[Boring] Bullet Points (mostly about Caroline's sleeping habits)

• I started writing this yesterday morning when I had a few spare moments.  I hoped to finish it but am just now getting around to it.  This might be the most boring read ever, but for lack of any other inspiration at the moment, I'm posting it anyway.  Enjoy :)

• Last night was awful.  I mean downright pull-your-hair-out A.W.F.U.L.  For starters we went to bed too late, which is generally a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot sort of decision anyway.  And while we do have a new baby in the house these days, it was not Ellie who was the source of our angst last night.  Nope, it was big sister Caroline who pulled out all the stops.  We had lots of tears when she went to bed last night (which is very abnormal), then around 1:00 she was up again, crying for Mommy & Daddy.  Dan went up and tried to quickly settle her back down to no avail.  So around 1:30, I went up when her crying grew loud enough to disturb Ellie.  By 2:30 she was in complete hysterics, screaming uncontrollably and running to the door every time I tried to leave the room.  I finally caved took her into the guest bed and sort of slept off and on with her until Ellie woke up to nurse around 4:00.  I say off and on because I'm about 95% sure that Caroline never once fell asleep during that whole time, although she was finally quiet and [mostly] still laying beside me.  (Side note:  I did feel God's grace in those wee hours as my girl snuggled in close to me.  She's never been much of a snuggler, and we haven't put her in our bed, so I enjoyed those rare moments inspite of everything else!)  I went back down and fed Ellie, dealt with some spit-up, changed her 3 times, and finally fell back into my own bed somewhere around the 4:30 mark.  She had a hard time going back to sleep because of some congestion and was up until around 5:00, although Dan took that shift as I pretty much hit a wall.  We had a few choice words with one another somewhere in there, due to total exhaustion and exasperation.  Ellie slept until about 7:30 and Caroline is just now waking up -- it's almost 10:00.  Weird, frustrating, exhausting night.  Weird, quiet, restful morning.  His mercies are new every morning.
• Caroline is singing to herself right now in the sweetest little voice as I listen to the monitor.  It's difficult to be frustrated when I find her so completely endearing.
• The other day, Caroline found my Bible laying open on the table and decided to "read" for a bit.  She likes to very carefully flip through the pages, all while jabbering contentedly (aka reading out loud).  As she flipped, she came across a card Dan had made me on my first birthday we spent together way back in 2004 (my 20th).  She got very excited about something and it took me a few moments to realize it was due to the smiley-face stickers that adorned the inside of the card.  She had managed to peel a couple off before I realized what was going on, and I tried to put it back in the card, explaining to her that those were special to me because Daddy had given them to me.  She only gathered that they were from Daddy (don't ask why I try to explain things like sentimental value to my not-even 2-year-old) and quickly claimed them as her own.  I just found one stuck on the inside of my sandal.  I explain all this to you because I think there is something ironic in it all - my saving a silly little card for 7 1/2 years because it was from Dan and special to me, only to have it ripped up by our beloved daughter all these years later.  There's something ironic in it, don't you think?  I'm just too tired to figure out what that is now.  Wow, I feel like I just tried to tell you all a joke and forgot the punchline.  Sorry.
• After writing this, Caroline proceeded to throw the same hysterical fit at naptime, and after listening to her cry (no, scream is more like it), I stuck both girls in the car hoping that might do the trick.  An hour later when we pulled back into the garage, Caroline's baby blues were still WIDE open.  Oh well...at least it was a quiet hour for me!
• Daddy put her to bed last night and we had a few tears, but they were short lived and she slept soundly through the night - HALLELUJAH.
• Naptime today = more tears.  More hysterics.  More little fists beating against the door.  But after about 10 minutes, she must have realized that Mama was real serious and she finally gave it up.  She only napped about 1/2 the time she usually does, but that was an hour and a half longer than she napped yesterday, so I'll take it!
• On an entirely unrelated note, I have yet to cook a meal during the week since Ellie's birth.  Not one.  Unless you count that frozen pizza I stuck in the oven all by myself the other day.  I'm such a big girl!  But seriously, I have been blown away by the generosity of our friends and family.  And we still have more coming!  Thank you Lord for providing for us so abundantly - both friends and food :-)