What I Never Imagined.

Today was a normal day. Just a normal Monday. No big deal, but I want to write it out so I don't forget today and how normal it was. We woke up and Evan left for work. Then I got the boys up a few minutes after 7 a.m. and after changing diapers Eli walked into our bedroom and asked, "Dada?". We ate breakfast together, listened to some music, chatted about our day, and waved to the neighbor on her balcony doing laundry. Normal.

After playtime and getting dressed, we drove to base to trek around the flightline in our new stroller. We ate a picnic at the playground and then played, played, played. Normal.

Drove home while singing and chatting loudly to keep 2 tired little boys awake. Up the stairs--one by one, one by one, back-tracking, laughing, hiding. Naptime. Normal.

Eli's runny nose after naptime was full force. He had no interest in eating his banana or drinking his milk for snack. Porter was fine with this because he will always eat the extra banana. Eli spent the next hour in my lap, barely moving, not caring if Porter touched his favorite books. Not normal.

Porter played and banged blocks. Porter busted his lip. This is the third time in 1 month he has done this. He walked with a toy and fell (1st time), fell out of the Pampers box (2nd time 2 days ago), and walked while chewing a book (today). Blood was on his clothes, my clothes, and his poor little upper lip is all cut up inside. Normal, at least lately.

Played together while I got dinner ready. Porter had a moment of "you've been spending too much time holding Eli" so I held him and we did dishes together. Eli played by himself. Not normal.

Dinner was spaghetti meat, veggies (for Eli), and applesauce. Normal.

After-dinner playtime is cut short after I realize these two little boys were not gonna make it to 7 p.m. Eli had no interest in taking a bath. Not normal.

Pajamas and bedtime routine. Normal.

As I took their bath towels back to their hooks, I saw myself in our bathroom mirror. It's cold weather so I switch between fleeces for my daily wardrobe. Today's fleece was black and I saw little shimmers as I walked. Upon closer inspection I realized my shoulders are smeared with Eli's runny nose and traces of Porter's bloody lip. It took me back to last winter when my fleecey shoulders were smeared with spit-up and milk from a long day of nursing and burping. And I thought, how could this possibly have gone by so quickly. There is not a lot that was easy in the beginning but each day the hard stuff became Normal. And today, 16 months later, I feel like it was yesterday. I used to change the daily fleece when the shoulders became too much to bear--too much spit-up, the smell got to me, it had been 3 days. Today I looked at my fleece as a sign that it was a good day. Eli took comfort in my shoulders and rested in my lap. Porter needed a hug after re-injuring his lip. Those smudges were my own personal signs of love.