Insomniacs

I think I am officially dependent on medication for adequate sleep.

I should back up.  I have had trouble sleeping for as far back as I can remember; high school, college, and perhaps even before but I don't remember my sleep habits that far back.  It would take me at least an hour, typically longer, to fall asleep at night and I never slept through the night without waking at least once.

When I got pregnant with Ava the insomnia got significantly worse almost right away.  There were many nights I didn't fall asleep until 4am or later, and there were even some nights when I didn't sleep at all.  I would lie awake crying and mad at myself because I was SO tired, but I couldn't fall asleep.  After Ava was born initially the insomnia went away and I was ecstatic.  I was actually get more sleep with a newborn baby than I did while I was pregnant.  Unfortunately it was short lived.  Around the time Ava was 4 months old I started having difficulty sleeping again.  It got to the point that Jason asked that I see if I could get something prescribed.

As soon as I started taking Ambien I was hooked.  Not to the medication, but to sleep.  I get to sleep at night again, and I only have to take half of a pill.  I am not sure whether I should be concerned with taking the Ambien every night.  I have tried not taking it, but after lying awake for an hour or so I cave and take the pill and promptly fall asleep.  I hope that eventually I will be able to sleep alone again, but for now I guess this works.

I titled this post "insomniacs," because over the last week Ava has started to have trouble going back to sleep in the middle of the night.  She has always been a bad sleeper.  Horribly hard to put down at night and has never once slept through the night, and normally wakes up 3+ times a night.  She has always though gone promptly back to sleep after I nurse her.  Over the last week though Ava has had several times where she doesn't go back to sleep.  Last night was particularly bad and she didn't sleep will until 630am and only slept until 9.  I am hoping and praying Ava does not have my sleep problems.  I slept well as a baby so she is not following exactly in my footsteps.

Here is an insomniac hoping I did not pass on my insomnia to my daughter.

Cleaning the house

I am HORRIBLE at keeping the house clean.  I try and keep up with the necessaries: laundry and dishes, but everything else kind of falls to the side.  I can't remember when the last time was I dusted, and Ava and both cats are terrified of the vacuum cleaner, so that tells you something.  It doesn't help either that Jason couldn't care less about how clean the house is.  But today, I got alot done and therefore am feeling mightily proud of myself.

I have to make a rabbit trail here:  Ava is not the greatest of sleepers...ok she is a really bad sleeper.  But, before we left for Christmas vacation she was napping really well: one hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.  She napped HORRIBLY the whole time we were gone on vacation, and hasn't improved too much since we got back.  Until today!  Today she took a two hour nap in the afternoon, and I took advantage.

Ok, back to the main point.  I used the two hours she gave me to accomplish much!  I exercised for the first time since before we went on vacation.  I cleaned and vacuumed our bedroom.  I swept the entire house (we have hardwoods in every room except our bedroom), and I picked up all of Ava's toys.  I am feeling pretty good about myself.

Only problem with all the I accomplished...I forgot to make dinner.  Aw, well.  Can't win um all!! :)

We are starting a blog!!

A friend of mine posted on facebook today that she had started a blog.  She wanted to catalog all of the crazy and wonderful things her children did so that they could all look back on them one day.  I thought this was such a great idea that Jason and I decided to follow in her footsteps (thank you Tori :))

We are starting this blog for two reasons.  The first is definitely to keep a log of our lives and the things Ava is doing (and the antics of our future children as well), the second is so that our family (who all live far away) can keep up with any of our day to day stuff.

For those of you reading this blog who do not already know us...  My name is Sara, and my husband's name is Jason.  He is a math professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin.  For fun he plays video games, reads, plays disc golf and does more math.  I am currently a stay-at-home mom, which in my book is the best job on the planet!!  Prior to the birth of our daughter I was a nurse caring for pregnant women, newly postpartum women and their new babies.  Second best job on the planet.  One day I would like to work as a lactation consultant out of my house, but it will take me awhile to get that off the ground, I think.  For fun I also play video games and read.

Now onto the best part, our daughter, Ava.  Ava is our soon to be 10 month old daughter who thinks she is our boss.  She is the joy of our lives and is absolutely so much fun!  She does this half-crawl with one foot on the ground and one knee on the ground which is super cute.  She is pulling up on everything and wants to walk so bad, but hasn't taken off yet, much to the relief of our two cats.  Most of this blog will be about her I am sure.

Hope you are looking forward to reading the super exciting details of our lives!  My husband says we are boring...we shall see!