A Few of My Favorite Things...

There are a lot of amazing and wonderful things about being a mom that I have discovered over the past 6 months. They are things that I know I took for granted before I had Keegan or maybe didn't even recognize their importance until Keegan came into our lives. Naptime just happens to be one of those things. Don't get me wrong...I've always loved naps. I'm a huge advocate of them, especially on a Sunday afternoon when there is nothing better to do but take a nap after coming home from early morning church (a luxury I'm looking forward to being able to enjoy in another 5 months or so when our ward returns back to the early schedule instead of the dreaded 1:00 pm start time).

While I love spending practically every moment of my day with Keegan, watching all of the fun things that he does on an hourly basis and watching him as he discovers all of the new and interesting things that he can do, when he's finally napping, I can't help but get a little giddy. Maybe it's because he is so stinking cute when he's asleep (I think he looks like a little angel), or it's because I know that I can *finally* take a shower, or get some bills paid, or even get a quick nap myself, but lately I have found myself looking forward to the times of day when I can finally get him down for one of his naps. Now that we are on more of a regular routine (meaning that I can typically plan on him going down for his first nap somewhere between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and then down for his second nap sometime around 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.) I know that there are definite times during my day where I finally get to have a few minutes of blissful "me time", which is something that is very rare these days. And I love the mood that he is in when he actually gets his nap. He's at the point where he just lays in his crib and plays quietly for a few minutes after he wakes up. His usual routine upon waking consists of him turning on the little turtle mobile that is in his crib so that he can sit and watch the little fish "swim" around while listening to a little music and playing with Bear and Monkey, his two stuffed animals that are always in his crib. When I go into his room to get him, I love the smiles that he greets me with once he finally notices that I'm in the room (that turtle can be pretty mesmerizing so he doesn't always notice right away). What can I say? I'm easily won over with his little smiles. The only thing that would make me happier than naptime would be if he would start sleeping through the night again (yes, I know...wishful thinking, but I got really spoiled early on when he would actually sleep 8 hours at night, instead of waking up at least twice which is what he's currently doing). I guess that I can't really ask too much of the little guy...with all the energy he's got I suppose he needs as much food as possible. Man this little kid is constantly on the go...even in his sleep he is still moving all over the place.

So that's the first of many things that I love about being a mom...stay tuned for future ones. What are some of your favorites?