7 hours...

.... the number of hours i've slept in the last 3 days. or should i say, the last 3 nights.

why, you ask?

let's see if this doesn't tell you anything:

yes, mothers of the world, i am now one of the club. and thank you for letting me join.

it's a pleasure.

okay, not really.

while i will tell you that i love motherhood more than anything, there are definitely moments that i love more than others. holy cow, i am so dang tired. please tell me this doesn't go on forever.

someone? please?

and the poor little girl. feel so bad for her. she is just so uncomfortable and miserable, you can tell. and the only way she knows how to express it is to cry and pull her hair and bang her hands on her legs, the floor, whoever is holding her, whatever is closest...

thankfully (and as you can see) we got some meds from the doc today to help us get rid of that blasted ear infection and horrible runny nose and cruel cough. if we can just get through tonight, we'll be okay. i know it. we just have to get through tonight. no more nights like the last 3... sleep for a few minutes, cry for 30, sleep for a few, cry for 30... unable to find any position or way to get comfortable enough to sleep for a longer period of time. poor little thing.

on a positive note, as we were working through one of the awake periods at 12:30am last night, our little girl became a walker. well, we're calling her that. she took more than 5 steps by herself before falling. that counts, right?

she is brave and takes off a lot on her own, but usually only gets in a step or two or three before she falls. she doesn't seem to mind falling all that much - just get's back up and tries again. she's getting really good at balancing while standing, just the actual walking part that needs some work. but let it be known, that on february 4, sometime in the middle of the night when we all should have been sleeping, we weren't and beth took her first independent steps. enough that we're counting it as her first day of walking. congratulations to us. we are very proud parents. i will try to get some pictures of it and post them soon.