Life Update!

Hellllo blog world :-)  I have seriously been slacking on my blog updates.  Shame on me!  So what have we been up to??  Spending some time with great friends (been having weekly dates with Mama Tara and Declan, had a great catchup lunch with Megan, Devon, and Arantha last weekend, AND got to see Devon and Rachel for happy hour last night), going on outings, watching Josh participate in the Splash n' Dash last Sunday...lots of good stuff!

Josh and Harper Post-Race

Handsome Hubby!  Finished 5th Overall!

Also, I am just so abundantly grateful to report that Harper has been sleeping MUCH better. Thank goodness.  You know, I hate to get all caught-up and obsessed with my baby's sleep patterns, but WOW what a difference it makes when we are all well rested.  Really.  The hardest thing for me about being a mom has been the lack of sleep.  You hear about it before you have a baby.  **Everybody** tells you about it.  In fact, I SO hated hearing the words when I was pregnant, "sleep now while you can!"  ((I will NEVER tell ANY of my pregnant friends this stupid 'advice'!))...But even hearing about it from others, nothing can prepare you for months and months of sleep deprivation.  Not even 9 weeks of Bikram Yoga teacher training ;-D  Sleep is one of our basic human needs.  Josh and I were broken down to the last shreds of exhaustion-eyes hollow, souls drained.  I dreaded nighttimes in my gut.  I cried daily.  Having a wakeful baby can be harder than marine bootcamp.  I mean, getting exhausted that way reallllly shows you what you are made of at your core of your core.  I've always enjoyed pushing myself to that level physically; ie doing Bikram Yoga, having a natural childbirth.  I've always been fascinated to see how far my body can take me on a physical level; because, "you're so much stronger than you know"...This line from the poem The Invitation,

"I want to know if you can sit with pain,

mine or your own,

without moving to hide it,

or fade it,

or fix it."

I 'enjoy' going to that place physically.  I guess this was just the other side of the coin.  Pushing myself to that breaking point mentally.  Mentally, "you are so much stronger than you know," too.  Thankfully, I feel like *maybe* we are on the up-and-up as far as getting our mental/emotional health back.  Even getting just a few nights of more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a time, and, POOF!  The joy of motherhood is in full force!!!!

She's Joyful, Too!

It's like my foggy goggles have been replaced with some brand new, shiny, polished, newly prescribed spectacles!  I'm sure my foggy goggles will have their days, just hopefully less and less.

Enough about all that.  Check out our cute baby on the move!