It's the simple things

Happy sixth birthday, Marcus!

5:18 a.m. -- wow, she didn't get up at 4:30...holy cow! she didn't get up at 4:30! oh my God, she slept all night!

5:20 a.m. -- can't sleep...she slept all night!

5:33 a.m. -- oh, shit...something's wrong. she didn't get up at 4:30. maybe i should check on her. please God, if she just makes one noise i won't get up to check on her. ok, she made a noise, i can go back to sleep.

5:48 a.m. -- man, isn't it time for me to get out of bed yet? maybe i should go ahead and shower now since i'm sure she'll be up any second... sleep. sleep. sleep.

5:59 a.m. -- whispers: honey. (snore) marc. (snore) honey! (what?) she slept all night. (really?) i'm going to get in the shower. (maybe you should feed her now so she doesn't get mad while you're in the shower.) ok, that sounds like a good idea. i'll just go potty first and brush my teeth.

somehow the bathroom manages to wake me up. wait. i want to see how long she'll sleep... a shower sounds good right now... i'll be quick...just wash the essentials and my hair.

6:10 a.m. -- my breasts feel like boulders. ugh! this is painful. but the hot, hot shower feels so good. and i'm leaking breast milk all over my feet. swell, but it does at least relieve the pressure ever so slightly. geez, i'm so flippin' lopsided!

6:20 a.m. -- shower's off. she's not screaming and i can still hear marc snoring. either she's still sleeping (SWEET!) or she's in bed with her daddy. i start to slow down now. take my time drying off (avoid the breasts), take my morning insulin and go into our room. she's not in our bed. oh, man, this rocks!

i walk past her crib, avoiding all the creaky floorboards. she's kicked all her blankets off; good thing i put her in heavy pj's last night. i flip on the night light. she looks almost like she's slipping between the mattress and the crib bars, but i think she's just got her arm tucked under the bumper pad. she starts to stir. i quickly slather some moisturizer on my face and hope that i can at least get some gel in my hair and my underwear on before she wakes up. the big kids are still sleeping and i know her morning wail will wake them. (frankly, i'm surprised marcus isn't up yet.) i flip the towel off my head, scrunch in some gel and scoop her up (good morning sleepyhead) with a smile. oh, thank God she's awake...i put her on the big boob and relish the relief.

now it's time to celebrate. where are the cookies?