Reflections

It felt good to be back to the blog this week and to know that there is still an audience out there following along - thank you to all for the sweet comments this week. Ive struggled keeping up my stride in this corner of the world with all my new responsibilities, but this week felt good to be back, and made me really want to keep at it. One of the most touching moments of the week was when I received this comment from Sharlee on my sleep regression post:

I've been a silent follower for a few months now. I found your blog through another mom blog I'm sure. We have a lot in common as far as our babies are concerned. We didn't find out the gender, thought it was a boy..girl! She's smallish, sounds a lot like Natalie as far as eating is concerned, etc. I don't have a blog anymore, but am working on starting one. Anyway, my daughter was born 2 months after Natalie and you have no idea how much your posts help me. I feel like they give me ideas/heads' up, etc.. on what is okay and what's not okay. Anyway, this is something I needed to read. I feel like my little girl hit this stage a little early. We never swaddled her (she didn't like it) but we did have her in a Rock and Play. I'm trying to transition her to lying flat and it's just not happening, but she's stopped sleeping well in the Rock and Play, too. I am a lot like you, I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night, it's when she won't go back to sleep. I am grateful I can take naps during the day, too. I love your perspective. I just sometimes feel like I'm doing something WRONG and that's where I start to get frustrated. Keep the posts coming. They really are helpful. And she's adorable!

Sharlee, I so wish I could have responded directly to you, but I didn't have your email from your comment, so I'll just have to write what I would have said here: Thank you so so much for the sweet comment. I'm glad you decided to break your silence and leave me a comment. It's things like this that keep me going. It's always nice to find and meet other mothers with babies the same age who are all going through the same things around the same time. It's helpful to bounce things off of each other, and have support when there is so much uncertainty surrounding us at every corner. Please don't be a stranger and feel free to pick my brain with any questions as we both try and figure out this mother thing!

Things like this are why I keep blogging. Or, like the time back in November where I reconnected with an old friend from high school who had this to say:

...And I wanted to share something with you that will hopefully make you feel awesome about sharing your experiences:

My husband and I had been trying to conceive since December of last year and as of June we were unsuccessful. When you wrote about how quickly you got pregnant, I decided to compare the calendar app I had been using with the Ladytimer app you had used. My O days were off by 4 days from the Ladytimer app so we switched up our schedule and got pregnant in July. So thanks for helping us conceive!! I will always credit you with assisting us with this amazing thing. You look so unbelievably happy and I'm so happy for you! I know you're getting super close so try and relax and put your feet up as much as possible. Best of luck with your little one joining your family!!!

Katie gave birth to a beautiful little boy just a few weeks ago, and I just love seeing the photos she posts and knowing how happy and blessed her and her husband are. I'm still working on my time management skills to get everything done that I need to get done throughout the day. Most days the house is a mess, I "usually" take a shower, and I definitely stayed in my pajamas all day on Wednesday (hey it rained all day). But each week gets a little bit easier and a little bit better, and I look forward to blogging again next week!

For now, this adorrrraaaabbble video of parents telling their children they're going to have a little brother or sister. What till the very end, this little girl will melt your heart (video):