A Mother's Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the gift of my wildly spirited second child. I know there was a point when I doubted you and your plan for my family, and I see now you were just waiting for the right sperm to meet with the right egg and swim into my heart.

Thank you for his fierce independence, going to the convenience store by himself before he was 2.

Thank you for his efforts in cleaning up his own messes, even if he won't touch the toys in the playroom. Thank you for his friend S, as a wonderful co-conspirator in crime. Thank you for his potty-training, that we left diapers long ago, but somehow still poop on the bathroom floor at least weekly, and S who tried to keep him out of trouble tonight by helping to clean the poop. But most of all, God, thank you for a toilet to poop in, a floor to poop on, bleach and running water to clean it all up with, and a washer to put the rugs in.

Thank you for friends who take my big kid to hockey, probably against his will for the next 5 practices and 12 games (but who's counting?).

Thank you for a big and a little boy who are afraid of the dark, and spill the events of the day the moment I turn off the bedroom light, as we sit and talk in the dark, keeping all of us up too late.

Thank you, God, for the gifts in my life. Someday when they're all grown up, I'm gonna miss this.

God, be with the kids and moms and dads in Haiti. May they find silly, frustrating, simple problems like mine again. May they find a new sense of normal, of trust, of calm, with you in the center of it.

Amen.

The Pic that Didn't Make It

Waiting for the Birth of the King

I had the perfect idea for a Christmas pic. Colby looked so stinkin cute as a farmer for the church Christmas program in his John Deere boots and bib overalls. Evan was a wiseman, so just had a robe to wear. Unfortunately, he was coughing and didn't feel great. I got one shot and they were done for. With my phone camera, it didn't turn out very well, but maybe next year...

Facebook vs. Blog

Tom has pointed out that since I started Facebooking, I quit blogging. Alas, he's right. Here's a small effort to correct that.

We had a great Christmas, several times over. To start the holidays, Colby got ear tubes for the third time on Christmas Eve. I'd blame the timing on the Jewish ENT, but I chose the date. The other option was the day of their Christmas program at school, and I wanted them both to sing in it. They are just far enough apart that it won't happen often that they are in the same program. The pics are before, all playful with his new Project Linus blanket, and after, in his "Weave me awone!" crabbiness. Everything was too loud.

He is still coughing, with a runny nose and congested. I was hoping the tubes would help that, but I'm not sure they did. Dang it! Colby still remembers the "stinky place" or "blowing up the balloon." "I was scared of the balloon, Mommy. It was yucky." The anesthesiologist talked about him blowing up a balloon, meaning the anesthesia machine, and he remembers the stinky smell. Colby didn't like the gift of the balloon from the machine that the anesthesiologist gave him.

We came home and opened packages with my sister, BIL, nieces and nephew, and my mom too. The grandkids always have a good time together. We went to Methodist church and Colby finally crashed for a nap after the early morning and excitement of the day. After a movie at home, C had no problems going back to sleep. Evan, on the other hand... I was watching Santa on NORAD, and told him he was in Kentucky and he had better get to bed. What a mistake on my part! He couldn't sleep because he was afraid Santa would know he was awake and skip our house. The more he tried to sleep, the more anxious he became. I finally gave up at midnight and left Tom with instructions and told E to crawl into our bed. Then sleep came for all of us. :) Christmas Day was spent together in the morning, and with Tom's family for the afternoon. My brother got the unexpected gift of 2 weeks vacation, so he and his family came home to my dad's. It's been 3 years since we saw him, and 2 years since we saw his girls, and I don't know when I saw his stepson last. Three days of family time just goofing off, talking, taking pics, enjoying the kids, a little shopping. Dang it, to be interrupted by work. The togetherness had to end sometime. I'd upload pics, but my kids broke my camera. Shoot!

It's now a week after New Year's, and the kids have been home 2 days in a row for snow (4 inches) and cold temps - highs in the single digits with serious wind. Yuck. It's back to the daily grind - a few days a week at the hospital for me, Tom's usual work schedule, Scouts, preschool, and church.