Beautiful Moments

In my last post, I talked a little about the stresses that go along with being a mommy...at least for me. I made the analogy that it was a little like climbing a mountain, and it sure has seemed like I've done a lot of climbing lately. But I thought I'd take just a moment today to focus on a few of the "appreciating the view" moments, because I have been blessed with some recently.

I went home from the Ronald McDonald House Monday night, and Tuesday morning, I got up and got Bryson dressed for school. He attends the afternoon session of Young Fives. Since I have basically no groceries in my house and it's senseless to keep any there with us spending so much time in Cincy, I decided to make a run to Bryson's all-time favorite restaurant...yes, I'm talking about McDonalds. He got a gift card there for Christmas, and we hadn't used it yet, so we made a date of it. Bryson, Emerson, and I went inside and to the counter, and Bryson said, "Go sit down, Mom. I'll order your food." I took a couple steps back so he could feel like he was in charge, and he ordered my number 10 with a coke, and for himself "a strawberry banana SMOOVIE with a plain cheeseburger, please." It was so cute! He was so serious, and his little head was about the same height of the counter. I let him slide the card through and pick our seat. He picked a sunny spot (something he has gotten from me), and he said, "I'm gonna sit by you, Mommy, because you're my sweetie pie." For the rest of our meal, he used his best manners and bragged about taking me out to dinner. Yes, I was proud. And now that I think of it, I may make this a regular event for us. It seemed like just giving him that little bit of independence allowed him to use some of the skills that Phillip and I have tried to instill in him and also a chance to bond with me, of course! A few minutes later he was like, "Um, Mom, did you forget it's QPT day, so I don't have school?" Really, kid? I don't know what day of the week it is most of the time and hadn't had a chance to look at his school calendar.

That same day, we had some freakishly warm weather for January. It was 50 degrees, and Bryson just had to play outside. When we got home, he went to his faithful pile of dirt by the side of the house and began playing whatever imaginary games he plays. Before long, he came in the house with a cup declaring, "Mommy, I found me a pet!" I looked in the cup and saw a slimy earthworm. Yuck. But he claimed he saved its life by rescuing from the cold dirt. He took it to his room, and I figured I'd talk him into taking it back outside later. But that was not to be. He came downstairs with a serious look on his face and said, "Mom, something tebbible (terrible) has happened. I was giving my worm a bath because she had dirt on her, and she went down the drain." I comforted him, but was also a little grossed out to think that a nasty earth worm is in my drain where I get ready every day. Needless to say, I sanitized the sink before I used it next.

Last night, I brought Bryson and Em down to Cincy with me. Phillip had to leave so he could work today, and since my normal helpers were going out of town for a funeral, I was solo with my 3 munchkins. At home, that wouldn't worry me much, but in our little room a the RMH house, there's not much space. I have Em's bed in one corner and Avery's in another, and Bryson sleeps with me. I was so worried about Em and Avery waking each other up that I had a hard time sleeping. Avery was fussy, so I was trying to shush him without waking Em, because Avery cries everytime she does, and I didn't want wake the whole floor here. We survived the night. I think everyone woke feeling rested but me, but I was thankful for the chance to have all three of my children under one roof, snoring and all.

Bethany