I love my mornings

I never thought I would say that since I detest getting up early and would love to start my day at 10:30 if given the choice, but since I'm not, I have to say I love our morning routine.

Jana and I get up around 7:00 each morning. Jeremy sleeps in, so it's just "us" time. We have a pretty set routine and I love it. I nurse her, change her, and then we both come down stairs -still in our pjs. Jana sits on rug in the livingroom and plays with her abundance of toys in her basket (or sometimes just plays with the basket). The first order of business is always turning on the fireplace to warm up the down stairs. She loves to stop her playing, roll over on to her tummy on the pillows and watch the fire leap and dance in the fireplace. She plays for a while by herself while I eat my toast, drink my apple cider, and check up on everyone on line. After a while her happy noices turn to whines and I know she's done playing. We sit in the recliner, cuddled under my favorite quilt. Sometimes we read, sometimes we play with some toys, sometimes we play on the computer together. We gently rock and cuddle until she snuggles her head under my chin. That's her sign that it is time for her morning nap. On my needy days, we rock a little longer until she's almost asleep and then I'll take her upstairs to her crib.

Now I sit, finishing my apple cider, under my favorite quilt, listening to her lullaby CD through the monitor. I love these mornings. I'll be sad when she outgrows this routine, or when chaos arrives in the form of #2. I know we'll establish a new and wonderful routine again, but I am truly enjoying this one.

There are days that I wonder how stay at home moms do it. There are days I think I will go crazy being at home. But there is always that reminder in the back of my head that says I'm so incredibly lucky to be home with her almost all the time and how dare I even begin to complain. I guess it's finding the balance of being me and doing the me things and being a mom and taking care of the Sweet Pea.