Chesed

A good day after a bad day is like air conditioning in August.  You almost can’t believe how good it feels.

I hope somebody had a really good day today.  Mine began soon after midnight when Liam’s tummy reacted to all the habanero peppers.  So sorry little one.  Mommy forgot.  And then when morning came again, I sat Liam down in our bed next to Adam who was obviously not feeling well from his cold.  Liam promptly threw up every ounce he’d just put in his tummy plus two or three more ounces of sinus discharge.  Adam gagged and heaved and gasped, “when is he going to be done?”  Thank goodness he had an empty tummy.  I think he should stay away from a career in medicine when he grows up. 

So instead of going to help my mother-in-law with her fall-cleaning, we stayed home. 

And read stories.  And broke into tears easily.  The boys did, that is.  And did very gross, puked on laundry.  I gave both boys motrin and baths and dreamed of long naps and great productivity in the afternoon.  So I pulled out the Christmas decor and let Adam help me which added some positive charge to the air to compensate for the previous negative. 

The productivity never happened. 

The puppies are four weeks old now and apparently too big for their pen in the barn.  It was mid-morning when Adam yelled that a puppy was in the yard.  I returned him, along with a few of his siblings who’d strayed.  Goldi ignored my directions to go feed her puppies.  You can’t blame her.  Sometimes I just need some space, too.  The puppies obviously seemed to be wanting her.  David Lee said to put plywood in front of the pen and suggested they might be hungry.  I fixed the plywood and some puppy food soaked with water and taught the puppies to eat.  (Yes, mom, that meant picking up a piece of puppy chow and feeding it to each puppy so they get the drift.  I was almost as thrilled as you would be.)  Not two hours later  I saw seven puppies out of the barn, romping around the doorway, trying to all latch onto Goldi at once.  Sigh.  More puppy catching.  More puppy food fixing.  More serious hand-scrubbing. 

Adam napped for three hours; but Liam?  Liam got rocked.  Liam got held.  Liam got fed.  Liam got many, many diapers changed.  Liam got played with.  Liam tried to take many naps and failed miserably at all of them.  I sort of dread the night. 

Twenty minutes before David Lee got home I managed to get the laundry put away and the kitchen pulled together.  I lit the candles for some wow factor.  It really was a good day, I thought, even with all the strange variables.

David Lee handed me a fat envelope from the mail.  “Thank you for sending us your children’s story….blah, blah, blah…..We are declining publication, however, partly because of the expense of producing a full-color book, and” ….. blah, blah, blah all the other nice things they say. 

 Bother.

I am a mom of two.  Today I have four children in my house five and under.  By some miracle, they are all horizontal and sleeping (except for Adam who is SURE Rochelle will wake up and he will miss out on some fun so I’m sure he’s peeping) at the same time.  So tell me, do I sit down and breathe?  Race to put laundry away?  Finish the phone conversation that got interrupted three times this morning?  Or start thinking about supper?

          Happy Thanksgiving

                     a son is a gift

congratulations Dwayne & Kristina

So I do have a life outside of pictures.  You’re just not hearing about it right now. 

I broke out of my safe little mode and listened to David Lee (finally, after about a year — why did I wait so long?).  It’s so cold outside.  And so, he talked me into using lights and staying indoors. 

I love not shivering.  I also love that Rebecca wasn’t afraid of color.  Doesn’t it make her pictures look fun and fresh?

Coming soon…..

edited to add: I didn’t even think about it that you would think this is me.  Congrats go to my lovely sister-in-law, Ro.

Oh, and here are the rest of them: Rosalea

before

And behold, Michelle’s kitchen was void and without form.  Well, more like full and completely without order.  And the time was 2:07 pm.  And in six hours twenty young men and women would arrive at her house looking for a snack.  It reminded me a lot of when we girls were pre-teens (and older, blush) and Mom would say, “Girls!  In less then an hour they’re going to be here and look at what it looks like in here.”  And finally we’d tear around and somehow manage to get it cleaned up at the last minute.  The problem is, at my house there are no pre-teenagers yet.

  It really and truly looked that bad.  I just wish you could hear the sound track of Liam crying at the same time.  I kept trying to put him down for a nap but he was up in ten minutes or less every. single. time. 

And then David Lee came home a half hour early after a rather frantic call from me.  Ahhhhh.  Two parents.  Liam made a huge mess (again) in his diaper around 5:30 and turned into his normal happy self. 

after

At 8:07 we looked like one of those Rod and Staff stories where the moms are always sweet and perfect and never rushed with their children and (used somewhat sarcastically at our house) “just as they put the vacuum away unexpected company pulls in the drive.”  I even got to read stories to Adam!

Ahhhh, ever so much better.

A half hour later they all came at once to eat and talk and laugh for a little over an hour and then they all left at once and the house was suddenly very empty and quiet.  I have lots of cake left.  Anyone want to come help me eat leftovers today?

Liam is taking naps!  For the first time in his life he has taken a 1 1/2 hr nap at least once a day for four days straight.  I am thrilled.  And productive.  I said it wasn’t terrible that he wouldn’t nap more then 20-30 minutes at a time because it wasn’t like he cried and cried or anything like that.  Still, his attention span is no longer then any other five month old.  I am amazed at what I can accomplish in twice that amount of time when I am not moving him from the floor to the exersaucer to a blanket near where I am working or holding him in one arm and doing something with the other. 

You little sweetie pie, you.  How I do love you.

You know how often you find yourself thinking, “no one told me it would be like this to be a mom.”  Sometimes it’s better then you expected.  Sometimes it’s worse.  Well, every once in awhile I feel this contented little sigh because this moment is just what I dreamed of when I thought of being a mommy.

About two weeks ago we were driving to church Sunday morning amidst glorious sunshine, mild temperatures, and spectacular fall colors.  I was so excited and eagerly suggested we go hiking that afternoon.  “We don’t have a backpack,” said my ever so practical husband.  I was sure we could do it somehow.  He did at least advise against hiking up the mountain behind his parent’s house since the trail isn’t exactly clear so we hiked up into National Park area and to the Loft Mountain Overlook (about 4 miles round trip) instead.  By the time we had lunch and were on the road it was not sunny anymore and not exactly what you’d call warm.  But we loaded up with jackets, a water bottle, stroller, and snugli and headed out.  Before we even parked the car we saw a bear.  I have to admit, I fear them.  David Lee insists they are more afraid of me then I am of them.  I’m oh so willing to believe him from the safety of the interior of a car, or a house, or just interior of something other then a jacket.  But seeing them in the wild when I have no where to hide scares me terribly.  Having two children to protect doesn’t distract me in the least.

So we tramped through the leaves helping Adam notice the fall colors and the way things are turning brown and bare.  How noisy the leaves are when you tramp through them and explaining how the Indians could walk so silently no one heard them coming.  Listening to robins flying south for the winter.  Talking about what National Forest means and why you can’t hunt there.  Explaining conscientious objectors and how mommy and daddy’s grandpa’s helped build these rock walls because God doesn’t want us to have enemies and fight other people.  Pointing out Grandpa’s house and Simeon’s turkey barns from the mountain top. 

Adam walked almost the entire way up until he got too cold and tired.  We snuggled the boys into the stroller and the snugli with blankets and as we nearly raced back down the mountainside in the cold and wind (and fear for me because someone stopped to ask if we saw that bear — no, we just heard it 30 feet ago or so) I knew in my heart that this was what I had always envisioned for our family.