jump out of bed and run to her room the moment I hear her cry out. So those of you in the cry it out camp can be assured that I wait to see if she'll just fall back to sleep. On the other hand sometimes I think I have unintentionally shot myself in the foot by letting her complain too long, in turn giving her too much time to fully wake up, making it harder to get her back to sleep. This usually happens when I am so tired that it takes me forever to drag myself out of bed. At those times I am having a groggy argument with myself – “Get up, she's crying. Don't bother, she'll go back to sleep. She's not going back to sleep, get up! I don't want to get up.” etc. Also, once when we tried the whole 'fill her up' with a bottle before bed she peed so much it leaked out of her diaper and onto her pajamas and I'm assuming that she woke up because she was wet. So what do you think? Is there anything else I can try? Or should I just suck it up?

And I will wrap up this gripey little post with the most hilarious picture I have ever taken of Miss A. This was taken last Friday morning. She usually gets up in her own good time except on Fridays and Saturdays when I work in the morning. On those days I often take my camera into her room in attempts to catch the rare sleeping picture. On this occasion she heard me coming in and started to get up. And then I captured this priceless photo of my sleepy headed baby. I have seen her father in the morning with the exact same impression on his face.

Boo! Look What I Can Do!

Freaky smart things my daughter has learned (without our help) right before Halloween. She can unscrew the lid on her very tightened sippy cup. Oooooh! (May I also mention it was FULL of apple juice and she was drenched and so was the floor) While I was making her cereal and toast for breakfast she brought me her little play toaster from her kitchen. Coincidence? I think not. And finally while we were visiting a friend she made her way down several carpeted stairs without us knowing about it. (Bad parents, we need a spanking!) We even had a board across the stairs which had a small hole which we covered up with our jackets. She moved the jackets, wiggled through the hole and crawled safely down the stairs. Scary! What's really scary? We haven't taught her to go down stairs. AHHHH!

Here are some of the brilliant things I've been doing lately. There have been times I've frantically been looking for my backpack (Baby Bag/Purse) only to find that I have it strapped to my back! We went grocery shopping and while Peter was buckling Miss A into her car seat I put returned the grocery cart. When we got home I realized I hadn't taken the groceries out of the cart! This just happened this morning, I was making our breakfast and I starting pouring my tea into a jar of jam instead of my cup! I don't know what you are all thinking but I think this proves a theory I have. That my daughter is actually an alien sent down to us from space to destroy my brain cells so she can take over the world. I'm kidding of course. I love the little monkey. But I think it's obvious she gets her brains from her father.

Who Woulda Thunk?

In those first couple of months after bringing Miss A home from the hospital I'm sure I thought I would never get a decent nights sleep again. I would like to be able to say that the joy of becoming a mother made the lack of sleep bearable. But I can't. I was miserable. I was depressed. I was exhausted.

If I had been able to see into the future to the present day, perhaps I would have had hope. My darling daughter has started doing the most delightful thing. When it is getting close to bed time she goes and gets her pajamas and her blanket and brings them to us. She actually realizes that she is getting tired and wants to get ready for bed.

Let's all take a moment to do a happy dance. Happy Dance, happy dance, come on do the happy dance.

Seriously. And not only does she get her jammies and blanket, but after I nurse her and put her in her crib – awake – she rolls onto her side and begins sucking her thumb. I cover her with her blanket, tell her I love her, shut off the light and close the door. And 8 times out of ten she doesn't cry and just goes to sleep!

Now I realize that discussing Miss A's ability to do this while some of my fellow Mamas out there are not so fortunate is grounds for burning me at the stake, but please know that I am not bragging. I am merely trying to offer hope. To let you know that one day this could be you. I wouldn't have believed it either. I'm sure that when the day comes when we transition to a toddler bed she will constantly be getting out of it asking for a snack, a drink of water, a cuddle. My tune won't be so care free then. I won't be doing this same happy dance then. And you may go ahead and laugh at me when that day comes.

*Let me also add that she is teething and has actually been getting up in the night and sometimes throwing up on me. So don't be too angry with me...

Lazy Bones

I don't know what has been up with me lately, I have been so tired. Needing to catch up on sleep lost from Monday morning's barf fest perhaps? I don't know but I haven't been able to drag myself out of bed in the mornings.

I have been going to bed at the same time as my husband and often have great intentions of getting up around the same time or at least before he leaves for work. I haven't managed to do it all week. I keep thinking about all the stuff that so badly needs doing around here and feel dumb for ever complaining about it since, clearly I can't be bothered to get my rear out of bed to do any of it.

I justify my laziness somewhat by reminding myself how little sleep I'll be getting once we have another baby. So I may as well take advantage of the fact that Miss A enjoys sleeping until 9:00 am while I can. I am such a pessimist I am convinced our next child will get up at 6:00 am every day.

I have such a hard time giving myself a break about these kinds of things. I always have to feel guilty about sleeping later. Or I wonder why other mom's seem to be able to do it and I can't. I don't know. I know this is just a phase in my life. Once my kids are old enough to go to school (perhaps sooner) there will be no more sleeping till nine! I just can't seem to convince myself to relax and enjoy it.