When Skies are Gray

Today I decided last minute to go to Taryn's cross country meet. She only had one left after this and I thought errands could wait until tomorrow. Besides, I was already headed out that way for a wedding shower later that night. Just as I pulled into the parking lot, it began raining pretty hard. Luckily Grandpa had left about 15 umbrellas in his car that we bought from Grandma after he passed away.... Its days like today I thank him for the little presents he left :) Anyway, I put Jadon's carseat in the stroller for full canopy coverage. As I'm wheeling him down to the field, I discover that the school has decided to fence the field so that its only access is through a gate and down some steps. I managed to hoist the stroller onto the hill after going through the gate and began pushing it over lumpy wet grass to get down to where they were running. Meanwhile I'm getting soaked and fighting with the umbrella to keep it from going inside out. I must have been quite the sight! Somewhere in the middle of this frustrating dampness, I looked down at Jadon to make sure he wasn't getting soaked. There he was, dry as a bone and cracking up. He giggled over every squishy bump and I couldn't help but laugh. I don't know if he was laughing at me or the bumpy road, but he sure brought a smile to my face :) He is so much like his dad sometimes....always finding something to laugh at....no wonder I love him so much. When the day was done, I had caught the end of Taryn's race, she had blown her old time out of the water (literally) , I went to my shower a bit sloppy, enjoyed time with friends, came home and put a super tired little boy to bed. Rainy days aren't always convenient, but they also don't always have to get me down!

Thinking too much

Its official: Bath time is my favorite time with my baby. As soon as I lay him down in his tub, the fun begins. He grins, he giggles, he makes hilarious faces. He has a toy duck that squirts water from its beak. As soon as I lift that thing into his view, he goes CRAZY. Arms and legs flailing, tongue out, back arched. Tonight the tongue was really going. He use to barely stick it out, but tonight it was ALL the way out, while the limbs were flailing. How ridiculous would I look doing that? However, he looked absolutely adorable! Oh to be 5 months old :) Yes, the personality just pops when he's soaking in the tub. Bathtime is my favorite time... that is, until I rock him to sleep, or wake him up in the morning, or see his funny grin behind mounds of rice cereal.....I love my job :)

I looked at Jadon today and thought he literally grew overnight. He really looked bigger to me today than he did yesterday. When I was pregnent, and when he was first born, everyone I came into contact with would say, "enjoy him, they grow up so fast" or something to that effect. What do you do with that though? I distincty remember sitting in the rocking chair with him on my chest, all 8 or 9 pounds of him. Just sitting. Sitting and conciously enjoying. Now he's pushing 20 pounds and I am still enjoying. But the thought struck me today that I won't have those chubby armed hugs around the neck forever. The realization that such a HUGE joy is temporary brought me to tears, until I remembered.... that 8 or 9 pound baby didn't have such chubby arms, and he definitely couldn't use them to hug my neck. And my 20 pound baby can't say "Mommy" yet. Only God can give gifts that keep giving!

The first Cycle

Mothering is round the clock.... like laundry :). I love it more than anything I've ever done, and I love him more than anything in the world, but kids have this thing about routine.... eat, play, sleep, eat, play, sleep, etc. until tomorrow when we do it all again! So in between the eating and the playing (during the sleeping), comes the mommy moments. The times when I actually can eat lunch, or read, or well... throw in a load of laundry. Its in those moments that this blog will take form. So forgive me if there is a missing sock or an occasional dirty t-shirt thrown in here somewhere. It probably just means that the baby woke up mid-sentence and the cycle started over! But, my hope for this blog is that it is a mis-matched collection of funny stories, cute sayings, and life lessons I learn from my child(ren) and my husband during the simplest moments.