Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Best Things...

About Being a Mommy


Tonight as I was putting Katie to sleep I was thinking of how blessed I am to have such a sweet little girl and all the things I love about being a mommy. It's so much better than I even imagined it would be. Here are some things I was thinking of...
* Bedtime- We've been trying to get Katie to sleep at a more regular time and start a bedtime routine. For the last several nights I feed her, change her diaper and put on her pajamas, swaddle her, and then I sing my favorite lullabye song to her (with the song playing on the ipod. I'm not a singer!) It's "In My Arms" by Plumb, I think the second song on my blog playlist. Then I put her down and she's usually out within 5 minutes. The last 2 nights she's slept 9-9 1/2 hours! I play her ipod while she sleeps with the sweetest cd, "Bless My Little Girl" all lullabyes for little girls. So sweet it will make you cry. (But then again, I'm an emotional sap too. LOL)
* Swaddling- She loves to be swaddled and it really calms her down when she's squirmy or fussy. She's so active. When she lays down without her swaddle (especially at night), she will squirm for 2-3 hours! She gets that from her daddy. But once I swaddle her, she's fine. She just looks so comfy all bundled up like that. She reminds me of a caterpillar in her cocoon.
* Nursing- I really thought nursing would be wierd and akward, but it's not. I love that time with her. It's our special time together that is ours and only ours. I feel so blessed that I'm able to nurse her and hope I'm able to continue after I go back to work next week. Even giving her a bottle is great. Just to know that I am meeeting that need for her and comforting her in that way is an awesome feeling.
* Her "coos" and smiles- One of my favorite times of the day is early in the morning. That's when she's most alert and for the longest time. She "talks" to me for a good solid 30 minutes or longer and and smiles a ton. It's amazing when I just look at her or talk to her and she stares so intently then smiles at me. It warms my heart like nothing else.
* Playing with her- She's finally getting to a point where some of her toys catch her attention and can keep her entertained for a while. I love reading to her (we like to read her story Bible) and playing with her on her play gym or have tummy time.
* Cuddling- After about an hour or hour and a half of playing and talking to her in the morning, she's ready for a nap and usually that's when I get back in bed with her, lay her on HER tummy on MY tummy, and we cuddle up for a nap together. I could cuddle with her sleeping like that all day. Or when I hold her looking over my shoulder, her arms wrapped around my neck, she nuzzles her head in my shoulder and sleeps. I love it.
* Bathtime- I think she gets cold because as soon as I put her down in ther tub, she bends her arms and clenches her fists so tight right in front of her chest. She stays this way for her entire bath. Even though she gets cold, she loves her bath. She looks around totally carefree and I love the way she stares at me so contently while I'm bathing her. And she's so cute wrapped up in her little hooded towels with her hair wet and super curly! I also sing the lotion song every day now over and over while I put on her lotion after her bath. (I posted a video of the song about a month ago if you want to hear it. My sister in law made it up for her kids.) She loves it and again stares at me and smiles and sometimes coos while I put her lotion on.
It's so amazing to get to know this little person and all her little quirks, patterns, and to start to see her personality come out. I can't wait to see what the future holds for her and to see how she grows as the months and years go by.

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