My heart.

Watching Mickey

This is how yesterday began.  We woke up later than usual since I set my alarm for p.m. instead of a.m.  Well, now we weren't going to make it to yoga.  No big deal, we have a few errands to run anyway.  The little boys were awake and switching blankets when I walked in to greet them.  We tee-teed in the potty and went to the rug in the kitchen.  Instead of cereal, Eli asked for yogurt.  So we had a banana and yogurt.  Deciding it's time to get dressed, I sent them to my bed to watch Mickey while I got their clothes and got dressed myself.  The above picture is what I found when I was getting their clothes out.  They sit like this a lot when we do cartoons/get dressed.  The difference was Eli wasn't whining about it.  Porter is a leaner.  He gets that from me--he just likes to touch someone at all times.  Usually Eli pushes away after a minute or so.  Not today.  They sat like this until I started to get them dressed.

We left the house and headed to the Toyota dealership where we had to wait for about an hour to get a new battery.  We cleaned out the super-gross toy bin and chose to play with a couple of magazines instead.  They proceeded to chat, play nicely, and sit with me while people wandered in and out.  Time dragged for me because I was just waiting on the ball to drop.  They were just entertained watching people in and out, talking with them, or asking me what each person was doing or where they were going.  Time's up, car is ready.  We leave without incident.

On to the gym where I need to sort out some paperwork.  They love the gym playroom so I wasn't worried, however we were able to leave quickly when it was time to go.  Usually it takes 10+ mins because we have to say goodbye, linger, play some more, then we put the toys away.

On to Freebirds for lunch. Besides wanting to carry the high chair all by themselves which results in them pushing it, there were no incidents.  They ate lunch and I ate mine.  The sweetest moment was when I was cleaning up and each of them had one last chip.  Porter finished his and wanted another one.  After explaining that there were no more chips, I got up to throw the food away.  Then Eli handed Porter half of his chip.  Unprompted.  Porter said, "Thank you Eli", unprompted.  I almost melted on the floor.  It caught me so off guard as I stood halfway sitting, halfway standing at the table looking over my shoulder at these two little people, the beats of my heart.  We left with the only incident being when Eli got sad when he threw his milk away, it actually went into the trash can.  He was trying to miss the can.

Home for playing and puzzles and then naps.  They ate an early dinner because I had to sub a class.  They ate and got into the car.  This is when I realized it was THE day of all days.  I was early.  I teach at 5:30 p.m. every Monday.  And every Monday I arrive by the skin of my teeth because I have to feed them dinner first because we don't get home until 7 p.m. and that makes for too long of a day to still have to feed them at that point.  So yesterday, I subbed a class and when I dropped them off at the nursery and looked at my watch, I had 14 minutes until my class.  We didn't do anything differently, except that yesterday Eli and Porter were buddy-buddy all day.  When I said to go to the car, they both walked together to the garage.  When we got out of the car, they both took my hand and walked jumped their way to the door.  Usually one wants to sit in their car seat for another minute or someone wants to take an extra loop around the house with a train before we leave the house.  Not yesterday.  Left the gym, got home, took baths, read a book, said prayers and off to bed.

For anyone who knows us lately, knows we have an Escapee named Porter and a Tattle-Taler named Eli.  Porter joins Eli in his bed or tries to convince Eli to join him at the door and Eli does not want to join in or entertain him because our next move is taking something away--mainly blankets and Eli's paci.  Eli does NOT want that paci gone so he follows the rules!  But last night, no one escaped.  No one tattled.  They both slept--no peeps.  Evan was gone the last couple days.  The days I teach are long anyway since we get home at our normal bedtime and still have to do baths.  Usually though those few minutes when we walk in from the gym I have a few minutes to get everything ready for bath/bed because the boys are tumbling with Evan.  Even though he wasn't home to give me that little break, they walked right to put their shoes away and get to the bath.  I loved yesterday.  I was dog-tired since during naptime, when I usually nap too, I baked and packed.  But it was so worth it to spend every second with my favorite little people.  Not everyday is like this but I wanted to remember it.

With the holidays upon us, I think of everyone who will celebrate this year without the people they love.  Whether it is those families from the most recent events in Connecticut, a family member who lost their mother to cancer, a best friend who lost their mom to cancer, or families who lost children/family members years ago, who still wish they were around during these days.  I am so thankful I have my family around me, most especially Evan, Porter, and Eli.

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  ~Elizabeth Stone