A Wonderful Surprise

On most Mondays I wake up early, take a shower, and get ready for some Noah time. Noah is Emma's almost-two-year-old cousin. And she adores him. Sometimes taking care of the almost-two-year-old and the almost-six-month-old together makes me think I'd be ready for another baby before I'd originally thought. But on the other hand, I'd rather give Emma as much time to be an only child as I can possibly handle. (I say it like that because the longer I have a child, the more children I want. I love being a mother and I love being pregnant...)

So today, Emma woke up shortly after Noah got here. I put her down on her tummy mat so she could play and Noah proceeded to take out every toy from her little basket and give it to her. It's really no wonder she loves him. And then they played - or, Noah played and Emma did her best to follow him by rolling towards him or, if that wasn't possible, by keeping her eyes on him at all times. She smiles so much when he's here. I love it.

(This is a photo from last week.)

We had a good day. The kids played, the kids ate (even Noah, the pickiest of picky eaters ate like crazy for lunch!), the kids took a two-hour nap AT THE SAME TIME (!), I got to clean the kitchen (I even mopped!) and fold diapers and do two loads of laundry. Plus, during nap-time I worked on finishing the data collection for my essay which was due last Thursday. Then, because it was a two-hour nap, I relaxed and even played on FB a bit.

Oh, and did I mention that the girl put herself to sleep? It went like this: sleepy girl, filled the tummy, laid on side in crib. Then she rolled onto her tummy, got the bunny ear in her hand, and stuck the thumb in her mouth. There was a little bit of talking and fussing (less than 5 minutes) after I closed the door, but she still did it herself. Oh sigh. How wonderful. :)

So now, with a (mostly) clean house, a sleeping baby, a back-at-home Noah. I'm able to relax. I should be working on that damn paper, but I'm not. Obviously.

Here's the most exciting part of my day. (Yes, this even trumps the self-soothing baby.) Every morning when Emma wakes up, I open her curtains and say, "Good morning world." Normally I follow this with a comment on the weather. Lately, it's been "Still snowy" or "Good morning snow." I'm pretty sure that that's what I said this morning. I've resigned myself to a long winter, since there's still so much snow out there.

But! I looked out the front window, down at the ground (who knows why), and my daffodils are sprouting! That means it's SPRING!!!


Nothing says spring like spring flowers. I was impressed that the snow is melting enough to see the ground. And the daffodils think it's time to wake up. It makes me so happy. I know the Spring Thaw is on its way and the rest of the spring flowers will be here soon.

Winter will not last forever!

Nor do naps.


It is time for me to go be a mom again.