Of Our Amazing Kids

I will have to admit: a babymoon is one of the greatest inventions ever.  I feel as though I came out of it more in love with my husband - thanks to the quality, child-free time we able to share - and ready to be a "mommy" again.

I've now felt myself truly cherishing these final moments, days, weeks before our time is channeled, once again, into caring for a newborn and suddenly divided between three, rather than simply two (not to mention time for each other!).  It's these little moments, like snuggles with our little cuddle-bug of a son or playing dolls or hide-and-seek with our adventuresome daughter (whose favorite, and almost cutest, phrase is, "Wanna play wit me?") which are held so dear.

But it's also those moments in which I get to be simply an on-looker which are so priceless.  Like yesterday when I really didn't want to put them down for a nap as they sat in the entryway of our home simply playing together - so happy, so peaceful.  Or today, as Micaiah played on her own and Emmett came to see over her shoulder what she was doing; noticing him back there, she leaned her head back onto his shoulder and he placed his tiny arm around her.  Seconds later, when I thought she was going to yell at him for playing with an unapproved toy, she, instead, leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

I love these two.  And I love how much they love each other.

Given the above anecdotes, I'm sure you can imagine how the room-sharing is going.  They adore waking up to each other.  When I went in to retrieve them this morning, this is what I found:

It took a full two or three minutes before Emmett even looked up and Micaiah never even noticed I was there until she saw the flash of the camera.  They were both so engrossed in their reading material, as they lounged on her bed.  Yeah, they're pretty much the greatest.

And on an unrelated note (except for noting the amazingness of our children), Micaiah announced this morning, "Mommy, I'm going to go into the potty and make water right now."  And then she did!  In case you're unaware, this is not exactly the first time she has gone on her own, but this is the first time she has done so on this particular leg of this seemingly endless potty training journey - as in, it's been months almost since we've heard her announce her intentions and then follow through.  Just for that, she got not one "white donut," but two.  She pretty much could have asked for a pony in that moment and I might have tried to figure out how to work it into the budget.  Have I mentioned I am so ready for this girl to be potty trained?

Of Our Baby-moon

I must beg forgiveness for my extended absence through the latter part of 2011.  We enjoyed a splendid Holiday with Philip's family and, after, he and I left our children to enjoy a week with Gram, Grandy and Aunt Dia, while we spent a week at home, blissfully alone.   Days spent on the town, nights spent playing games at home.  We contemplated a thoroughly scandalous evening of a late-night movie (without having to call a sitter!) before realizing we were too much of home-bodies to really get any kind of pleasure from heading out once we were comfy at home.

Though we relaxed quite a bit, we accomplished some work, as well, procuring a vehicle large enough for our growing brood and also converting "Micaiah's room" into "Micaiah and Emmett's room" so we could begin preparing the nursery for its pending occupant (well, not that we've started that process yet, but it will happen soon).  I feared the overwhelming amount of "new" might freak out the kids, but they were just so thrilled to see Mommy and Daddy, they didn't seem to mind.

Well, one of them was excited to see us, anyway.  The morning after we appeared at Nenaw and Papaw's to retrieve them, Micaiah climbed up on our bed and asked, by way of welcome, "Why are you here?"  Emmett's tears of anger any time his parents were out of sight did much more for our egos than his sister's inquiry.

And when we arrived home, they were both ecstatic at the new living arrangement.  Micaiah, after inspecting the dismantled nursery, told me, "I want to show you something in Emmett's room!" - to which I responded, "Micaiah, this is Emmett's room.  This is Emmett and Micaiah's room."

Her face almost couldn't hold her joy, "Yeah!  This is Emmett and Caiah's room!" - then, turning to her brother, she announced, "This is your room and this is my room!"

We'll see how long it lasts, but for now the living is good.

PS It has been a goal of mine for a few years now to participate in what has been known as "Project 365": to take a photo each day of the year, to capture all the moments, both small and large.  My determined sister-in-law accomplished the goal last year and has decided to embark on her second year.  As I have long desired to include more photos in this blog, I am aiming to attempt the photo-a-day task as well.

Our new co-habitants playing in Emmett's newly-converted big-boy bed: