So Much

This week I feel like there is just SO MUCH.  So much going on, so much on my mind, so much to say.  This is not a bad thing; I actually like how full life is right now.  So what's going on?

1. Don't brag on your baby.  She will make you eat your words.

Perfect sleeper decided to mix things up and for 5 nights woke us 4-5 times.  That coupled with daily alarm clocks for work or exercise led to...

2. The remembrance/realization/reestablishment that I NEED sleep.

In our Sunday School class' recent study The Good and Beautiful God, one of the first challenges we were given was to ensure we were getting 7 hours of sleep at least (I need 8).  It was easy to make jokes about doing this, but the first few months of being a mom of 2 and this last week reminded me of why this is so critical.  One may have lofty goals and aims, be they spiritual, personal, professional, what have you, but you derail yourself if you are tired.  You eat poorly, act meanly, and just can't enjoy life the way you can when you are rested and have given yourself some margins.  So...

3. We made a change.  Cora got moved down the hall into her crib.  

Turns out baby girl (at 18 lbs and 25+ inches) just wasn't loving her little cradle anymore.  She immediately returned to her once nightly waking and last night (for the first time, let me hear a Hallelujah!) slept through the night!  9pm-6am (when I woke her bc I was so worried about her).  On the topic of sleeping...

4. Right before we realized Cora was going to trip us up on sleep, we decided to do a BOP BAN at nighttime.

What's a bop?  That's Jack's self-created word for his pacifier which he still passionately uses at sleep times.  Jacob says he's addicted and he's being serious.  I'm more moderate on the issue (is it really doing that much harm to have it at nap/night time?)  So we compromised and decided to say NO BOPS at night time but YES BOPS at nap time.  (No messing with nap time allowed!  My rule!)  While this might seem like it could be confusing, I think it's actually kinder.  As the child sobbed and sobbed, at least we could repeat that we weren't taking the bops away, just trying to teach ourself how to sleep without them at night time.  For the record, he does not care that firemen, Mommy, Daddy, or his friends don't use bops.  We are several nights in and it's getting better.  At least he's had awesome daytimes, because...

5. We live in and love New Orleans.

In the past week, we have had park play dates, a zoo playdate, listened to a youth orchestra while picnicking on the lawn of our mansion turned local library, gone to the farmer's market, gone to the Children's Museum, and gone to the Parenting Center (aka toddler heaven).  It's easy to have low-cost fun in this city, especially when...

6. We have such awesome NOLA friends.

I love how we run into friends every time we are out walking in our neighborhood.  I love that our circles of friends are interconnected.  I love that many of our couple friends are starting to join us in the parenting stage of life.  I love that Jack has so many friends from such loving, caring families. 

7. But mostly, I love these little ones.

...despite their idiosyncrasies this past week!  Note: I'm attributing my effusive mood right now to the bedtime book I just read Jack, Just In Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado, just picked up for $1 at our library's Saturday book sale.