Thursday, July 19, 2007

Reflections on Life in the Middle of the Night


Oh, the many joys of pregnancy! I am wide awake wishing I could work on stuff around the house that it's been hard to get to during the day, but I doubt Sweetheart and Pumpkin want to hear me vacuum at 3:45 in the morning. Sigh. Most of the things I'd like to do right now require too much noise or brain power.

Of course, I am thinking about how Jewels is getting up for the day in fifteen minutes. Actually, since I have no idea where she lives, she's probably been up for a while. I am trying to get up earlier (not THAT early) myself so that I can exercise and have my quiet time before the guys are up. I find it very difficult though when I am up throughout the night on nights like tonight.

I am sure part of the up all night thing in pregnancy is to help us get used to getting up at all times of the night once the baby is born. However, as Pumpkin was sleeping through the night at five weeks (Blessed Child of Mine!) I think I slept better after he was born than before.

I am not particularly good on minimal sleep. I tend to get grouchy. Good thing we have nothing planned for tomorrow, but cleaning and laundry. It'll be a relaxed day. Of course, I'll need to work on packing away about 1/2 of the things in the dining room and living rooms.

Pumpkin has not shown any interest in all the treasures I have around the house. Until today. Of course, he's really not just roamed free. I've been able to keep him in the area I am in so that he's always in my line of sight. Now, as he's becoming increasingly mobile (Hallelujah!) he's become a real go-getter.

I had him in the kitchen with me while I was preparing dinner; just playing with plastic containers and spoons on the floor. At least that was the plan. A few minutes though, he would take off around the island sending me scrambling after him. I watched as he toodled around the dining room, explored my basket of devotional stuff, and headed off to the living room. Luckily, he hums as he moves so he's easy to track!

What I never saw was him crawling with my Grandmother's Spode dish that was on a table in the living room. I only discovered it later on the floor (unharmed) in the dining room. Granted, it's a long, thin dish and the same color as the carpet, but how he crawled with it is beyond me. Good thing we don't have tile or wooden floors!

What we do have in a very open floor plan where you can see the entire first floor from the kitchen. It's one of the things that sold me on the house when we were first looking. I knew I want to be able to keep an eye on all the kiddos. It's an "L"-shaped design where you come in the front door and are in the family room. Keep walking and you're in the dining room. Then you come to the kitchen with its island and turn left into the living room. There are no doors, or walls at all. It's good in a lot of ways, but tough to keep little monkeys corralled in!

I must have had a rather bewildered look on my face when Sweetheart came in the door from work. He took over at that point so that I could finish dinner. (Actually, I think my exact words were, "If you what dinner, you'll need to watch him. He's turned into a madman tearing through the house in the last half hour!")

Since it looked like ToysRUs had exploded in the kitchen and Pumpkin was hauling all around, Sweetheart laughed and scooped him up. Dinner was soon served without further incident. I think I grab the Crockpot and get that going for tonight!

It's so exciting to see Pumpkin starting to walk. He's able to go pretty far now, just holding on to one of my hands. His balance is pretty good and he definitely has the strength in his legs now. I think it's mostly a confidence thing at this point. I really need him to be able to walk on his own before this next one arrives. He seems to be warming up to the idea, so hopefully he'll be on his way in no time! Once he puts his mind to something, there is no stopping him.

Well, I think I'll try to go back to sleep for a little while now. I may just get up for the day if I don't fall asleep soon. Have a wonderful day!

4 comments:

Jodi said...

((Kimberly)) ~ I never sleep well when I'm pregnant either. But then I'm well prepared for the marathon night nursing that comes after baby is born ~ lol. Truthfully, I've found since I turned about 36 or 37, I don't require as much sleep as I used to. That's been helpful for the last two babies!

I haven't had anything lovely on my coffee & end tables in years. I know it's hard to give up the lovelies, but you'll find that those goofy grins and peekaboo eyes popping up at you from behind the tables will be all the decor you need. ;o)

It sounds like Pumpkin is really coming along with his walking; what a joyful thing.

I think of you often, Kimberly, and lift you in prayer. Hope you are doing well physically. I know that your wee one will be here soon. Take care, my friend.

Kimberly said...

Thank you for your sweet comments, Jodi. I told Sweetheart it will look a little spartan around here when he gets home. The really great part is that dusting will be super quick from now on! Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

I was pregnant with #2 when my first was 8 months old. He was a round the clock nursling-I literally did not sleep for the entire first year of his existance. Thankfully he was my first and none of the other four were like him. Looking back, if I had it to do over, I would probably try to put him on some kind of schedule but he was such a "sucky" baby-he usually fell asleep when nursing. I didn't want to deprive him of either food or comfort, you know? :)
Anyway, the point of this post is that I don't remember wanting him to walk before #2 came, but I desperately wanted him weaned! Which he was.
I got quite a bit more sleep with number 2 than with number 1. :)
joanna

Heather Anne said...

Hey Kimberly!

We still have many sleepless nights - and they do get 'few and far between' as the children grow, which is nice! Now we deal with the occasional asthma attack, bad dreams, and growing pains - those are the worst!

It sounds like your home is wonderfully suited to one of those large hexagon play fences - which may not be your parenting ideal, but may be necessary for safety and for your sanity as well. Since they need boundries, they are often more content and obedient inside a designated play area than out!

By 3 years old our children knew to only take out one basket of toys at a time, since they didn't like having to put more than that away. It won't always look like a toys r us explosion!

As far as your adversion to sewing, I wondered if perhaps you had a bad experience in high school? Home Ec. was the downfall of many a potential seamstress. It may not be your cup of tea, but honestly, you would do very well to just master the basics so that you can feel confident and enjoy the simple pleasures of letting down a hem, sewing a simple curtain, mending a favorite garment, or following an easy pattern. Not every loves to sew, so don't feel badly if you don't, just master the basics so that your adversion is overcome! I commend you for wanting to try!

I enjoyed visiting your blog!
Blessings!

Heather

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