It's the Best Job

Ahh, a sleeping baby is one of my favorite sights.

You all know I have a very active and wiggly baby. She never sits still. So it's at midnight that I have some of my most treasured moments of the day. I got into the habit when I started losing my milk, and I was worried she wasn't getting enough to eat. So I'd go in at midnight, pick her up and try not to wake her too much, and then feed her. She'd always fall right back to sleep, and then I could just stare at her...and play with her little hands, kiss her little cheeks, and just love her from head to toe.

I love the little moments like that!

I'm all out of milk now, and she's getting plenty of formula, but I still do the midnight 'dream feeds', and I think it's purely for selfish reasons. (Samuel has even caught on, and sometimes we have to paper-rock-scissors for who gets to do it.)

They grow up too fast, don't they? Lately several of you have been writing about treasuring the NOW and not trying to move to the future too fast. I've really been feeling that way. Then Elder Ballard shared this quote in his talk:

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “........And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

and even though she's just a baby, I had to agree. Then, I found this country song by Trace Adkins, called "You're Gonna Miss This", and I loved it. You can read the song Lyrics Here.

As hard as motherhood can be sometimes, I still feel so lucky to be able to be one, and I sure hope I can treasure it all the way through.

Thanks Honey

I have about 10 blog posts in my head, I just haven't gotten around to them!! So I thought I'd just start with the present. I know Samuel will probably never read this unless I tell him to check my blog, but I just wanted to give him a big THANK YOU!! I'm just so dang grateful for him being a wonderful husband, and frankly, lately I haven't really deserved it.

He has been working 12 hour days, 6 days a week, and he comes home every night just exhausted. He came home "early" tonight (6:15) and stretched out on the floor, and fell asleep in the middle of a conversation with me. (I'm sure he'll be thrilled to have this picture there, but look at his flat stomach! All this manual labor has caused him to shed some pounds.)

I am just so grateful for his hard work. He's moved in about 10 new tenants, and fixed a million leaks, breaks, and everything else that goes wrong in an old building.

No wonder he's so tired.

I was supposed to be more of a help, but "first trimester" does not create "good helper." In fact, all I really do to help the apartments is post an occasional craigslist ad. I've been feeling kind of guilty about it. He hasn't even complained (yet) about my wifely shortcomings, and I am wondering what's going on in his head.

Let me confess a few more things.

I haven't cooked a meal in 6 weeks.

I haven't scrubbed a toilet or mopped a floor for 8 weeks, and I've only managed to vacuum a handful of times. (Oh, and believe me, my apartment SHOWS IT!)

Oh, and lets not forget that I've sent him out for take-out at LEAST 15 times, usually at late hours of the night.

And I've spent almost every other week in St. George.

I really just can't believe he's still not complaining.

Now I'm into the 2nd trime, I'm getting my energy back, but I am so overwhelmed with the task at hand...I just don't know where to start.

But my in-laws are coming this weekend and staying with us, so I might try to make it look presentable.

So wish me luck. I really need it.

TEETH

She FINALLY cut some teeth...not her top, but both her bottom (barely). They've been a long time coming. I've blamed everything on teething, and then...no teeth. Now they're arriving, and I barely noticed. I tried to get them in this picture (above), but you have to look REALLY close to see them! Oh well, I'll capture them later.

Thanks everyone for the well-wishes. I can already tell this pregnancy is going to go by MUCH faster than the first, THANK GOODNESS. I had a dr. appt last week, and he is going to try to help me have a VBAC, and he mentioned it might be a good idea for me to be induced 2 weeks early, since Kalia was over 9 lbs. That will put them closer to 14 months, but oh well, I'm just excitedthat I might be able to bypass those miserable last weeks of pregnancy.

Anyway, that's forever away, so here's a little more Kalia fun.

She's getting very attached to her binkies, (when should I wean?) and here she is trying to get them out of the dishwasher. (She was successful, about 3 seconds after I took this pic).

She is loving her new-found skill (walking), and she has figured out how to turn and also how to squat down, pick something up, and keep walking. Unfortunately, she is no longer showing signs of that separation anxiety I mentioned last month, and the messes are EVERYWHERE! (I can't get my lazy self off the couch, but everything's cleanable, right?) Here she is practicing her little walk.

Finally one more video, if you're still with me here, she is having fun making sounds...I've been working on "mama" and as you can see...she hasn't caught on yet. This movie makes her dad VERY proud. Turn up your volume a little, parts of it are quiet. (and sorry, I was holding her and videoing, so it's not very steady).