Ice Fall

This morning we stopped by the new Kelly Cove subdivision so I could take some pictures of the fountains at their entrance.

It's been below freezing for three days, so the amount of ice built up was pretty impressive. Now that we're finally above freezing, I kind of wonder how long this will all take to thaw.

So I don't forget

Last night, it was freakishly cold for Northern Alabama. Micah's room is located on the opposite end of the house from our 15-year-old, none-too-efficient heat pump, and with temperatures in the single digits, his room, predictably, got pretty chilly. And so the baby woke up at 3 AM.

After three nights of uninterrupted sleep, getting up to feed him was hard. I staggered into his room in a stupor (while Todd blearily focused on NOT accidentally putting the diaper on Micah's head) and sat down to nurse. And the child was WIDE AWAKE. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, even. He finished his meal and he was STILL awake. I laid him down in his warmed crib, tucked his blankets around him, and crawled back to my bed, hoping he'd settle back down. Thirty minutes later, he was still happily talking to himself. Not upset, not crying. Just having a good ol' time. AT FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.

Finally, it clicked that his room was probably still too cold for him to sleep, and I brought him back to bed with me. I tucked him in beside me, and he turned his face up to smile at me in the dark. I curled around him, and he pushed his ice-cold hands into my stomach and snuggled his face up against my chest. Then, slowly, he fell asleep. A little warm bundle, dressed in paw-print fleece, his chubby fists locked on the front of my shirt, his breath tickling my bare arm. And as I fell asleep, all I could think was how lucky I am, and how I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

Great timing

Apparently I wasn't the only exhausted one in our house. Last night Micah slept from 8:00 PM all the way to 6:45 AM, forgoing his usual 2:30 meal. For that, he totally gets a cookie. Which, since he obviously isn't eating solids, means I get a cookie. WIN!

Now if I can just manage to catch back up with his milk-guzzling, we'll be okay.

Asleep standing up

Okay, this may sound stupid, but for the last month, this whole going back to work thing has seemed sort of temporary in my mind. It's like I kind of forgot that this is how it's going to be now. I keep thinking there's a break ahead, and guess what? There's not.

Get up, get ready for work. Wolf down breakfast, feed baby, get baby ready to go. Drop off baby, go to work. Pump while working. Work some more. Go feed baby. Go back to work. Pump while working, wolf down food while working. Work some more. Go home, eat dinner, bathe baby, feed baby, put baby to bed. Get stuff ready for next day. Collapse in bed. Wake up, feed baby. Collapse back in bed. Rinse. Repeat.

I feel like I haven't stopped to breathe since last week. Our Christmas tree is still up. People are wondering if I'm dead or alive, because they haven't heard from me in weeks. There are a million unanswered personal emails, the Christmas cards are still in the packages they came in, my friends haven't seen me since October. My desk looks like a file cabinet exploded.

Some days I feel like I've got this under control. Then the cats start puking, the dog can't stand up, the daycare people spill four precious ounces of boob juice, the baby wakes up at midnight, I can't find any clean clothes, work goes batshit crazy, and I find myself wondering just how long I can do this before I lose my mind.

Oh, Monday. Now you kick my ass more than ever.

Monte Sano Fog