this is rather unusual...

It took three tries to get the kid to sleep tonight...usually she only pulls that when it's naptime, but tonight I had a heck of a time getting her to go down. (Of course she waits until Daddy is out of town and Mommy is on her own to do this...!) She fell asleep while I was feeding her so I put her down...she woke up five minutes later. I didn't let her cry because I thought maybe she hadn't gotten enough to eat, so I fed her some more and put her down. She started to fuss and then scream, I let her cry it out for fifteen minutes and then I picked her up and cradled her in my arms and swayed her back and forth for about three minutes...put her back and she fussed for about five minutes and now seems to be asleep: that was over 45 minutes ago. I have a 30 minute rule with her: if she's down for thirty minutes, she's almost always down for the night and it's safe for me to then shower and go to bed.

Anyhow, I have a friend coming in from out of town tomorrow to hang out for a few days and meet the spawn, so that will be fun! I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures by the end of the week. :o)

Last of all, I just have to say this--I am absolutely, ridiculously, indescribably in love with this kid. Obviously I thought I'd like being a parent or I wouldn't have reproduced, but oh my goodness! LOOK AT ME! LOOK HOW SAPPY AND MUSHY I'VE GOTTEN!! There is nothing in this world that has ever made me feel the way Ava does when she looks at me and smiles and makes happy "ooooh-ing" noises. I cannot get over how crazy I am about her! It's so weird to love someone as much as I love Craig but in such a different way. This must be why some people have so many kids....on Ava's good days, I feel like I could have six of them and it wouldn't be enough. (However, in reality, we will be sticking with two ;o)