Get Out

Tonight when I tucked in Abbie for bed, I felt pretty warm and fuzzy about our whole nighttime routine. We read together, brushed our teeth together, prayed, sang, and I gave her a "baby ride" to her bed. Then I tucked her in and told her I loved her. As I left the room, I turned to look at her and said, again, "Abbie, I love you." Just I closed the door I heard her say something in response (which I thought might be "love you too, Lissa"), so I opened the door and asked her what she said. She smiled at me sweetly and responded, "get out."
And that is why I love that girl.
:)

Oh me of little faith

Babies know best, sometimes.
Today we went on an adventure to Olympia, and when we got back, little Lauren was all asleep. (So was Abbie.) So, I changed her diaper and put her down for a nap. A few minutes later, I could hear her talking and playing. Keep in mind that she missed the morning nap, and being a believer in naptime (see Tuesday), I was set on getting this girl to sleep. So I told her to lie down. A few minutes later, she was up and at it again... then she started crying. At this point of my life, I was curled up on the couch with Book of Mormon stories (yes, the illustrated one) and feeling mighty sleepy. So I didn't want to be bothered. I had the thought, check her diaper. Did I? No--I was comfortable. So this continued on for a while until I dozed off then was awakened by more crying. I finally gave in and picked her up... and checked her diaper. She was right--she needed to be changed. Sorry, Lauren! :) Now she's asleep, and I'm awake, and that's the way it should be.

Other sweet moments:

• Morning in bed. This was great--the girls slept in until 8:17 a.m.! Record of the week. This meant that I also slept in until 8:17. Then I gathered up those girls and brought them back to bed with me. They were so sweet and happy, and we played in the big bed (snuggled and laughed) for a while. When I had first woken up this morning, I was a little sad because of a dream I had. Then, in bed with those girls, I felt so happy and it felt so real and good.

Little helpers, big blessings

I found the (garage) light today, finally.

Life is so good. These girls are incredible. Sweet moments:

Dishes with Lauren. Who says 1-year-olds can't help in the kitchen? This little rascal helped me with dishes for around 20 minutes. It was a water conservationist's nightmare. Her favorite parts were filling, dumping, refilling, dumping [...repeat...] water in and out of a small bowl, playing with the water coming from the faucet, and me dumping bubbles on her hands. Then we unloaded the dishwasher (fear not, Mother, she didn't handle the breakables).... she was in charge of putting the kids' (plastic) things into the appropriate drawer. Sometimes they took pit stops on the floor... :) All in all, a good helper. Then we swept the floor and moved the laundry into the dryer (she was helpful with this and managed to move all the clothes I handed her, except the pink sock, which she aprehended and carted around for a while).

Singing for Abbie: A wonderful concert that lasted from Grandma's house to home. Abigail asked me to sing the "Pippy song" (she pronounces Pippy "peepee")... she watched the Pippy Longstocking movie twice at grandma's today. Do I know a Pippy song? No. So, I tried "Just Around the River Bend" from Pochahontas. She didn't buy it. So, I made up a Pippy song. Then when she asked for it again, I...made up another Pippy song. (The second one even had a melody!) Anyway, I then sang "tree song", a "sick song," and "Your love is better than ice cream." This continued until I got to "Nearer, My God to Thee," at which point she said, "Stop singing that," and requested Old McDonald.

Pizza! We are pizza chefs. Okay, so Abbie did all the work... I videoed the process. The best was Abbie adding the pineapple and olives. One for the pizza, one for Abbie... :)

I could go on. Lauren is so sweet when I hold her and she buries her head in my neck. I love how she loves her cow; tonight we came home after Abbie's swim lessons (Abbie even jumped in!! yay) and Lauren was asleep. And miraculously, her diaper was still dry, which meant I didn't have to change her... so I put her in her bed and she just smiled so big and sweet, and I brought her the cow and kissed her and she smiled again. And went right to sleep.

Tuesday: I respect Mothers...and naptime.

A few faces of today:

I love these girls.

This was a crazy day. I realized, I am not good at this mothering thing. It felt quite similar to how I feel some days teaching: "Why did I choose this profession?" Luckily, I'm not a mother now, so there is still hope. :) I'm sure I will feel woefully inadequate then, too, and that's okay. I can try, and I can love. I'm learning patience...

These girls got real tired today; their nap schedule was a little off. And I was tired, too.

Still, there were sweet moments; for example:

Lauren's kisses. Basically, she attacked my face with her mouth. I was lying on the ground, unsuspecting, and she divebombed me--mouth open wide. I was initially confused, then I realized (I think) she was kissing me. Prior to this, the only kisses I've seen from her were to the picture of Jesus in her bedroom (which was another sweet moment). During her attack, I was so busy laughing that I didn't defend myself well. The consequence was my entire face was slimed. Mostly from kisses; also, I afraid, from her nose.

Rough (but sweet) bedtime: Prior to tonight, I was shocked at how good at going to bed these girls are. Maybe I even had thoughts of "this isn't so hard" ...famous last thoughts. Tonight, it set in that Mommy and Daddy are not here. I think it was the tiredness. Abbie cried for her parents, and I came in and told her stories in bed. I told her all about what Mom and Dad are doing on the cruise, and I felt...inadequate. As much as I love her, I'm not her mom; I'm not her Dad. it is sweet and good to see how much she loves and needs them. Lauren woke up and cried a while later; all she needed was a little walk and a little nestling in my shoulder.

(Or maybe that was all I needed.)