Yesterday morning I really really wanted to lie on my LEFT side, but Bella wanted to nurse, and I was half asleep. So I rolled over on my left, and brought her with me, which meant she was closer to the edge of the bed, instead of in the middle, like usual.

See, usually if she rolls towards my side of the bed, she bumps into me. And she does that a LOT. She is always sleepily searching for mama.

But yesterday she rolled towards my side of the bed AND FELL OFF THE BED.

I woke up to hear her shrieking, grabbed her, cuddled her, she was just inconsolable. Of course it was dark and stuff, so I couldn't see really. Finally got her nursing and calmed down.

It wasn't until about a half hour later that I saw why she was crying *so* hard. As if it wasn't enough to wake up by falling out of the bed like that, she landed on the lid of a water bottle. A gallon jug, so the lid is about 2 inches in diameter. She has the perfect print of the lid on her forehead, in a cut. Perfectly circular cut on my baby's head. :(

Yep. WMITW! (Can't you hear Keith Olbermann saying that... Worst Mama in the WORRRRRRRRRRRRRLD!)

OK, the face in the first two photos is because I wouldn't give her the camera:

Is that pitiful or what? So I had to let her take some pictures of the messy kitchen.

(Oreos? What Oreos? You don't see any oreos. There are no oreos.)

And then I finally was able to sneak a good shot:

My poor baby!!!!!!!!!

...

Yep, they came back. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii," echoing up through the hallway.

My husband said she wouldn't stop asking for me.

Er... and that matters to me HOW exactly? I don't think he gets, sometimes, that she spends All. Day. Long. asking for him. But he is at work, there is no option. Why not pretend I'm at work? *sigh*

Sometimes I just have a hard time shifting gears, and tonight was one of those times. Of course she immediately is getting into the laundry (she "helps" by picking up my nice neat piles and tossing them willy nilly), climbing all over me, wanting to nurse, wanting this and that and to watch Elmo and crocodiles and.. ARGH. Finally I get up, start straightening up, having decided to wear/vacuum her down.

I get to vacuuming, figuring it will only take a few minutes.

Er...

Well, 20 minutes later I am dripping with sweat, but she wakes up as soon as I turn off the vacuum. I decide that's ok, because she should really go to sleep on her own anyways now that she is wound down and sleepy. Put her in bed and she wants to nurse, she wants mama, she wants this and that. I nurse her for a minute (sometimes I think this nursing is like her way of proving that mama is really there with her), give her her bottle, and hope for the best. A few minutes later, thinking she is sleeping, I try to sneak away and...

She wakes completely.

So now she is out being driven down by my husband.

But you can't say I didn't try!

Of course now it is too late to watch the Boleyn Girl if I want to be functional in the morning.

Of course she can tell when I get frustrated too, and she starts doing this adorable little "Hi!" thing that just drives me even more insane because HELLO GO TO SLEEP I AM TIRED OF YOUR CUTE ALREADY.

Last night was better. I decided to fight it out with her and keep her in bed even if she wanted out. Well, that wound up being a big mistake because after a 2 hour battle, she took a huge poop, and then went right to sleep. ARGH!

Today I went out and bought every sleep book available. Of course, tonight she went down to sleep without a hitch and is sleeping like a gorgeous angel. No longer a baby, though, definitely a child now, long strong legs curled against a pillow, face all shmooshed up. So gorgeous. Cannot believe she is not a baby anymore. Cannot believe she is finally asleep!

Man... I really hoped that he would NOT step into the "lesser of two evils" role, and now here he is.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because Bella is becoming less and less interested in nursing. I keep wondering when the last time will be, and if I will know it is the last time, or if I'll forget all about it until much later, like I did with her kicking me. I want to remember. I want to remember all the last times! I want to remember the last time she needs my help to go up and down the stairs, I want to remember the last diaper I put on her, I want to remember the last night she snuggles up to me in bed, I want to remember the last time she comes running over to me hollering "AhahAHahAHAhahaha!" and slams into me for a hug. I want to remember everything, and I know that my brain just cannot take it; so much new stuff happens that the old stuff just fades away.

What about you? Do you remember any important last times for you and your child?

We returned home sweaty and muddy to find that our landlord had stopped by in our absence to repair a leaky faucet, and left us with no water! Apparently he was "fixing" it and "broke" something so now we have "no water."

I curled up with Bella like I always do, to help her down for her nap. We're doing a lot better; we've reached the No Twiddle zone, which is just a great place to be! She fell asleep pretty quickly, and I found myself drifting off with her. I woke up to a huge, huge, huge crash of thunder that sounded like it was about to rip the roof off the house. The bed and walls were literally vibrating from the force of it! Bella was all snugged up against me, wearing only a diaper, all snuggly soft babyflesh and bouncy curls. I held her a little closer with all that thunder. I thought I should get up, but the thunder was just so LOUD and scary, I didn't want to leave her. I fell asleep again, and we slept together for three and a half hours! Her usual nap time is about two hours. Sleepy us!

We decided to get a room at a hotel just to take showers; I don't like to leave my dog alone overnight, so we are back home to sleep for the night. At the hotel, we went to the pool and swam for an hour and had a wonderful time. I just felt so happy, in the warm water with my baby in my arms smiling and laughing and splashing.

Now, of course, I'm up when I should be sleeping. So I better get to bed, lots more chasing to do tomorrow!

Mosaic Rules
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

I found this meme on Elle PhD, but it originated..,. er, well, I'm not exactly sure where it originated, but I see some other bloggers doing it. Here's one, and another, and I bet there are more! The only ones I fudged were the "What is your greatest love" question, because that answer has to be my husband and daughter, without question; and my flickr name, because I do not have one.

Apparently, I need one.

Have a baby!

But not just any baby... you need to get your hands on a baby who hates to sleep!

And then you will find yourself, like me, suddenly falling asleep whenever you get within shouting distance of a bed. I used to be quite persnickety about sleep; light, what I was wearing, the pillows, everything had to be *just so.* Now, I fall asleep with no pillows, no blankets, in jeans, with keys in my pocket, hair in ponytails... seriously, it doesn't matter. I have come very close to falling asleep while getting my eyebrows waxed; and that HURTS.

Now if only I could cure my baby's lack of sleeping...

Being a mother is about being a mother........We give birth. We do our best each and every time. That's enough; just being who and what we are and loving what we do; is enough.

Get on over there and check it out, it is long but a wonderful read!

I love Sandra Boynton! What are you reading to your little ones at night?

I can't wait until Bella is old enough to get chapters, and I can read her all of my childhood favorites; Harriet the Spy, A Wrinkle in Time, Bridge to Terabithia (nope, I did not see the movie), James and the Giant Peach, oh so many wonderful books!