you know that spot on your back? the one that you can't quite reach no matter which way you contort your body? arms over the shoulder. arms reaching above the waist. can't ... quite ... get ... it!

yah, now try wiping spit-up off that spot.

you know that chair, that artsy modern chair that's been a part of your furniture collection long before babies and marriage were even a possibility? the one that you love so much no one's even allowed to fart in it.

yah, hope it cleans well because we've got that covered in spit-up too.

and that was just part of my morning.

today was one of those days. morning blurred with afternoon. afternoon blurred with evening. lots of crying throughout.

what did i do today? what do i do every day? it's hard to say.

but we have our routine: feeding, wake time, sleep time, repeat.

and in between i try to squeeze in things like washing up a few dishes, grabbing a snack, sometimes even a meal, sorting dirty laundry or putting away clean laundry...

i'm constantly exhausted. and sometimes i am beyond exhausted. like i truly believe the word "exhausted" doesn't do it justice. i need a new word to describe how i feel. let me know if you have any suggestions.

i'm off to bed.

I am grateful Little Girl slept 7 straight hours two nights in a row.

Last night I ended up going to this dinner and show while Josh had after school commitments. Baby slept the whole time, and those around me said she'd be up all night.

Instead she ended up sleeping 10 minutes shy of TEN HOURS!!

Yes, I was freaking out. Yes, I went in and check on her. Repeatedly.

When she finally woke up, I fed her, dealt with a diaper disaster, had some tummy time (baby, not me), and then she was already falling back asleep again - less than an hour after she had woken up!

Crazy girl!

We'll see what happens tonight.

I love her so much and miss her when she's sleeping! :)

Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping, Christmas cards, Christmas baking, Christmas tree, Christmas stockings... Sad that thinking of so many Christmas related things causes extreme stress in my life.

Every year I tell myself it will be different.

Even this year with a severe scale back of gift giving (hallelujah), I'm still feeling overwhelmed.

It makes me sad to think of not having a Christmas tree this year. But I'm overwhelmed by the mere pondering of, "Should we buy an artificial tree?" If it wasn't a $200 investment, maybe it wouldn't be as overwhelming. Do we get a real one? Do we buy a fake one if we'll be getting a real one next year? Realistically, is anyone even gonna have the time and energy to put up any dang tree this year?!

We have stockings for Josh & I. But, of course, none for baby. Do we get her one that doesn't go with ours? Do we get 3 new coordinating ones? What about for future Christmases with potential future children and their stockings?

I want to get an ornament for our daughter. My parents got ornaments for my brother and I every Christmas. In fact, they still do. I'd like to do the same for our girl. How many stores do I have to traipse out to to find the perfect ornament for her? Because last I knew, I don't really go out to stores - or anywhere - anymore.

I know without a doubt I'm not doing any baking. I can't even muster up the energy to make myself a sandwich these days.

I've done Christmas cards and a Christmas letter for the last several years. I really want to do one this year, but I'm feeling overwhelmed (there's that word again) by the thought of it all. We sent 51 letters/cards/pictures last year. Half of the recipients see and hear it all on facebook. Do the other half even care to get such things? And then there's the Baby Announcement...

Can I stop yet?

Our girl has been turning out world upside down for 1 month & 1 day now. Wow, nothing can prepare you for parenthood. Nothing.

It's awesome and terrifying, joyful and torturous all at the same time.

Being a mom MAKES you be sacrificial. You can't be a mom without becoming selfless. At least not a good mom.

Anyways, I realized I hadn't even posted her name and stats, so I thought I'd take a quick moment to do that.

Catherine Addison is named after my paternal grandma. I was very close with her and chose Catherine's first name after my grandma's middle name. There was a last minute panic over spelling of the name (because my Grandma spelled it multiple ways), but we had pictured it with a "C" all along, so we stuck with that. Catherine's middle name was a favorite of Josh's. And I realized I can't have everything my way all the time, so I agreed. I'm glad I did. I absolutely love her name and can't picture her as anything else.

Catherine was born at 12:58 pm (my two favorite numbers actually!) on 11-11-11. This birth date was a dream come true for Josh, and I am proud to say I made it happen. The doctors wanted us to get to 11-9 with her. When I conferenced with the on-call doctor regarding specifics of delivery and he said 11-9 was booked, I asked for 11-11 as it worked better with my husband's work schedule. I actually asked for "Friday" and stayed clear of mentioning anything about the fun date of birth of 11-11-11. I figured that wasn't a good enough reason to make that request, so I just stuck to the facts and made it happen.

She weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz. and is now up to 9 lb, 14 oz. She was born 21 inches long with long fingers, big hands, big toes, dark blue-grey eyes, light brown hair, and cuteness all over.

She's eating well and sometimes sleeping well. Sometimes she's a bit stubborn like her mommy and fights going to sleep. She thinks she might miss out on something fun!

We are adjusting to life as a family of 3!