THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Most of the time, I get caught up in how much there is to be done and how I am going to do it and I couldn't possibly make enough milk for tomorrow at school.  There is laundry and dinner to be made and what happened to the toilet.  Why can't I seem to clean the office room and I swear I just ran the dishwasher yesterday.

I think most of this is normal.  Most people don't wake up twice a night to extract milk from their bodies.  Most people don't find themselves buying chicken breasts on their lunch break.  And I don't know anyone who took an extended break in a training class to pump milk in the back seat of their car.  In a public parking lot.

 

 

Then I started thinking how Emma is growing and learning and developing, whether I want her to or not. She's laughing and smiling and talking and taking the pacifier out of her mouth and making herself slide off the chair. She wants to walk and is rolling over when she feels like it. She's almost too big for the changing table (not sure how to combat that). She has a nickname at school - "little Em n Em" because she's so sweet! She drinks more milk at a time now. She loves to watch basketball and gives big grins to Daddy and Grandpa. In 11 days, she will have been born LAST year.

All of this makes the other night very special, knowing that at this point, our house is clean and decorated for Christmas. Most of the gifts that I am buying are bought. For one 5-minute period of time, I was just happy. I was happy sitting in our living room with the lights on the tree and the fireplace on and the stockings hung and the swag on the wall and the gingerbread men making up our family laid out and Emma was just laughing and cooing and David was loving on Gracie. 

Trying out the baby bookbag

I have an amazing house with amazing Christmas decorations put up by a wonderful husband.  I have a baby girl and a Volvo in a garage (just like I always wanted....the garage, not the Volvo).  Emma changes every day and gets more amazing every day.  I miss her when she was a wee little thing, but I love her now.  And in a few weeks, I will love her then too.  I'm guessing that doesn't stop til about middle school.  But for now, I absolutely love picking out her clothes and giving her baths and making a fool of myself in the middle of the mall in hopes that she just. might. give a small smile to Santa Claus since we paid out the yin-yang for Baby's First Christmas pictures.

I do a lot of thinking in 5 minutes.

And then all of a sudden, Emma had to go to bed, cards had to be mailed out, Homeland had to be watched and, wait for it, I had to pump again.