You Know You're a Mother When...

- You don't hear the phone ringing when you're asleep, but you can hear through a wall and closed door and the noise of a fan and white noise machine a muffled fuss from the baby beginning to stir from his nap.

- You are very aware of how often he poops, and also rejoice when he fills his diaper because that means he's not chronically constipated, which is what you've been worried about for the past several days.

- You are acutely aware of noises outside your home while your baby sleeps, and are ready to spring outside to ask the neighbors to please quiet down whenever they are near the baby's window.

- You have deep conversations with your baby about lint between his toes, and you just know he understands completely your point.

- You look at pictures of other babies in your immediate family, and, reminded of your own cute adorable child, have the almost-uncontrollable urge to wake him up at 11pm from his solid night-sleep just to play with him and see him smile again.

You're a mother. And you love everything that comes with it.

Packing & Pumpkins!

We did a lot of packing yesterday, probably packed over 30 boxes between the two of us. Granted, a lot of those were smaller boxes because we didn't want our books to be in boxes too heavy to carry.

I industriously packed several boxes of clothes, only to discover this morning that I had packed all of my husband's dress pants. So, we had to open a box, dig under my clothes and find him some nice pants to wear to church...preferably ones that didn't sport wrinkles.

I was so sick of packing last night that I wanted to bake something, but I was too tired to whip up a mess in the kitchen. Actually, after packing, there was still something of a mess in the kitchen from dinner the night before. We cleaned up the kitchen, stacked all the boxes neatly so that we could still maneuver through the apartment, and had leftover pizza and a well-deserved margarita.

I confess I was ready to start the Sunday relaxation, but Luke decided to clean his guns, since they were very dirty and since it was still Saturday night. He's so diligent! I helped him towards the end; but I confess again that I was mostly on the computer while he was working.

Tonight, after a good afternoon nap, while the baby talked and screeched on the kitchen rug near me, I finally made pumpkin cookies! It's been an annual tradition/favorite in my family, and I remember growing up having them every fall. Last year I didn't make them, but I sure heard about my mom and married sisters dutifully carrying on the tradition. I missed having them. I think the year before I had tried, but totally burnt the butter for the icing and was so frustrated that I used a regular icing recipe. But it didn't taste the same and I was afraid to try it again.

This time, it worked! I am rather pleased with myself (unfortunately), and glad that the icing came out right this year. Luke looooves the cookies, and I even threw in mini-chocolate chips in the second half of the batter (just to use them up and to try something new). Both plain and with the chocolate is great, but especially with the icing. My mother's note in the recipe was spot-on: "Don't even think about making them without the glaze."

I packed my pumpkin candles - too soon!- othewise I would definitely continue this fallish feel and keep the smells coming! As we plan to move the day after Thanksgiving, once I've unpacked everything I will want to decorate for Christmas so that we can enjoy *those* holiday traditions in our new place before we head to the Land O' Family for our two-week Christmas break. So this is really my last chance to whoop it up Autumn-style!

Time for another pumpkin cookie.