Life is Good

These are just a few pictures of our little gal in a baseball cap. Ain't she the cutest?


This post is going to be a potpourri and they all kind of tie in together in one theme: I am happy.

Reason #1 why I am happy:
My husband is happy and healthy and doing well in work and school and my daughter is happy and healthy!

Reason #2:
I am reading more. I just finished reading The Kite Runner. It was recommended to me by my sister, Emmi. It was a good book, good read. It was just a little depressing. It takes a while, a long while, for things to get happy. I am all about the happy endings! I am now reading The World is Flat; recommended to me by my big brother, Zach. It is a big undertaking for me because I am not very well versed when it comes to world affairs, but that's why I am reading it because I want to be better about that.

Reason #3:
We have gotten less snow this year than last year. Don't get me wrong. I like snow, but the amount that we got last year was out of control. Literally. This year it is very manageable.

Reason #4:
Harper and I have finally established our own little *routine. At first I didn't really see the importance of having one. I didn't want to be a slave to my schedule and I didn't want that for Harper either. I can truly say from experience that human beings thrive when they have routines and regularity in life. Especially babies! I am not a slave to the clock but I am in tune with my daughter and I know what she needs when she needs it; and that is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world! Which brings me to....

Reason #5:
We have moved our computer into our bedroom from Harper's room. I can now check email and blog when she is sleeping. Which explains all of the posts today.

*Just a little note about our routine. Harper's bedtime is usually between 7 and 8. She has two naps a day that usually last between an hour and a half to two hours. Morning naps are around ten and afternoon naps are around 2. Before our routine, her daytime sleep was just fine. Her naps were established, but her nighttime sleep was still no good. She was waking up at least every three hours and sometimes more. Our friends let us borrow a book that they said 'saved their marriage.' It is called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I only had to read a few chapters to learn why Harper was waking up and what to do about it. She was waking up only for comfort. She wasn't hungry because she would always fall asleep when I nursed her. In the book, the doctor said that for her age there is no time limit for crying when she wakes up at night. Meaning, we didn't need to let her cry for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes and then go to her. We just needed to let her cry and learn how to sooth herself back to sleep. The first night she woke up around 12:30 crying. Ryan and I just laid in bed and listened to her cry. It was not easy. She cried for a long time. At 12:55 I told myself I would give her until 1 and then I'd go get her if she was still crying. She stopped at 12:58. She woke up maybe once or twice more that night but only cried a little and fell back asleep. The next night, she woke up around 9 and cried for about 45 minutes and only woke up once more that night. After that her nights have been awesome!!! She normally sleeps 12 hours. She might wake up once or twice and whimper a little, but she is getting really good at soothing herself back to sleep.

Not only has this been great for Ryan and me getting much better sleep at night, but Harper is so much happier! It is a sign of good sleep and readiness to be awake when babies wake up happy instead of crying.

Life is good.