As They Sleep

Many of my very favorite Mommy Moments,

The ones that are forever frozen in my mind

And stamped in my heart,

Are of my children, asleep.

The second weekend that Charlie was living with us -

We weren't even his official foster parents yet and

I was wondering how good of a mom I could actually be - 

We went out furniture shopping.

We really needed a better "kid" bed for his older sister.

(We only had three days' notice before they started staying with us, and she was in our guest bed.)

We went to at least 6 furniture stores that Saturday.

And then there was Ethan Allen.

Charlie had been pretty darn amazing given his status as a two year old.

He'd rode in our brand new Maclaren stroller at every store.

But at Ethan Allen he was tired.

In one moment I noticed a perplexed, worried look on his face.

I took him out of the stroller,

Sat down on the couch we were standing near,

And his head instantly cradled into my shoulder.

I rubbed my hand down the front of his head gently, three or four times.

And he was out.

It was one of my very first moments of warmth with him,

And the first time I could see myself as his mom.

I'll never forget it.

Ephram is my difficult sleeper,

But he loves a good cuddle,

And he's the best snuggler around.

When I was pregnant with Macie,

Especially during those first four long and sick months,

I was so bone-tired as soon as dinner was done.

And I knew that I couldn't bear the fight it would take to get Ephram to go to sleep the "right" way.

So, during those months, I decided I didn't care

And for the duration of my pregnancy, we had a grand ritual that I will always treasure.

We would get ready for bed,

Read our books,

Put on our pajamas,

Brush our teeth,

And then we'd climb into the cozy La-Z-Boy chair in my room.

There he would sit on my lap, snuggle into my side,

Fitting himself around my growing bump as time wore on.

Sometimes I'd pat his back,

Sometimes he'd pat mine.

I'd tell him about how I loved him,

And how that would always be true,

And my love for him would always grow,

No matter what.

And we'd watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

He'd be so excited at all the songs,

Answer all the questions,

Call for Toodles every time,

And laugh, laugh, laugh.

Sometimes he'd fall asleep first,

But more often I would fall asleep first.

I'd wake up some time later to find him warm, sleeping and, more often then not,

Smiling.

There is never a better smile to catch on your child's face then the one that is present in sleep.

The one that confirms that their life is good enough

To produce happy dreams.

And sometimes that reassurance would be confirmed with a little sleep-giggle.

When Macie was newborn, there was nothing to do but watch her sleep.

She was surrounded by equipment, weird noises,

Nurses that were amazing - but, even so, were not her parents.

Her room did not belong to us

And did not resemble a nursery I'd have liked her to be in.

And her bed was a plastic box.

And although I sometimes resented that plastic box, 

Which was not the co-sleeper attached to my bed,

I knew it was keeping her warm and safe.

And it did allow me to watch her sleep,

My peaceful, strong daughter,

From all sides.

Andy and I would stand next to that box together.

His arm would always rest around my back and on my shoulder.

And we'd stand like that for 15 minutes or sometimes, an hour.

We'd watch her little movements,

Listen to the monitors around her,

And we knew that her sleep was bringing her health.

That sleep was a magic sleep.

And then there was the day that they took her out,

The first day I held her in my arms,

Against my skin,

As she received one of her first feedings through her tube.

I felt her relax into me about a minute into my hold,

And her peace washed over me and consumed me too.

Her breathing regulated, her pulse was even.

And it was just... magic.

I love watching my kids sleep.

Children are in their most pure form in slumber,

And no matter what the day has held,

I see them for the angelic miracles they are.

As Macie has been a baby, I have often fallen asleep while feeding her in the morning.

There have been many days that I have planned it,

Because I love it so.

And Ephram almost always snuggles on the other side of me,

And often falls asleep too.

They are magic moments that we share.

And they will soon come to an end.

There is nothing sweeter than your child, asleep.
Well, maybe there is one thing I'd consider.

One day in February, Ephram and Macie fell asleep together on my bed.

They were so peaceful,

So happy,

So completely accepting of each other,

That I could feel the love this sister and brother share.

Two or more of my children asleep together is more sweet.  It's positively melting.  Who would have known that watching three little people sleep would become my favorite pastime?

The December Surprise Box

How do you keep your toddler and first grader from becoming curious about those wrapped presents under the tree?
(Curious enough to unwrap them?)

Here's what I do.

What is it?
It's a December Surprise Box.
Made by Ephram and Charlie.

And it might not be the most pretty thing ever,
But they love it.

They picked out every piece of paper, every sticker and decided where to put it all.
Charlie wrote the words,
(But asked me for help and traced my letters.)
Ephram placed all of the stickers.
I was super shocked about his perfection in lining things up.

And because they built it,
It worked.

And it might also have something to do with the constant stream of surprises they found in it all month.

I had a lot of fun putting things in there.
And sometimes other people left things too.

Not a single present was unwrapped before it was time.
Success!

Letters to Santa 2012

When it came time to write our letters to Santa, Ephram told me that he wanted to ask for a musical instrument and 30 cars.

He can't speak very well, so this is how he told me.

"Ma!  Ma!  Mama!"

"Milk?"

"No, ma! ma!" (Runs to the piano and plays a little tune.)

"Ma!  Ma!"  (Runs upstairs and grabs Charlie's drum and starts banging on it.)

"You want music?"

(Looks exasperated)  "No!  Ma!  Ma!"

"An instrument?  Like Quincy's instruments?"  (Reference to Little Einsteins.)

"Ya, ya Mama!"  (Nods head up and down, smiles satisfactorily and gives me a hug.)

"Is there anything else you want to ask Santa for?"

"Ca, mama.  Ca.  Vroo, Vroo.  Ca."  (Makes driving motions with his hands and zooms around the kitchen.)

"Cars?"

"Ya, mama, ca."  (Smiles and holds up 10 fingers.)

"A lot of cars?  Like 10 cars?"

"Bi mama.  Bi ca."  (Gives silly look and holds up 10 fingers, closes them, 10 more, closes them, 10 more.)

"30 cars?"

"Ya!  Ca!"

So we got on the computer and found two pictures for him to color.

He chose them himself, ran and grabbed them from the printer, and carefully colored them.

Then I wrote his letter after getting the content approved by him.

Some stickers and stamps, and it was ready to go.

(But he was too shy to have his picture taken with it, so I snuck one.)

While this was going on, Charlie was writing his letter.

I asked him what he was going to ask Santa for and he said.

"Mom, I don't need your help.  I'm ready to be seven."

My response, "Alright Charlie.  Just remember to be nice and not demanding."

He finished his letter before Ephram was done coloring.

I was really impressed.

And his picture was cute too.

(Although I am not sure how cowboys are related to his letter.  But he is in first grade.)

 When they were ready, we addressed them to Santa and placed them in envelopes.

As is customary in our family, we placed them under our doormat so that the elves could come and get them.

And the next morning, they were gone!

Christmas Branches

This year we managed to get our Christmas tree up and decorated over Thanksgiving weekend.
The boys were so excited to help, and were able to help more than ever before.
Surprisingly, I did not move one ornament once the tree was all put together.
(But I did give the boys several suggestions as they decked it out.)

As usual, we added an ornament for each of the kids this year.

Ephram did not pick any of the ornaments I thought he would.
He did pick out this model airplane.
He was so excited about it, when we took it out of the box he flew it all over the house.
It landed right up near the top of the tree, (with his dad's help.)

Charlie's choice was obvious.
A Lego Star Wars Storm Trooper, of course.
(He loves Legos, loves Star Wars, and is obsessed with the Dark Side currently.)

For our family ornament we chose a mystery one this year.

We all like it.

Which is good, since you can't return a mystery ornament.

We also added another Disney ornament to mark our family vacation for this year.
(I neglected to take a picture of it!)

And here is Macie's 1st Christmas ornament.

Ephram had a very fun time putting the candy canes on the tree. 

He also spent most of December moving them around for us.

By the end of the month we had more than 10 candy canes on one branch.

And I wouldn't change it for anything.

I'm going to cherish the memory of the year that Ephram took charge of our candy canes.

I tried to take a picture of the boys in front of the tree when we were done.
Ephram wasn't interested, so Charlie caught him for me.
He was only in the frame for two seconds, so this is the best I did.

But Charlie stayed a bit longer.

I tried again the next day, when Macie was awake.  And again, Ephram evaded the camera.
But these two were real cute.

And then a bit of sibling jealousy came into play and I was lucky to catch this.
My baby girl has no idea how lucky she is to have two brothers that love her so much.
I hope these three remain close as I force them to sit through pictures in years to come.
If nothing else they can bond in their amusement, or lack thereof, of a mother who takes too many pictures.

I love Christmas time.  And the Christmas tree starts it off for me.

Christmas Card Pictures 2012

This year I took the kids to a studio to have pictures taken for Christmas cards.
I have never done this before, but when I pictured trying to control my 3 with the stress of Thanksgiving, Christmas and two birthdays upon us, I decided to give myself a break.
I ended up taking a few on my own too.
(The photographer kept waiting for all three kids to smile.  If you wait for all three of my kids to smile, you don't get very many pictures.)

I selected a few to use on our actual Christmas cards, but I did like more than I could choose.
So, where better to put them all then on our family blog?