A Friday Musing

It will be a busy weekend for us. From sushi to a housewarming, house visits to birthday celebration, and a lot of driving in-between, we are going to be very busy. I love knowing that we have so many people that love us and want to spend time with us, but I have to be careful not to overtire the children. Otherwise, NO one will want us to spend time with them!!!

Lane has been using the funniest phrases lately, and he's been cracking us up! He recently told me that the celery he was eating had hurt his feelings. He also said that he was flushing the people down the toilet. When I asked him what people, he looked at me as if I should know what he was talking about. "The water people, Mommy!" Duh, what I was thinking?

Cora has been talking a lot as well! Her doctor told us that she is speaking above the average 15 month old's vocabulary. Probably an 18-20 month old vocabulary is what she is showing. What can I say? My kids have the gift of gab! Cora's favorite thing to say is Bubba, followed by DaDa, Papa and bawk-bawk. She says thank you for everything (which I love!) and is very good at talking on the phone! She has quite an appetite, so watch out when you are eating around her! Your food is not safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marriage

One of the first out of my high school peers to get married and have children, I have attended/been a participant in several weddings since my own. Today, one of the last of my unmarried friends is tying the knot. The difference is, she's moving all the way to Naples, FL. I'm a naturally emotionally person, and weddings REALLY run the gamut of my emotions; today, I feel as if I might soak through several handkerchiefs. I am so very excited for TSB(L) and know that she is marrying a good man. I am sad for the opinionated, grammatically-correct sized hole that she will leave behind. I can't believe how far we've all come in such a short time. 5 years have flown by, swallowed into the oblivion we call "the past". May I be ever appreciative of every moment, every shared laugh, every friendly embrace...

When the rain comes, it pours!

As a home-grown Florida gal, I am used to the hot summer days, followed by the intense rain, as well as the gorgeous lightning displays during thunderstorms. I am not, however, used to being cooped up in a house with two small children during said rainy season! This summer is a lesson in ingenuity, I can tell you!

As I blog, Cora is sleeping and Lane is doing a coloring "activity". This has been my saving grace with such an active, outdoor-loving boy. All I have to do is breathe the word, and I've got an excited, crayon-and-paint fiend on my hands! We've fingerpainted thank you cards, footprinted Father's Day cards, "snissored" (translation: cut with scissors) and glued mini masterpieces, and play-doughed our little hearts out these past few months.

Another wonderful escape? B-O-Z. What is this, you may ask? Only the best friend any parent could ever have! The big, green bear is a teaching, loving, mannerific friend that teaches Christian values, letters, numbers, and friendship. My in-laws picked up a couple of the dvds for Lane and Cora, and I found my new crutch! Boz is great for distracting stir-crazy children or for lulling them into a false sense of calm, allowing me to transition to nap time a bit easier while I clean up lunch dishes.

All in all, summer is still my favorite season. I'm a true-blue Florida girl, for sure. With a few new tricks, and a LOT of watermelon and sweet tea, I'm able to enjoy it with my children. I hope they always remember the good times... especially after all the hard work I've put into it!!

Wonderings

Just something to think about today... If someone tries to be nicer, especially with her (or his) delivery of certain ways of speech, does that matter at all? The effort? Does the effort matter? Or only the results?

When Lane tries to do something good or right, I reward him for his EFFORT. I guess it isn't the same for adults. Blah.

AUG.20

It is amazing how a milestone in your child's life can be both happy and tearful. I don't know how I can have such mixed feelings about an event, but I guess it is part of being a mother.

We have had Cora sleeping in our room in her beautiful, handmade cradle since she was born. Lately, I've had a really hard time getting her to sleep soundly at night, and I attributed part of her restlessness to our "sleeping" sounds (aka Dustin snoring!). However, I think I was contributing to the problem by nursing her in our bed and letting her stay in the bed for an hour or two; how long she stayed was determined by how long I could rest comfortably with her there. She got where she would be sound asleep in bed with us, but as soon as I lifted her into her cradle, she would wake up and want to nurse, even though she wasn't hungry. I was turning into Zombie Mommy, and she wasn't sleeping like she needed to be.

My solution for lack of sleep was to move her into her own room. We started putting Lane in his room when he was three months old also, so I decided it was time for Cora to migrate across the hall. I expected our first night, Sunday, to be a little tough while she was getting used to it. We did our usual bedtime routine, and after putting Lane down, I rocked Cora in her room and laid her down. It took one more round of rocking, and she was out cold. I didn't hear a PEEP out of her until 1:30 a.m. I nursed her in the rocking chair in her room instead of our bed, and right back to sleep in her bed she went. 5:30 rolled around; another nursing session and back to sleep! Thus, a new routine was born. This girl is such a good baby!

I must admit, I did cry the first night when I walked into my room and saw her empty cradle. It's still in there, waiting for the perfect opportunity to be used. I'm not ready to pack it away yet... she can use it for naps on days that I want to sleep in the same room with her. I'm sure she won't mind!

AUG.5

When I was pregnant with Cora, I wasn't really sure how much Lane understood "baby in mommy's belly". I talked about her to him every day, and he loved to come kiss my belly and lay his head on it. He knew to point at my stomach when asked where baby Cora was. I wondered how he would act when she was born and no longer living inside of mommy! The day he was brought to the hospital to meet Cora, I found out! We introduced Lane to his new sister, and after a few minutes, asked him where Cora was. He pointed to his new baby girl! Never once after meeting her did he point to my belly in reference to Cora.

Now, all Lane wants to do is kiss Cora and love on her, just like when she was in my stomach. He begs to hold her, and when he REALLY wants to hold her, he runs to his Elmo couch, flops down, and puts his hands up, asking, "Hold you, Cora!" It is so sweet, and watching them interact is even sweeter. I love the bond that they have had from the start!

JUL.24

There are defining moments in the life of every parent. I have found that for me, these moments are not usually the major milestones. It is usually something so small and sweet that someone else would find trivial, but those are the times I love the most!

For example, last night I went into Lane's room to check on him before I went to sleep. He was laying on top of his blanket instead of under it, so I pulled it out and spread it over him. I wasn't as gentle as I thought I was, apparently, because he woke up and started crying. I raced out of the room so he wouldn't see me, but it was too late. I went back in and picked him up, and we sat in his recliner. He settled down immediately, and even let me cradle him. Just holding him like that touched my heart, and I started thinking about his first months of life and holding him in my arms. It reminded me of the book, "Love You Forever" (http://blogs.smarter.com/babieskids/category/books/) and made me wonder if I would be sneaking into his room to hold him when he gets bigger than me...

While I was holding him, lost in my own thoughts, his eyes fluttered open and fixed on something above my head. I looked up to see what had him so interested, even half-asleep, and saw the green light on the smoke detector. Why this caught his gaze, I do not know, but when I looked back down at him, he gave me a sweet, secret-sharing smile that melted me all the way down to my toes. His little dreamy eyes glanced back up at the light, and when I looked again, he gave another smile. I started laughing, and he just griiiiiiiiinned at me.

Sound silly to you? It was the most beautiful thing I had experienced all day. That smile was worth five hours of labor, nights of little or no sleep, days running on pure caffeine, and so much more. That child wrapped heartstrings so tightly last night; even when I thought they couldn't get any stronger. Motherhood is not only the most rewarding thing I've ever done; it's probably one of the only things that gets sweeter every single day, regardless.