contemplating black tea

I avoided caffeine through most of high school and all of college (even graduate school). I even made it though baby #1 without caffeine. Well, actually that's not all completely true. I didn't give up chocolate, so I guess I did have a bit of caffeine.

But, baby #2 has hit me hard. I went from being a red tea drinker to a white tea drinker. Last week I moved up to green tea. And now I'm contemplating black tea!! Oh no, what is happening to me! A dear friend recommended that I just buy a single cup of black tea on the mornings I need it instead of buying a whole box - less temptation to become dependent. This morning I'm thinking the box might be better.

But, I didn't buy the black tea yet, and I've had my Numi Mate Lemon Green for the day (good stuff by the way!), so I'll try overdosing on chocolate chips to try to stay away this afternoon. There is a fine line between eating enough chocolate chips to get me through the sleepies and eating so many that I get a tummy ache. Every day I try to find that optimal amount.

So, what has brought me to the verge of black tea? Well, that would be my little singer and her mommy-hold-me marathons in the middle of the night. I'm all for quality mommy/baby time, but I personally prefer daylight hours for bonding. But I think maybe it's more than just wanting mommy time. Both my husband and I feel that maybe it is time for some changes in our daughters sleep set-up. It's a little complicated so I'll not go into details, but I'm going to be working on transitioning her to sleeping in bed with me and sleeping unswaddled. After talking with my friend, advisor, and currently expert on getting cute little girls to sleep (bet you'd never thought you'd be called a sleep expert did you... ), I am inspired to make some changes. The goal is more sleep, but I have to be prepared for less sleep getting there. *sigh* But, our daughter did spend 20-minutes in bed last night and didn't scream wildy upon waking, which is an improvement. Both my husband and I have been talking to her about how change is okay and it's okay to sleep in bed and lying flat. So, please send sleep in bed vibes and change is okay vibes to my lovely little girl. And patience vibes to mama. And maybe I'll hold off on buying the box of black tea.

Good thing my bag of chocolate chips is empty now, I feel the tummy ache starting.