The adventure begins

Thanks to my sleeplessness tonight and Heidi's not-so-subtle prompt to post something, we might be getting two blog posts in the space of a month!

Making room for baby sister means that big brothers get to share a room. We started this much-anticipated adventure tonight. Stratton was positively giddy about sleeping in Dawson's room and getting to use his new fire-truck bed that he's been eyeing for the last week that it's been in our living room (thanks again to our generous friends for the donation!!).

Unlike his older brother, Stratton wasted no time in exploring the freedoms afforded by the lack of crib rails. He got up several times to inform us that "Dawson needs some wawa (water). Dawson coughing." Dawson himself was making no such request. After a while, all that poor Dawson really wanted was to go to sleep. About half an hour later, we heard footsteps as Stratton blasted out of the room and thundered across the length of the upstairs. "See, Dawson. I run fast!" Apparently, no good bedtime is complete without a "feats of strength" competition.

But lo and behold, (after multiple parental trips up the stairs) approximately one hour after lights out, things got remarkably quiet. Reconnaissance missions confirmed the suspicion that, indeed, munchkin #2 had conked out, on his bed, into a peaceful sleep. (Dawson had fallen asleep quite some time before...)

Excited at the idea of a roommate.

First night in a big boy bed.

This was earlier in the evening. A discussion resulting from Dawson's great bedtime question the night before, "So, if the sun is always shining, where DOES it go at night?"

Need to Write it Down

Someone was telling me recently, that while they have put a priority on staying home with their kids, they're not sure they were cut out to be a stay-at-home mom. Totally understand that - are there many women who feel that they are? It is such an exhausting, humbling, 24-7 job that it seems to me any sane person would, at least occasionally, question the road they had chosen for themselves.

But then you have mornings like today. I don't know why, but the last few Mondays have been exceptionally good days with my boys. Maybe the kids are happy to get back into the routine after the weekend. I'm sure it has a lot to do with a more refreshed mommy who's had some breaks (huge, huge thanks to Eric who steps up big time when he's home).

I mentioned to Dawson when he woke up that it would be nice to make and deliver Valentines to two of our older neighbors who recently lost their wives. My gregarious child seemed to resonate with the idea that living all by yourself could be a little lonely and wouldn't it be nice to do something special for them? With no further discussion he slipped down to the playroom where our craft supplies live (temporarily bypassing the breakfast table) and started cutting and gluing. He emerged a little while later with the beginning of several beautiful creations. After breakfast, the three of us spent a long time putting finishing touches on them and figuring who would get what and writing messages, etc. Dawson got so into it that pretty soon he had made Valentines for our neighbors, but also for Daddy and Mommy and another friend as well. There's something satisfying about watching a child find such joy in taking simple materials and turning them into thoughtful creations that they are excited to deliver to their recipient. I indulged Stratton by allowing him to use markers (usually reserved for older kids) which also necessitated multiple trips to the sink because he was so disturbed by all the color he was getting on his hands. He would take out one color, lay down very close to the paper and make a little squiggle. Then he'd return the cap to the marker and repeat with another color. It kept him happy for all of ten minutes!

Dressed and ready to go, the Valentine's packed into a clean pizza box, the boys were so excited to get outside and make the deliveries. Another magical touch on today is the weather - it feels like spring has come in mid-February- near 70 degress, blue sky and warm sun. Unfortunately, our neighbors were not at home, so we postponed our deliveries till later in the day. No one wanted to go back inside, so it was time for some batting practice. I opted to forego the pitching duties today (getting off my feet was high priority by this point), and the boys were happy using the tee. They took turns sharing the bat and running after balls. For some reason watching Stratton jauntily run across the yard to retrieve the balls never fails to make me smile. Admittedly, he is getting faster, but he still runs like a toddler, with lots of side-to-side movement, his hair flopping as he goes and usually with a wide grin plastered on his face. Completely irresistible.

After storytime at the library -and it must be noted that my kids did not completely tear apart the library or draw too many annoyed looks while I checked out (a HUGE and unusual accomplishment) - and lunch, we headed back outside. Neighbors were still not at home (you could tell Dawson is getting disappointed), but it was just too nice to go in so we stayed out for a while. Sprawled on a blanket, we watched the sky, enjoyed the wind and took turns telling God what we were thankful for as leaves swirled in the air around us. It felt so good to be outside and warm and you could tell that they were just enjoying themselves. We talked about what it would be like to have a baby sister around (Dawson: "There's going to be lots of pink." He's very happy about this b/c it's his favorite color...) and at one point Dawson cuddled up to me and said, "Mommy, I like being with you." Wow. Can I bottle that one up to save for a while?

And that's what mothering is like. You put in countless hours of drudgery, sometimes feeling like a forgotten slave, but every once in a while those moments arise which bring into focus so clearly the value of what you're doing. Maybe it's the heartfelt expression of affection, or the gleam in their eye as they figure out some new skill or concept, or just the awareness of being together and really knowing and enjoying each other. It would be nice to take a shortcut to those moments, to extract the "meaningful moments" from the rest, but I'm not sure in relationships that's possible. The highs are only achievable because you've put in the rest of the time on the plateau when it seems like things are just limping along, or more often, driving you completely crazy.

And I needed to write this down because the magic will soon be over. The kids will be up from rest time. Stratton will be grumpy and asking incessantly for Daddy. I will be more tired and ready for the day to be over and we'll still have several house to get through before bedtime. I won't feel warm and fuzzy about my kids like I can right now and I will wish for just a few more minutes to read quietly by myself instead of tending to their needs. But I am thankful, and want to remember a magical morning with my precious boys.

Dawson with the duck they made at story time.

A Day in the Life

Stratton turned two today. I've tried, on birthdays, to capture a slice of what our days are like at this particular stage. Here are a few from Stratton's big day.

We have been talking about his birthday for weeks, and he was most excited about two things: cake and blowing the candles out by himself.

We started the day with a new book. Schoolbuses was the theme. Stratton thought it was pretty cool.
Big boy eats cereal quite well by himself at this point.
Some playtime with the wooden trains. Squabbling over construction of the tunnel.
After haircuts and getting dressed, we're looking a little more presentable. While I was getting dressed, the boys entertained themselves. I found them sharing a book in the rocker when I came to take them downstairs and off to Target.
Dawson had a field trip with friends to the Art Museum, so Stratton got some rare Mommy time. He loved it and wanted to read books on the couch for about 45 minutes straight. I think he really enjoyed having my attention all to himself. Later on, I attempted to ice the cake with both boys, ah...assisting. There was food coloring involved, which Stratton somehow got into and got all over his hands.
Big, big smiles always greet Daddy when he returns home. Just in time for dinner, a Skype call with the Stillwater crew and then, finally, the long-awaited cake.
Yum. Happy birthday, Strats!

First Camping Trip

It was really fun to take our boys camping. Have to say, I only got a few hours of sleep but they had nothing to do with it. The campground, while nicely situated was LOUD until the wee hours. : ( But it was completely worth it. My favorite memory from the trip is probably Dawson's waking up this morning. I was awake and lying right next to him. At precisely 5:58, he popped up - ready to go, but with a completely wide-eyed blank stare obviously trying to figure out where he was. I put my hand on him and whispered, "Hey, it's OK - we're camping!" The light instantly dawned and the biggest, most sincere smile spread across his face. He lay back down, totally happy to be where he was. A sweet moment. (Disclaimer: I can't take credit for most of these pictures. Out camera is on it's last legs, but the friends we were with took some great ones, which I am repurposing here...)

May! Dawson's Birthday Party, Creek Walk...

birthday parties can be tiring for little ones
the excitement of playing at the creek with lots of friends!
cupcakes
a treasure hunt in the new sandbox
a Lightning McQueen backpack - ready for the plane trip to Seattle!
from Aunt Heidi!!
The Annual Reeves' Men Creek Walk




The cutest things that keep me so stinking busy all day long...

A New Sandbox

Nobody fall off your chair. I am posting a new blog update!

We finally mobilized to create the sandbox we've been contemplating for a while. We conscripted manual labor (mom & dad were visiting and know how to wield a mean shovel) to dig dirt out of one of our unused flower beds. Just tonight a brother of a friend brought over a load of beautiful white sand, drove it into our backyard and dumped it into our sandbox (no hauling a hundred bag from Lowes - sweet!) The boys were excited - Stratton was a little overwhelmed at being in it and preferred to stand outside and reach in. After a very messy sandbox-side picnic dinner, we were ready to call it a night. As we were picking up stuff to go in, Stratton decided to christen the new sandbox by tossing an empty beer bottle down the brick stairs (yes the same stairs on which the terra cotta pot met its demise - pattern, anyone?). So, before the sun set on it's first night of existence we were picking shards of glass out of the sand...hopefully we got them all!

Before - a neglected flower bed

Let the digging begin!

A snack for the hard workers!

Learning practical skills with Grandma.

A real hammer, oh boy!

Eric got to play with his new "toy" - a circular saw.

Measure twice, cut once!

Lined and ready to go! Now all we need is...

SAND!

: )

Another Big Storm

For living in Richmond, I feel like we've had quite our share of winter weather recently. We had another huge dumping of snow (12"+) this weekend. Enough to shut schools down for probably most of the week. Today is day 5 being cooped up at home and I was starting to go crazy (ditto for the boys) and desiring some fresh fruit, so we did head to Ukrops for a quick outing. They plowed our street while we were out, so now it's quite good driving.

We shoveled just enough of our driveway to make a good sledding run. Stratton liked it if we did short runs from one parent to another. It was full out screaming when we took him down the whole thing! Oops.
He wasn't all that happy in the snow - I think the mittens, snowsuit, snow bibs, jacket, big boots had something to do with it - but I did capture a moment or two when we thought it was fun.
Three going on...thirteen??!?
The speed demon.
This was this morning when we had finished playing with water in the playroom. I took them upstairs for baths right afterwards since they were mostly undressed already!