You think my 4-year-old could find a bigger lovey?
(Yes, she’s wearing a sleep mask. When your child is an insomniac, you will do Whatever. It. Takes. to get her to sleep.)
Insomniac my toddler is not. This girl loves her sleep. She actually asks to go “night-night” at naptime and bedtime and drifts off to the Land of Nod in a matter of minutes (sometimes seconds), providing she has her stash of loveys (two soft elephants, two small blankies, and a stuffed tiger she calls Ra-Ra). Recently, she added a hat from Gaba to her lovey collection. When I went into her room after hearing her happy babbling in the morning, this is exactly how I found her:
J-Lo, eat your heart out.
After finally listening to God (and everybody else who cares about me), I decided to take their advice and catch up on sleep before trying to conquer my impractical and way-too-ambitious-for-just-having-given-birth-to-your-third-child-to-do-list. It’s been a rewarding experience. Although I’m still operating on a severe sleep deficit, I’ve felt less frazzled this week despite being engaged in constant germ warfare. (The girls and I all have colds and two of us were unlucky enough to catch a stomach bug. More on that below.)
Every cloud – even the green cloud of nonstop, pregnancy-induced nausea – has a silver lining. See, I was very, very sick with my last pregnancy. For 20-plus weeks I was throwing up several times a day. Then, out of nowhere, the nausea returned for two weeks before I gave birth to our third lovely daughter. I never, ever thought I’d see my perpetual vomit fest as a good thing – until now.
During this past pregnancy, I’d become so accustomed to working through the nausea (AKA taking care of my little ones despite regular hurling) that projecting a little Technicolor vomit after succumbing to a stomach bug this week was no big deal. I am Mommy. Hear me puke. Then watch me wipe my mouth, wash my hands, nurse a baby, tickle a toddler, and help a preschooler button her shorts before puking again.
Thankfully, it was an aggressive but short-lived bug, and I’m almost 100 percent better (just a bit on the weak side). Now I’m praying the baby and our toddler can dodge the germ bullet. (Oh and my husband, too. Poor guy doesn’t deserve to get sick either, especially since I not only had to outsource some mom duties to him, but he also decided to clean the entire downstairs with the help of two little, merry maids.)
Since I blogged about being on bedrest, I’ve had a few people email me asking for tips on how to cope with being sidelined. Well, I recently discovered a great resource called Keep Em Cooking that serves as a clearinghouse for information on how to prevent preterm birth and provides support for women on bedrest. The website includes a helpful forum called Making the Best of Bedrest.
Speaking of great websites, be sure to check out the newly launched Phases of Womanhood. The online community offers a place for women of faith to connect with one another and includes a blog (the fabulously modest Betty Beguiles is blogging over there), insightful articles, an online book club and more.
So what do you think? Do we have another brown-eyed girl in our midst, or will our newest addition (she’ll be 7 weeks on Sunday) have baby blues?
(For all you geneticists out there, here’s the scoop on our gene pool: I have blue-green eyes. My husband has caramel-brown eyes. Madeline’s eyes match my husband’s eye color perfectly, but Rae’s are a shade darker. My dad has pale, light blue eyes, but my mom and brothers are all brown-eyed. Dave’s mom has green eyes; his dad has brown; and his sister’s eyes are electric blue.)
Stop by Jen’s Conversion Diary for more quick takes and plenty of nuggets of fun, wit, and/or wisdom.
Nice to have you back, though I hope you did get a chance to rest (even if just to recuperate from eyestrain).
(hugs)
:)
I think Sparky is sporting baby blues.
We’re taking a poll on Grace’s eye – still too early to tell. It’s funny, I have brown eyes, Aaron has green. Out of our seven children, only ONE had brown eyes like me – my Rachel!
I love the pics of the girls. I miss my blog and my bloggy friends!
All three of my boys were born with blue eyes that got lighter and lighter until, by 6 months of age, were the same shockingly light blue as mine.
My three girls were born with “murky” eyes. My oldest daughter’s turned brown by 6 months. Daughter #2 remained indescribable until she was nearly three – they are now green. Daughter #3 seems to be heading for greenish, too. Hazel, maybe. She’s not yet 2.
I just thought it odd that all the boys and none of the girls have my eye color. My husband’s eyes are light brown – Katie’s brown eyes are dark brown like his sister. So he has no children with his eyes!
Congrats on the Phases of Womanhood article. I am humbled and honored by the company I get to keep in the blogsphere! Blessings!
I was tickled to spot you over at Phases, too! :)
So glad you’re feeling (slightly) more rested. Every little bit counts these days, doesn’t it?
Have a wonderful weekend!