Poor teething baby wants mama tonight

Many A Sleepless Night.

Most Gorgeous Photo Ever, Taken by Ali. She’s the best.

This process of parenting is very cyclical, I am realizing.  In the beginning, you don’t sleep during pregnancy – lying awake daydreaming about what your child will be like, instead of real dreaming. I had quite a sleepless night when birthing my boy, and then that is instantly replaced by sleepless nights and long days when they are brand new. Eventually, you trade for fewer sleepless nights, and even shorter days, and still all of the moments are fleeting. Guess what? The blessed sleepFUL nights are then replaced again with a baby who is crying, teething, gassy, and playful, all at once. 

That’s where we are this week.  My boy has been waking up several times each night as his top SIX (maybe four, but it definitely looks like six…) front teeth are trying to push their way through. Each morning I begin the day by greeting him happily and trying to peer in his mouth to see if any progress has been made overnight. Judging by the sleepless nights, it seems that certainly something should be happening, no? Yesterday I noticed that, finally, one of the top front teeth broke through. I was elated, not because it is one of the cutest teeth I have ever seen (which it is, along with his other two), but because I thought the sleepless nights were going to get a short reprieve, at the least.  I was wrong. Last night was probably the hardest night on me since J was a tiny thing, and I think it is safe to say, the hardest on his daddy (when he was tiny, it was all me, friends. I wore the boobs – nothing any daddy can do about that, though I am sure some might wish they could…). Last night, or shall I say this morning, our boy went down around 9ish. Woke up at 12 for a half hour of restlessness and cuddle time. Woke again at 1 for another half hour of lovin’, which I thought would be the last of it….until 2:16 am, when the screams were sharper and MUCH louder. This time it was daddy’s turn. He was gracious enough to take Jax downstairs and let me, finally, get some uninterrupted sleep. Unfortunately, they were up until 4:30 AM with a mix of teething, gas, hunger, and wet diapers.

While I am hopeful that last night was the worst of it, but I will definitely keep in mind that this is a cycle, and we are bound to be awake again, if not tonight, then sometime in the future, when he is still little, but when he is bigger too, with monsters in his closet, or a bellyache, or when he is bigger yet, and has broken curfew, out painting the town with his friends or significant other. I welcome each moment, ever so fleeting, and hope that maybe there will even be a sleepless night for us when he has grown so much that he might be welcoming his children into this world (hopefully not too soon, I am in no way ready to even fathom…).

Truth be told, I am lucky to have these sleepless nights. I pinch myself daily and repeat in complete and utter amazement is this really my life? am i really this lucky? am i dreaming? did i really get to have this amazing creature to call my son? how did i even get here? And if this is a dream, it is the best dream anyone could ever have. Sure there are moments of frustration and self-doubt, always wondering if I am being the best parent that I can be, if I am teaching him everything he needs to be learning, celebrating his individuality, and fostering a healthy being. It’s a big responsibility, friends. But in the end, there is no doubt in the world that this is what life is about. He is it, baby. Here’s to the future, and welcoming sleepless nights.

Prebuilt chicken coop!! (or fort?)

House hunting.

Friday Fun!

It is January 27th. It is also 65 degrees outside (!!!). I love these glorious warm days that have been generously scattered all over what is typically a freezing, dark, boring winter, here in the DC area. Since it was so warm, I grabbed my favorite girls, my most favorite boy, and set out to try and enjoy some of the weather with a craft that would allow us to be outside.

I had a few bottles of bubbles laying around (always a must), and separated them into four cups. I added several drops of food coloring to each cup, and gave each girl a bubble wand. I told them to blow the bubbles onto the paper, and voila! Bubble watercolors. The girls had a blast, and they turned out pretty great.

Someone was happy to be outside 🙂

We ended up cutting out the best parts of each ‘painting’ when they dried and framing them in bright blue frames for the girls to take home and display in their rooms. They thought it was the coolest trick, ever.  A word of caution: the food coloring does stain (obviously), so maybe wear gloves if you are into that sort of thing. And cover whatever surface you are doing them on (maybe just do them in the grass?). Also, they make those messy, colored bubbles that are probably just bubbles + food coloring, but they would work great for this project, too. I hear they are also a mess :).

Oh, and – here are the things I found on my phone this week:

A Very Special Place, Indeed.

Zac and I have a special place.  A beautiful place. I have written about it before, here. In short, this picturesque lake is not only a place where we independently grew up, but where we grew up together years later. Where we fell in love, and where my thoughtful husband asked me to be his wife. We hold dreams of building a perfect forever-home on this lake, and spending our days living, loving, and growing old together. I fantasize about a huge porch on the front of a cape cod, complete with a swing and two rockers. Us both, retired and grey, rocking our grandchildren and enjoying the view. Basking in the beautiful life we have created together and fondly reflecting over all of these times we are experiencing now. It is the best daydream. 

Today, I went into the office for a few meetings, and Zac was able to steal away from work to hang with Jackson. They ran a few errands, and in between meetings I checked my phone and saw this glorious photo in my text messages:

The most perfect face I have ever laid eyes on visited our special place for the first time. I instantly grinned from ear-to-ear and thought about how I hit the jackpot in the family department. I am so, beyond words, lucky to have such a thoughtful husband, who is the best father, and takes our boy to a place that holds such intense meaning in our lives.  Our special place. A very special place, indeed.

That sweet little smiling boy will grow big and tall, fishing at this lake, taking out the little motor-less boats with his daddy, and we will picnic on the grassy hillside, in the very place where his daddy and I jumped in head first and agreed to spend the rest of our lives together. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see how this beautiful life plays out.

A couple more photos from our place. These are from our engagement session by Ali.

Lately J has been doing this when he gets excited/random bursts of energy. I call it his spaz attack 🙂

Words to Live By.

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them Anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Be Kind Anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed Anyway.

If you are honest & sincere, people may deceive you. Be Honest & Sincere Anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build Anyway

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be Happy Anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do Good Anyway.

Give the world the best you have & it may never be enough. Give them Your Best Anyway.

-Mother Theresa

***

Jackson,

Please learn this, practice this, teach this. I will do my best to always be an example for you.

xoxo,

Mama

Baby’s new favorite food – quinoa!!

100%, Unequivocally YES.

My husband and I talk often about these issues. About how we are just fine with whomever our children choose to love. Man, woman, gay, or straight. Anyone who opposes how my children love does not matter. I want him to be all-accepting of those around him, and I hope he expects the same in return. I always struggle with how to put all of these feelings into words – this piece has done so beautifully. I couldn’t agree more. Trust me, friends, this one is worth the read.

100%, Unequivocally YES.