1:13 am

What am I doing up at 1:13 am? I am asking myself the same question. My sweet little boy has been asleep for hours now. My husband has been asleep for an hour. I tried going to bed at 10:30 and haven't been able to fall asleep.

Maybe because it's 83 degrees in our apartment? (And that is with the fans going.)

I used to LoVe sleep. Let me rephrase that. I still LOVE my sleep, so the fact that I can't fall asleep boggles my mind.

So you get to hear my random thoughts at this hour. I'm hoping that emptying my mind will help me fall asleep really soon.

...I have become a reader. At least I like to think so. But given the fact that I (a book-club drop-out, mind you) have read the first two books in the Hunger Games series, Heaven is Here, Nurture Shock, The China Study, and Portrait of a Prophet's Wife all in the last two months, well, I think I should get a gold star or something. Reading has been a fun escape from piles of dishes, laundry, and the unbearable summer heat.

...I am loving the Bachelorette. I'm not sure how I ever began watching it since I hate the drama that all TV shows seem to have. I've never watched any of the previous seasons, but I saw the first episode and have been sucked in ever since. It is my guilty pleasure every week. Can I say, Go Jef?

...My flowers are still alive. This is a record for me, keeping them alive this long into the summer. I hope I am not jinxing my luck by writing this.

...My baby is a onesie-baby. That is all he lives in these days. It is too hot to dress him in anything else, unless we are going out for some reason. I love it that way. He seems much more cuddly when he is in a onesie.

...Blake is going to be starting rice cereal here in a few weeks. I am excited and a little sad all at the same time. That means he is growing up (not to mention how convenient breast-feeding has been).

I'll end this post with a photo from when Blake was just a few days old. How I wish I could go back to that first night at home being a family of three. I'm pretty sure we were up this late, trying to figure out how to be parents. But time had stopped at that instant. Nothing else in the world seemed to matter at that moment. We could have stared at that little boy forever. His perfectness and curiosity for the world radiated from his tiny little body. And his dark hair! Oh, I can't wait for the day when his dark hair is back.

He has since outgrown those swaddle clothes, but still loves the Swaddle Me velcro ones. He loves falling asleep with a blanket rolled up on each side of his head, and his wubba-nub binki nearby. We have started reading a short bedtime story. It is one of my favorite parts of the day.

He is a very peaceful sleeper. The hums of the fans make it impossible to hear his little noises, so sometimes, like I did tonight, I will get out of bed and go to his room just to watch him. And then I get excited knowing that in the morning, he will smile when I walk in his room. He is usually already awake by the time I go in, but instead of making a peep, he will just curiously turn his head back and forth, watch the sunlight seep through the binds, and let his momma get a few more minutes of shut-eye. Once I go in, I'll pick him up and he'll smile and giggle and rest his head on my shoulder, but only for a few minutes. And then we begin our day.

Speaking of the beginning, I better try and get some sleep before the start of my day comes before I get any rest. Here is to falling asleep!