Remember how I was getting all wistful and maternal in my last entry and thinking that having another baby seemed like a pretty good idea? Well, I got my period a few days later, explaining not only my crankiness (according to David), but also my sudden desire to procreate. It's pretty amazing how we work. When the body's ready, the mind starts thinking the right thoughts. I almost feel like I have very little control over myself and I certainly have less than I like to believe, but at the very least, I thought I was in charge of my thoughts.

So, while this is all very cool in a scientific sort of way, I'm more than a little annoyed by the return of my menstrual cycle. I've been breastfeeding exclusively and I really thought I'd be enjoying at least another few months without PMS, tampons, cramps and salt binges. And we're most definitely not ready to have another baby, so I really don't need this to be happening.

It's so spectacular here. I'm sitting in my "loft" looking out over the backyard. I can't see the yard from up here, actually, just the woods beyond, and beyond the woods, more woods for miles and miles. I look out onto the woods from every window in the house and from the nursery, there's the added bonus of the wisteria covered trellis reaching up to the window. The bare branches alone are beautiful, I can't imagine what it will be like when they're covered with a canopy of purple flowers.

The house is perfect and several times a day one of us turns to the other and says, in a somewhat surprised tone, "We live here." Even in the disheveled state it's still in, it's beautiful and I love wandering around, capturing the rooms from different angles and in different light. I can't believe it all happened and that we're really here. It seems like a dream.

I've been keeping myself busy with the mundane business of unpacking, putting things away, scheduling and waiting for furniture deliveries and arranging estimates for things like landscaping, sprinkler system and invisible dog fence installation, carpet removal and wood floor finishing. It was raining all last week, so it wasn't too bad to be stuck inside. The sun is back with a vengeance though, so this week I'll be popping Jeremy in the Bjorn, the dog on his leash and heading out to explore the neighborhood.

Both of my boys are sleeping. The dog is snoozing on a pile of blankets and bathrobes and Jeremy's napping on my lap. Ah, sleep. Our king sized bed arrived last week and we're all sleeping like babies now. It seems like I've been searching my whole life for the perfect mattress and I think I've finally found it. It's a Stearns & Foster "E" and it's hard as a rock. The "E" stands for various things depending on where you get it -- that's how the mattress places confuse you: none of them have the same mattresses by name, but the same mattresses will all start with the same letter.

The current sleep schedule is as follows:

6:30 The boy wakes up

8:00/9:00 He naps for half an hour to an hour

11:00/1:00 Another nap, sometimes up to three hours, but usually one to two hours

4:00/5:00 If the afternoon nap was short and/or early, he'll take another snooze in the late afternoon

7:00/8:00 The boy goes to sleep

Last night he slept from 8:00 to 1:30, woke up for a finger suck, then slept until 4:00. He had another finger suck, woke at 5:00 for a snack, then was up for the day at 6:00.

I actually got out of bed at 5:45 this morning because I'd had enough sleep. David's been getting up at 5:00 and leaving for work around 7:15. He doesn't need to leave that early, and I'm sort of annoyed about it, but hopefully when he gets more settled into the new job, he'll start going in later.

I can't believe I'm turning into a morning person.

It's slowly starting to dawn on me how easy the first six months are with a baby. Granted, Jeremy's an especially easy baby anyway, but I'm talking about things like food. I knew on some level, but never really processed just how messy real food is when eaten by a baby. We gave Jeremy a little mashed up matzoh ball in some chicken soup last night and it was everywhere. I really don't know if I'm ready for this.

The thing is, we don't give him baths all that often. I still don't feel comfortable doing it alone, and we just don't always get around to it every weekend. I'm pretty sure that when he starts eating on a regular basis, baths will become more of a necessity. Plus, there will be many more clothing changes a day. It seems like after the first six months, each little bit of growing up brings with it a whole new slew of chores and tasks and things to clean up. It's pretty scary.

I probably have one more relatively clean, quiet, immobile month and I'm planning to enjoy every minute of it.