Things we do...

Another installment of if you were a fly on the wall in our house...

*Books, Books, Books - they love looking at their books, carrying their books, fighting over their books, etc. They LOVE going to the library and picking out books and they love when we read the library books at home. They both say, "Reah, momma, please!" Drew tries to crowd Ella out and he loves to be in charge of turning the pages.

*Rain boots - they love wearing them and carrying them. They line them up next to the couch and step into them saying "I do!"

*Music - at home they like when I put music on the computer during meals. They even make their Elmo cups dance. In the car, Mike and I struggle because they request the same songs over and over and yell "More" or "Next" when they want us to skip a song. Ella is relentless...

*"Hi" game - Ella and Drew chase each other around the house, wave at each other, and say "hi" - for some reason they think this is the funniest game around!

* "I love you" they say it to Mike and I unprompted now and have started saying to each other as I close their bedroom door at night-night time - melts my heart everytime.

* Drew attempts to take care of Ella more everyday. From bringing her drinks to making sure she is wearing her hood, he is concerned about her. Sometimes he takes it a little too far, for example trying to shove the cup in her mouth when she doesn't want it. He is very interested in making things fair...well as long as there are two of something...sharing one toy - forget it!!

* Daddy - boy do they love their daddy. They get so excited when he comes home, talk about him taking the choo-choo to work all day, and love their wrestling time at night. You never heard so many giggles...

Thanks Turkey!

My mother was a waitress for a few years as I was growing up. One of my most vivid memories is driving down the driveway and waving to my mother as she cried in the door - I don't remember which holiday it was, or how many she missed, just that she wanted to be with us so badly. Now I get it.
My little Turkey, Drew, started feeling warm last night and continued to have a fever this morning. So, I found myself waving goodbye to Ella and Mike as they left for Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Although I held the tears back, it was such a horrible feeling and one of those moments where being a mother smacks me right in the face. This tightness in my chest, these tears behind my eyes, this longing, weird indescribable thing is being a mother...and I am so thankful.
Holidays have taken on new meanings and meals often mask the purpose. But, I have shared a few Thanksgivings with people who have reminded me to take pause and appreciate it for what it is. Im not talking reflecting on the pilgrims here, but to truly take stock of what there is to be thankful for. It is all too easy to run down a list of complaints, wishes, and wants - but it takes a little more effort to list the blessings. I'll keep my list to myself, or maybe Ill share it with Drew over our Mac & Cheese this afternoon. One thing is for sure, I am so thankful for the experiences and feelings that I am living every day- even the gut wrenching ones.

Phases and Stages

You may have heard of famous child development specialists use terms to describe stages such as independence vs. dependence or the more famous Freud terms like oral fixation. As a mother of two, Im defining my own stages such as the "hats and boots" phase and the "beads" stage. You read about the beads phase in previous posts, well the beads are sooo last week! And last week we had daily battles over wearing hats. At one point they both screamed for 7 blocks because I made them wear hats!! Well, this week, I can't keep the hats off them!! Cousin Katie bought them new hats for their Bday and they LOVE them! They call them "com com" hats because each hat has a pom pom on top. When the hats get too hot inside, they wear their rain boots all over. Drew especially loves to wear his rain boots and run like a horsey down the hallway. Ahh...never a dull moment...