Quick 5

There is just something about warm weather that puts me in a good mood.  Today's forecast is 75 degrees.  It should be a good day.

1.  Joya's sleeping has gotten much better.  That might be another reason for my good mood.  It all started last Friday when I finally forced her to drink a small bottle of formula before nursing her for the evening.  To my surprise, not only did she drink it all, but she fully nursed too.  Then she woke up at midnight.  And then she woke up at 7:00am.  For the rest of the weekend I decided that she gets to nurse once in the night.  Just once.  I'd like that to be no earlier than midnight.  So when she woke up crying at 10:00 (our previous usual nursing time) I just let her cry.  She cried for 15 minutes, then went back to sleep.   A few days later she woke up again at 4:00, cried for 15 minutes, then went back to sleep.  But since probably Tuesday she's only been waking up once since I laid her down at 7:30.  Eventually I'll need to nip that one middle-of-the-night feeding in the bud, but I'm just so thrilled that it's just once that I don't mind the 10 minutes it takes to give her a snack. 

2.  I'm trying to master the art of homemade mac and cheese.  Not the baked kind; I've never made that (although I'm sure it's delicious.)  No, I'm trying out recipes for on the stove, and I just can't get it.  The sauce is always slightly gritty.  And I never seem to make enough noodles to balance out the amount of sauce.  It perplexes me.

3.  I foresee a battle in our future.  It involves me trying to convince Alaina to go to sleep at night.  Soon we'll be leaving our windows open at night.  It's one of my favorite parts of Colorado.  But I've been noticing that there are a LOT of kids who live right around our townhouse.  And they all play right outside.  In our yard, because our front yard is a shared front yard.  And Alaina's window faces that yard.  I have a sound machine in her room, but I'm sure it won't drown out all the shrieks and yells of the elementary aged kids who get to stay up past 8:00, playing outside with their friends.  And not that I wish they wouldn't play.  But Alaina loves kids, and is sure to be distracted.  I hope she learns how to ignore it.

4.  During one of our recent Skype sessions with Lee's parents, Grandma Kimble mentioned picking blueberries to Alaina.  It's all she can talk about these days.  She's invited me along.  (How sweet.)  And she talks incessantly about her "blueberry bucket."  It's nice to have something to look forward to.

5.  This Sunday we will be dedicating Joya at church.  It is such a brief little ceremony, but is still such a big deal for us.  I've been trying to prepare my heart.  It's not like I haven't recognized that she is God's and not mine for all this time.  But there is something different about standing up in front of people and declaring it.  It's almost a moment where you now have to put your money where your mouth is, you know?  Walk the walk, don't just talk the talk.

Happy Mother's Day, all you mommies.  :)