4:00 am

I have a feeling I will see this time on the clock a lot more in the coming weeks. 4:00 am really doesn't bother me TOO much, though, since I usually wake up at 5:00am anyway. What really bothered me was that I actually woke up in the 3's...I am the kind of person that needs her 8 hours every night. However, I am pretty sure over the past year plus, and especially the past several months God has been slowly preparing me for parenthood and what little amount of sleep comes with it. Job in another state in Eastern time zone? check! Leaving the house before 6am every day? check! Being pregnant and not being able to go back to sleep? check! I don't say any of this to complain. Sometimes I actually appreciate the time. I have always been a morning person, so I'd much rather wake too early than have trouble falling asleep. When I was little I would wake up pretty early every morning and I loved it because even on school days I would have time to drink my hot chocolate (precursor to hot tea) and play before I had to get ready for school. In the summers when we'd go visit my grandparents I remember walking down the road from our house to theirs in the dark and I'd sit with my grandmother and we'd watch the sunrise through her big picture window. It is comforting to know that another day is here. Another chance to redeem yourself at life! Maybe it is the farmer genes in my blood. Maybe its the baby hormones. Maybe I am just a touch crazy. I don't mind 4:00 am. We'll see if I will be singing another tune after our sweet little sleep stealer comes!