Morning Adventures

One of my tactics for staying sane as a WAHM is to have some kind of an outing every day.  Usually, this means heading somewhere in the mid-morning, between a burst of work in the morning and lunch/nap time.  Today, my little guy and I had a special adventure to the Linden Hills neighborhood.  We were drawn by stories of an eclectic children's bookstore that is home to a chicken, a few cats, ferrets, doves, some reptiles, and a rat that lives under a window in the floor.  After we got there, I discovered that a yummy ice cream shop was just around the corner, too!  Despite the drizzle, we walked around the neighborhood, stopping at shops, eating ice cream, and snatching a few free bread samples from a local bakery.  It was a fantastic way to perk up our spirits in the middle of a busy week!  Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

Max thought the chicken pecking around the store was pretty fantastic!

Yes, it is a real chicken.  (!)

The birds were chattering to each other by the rain soaked windows.

These chinchillas were both sleeping with their heads hanging out of their little hut!

These are two of the house cats at the bookstore.  They were far and away Max's favorite animals there!

Who says you can't eat ice cream at 10:30am?  Not me!

YUMMY!

Things to remember

Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, or maybe it was exhaustion after a day of lots of back pain, or maybe it was just good 'ole maternal nostalgia...but for whatever reason, I  broke down into tears last night.  Several times.  That hasn't happened in a while, but I have to say that it felt kind of good.  Amidst the chaos of WAHM-dom, I sometimes forget to just take a step back and marvel at this amazing thing of motherhood.  It really is a beautiful thing that sometimes grabs me so hard I can barely breathe.  That was last night.

I was thinking about how fast the past two years have gone.  I am just a few weeks away from welcoming my next baby boy into this world, but it feels like only yesterday that my 22 month old was the one kicking and wiggling inside of me.  Words can't even describe how excited I am to meet this next little boy, but I am also a little bit sad that I won't be able to focus so much of my time just on Max.  If you haven't met him, he's a pretty spectacular kid!  I know that soon I will barely even remember what life was like when we only had one son to clothe and feed and pray with.  I know that I will love this next little boy just as much, and that I will want to squeeze him so tight and never let go, too.  I know that my heart will grow and our family will be even more filled with love when this next baby comes.

But for now, I want to try to lock a place in my brain just for these precious memories of life as a family of three.

I want to remember how Max calls, "Mama!" and runs to me as fast as he can every time I pick him up from the gym.

I want to remember how he sweetly says, "Hi," when he wanders out of bed because he can't sleep.

I want to remember how it feels when his head nestles on my shoulder as we read stories.

I want to remember how he curls himself around my swollen belly when I rock him to sleep.

I want to remember the moments when he lets me rock him to sleep.

I want to remember how he furrows his brow when he's thinking really hard about something.

I want to remember how he scrunches his eyes together when he's trying to learn a new concept (like how "I don't know" means something different than "no no.")

I want to remember how he "scares" me by jumping out and shouting "Boo!"

I want to remember the sweet, sugary sound of his voice when he says, "Bubble?  Bubble?  Bubble?"  (Nearly always sounding like a question on repeat!)

I want to remember how I can gradually feel his skin losing its baby softness and gaining its little boy firmness.

I want to remember how he shouts "Whoa!" every time he goes down a slide or scoots on a scooter.

I want to remember how blue his eyes look first thing in the morning.

I want to remember that sometimes all he needs is a touch from me to feel all better.

I want to remember how he asks to pray before eating a snack, even if it's a cup of pretzels in the car.

I want to remember how his feet seem to fly sideways when he starts running really fast.

I want to remember the way he stands so still if he gets to have his hair cut.

I want to remember how he always wants to know where the cats are and if they are sleeping.

I want to remember how he signs "thank you" if he wants me to give him something.

I want to remember how he excitedly signs "All done!" when the cats open their eyes after he finds them napping peacefully.

I want to remember that some days it was hard to just make it to lunch time, and then to dinner, and then to bed time.  I want to remember that not every day was fun and happy.  (Those hard times make the good times that much sweeter.)

I want to remember that it is okay that I don't have all of these things on video or in photos because I was too busy living in the moment to find a camera.


There are so many things I want to remember, but I know I will forget a lot of them.  And that is okay, too, because I have a lifetime of more memories to come that will be just as sweet and cherished.