Rain and Books. Books and Rain.

Today we are getting some MUCH needed rain. One of my all time favorite things to do is to read on the couch while it is pouring down rain outside. I mean rain with the thunder and the lightning where the rain creates it's own music on the roof. The couch is comfy, if it's a bit chilly then a nice warm blanket, and the best book for the moment. There really is nothing like it. I must have done that a lot as a kid because it is my "happy place" that I rarely get to visit these days. At least it's for a good reason.

At the moment I'm re-reading the "Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" Series by Michael Scott. There are six books in the series and the last one came out in May. Once I read it, it made me want to go through and read them all again knowing what I know now. If I don't have a book though, my default is usually "The Hobbit." I don't honestly know if there is a better book. I could also be biased though. When I was a kid, my dad used to read to my brother and I every night. I remember reading "The Hobbit" in particular. I have it in every format I could ever need it in: hardcover, nook ebook, and audiobook. My husband even has the cartoon!

I guess all of this is just because I'm pouting. Yesterday and today were two perfect days for lazy couch reading and I have to work. However, if it were on the weekend, Matt and I would be taking care of Georgia. I really hope that she loves to read. She enjoys chewing on books right now so I suppose that's good enough for now.

I hear people say that they aren't really readers. I don't understand that world. I love it! I don't know what it is though, there is something about rain and books, that just makes the book better and the rain cozier. I even have a favorite song to listen to when it's raining and I'm reading: Eric Satie's "Gymnopédie." The piano sounds like rain would sound if it was on a piano. It just makes me comforted and happy...also a little drowsy.



Bonus Hobbit clip. It's even done by Rankin & Bass that created the famous Rudolf video. The music is classic (and a bit bad). I've given my husband fair warning that if we are to ever build our own home, my dream home is the Hobbit home, "Bag End," with the round door and everything. I may be taking my love of "The Hobbit" a bit to far but I don't think so.

Baby Sleep...That about sums it up.

So sleep is not as necessary for me as I previously thought.

I've become an expert at sleep...or not sleeping.

How many books can one person read on sleep and not actually get it? I may have read them all.

Is there a magic solution, formula, process that allows for helping a baby sleep through the night?


So, Georgia isn't exactly a "sleeper." We walked into daycare the other day to pick her up, and there was a little girl, about 5 months, who had fallen asleep while playing. WHILE PLAYING! She didn't have to be walked or rocked or nursed. She just thought, "Hmmm...I'm tired." and ZONK. She's out. In fact, Georgia was trying to "play" with her hair while she slept. Why? Because she simply passed out in a pile of toys. On. The. Floor. I've seen pictures like that of other kids but I cannot imagine that as a possibility. Georgia is so not that child. (Oh, and by the way, the caregiver wasn't just leaving her there. The girl had just fallen asleep as we walked in and she was trying to detangle from another child to pick her up.)

I've read TONS of books, talked to quite a few moms and dads, and asked loads of questions about baby sleep. I'm following several books' directions verbatim. Georgia sleeps, and falls asleep quickly on her own, but at 10 months, she still hasn't slept through an entire night. Just that phrase, "the entire night" is debatable. According to some people and books, that means 8 hours. She's done that. She does that every night. From 7pm - 7am though she has not done. Some books say she's going to bed too soon. Some say she's going to bed too late. Some say she's going to bed just right. (wait, that might be Goldilocks.) Either way, she's not sleeping through the night in my book.

Depending on who you talk to, some babies just need to "cry it out". We tried that, she threw up. I'm not doing that again. Other people are just blessed, truly blessed, with children that naturally sleep through the night (for example see the girl who fell asleep while playing). I was a horrible baby. I hear horror stories about me as a baby: I had colic, I cried, I wouldn't sleep, I was bossy...(I have a bit of a complex about this if you can't tell.)

Please don't take me wrong. I LOVE being a mom to Georgia. Her little toothy grin, funny expressions, and hilarious movements are seriously the best moments of the day. The thing is, people say how amazing being a parent is and it's totally true but they never say what really really really hard work it is. It's almost like people want to seem like they have this parenting thing down and there are no problems because their kids are perfect. Georgia is perfect but you know what, while she's working on teeth numbers 9-12 and is trying to walk, she can't sleep through the night yet. After all is said and done though, I guess I'll take that extra time with her in my arms. I'm guessing I'm going to miss that as soon as she is really mobile...

Mommyhood Intervenes

Somewhere in the span of a year and some odd months, I've slacked off. I originally slacked off on writing because I was pregnant. Then, said baby came and obviously, I've had no time. Plus, it's a blog. Who even reads this thing? I've toyed with shutting it down but I just couldn't. I'm not sure why. I'm certainly not going to be one of the people who makes a blog their living. I'm not going to be like The Bloggess or Gluten-Free Girl (even though it would be fun!).

So babies. Yep. There they are. I have to say that when I thought of being pregnant and becoming a mother, I didn't give much thought to the baby phase. It's an obvious stage yet for some reason, I never thought about it. NEVER. When I thought of having a child, I would smile at the thought of a little me/little hubby all in one. I would laugh at the funny things I thought they would do or say. I always thought of a 3-4 year old. Never older, never younger. The funny thing is, they are younger and then older. They are only 3-4 for oh say, a year. But I thought about that version every time.

When my husband and I found out I was preggers, that's when it hit. "Holy cow! What do I do with a baby!?" I was more nervous and scared than excited. Nine preggo months + nearly 10 baby months later and I'm thrilled to say that I LOVE this baby phase. I've found myself realizing she's nearly a year and her little clothes are getting littler by the day. Also, I was never one of those people who would scream, "OH! A BABY!" everytime I saw one. I'm not one of those "baby people". I'm still not really. I've discovered I'm a "my baby" kind of person.

So we had a baby girl. We called her Georgia Mary Anne and she is perfect. She's teething like a carnivore (seriously. Kid is going to eat steak at her first birthday!), trying to walk, and enjoys scooting on her bum instead of crawling. She is the light in my life (along with her father of course).

I always thought I'd be a "career girl" who would love going back to work after maternity leave. If I'm honest, no matter how much I love my job, I would kill to stay home and be with her all of the time. We take her to a good daycare but there are days where I'll just flip though every photo (all 1,143 of them. I'm not kidding.) and just smile at her full-of-teeth grin then die a little inside because I can't spend my whole day with her. Such is the life of the modern mom.

When I was a little girl, my dad used to sing and dance with me to this song. We also danced to it at my wedding nearly five years ago. It's one of my favorite "fix anything" songs. The song starts around the 1:12 mark. Such a classic.



I'll try to be better at this if only for my own sanity. There's a lot of things I've "learned" about being a mom/wife/parent/co-worker. There's also a lot left to learn as well though. Like how to get Georgia to fall asleep on her own...

Georgia Mary Anne, 9 months some odd weeks old.