Fall is Here!

I was a very happy girl when I woke up this morning.  October 1st.  I love this time of year, and October 1st brought with it a cool, crisp morning that felt - well, just like October should feel.  There are so many things to look forward to this time of year, but I think my favorite is just the overall mood.  I LOVE summer... but summers are busy... they always seem to be jam-packed with millions of things to do, and I always seem to be going, going, going during summer.  But then comes fall, and it's for relaxing.  Lazy Sundays watching football.  Relaxing evenings outside now that you won't sweat to death.  Watching movies all cuddled up in blankets and falling asleep at 8:00 because it's already been dark for hours.  I always feel so rested and relaxed and at ease during this time of year. 

Eden wore her fleece pajamas last night, I'm fixing her fall foods (for dinner she had butternut squash and apple oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon), and I'm all excited to change out the quilt on our bed for the big down comforter.  When we were growing up, my mom always put flannel sheets on our beds this time of year, and I remember always being SO excited that it was time for the flannel sheets.  Almost as excited as I was when spring came back and we got our regular sheets again.  (That's the thing... as excited as I am right now, I know that six months from now, I'll be just as excited for spring and hot weather and all the things it brings.)  But for now... let's focus on fall.  I can't wait to carve pumpkins and eat chili and apple cake and get ready for bed at like 5:00 and snuggle, snuggle, snuggle on the couch and watch all of my many TV shows now that they're back.  I'm so excited to wear sweaters and boots and enjoy crisp mornings, and there would SO be flannel sheets on my bed right now if it weren't for Dustin and the fact that he would have a heat stroke.

Eden got to wear a little jacket today.

We are still struggling with sleep over here.  It is what it is though.  I've stopped fighting it... Eden is a bad sleeper.  It's a fact.  I can't complain too much; she gets this trait from me (I STILL don't sleep), and even though my mom sounds sympathetic when we talk about it, I'm sure she's laughing in her head and thinking it's payback time!  I've read articles and books, I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do.  And sometimes we have GREAT nights (last week Eden slept for 11 hours one night... cue Angels singing), sometimes we have okay nights, and sometimes we have BADDDD nights, waking up every couple of hours and flat out refusing to go back to sleep.  I just go with it.  There's nothing else I can do. 

I see friends of mine without babies post articles like "How To Get Your Baby To Sleep Through The Night By Six Weeks Old" and "Seven Nights to A Better Sleeper" to their "Future Babies" pinterest boards, and I just laugh.  I clicked on the "Seven Nights to A Better Sleeper", and one of the steps seriously said to put a fresh diaper on your baby right before bedtime.  Oh REALLLYYYY?!!!  Because I've been putting Eden to bed every night in a dirty diaper.  So all I have to do is put a fresh diaper on her and she'll sleep all night?  After reading the entire article, I came to the conclusion that the writer had never had children.  Just like I'm convinced that the person who coined the phrase, "sleep like a baby" never had a baby.  It amuses me to watch my friends "pin" these articles for later... only because I remember being pregnant and armed with a swaddle blanket, lavender scented bedtime lotion (proven to help your baby sleep better!) and a Sleep Sheep that plays white noise thinking to myself, "Wow, my baby is going to be such a good sleeper because all I have to do is put this lotion on her, wrap her in this blanket and then turn on her Sleep Sheep."  If only!  But it's okay... because it's amazing what I am capable of with so little sleep.  No, I take that back... It's amazing what EDEN is capable of with so little sleep.  I'm always astonished to see how hyper she can be in the mornings after such a bad night. 

Okay, okay, so other than the sleep thing, she really is just so perfect.  And I would deal with horrible nights every night if I had to, because it would be so worth it.  Because our days are magical.  Playing, laughing, smiling, swinging, riding in the wagon... It's everything I ever thought it would be and so much more. 

I love this picture.  She sat in that swing so content and watched Dustin mow the entire yard.  He would wave when he would go by, and she would just grin.

We go outside to swing no less than five times every day.  She LOVES it.  She loves to go high.  Like HIGH.  REALLY HIGH.  RIDICULOUSLY HIGH.  She's going to have my love of rollercoasters, I just know it!

She gets so excited for bathtime, and I'm so relieved because for the first few months of her life, she HATED it and would cry the entire time.  But I think it's partly my fault because I was really bad at it, and never quite knew what I was doing.  Sorry Eden.  The water coming out of the faucet is the best part - way better than all those stupid bath toys that I wasted my money on!

Momsicles!  Heard of 'em?  Genius!  Found on pinterest of course.  Frozen breastmilk for teething babies.  So simple.

Happy Fall y'all!