Sleeping in?

I think by now, you all know our situation with sleeping in this house. It isn't pretty. Sadly...I'm used to it. And this may be a helpful trait when the newest Dugan comes to live with us in October. At least that's how I choose to frame it for the sake of sanity.

But...we appear to be on a bit of a new and improved schedule as far as Joshua is concerned. Up until about a week ago, he was going down (finally) after about an hour of reading, rocking, singing, etc. at 9:30 and then would be up, raring to go between 5 and 6. I know it doesn't seem like an earth shattering improvement, but he's now had his peepers closed at the same 9:30-ish timeframe, but has been sleeping peacefully until 7 and sometimes even 8:00! Honestly....those two hours are magic to me.

You also, by this time, know that I do not claim victory in the sleeping department.....well, not ever. So, I'm simply counting my blessings for a few days of extra breathing room in the morning. And for as long as it lasts, I'll be thankful.

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It's been a very quiet week here so far. Joshua and Daddy have been filling the house with giggles while they play sports after dinner. (As I think about it, perhaps the SPORTS are playing a role in this extra-tired situation. Hmmmmm.) Joshua has learned to throw a small football and can sometimes even catch it. Last evening they were playing baseball a bit and Joshua seemed to enjoy that. So far, no casualties in the house with broken things. It's fun to watch.....the giggles are contagious.

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I was pleased to learn yesterday from the kind people at Baby Center who send me emails about the little one in my tummy, that he or she is now 4.5 inches long. Awesome. Now what could explain the significantly-larger-than-that bump I am sporting? I'm now in that phase where I've had multiple people congratulate me on being pregnant, which says something. People just don't do that unless they're SURE you are.

I still have no firm guess in my mind as to whether this baby is a boy or a girl. If I HAD to guess, I'd say it's a girl, but I wouldn't put any money on it. Our next appointment is in a few weeks (May 6th- just before Jason and I leave on our New York City trip). That will be the dreaded alpha feta protein blood test that sent us racig to Geisinger with Joshua. I'm pretty sure we've decided to go ahead with that test despite the anxiety it causes us both. I just feel like, if there's something wrong, I want to know about it. It most certainly wouldn't change our course of action, but I'd want to know. After that, we'll probably get to schedule the ultrasound for whenever that will be. I'm uncertain whether they'll have me wait another full 4 weeks and do it around 22 weeks, or whether we'll schedule for 20.

So that's it from this camp. Hmmmm.....what to do until Joshua wakes up? This is AMAZING!! Have I said that?