9 hours, 43 minutes

That would be the amount of time Hadley went from her goodnight feeding to her overnight feeding at 4:30am. WOW!! That's definitely called sleeping through the night (STTN) which really was b/c I didn't get to go back to bed after she was done. How. Awesome. Is. This.

That said, I'm beyond exhausted. Single parents are amazing people and I couldn't imagine doing this for life. I need my partner in crime. Tiny people are a ton of work especially when you're working. The girls have been fabulous and I couldn't have asked for them to be better.

Tired. Adam called to say goodnight last night. I had no idea if he called or not when I woke up today. He told me I was incoherent. Who's excited for her massage Saturday morning? ::points two thumbs at self while trying to keep eyes open::

Worker Bee Mommy, Take 2

I'm back. I'm back to work and I surprised myself with the mixed feelings I have about it. I spent some of Saturday crying b/c I was going to miss her so much. A teacher at one of my schools asked me Sunday at church if I was ready to come back and I told her no, smiled, made it to the car, and cried all the way home. She's my tiny baby (my big girl baby is another story - and oh so great) and I don't WANT her to go to daycare b/c then I'm working and not being home with my babies.

That said, I was sad some this past weekend but also looking forward to getting back to our new "normal" b/c it wasn't like I was going to suddenly come into a million dollars and get to play SAHM/W forever...which isn't my calling anyway. PT? Oh sure. However, that's not in the cards on several levels so worker-bee mommy I am, second time.

Here's the deal. Morgan, if you recall circa January 2010, was handed over to Mary with hopes of her getting "better" since she was so ... screamy. And she did. And I went into my roll as worker-bee mommy take 1 with (what I remember being) ease. For Take 2 with Hadley, she is an 'easy' baby. She's pleasant and predictable and while she still has her moments, I've thoroughly enjoyed my time home with her. I would be ok with this leave lasting until summer, but then again, who wouldn't want to be off until summer? :)

So...fast forward to today. First off, Hadley went 8.5 HOURS without feeding and didn't get up until 3:15am to nurse. Just as I was finishing up her fastest nursing ever, (16 minutes, booyah!) I heard Adam get in the shower (left at 4am for the airport/Vancouver). Didn't fall back to sleep until waaayyyy after he left as I was terrified I'd be late for work on my first morning back. I was only 5 minutes late, mind you. I'm awesome.

I made it through the first day. I don't feel like I was very productive and won't go into details b/c I'm too tired and there are too many details. I already loath pumping but am glad it's only 3 months - Hadley will be weaned by next school year (August). Day 1, done.

I was also so very thrilled to go get the girls and receive a HUGE hug from Morgan with lots of "My mommy's here! My mommy's here!!" Then, when I got Hadley, she had HUGE smiles for me and while I was strapping her in her car seat, she could NOT stop "talking" and even interrupted me several times! It warmed my heart to know she had such a good first day with no episodes and was in great spirits when I got back to her. I'm so lucky - helped my first day for sure.

That said, I have to say something about my Morgan. I am so lucky to have such a great helper on my hands. And such a compliant little being. She knows that she steps up and helps me while I'm feeding Hadley. She'll let the dogs in/out if need be. She gets me burp cloths when I forget to get one before sitting down. I can't say enough about her right now. She's patient. I love her and I feel bad when I can't hug and love and squeeze her enough during the day. I thank God for her, for both of my girls.

And off to pump one more time b/c Miss Piggy Pants ate more than I made for her at work today. Sigh. And it begins...

A week of Lasts...

Sorry if this one gets depressing. I was just thinking about this while I was supposed to be off shredding already...don't worry. I'll get there. :)

This is a week of lasts...

• This is the last week I will write out a check for daycare for one. Sigh. Well, at least it's the last single one for Morgan. Once Morgan goes to school...oh I can't even think about THAT.
• Last week of maternity leave, obviously. My last maternity leave ever. Sigh. I've really enjoyed this one. Thank GOD I have summers to look forward to. :) And Christmas break. And whatever other time schools have off. 
• This is the last week of spending any and every waking moment with Hadley. Oh, she's just such a joyful baby to be around. She has her moments, as all babies do, but I don't feel the desperate "oh no, is Mary going to send her back b/c she cries all the time" feeling like I had with Morgan. (silly me. Mary's magic.)

Those are the ones I can think of right now. It's time to go Shred and take a shower before Hadley's next feeding. One item of note - she made it to 4:45am last night before she needed a feeding. I had to give her a nuk 5x before that so I was still up a bit but not for a feeding! Yippee! Also, she accidentally made raspberries yesterday once and kind of shocked herself. It was funny but not repeated. Ok, Shred time. For reals.

Lots of Firsts today

We had lots of firsts today! I'm exhausted so I'm going to try to keep things concise (ha) and then lie down on the couch, sleep, and wake up in time for Hadley's last feeding and head to bed.

Morgan's Firsts

• Tuesday night swimming lessons. There is one other boy in her class who is a bit...naughty?...but there are only 2 of them so Morgan gets lots more time in the water. The boy's mother is very involved with him and is trying to teach him to listen (he just has NO fear of the water...wouldn't shock me if he jumped right in!) so I'm not worried. Morgan still refuses to try to voluntarily dunk her head under. Sigh. 
• The DENTIST!! Oh I couldn't be prouder of her today. Hadley went to Mary's and M&I made it to our 8am appointment with one minute to spare. Morgan played with the iPod, read books, and watched what was going on in my mouth while I was getting cleaned/checked and then it was her turn. She has 19 of her 20 baby teeth. Morgan chose grape toothpaste (loved it) and let the hygienist do a normal cleaning on her complete with squirting water and sucker hose thing. Then she even let her floss. Morgan was so proud that she carried her dentist goodie bag with her EVERYWHERE, including all the way through Walmart. :) 

Hadley's Firsts

• She had her first bath in the big girl (normal) bathtub! She was a little hesitant at first but after I suggested Morgan stop yelling singing to her quite so loudly and she had a chance to get used to the water on her head/ears, she was good with it. I showed her how she could splash and had a few with her feet...more next time, I'm sure. 

Oh no. I'm too tired to think of anything else. I'm a little worried about work next week...hopefully they understand that I'm going to be a single mom of two all week while one is still getting up 1x/night for feedings and more than that for nuk replacements. So excited to see Adam tomorrow! C'mon, flights being on time!

One other speechie item of note - Morgan is now using simplified clusters more and more often. Now instead of something being "tit" it's now "twit" (quick). The other day she asked for a "snat" (snack). She then said, "Mommy! I said ssssnack!" I hadn't even had her say/try/repeat it for weeks. (I only do this once in a great while, btw). Ugh...too...tired...

Like Don't Like

Thought this might be fun to try...how about a list of what everyone in our family likes and doesn't like at the moment? This will be highly interesting for the girls and completely boring for A&I so I don't know if I'll include us boring people...but here goes for the girls. ;)

Hadley Likes...

• getting up 1x/night the past few nights. It was up to 2x/night for several in a row and I was getting pretty frustrated sad about it but we seem to be over yet another hump. Hopefully the next hump waits to come until Adam's home...
• "TALKING" like a crazy baby. She goes back and forth with us including lots of smiles, coos, and goos. 
• Her schedule. She seems to do well with it so we're sticking with it. Except for days when Mommy wants to go shopping in the QCs and then she gets to sleep for 2.5 hours straight. :) Her schedule will likely be very different once she goes to daycare but hopefully I've given her the tools she needs to keep a decent schedule for herself. 
• Her reflux medicine. She is doing very well with it now and rarely has reflux except every 2nd or 3rd afternoon/evening but the doctor doubled her dose today after a call so hopefully that takes care of it completely. 
• Her family. She likes watching all members walk past her, play with her, and be fuzzy near her (dogs). 

Hadley Doesn't Like...

• Staying down for her nap when she wakes up in the middle of it or too early from it.
• Morgan being superinherface even though it's completely out of pure sisterly love. 
• Tummy time. Shoot. I'm way behind with making her do it b/c she screams so much while being forced on her tummy. Mary will fix her, I'm sure, just like she did for Morgan. ;-)
• Reflux. (or "fluxing" as we've come to call it - we're super technical around here people.)
• Her 10pm feeding. "Do NOT wake me up to feed me you selfish parents while I'M sleeping...I'd much rather wake you later TWICE while YOU are sleeping." ~Hadley

Morgan Likes...

• Swimming lessons!! SO very much! Tonight marks her first session on Tuesday nights and they are at 5pm so this could get VERY interesting once work starts next week with a feeding thrown in there for Hadley. I think I'm just going to have to shift my work day 15 minutes earlier and then it shouldn't be too bad.
• Her sister. Oh Morgan loves Hadley so much and tells us/her ALL the time. "I weewy weewy wove Howdie, Mommy." :)
• Fruit snacks. She's still a fruit snack snob and will only eat Gerber ones...although the other night she ate spongebob fruit snacks from her Valentine goodies which SHOCKED me. I think it's time to reintroduce the cheapies...
• Her daddy. And her mommy. Unless her mommy isn't complying with her wants/needs...then she loves her daddy more. And will freely say so.
• The dentist! See following post for awesome details...
• Her Highlights magazines. I ordered her a subscription as part of her Christmas presents hoping she'd grow into them and voila. The last week or two she's become more than attached to the three she's gotten so far and takes them all over. She loves the search and finds, same/different pictures, and movement poems in the back cover. It's crazy expensive but I'm really glad we got it for her - she just loves it.
• Basketball. Morgan wants to play basketball at the Y after every swimming lesson and actually became incredibly sad when she couldn't last time (::mommy's heart breaking::). That said, I found a basketball hoop/ball at Walmart today for Adam to put together when he gets home. There you go - $35 basketball whenever she wants. :) 
• Eating. This kid could eat constantly and her pants are STILL falling off her hiney. She was still 29lbs a few weeks ago at her doctor's appointment and was that also at her 2y/o appointment. She's definitely gotten taller so we'll be investing in more expensive pants for this one so they don't fall down (the kind with the button/stretch bands).
• Pleasing us. If we have a "tone" with her at all, she usually stops what she's doing and asks if we're mad at her. I hate it that she does this (makes me feel guilty) but am glad to see that she's got an awareness of feelings and tones and that they mean different things (like quit doing that to your sister!!) :)
• I could go on forever...so we'll just leave it at this unless I have to edit and add a few more. :) 

Morgan Doesn't Like...

• Being told no. But then again I don't know what 2 y/o does. Today in the car I told her no for something and she (for the first time this travel week) told me, "I miss my daddy..." (while whining/fussing). Yeah, I bet you do but guess what, sweetheart? He won't give it to you either. 
• Dunking her whole head under water voluntarily. :) We're working on it. 
• I'm not sure what else she really doesn't like. She sure tells us when she doesn't like something, but nothing too concrete is sticking out at me right now.

Liss Likes...

• Maternity leave. I still don't want to go back to work. I just like being at home. I love being with my girls (although if I were to ever be a FT SAHM, Morgan would only go to daycare 2-1/2 days per week. Or something like that). I'm not worried about Hadley going to daycare. She's going to do great there and has had a few 1-3 hour visits there when I have appointments or something that are not very baby friendly. She always sleeps AWESOME for her naps after. :) I just don't want to work. I'm sure that will change and the rest of the school year is shaping up to be pretty awesome for me so it won't be too long and boom. Summer. :) 
• The nighttime schedule I have set up for the girls to get them both to bed with minimal chaos. This is only possible b/c Morgan is the very best toddler I could have hoped for and works well with me while I'm putting Hadley down first and then her. She's very patient when I have to tend to Hadley right in the middle of time with her.
• When Adam's home. Duh. 

Liss Doesn't Like...

• Going back to work. :) At least from this point of view. Likely it's the anticipation that's killing me now. Although I am eager to have my worker-bee friend relationships back to normal. I miss the pants off those people. :) 
• Missing Adam. But it's a short week so woo!
• Baby weight. This is giving me some huge anxiety. It's so weird b/c it all was falling off so fast and then it was like WALL. So dang if I can't get rid of these last 12ish pounds. I've started doing the 30 day shred workout daily but it's hard to manage what I'm eating b/c Hadley comes first and I want my supply to stay up for her. I remember mine tanking shortly after starting back to work and I really want to keep it up for the rest of the school year. I have no problem with supplementing this time around, but I'd rather not...if I can avoid it...

Adam Likes...

• Being home with his girls. He's so good with them and we're eager for some alone time at dinner on Friday when Adam's parents watch the girls (they're staying overnight on their way to vacation - driving Route 66!). 
• His new book. :) One Minute to Midnight. I'm terribly interested in reading it too...but am not sure I have the time for that specific one at the moment. 
• Anticipating golf...sheesh.
• He's smitten with the girls. Did I already mention that? :) 

Adam Doesn't Like...

• Being away from us. That's a given. 
• Our house. What's new.

I think that's it for now. That was fun and interesting. Maybe I'll have to try that again sometime. Life is good in the Schmidt house right now. Did I mention our Dave Ramsey budget plan has allowed us to pay off my car and a home equity loan this month? Thank you so much for teaching us how to make our money work FOR us! Yeah!!

Bottle Time

I've got a few minutes to spare b/c Hadley needs to work on her bottle taking (thank you, Daddy) and Morgan's napping. If I'm anywhere near Hadley/Adam during this time, I'll be the most annoying person in the whole wide world and tell both of them what to do the entire time. Yes, I'm that person. And I know it.

Today marked Morgan's last swimming lesson of this session. Unfortunately, we are now moved to Tuesday evenings at 5:30pm for lessons b/c we were the first person to try for the Saturday classes after it was full (crap.). We'll make it work and realize that sometimes that's just how life is. Should be interesting the next two weeks with Adam traveling both Tuesdays and me back to work the second Tuesday...yikes. Hello, super prep work! The 5:30 time should be doable though so I'm not too worried.

*freaking out b/c Hadley sounds funny drinking her bottle and I want to run in there and be that person so super much ahhh*

So...while we were at swimming lessons, I had to go to the front desk to iron out which class Morgan would actually be in next week b/c the Y called wanting to know why a 2 y/o was signed up for the 3-5 y/o class (if you recall, her teacher said she was good to go for the next class and that's why we went for the older one). Long story short, I was supposed to talk to Anna if she was there (swimming director?) and leave a note for Joselyn (????) that Morgan's teacher said she was to move up and that's why and if she/they had questions to call me. (holy long preface) SO while we were standing at the front desk, Morgan of course became obsessed with the girls' basketball games that were going on in the big gym (large window helped us see). She told me she wanted to go play basketball with them and great mother that I am was thinking of anything I could to get her to understand that she couldn't go in and play with them (thinking team, big kids, time to go, etc) so my sleep-deprived brain (ahhh...more later) told her something along the lines of she wasn't on that team or I don't even know what I said but she was soooo sad the whole way to the carwash saying, "I not on the basketball team? I not on the team? I wanna be on the basketball team!"

Needless to say after tons of promises that when she's bigger she will be on the best basketball team and it's going to be great and soccer and volleyball and whatever else she wants to play on etc etc etc ... so after talking about getting Morgan a kids' basketball hoop/ball for some time I think this weekend might be it and when we get her one. SUPER excited about it...

So off I go b/c while writing Morgan got up, Hadley finished eating, and the dogs are running amok with their new toys I ordered from www.wag.com (love this 5 websites, one shopping cart idea!! - look in the top left corner when you go to it b/c I know you will...or should) and I think the crazy din might have Adam feeling a little overwhelmed (although he isn't actually there, if that makes sense).

And for the record, today will be day 3 of my 30-day Shred (thank you Jillian Michaels). And to top it off, I'm starving all the time the last 5 days. Perfect. :-/

If you're still out there...

I'm going to blame being a mommy of two for the complete and utter lack of posts lately. At night I'm tired or Adam's got the computer or there are a million other things needing to be done. Anywho, I think about the blog often and mean to...but alas, I haven't been as good about it. On to the good stuff. If there is still anyone out there reading it.

This past weekend, my bff Steph and her family came to visit from Green Bay, WI. We had a lovely weekend that included a rainbow shaving cream bath for the big girls, chat time (although never enough) for the biggest girls, and playing/trading iXL and iPod games for the medium sized girls. We all went to Iowa City for a little shopping, playing at the kid's place for the medium girls, and dinner on Saturday. It was a great weekend that of course went wayyy too fast. It's always good to see a bestie.

Morgan and I were consumed with Valentine's day preparation for the rest of Sunday. We made cut out heart sugar cookies Sunday after her nap and decorated them yesterday (of course there are pictures...argh, I'm so awful about these but it's hard to post them twice when they go on Facebook so easily...isn't there a way to share them too? Sigh).

*Hadley is being a nut about her nap right now and is really not napping but more just fake sleeping for about 5 minutes and then fussing. Her diaper is clean. Gah. Seriously cutting into my post time, kid.*

Ok, few hours later and getting back to this. Why don't we go by family member again for updates...? I suck at this. No I don't....I've just been busy and my mind is scattered at the moment. No reason. :)

Hadley
Oh, she's good. She's having less episodes although when she does have them they're a little more intense and sometimes one right after the other. Otherwise, they're further and further between and I'm hoping they just go away all together soon.

She could always use more tummy time. She loves to kick like a crazy person when laying down.

I've had her on her schedule of 3 hours for some time now but occasionally she goes 2.5 or 3.5 cycles.

The past few nights (maybe 5? maybe it just seems that long...) she's been getting up more than 1x/night again. NOT A FAN. Thankfully last night she only got up once and only for a very short feeding - she was done, as in asleep out cold, in 16 minutes. 18 minutes if you include the diaper change. Rinse, repeat, please, Hadley! :)

She's been really happy today. Super cute and laughing and smiling. (See video on Facebook)

Less than 2 weeks to go until she's one of "Mary's kids." This is very bittersweet for me as I know she's super loved and cared for there, but that means I'm back to work and not able to be home with my girls any time I want.

Morgan
She's a peach too. She's funny, imaginative, and talking about life and anything she can think of. She asks tons of questions and I honestly don't keep track in my head anymore about her MLU b/c it's so long - ongoing paragraphs of speech out of that kiddo.

Morgan's really into feelings/emotions right now. I find her frequently asking if I'm happy or mad (hate when she asks me if I'm mad at her b/c sometimes it's completely out of nowhere when I'm not even slightly crabby). She tells us such things as "I'm really proud of you, mommy." "You make me really really happy, Daddy" often. That makes me happy to know that she's hearing those words when we tell them to her and they make her feel good (otherwise why would she tell us the same things back?).

We went to get her fitted for her flower girl dress for Tommy and Carrie's wedding yesterday, just Morgan and I. It was awful outside (cold, windy, snow) but we had fun anyway! Turns out she will get a size 3T and need a size 8 shoe pending now crazy growth in the next while - we're waiting to order those though...She LOVED the dress and was sad when it was time to take it off (but did well, no tears even though she wanted it on that bad).


Ok, after all that it's a day later and I'm finally getting back to this post. I'm just going to put it up and go with something better later. Adam is last minute filling in as a sub for volleyball tonight so perhaps then? Or in 10 years when I have time again? :) Only a week and a half left of this maternity leave. I have a dentist appointment with myself and Morgan next week. I need to get my hair done as it hasn't been touched since just before Thanksgiving (yikes). Morgan might need to come along too as I've noticed some serious split ends going on and she's never had a hair cut in the first place. Just a trim - I love her hair long and until she asks otherwise, we're going to go with it (ye who suggests she gets it cut short and I hear it may suffer some serious consequences, just sayin') ;-)

Since Hadley's still sleeping (what?! she was fussing and fussing...tried laying her on her back for her nap since it's been a while since starting her meds and her reflux has been fairly nonexistent and it lasted a good 45 minutes before everything went downhill...so we're back in the car seat until further notice). Oh, there she goes. Until next time...

Adam = 30 ; Hadley = 2

Adam is 30 today!! Happy birthday to the love of my life, the person who keeps me going every day especially when my crazy kicks in, and the one I'm eager to spend this adventure called "Life" with. I'm a lucky gal and thank God I only had to spend 5 days alone in my 30s without him. :) Happy birthday, sweetheart. We love you!

Hadley is 2 months old today. (well, 8 weeks, 7 days) But 2 months! What? It feels like it's flown and always been this way for always. She did great and is growing and changing every day. Here are her stats and if she stays sleeping, I'll get a few more things in that she's doing before I really must go! :)

Length: 22.25" (46%ile - woah! shortie compared to Morgan, but I'll double check later - I just don't ever remember Morgan being under 50% anything for sizes)

Weight: 10lbs 14oz (54%ile - I wonder how heavy Morgan was now...)

Head circumference: 39cm (62%ile - shocker. my kid has a big head)

Items of note:

• She laughs and smiles all the time. She's typically very happy, especially during the first half of wake time periods.
• When laying on her back, she often rolls from one side to the other. She's not rolling OVER at all, but definitely enjoying rolling back and forth from side to side. 
• She takes reflux meds 2x/day (Zantac) and it's helped her tremendously. I maybe only hear reflux in her tiny body 1-3x/day which is a huge reduction from pre-meds. We are also doing tons less laundry b/c there is less spit up too. Yippee!
• She gets up 1x/night if I feed her at 10pm before going to bed. If I don't, she's up 2x/night although last night was 11:15 and then 3am. I think. I may have been too tired to remember the last one. Either way, she's nursing 7x/day and once in a while getting formula supplements in the amount of 1-2oz at a time.
• Cloth diapering with her continues to go well. No worries there.
• Hadley currently wears 3 months clothing depending on the brand. Some things are 3-6 months and her onsies are 6-9 months but that's b/c they are Gerber and G runs crazy small (oh, and cloth diapers = giant hineys). :)
• Hadley is getting stronger and growing bigger in so many ways each day. The past few days have seen lots more "talking" and the like...but now she's up so off to nurse again I go! :)

Happy day, Adam and Hadley!

Thirty.

So it's official. I'm thirty. It happened yesterday...well, last night at 7:33pm, to be exact. I tried convincing myself it really isn't a big deal that I left my 20s and am now a THIRTY y/o, but get this - it didn't work. I'm struggling. It has more to do with the girls than it does the fact that I'm 30. I can't seem to get past the feeling that things are suddenly moving way too fast. I'm 1/3 of the way "there." What if I blink and I miss it all? The girls are going to be double digit ages next time I have a decade birthday. Then they'll leave me and go off to their own lives at the next one. I know it's years and years away, but in my mind it's tomorrow. So...I'm fine with being 30. I'm not fine with feeling like I'm going to miss the girls' lives and get old too fast. Enough of this nonsense though, on to more fun things, like the craziness that was baptism weekend!

Baptism weekend was a mad success. It was a whirlwind 26 hours with family arriving in town around 11:30(?) on Saturday and everyone leaving by 1:30pm Sunday. Family came and went to their hotels and we didn't feel overwhelmed at all (save for the hour right before we were to be leaving for church). Hadley was a peach and didn't cry ONCE during her baptism (holy polar opposite from Morgan) until Pastor Mac handed her back to me. She was blessed with many beautiful gifts and was able to start her own savings account as a result of the generosity of her family members. Thank you again to all who made the trip and your presence was appreciated more than you know! I should probably post pictures...ah, but alas, it won't be exactly right this minute but I'll let you know in subsequent posts to come back to this one and check them out.

Back to the present...Adam has taken Morgan to most of her Saturday swimming lessons b/c it's just easier with Hadley's schedule and mostly just how it worked out lately. Well, this Saturday I took her and was super glad I did. I am so darn proud of her...she's such a big girl there. She follows directions, loves the water, and was a super big girl when the teacher prepped her and then dunked her several times completely under the water - something Morgan hasn't had to do since she was teeny tiny and thought I could do it with her and almost drown her (ok, no I didn't, but of course she coughed). So...she did well with that and then it was time to be done and go sign her up for the next session since she's only got two more lessons in this session. Long story short, her teacher thought she could move up to the next level (Pike) with the 3-5 y/os b/c she does a great job of listening and her skills were where they need to be. Wow! Moving up to the next age group at 2y3months. She's super excited. Ok wait, that's me. She has no idea what it means other than she gets to go to swimming lessons again. I'm sad though, for two reasons - her friend is in a different class and the Saturday class was full so we have to go Tuesdays at 5:30. Oh well. It will work itself out. It's so fun watching her be a fish.

Ah, Hadley. She's been a joy. I love being at home with her. Her schedule is going beautifully. She's still on a 3 hr rotation/schedule which involves getting up for feeding for the day between 7-7:30am and doing three hour rotations from there. SO, her day looks like this if she gets up at 7am: nurse at 7am, awake until 8:30, nap until 10am. Nurse at 10, awake/play until 11:30am, nap until 1pm. Awake, nap at 2:30, nurse at 4pm. awake, fight nap at 5:30/6pm, nurse at 7pm. Bed. Wake at just before 10pm to nurse, back to bed. She's been up 1x/night for about a week now and last night went 6 hours after her 10pm feeding before nursing again at 4ish. It's great. Maybe this means she's getting close to going longer...either way I can handle 1x/night nursing so I'm not too worried about getting her further at this point. She's only 8 weeks old. We have some variability in her schedule sometimes but not usually too much at this point. It's working so why fix a working wheel? :) She's usually happy and smily and relatively easy going. That doesn't mean she doesn't have her moments, b/c she does, but for the most part, life is not horrendously difficult with Hadley which will make this last bit a little harder, I think....

There are only three weeks left of my maternity leave. Sigh. I can now see the light at the end of the leave tunnel. :-/ This week, then next week, then the week after, Adam leaves for 3 days travel/work, then I start back Feb. 27th. I of course miss the people I know and love there...but I really like being home with my baby. If it were to be more permanent, things would be shuffled differently but I know I really like my worker-bee hat and need to get it off the shelf, dust it off, and put it back on. I love this part of my life but really love being home with my girls. Well, home with Hadley. Morgan, as I've said before, still goes to Mary's most of the time during the week. I've been keeping her home a little more here and there will be more as it gets closer to the end of the three weeks. Maybe I'm still in a little denial that I'm actually going back. No, staying home is not on the table right now. Part time in the future? Maybe, but not right now.

Alright, off to get Morgan while Hadley's sleeping (again...LOVE LOVE LOVE having the sitter be two doors down!) so we can play and start supper before Hadley gets up at 4:30 (the little sleep-a-saurus slept until 7:30 when I woke her this morning!) for her next feeding. I'm so dang lucky to have such a great leave!!