from the night we arrived back from D.C.I am seriously jealous that Noah is smiling SO BIG in that photo with Ben. In the picture I took with all three boys, he's sitting complacently chubby-faced and emotionless.
It's hard to believe that this time last week, Ben and I were in an airplane en route to the Capitol. By the evening, we had casually wandered across town and stumbled across this grand building -you might have heard of it- called The White House. I might as well have been wearing a shirt labeled "TOURIST" because I was jumping around like a kid, squealing and pointing it out like it was obscurely poking out from behind some strategically planted bushes.
While I basked in the thrill of being in my husband's company alone, I subconsciously wondered how the children were doing: had they set anything on fire? Were they napping? Driving my mother-in-law crazy? My worries, of course, were for naught. My mom-in-law (a.k.a. Margo to individuals not married to her son) did a fabulous job and had a blast hanging out with her grandbabies for a few precious days. And, she cleaned my house for me! Even scrubbed clean the frustrating back door frame that I have been previously unable to get glistening. But she did, because mothers-in-law are gifted like that.
Now I am back in my official post as home guardian, shuttling the kids from the living room to beds when naptime swings around, warming chicken nuggets because "my tummy huuuuuuuurts.... I need fooooooood", and trying to keep them out of trouble, because my sons? They're drawn to trouble in a serious way. (You want an example, right? A friend called yesterday and while I was on the phone, the boys got into paint downstairs and started painting the walls and themselves; broke into the refrigerator and left Noah to take all the salad dressing and other various condiments out; and went into the bathroom, where the older ones climbed on the counter and splashed in the sink. TROUBLE.)
It would be so very easy to explode into Lenae-confetti at this particular moment. We are moving in 7 weeks and need to put our house on the market right about... now. Stress is tickling at my brain, begging me to give in, to scream at the wide-eyed little men swarming around my ankles.
But you know? All I have to do is rewind to D.C. and remember how I kept zoning out on the metro because I was thinking how much fun Gabriel and Eli will have when they get to ride on the "trains"; and how Noah will become very stoic and observant when we visit new places, and snuggle into my neck when strangers say hello (because you have to say hello to those dimples.) When I think of these things, all their craziness becomes fun splashes of color on a canvas of monotony. They brighten my days, my rambunctious boys... they make full, hectic adult life an adventure. And there are no better companions than they as we prepare for the biggest adventure we've yet to embark on as a family.
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*Remember, this blog is going private on Friday. If you want to continue reading and haven't sent me your e-mail address yet... do eet! :)
It's hard to believe that this time last week, Ben and I were in an airplane en route to the Capitol. By the evening, we had casually wandered across town and stumbled across this grand building -you might have heard of it- called The White House. I might as well have been wearing a shirt labeled "TOURIST" because I was jumping around like a kid, squealing and pointing it out like it was obscurely poking out from behind some strategically planted bushes.
While I basked in the thrill of being in my husband's company alone, I subconsciously wondered how the children were doing: had they set anything on fire? Were they napping? Driving my mother-in-law crazy? My worries, of course, were for naught. My mom-in-law (a.k.a. Margo to individuals not married to her son) did a fabulous job and had a blast hanging out with her grandbabies for a few precious days. And, she cleaned my house for me! Even scrubbed clean the frustrating back door frame that I have been previously unable to get glistening. But she did, because mothers-in-law are gifted like that.
Now I am back in my official post as home guardian, shuttling the kids from the living room to beds when naptime swings around, warming chicken nuggets because "my tummy huuuuuuuurts.... I need fooooooood", and trying to keep them out of trouble, because my sons? They're drawn to trouble in a serious way. (You want an example, right? A friend called yesterday and while I was on the phone, the boys got into paint downstairs and started painting the walls and themselves; broke into the refrigerator and left Noah to take all the salad dressing and other various condiments out; and went into the bathroom, where the older ones climbed on the counter and splashed in the sink. TROUBLE.)
It would be so very easy to explode into Lenae-confetti at this particular moment. We are moving in 7 weeks and need to put our house on the market right about... now. Stress is tickling at my brain, begging me to give in, to scream at the wide-eyed little men swarming around my ankles.
But you know? All I have to do is rewind to D.C. and remember how I kept zoning out on the metro because I was thinking how much fun Gabriel and Eli will have when they get to ride on the "trains"; and how Noah will become very stoic and observant when we visit new places, and snuggle into my neck when strangers say hello (because you have to say hello to those dimples.) When I think of these things, all their craziness becomes fun splashes of color on a canvas of monotony. They brighten my days, my rambunctious boys... they make full, hectic adult life an adventure. And there are no better companions than they as we prepare for the biggest adventure we've yet to embark on as a family.
---
*Remember, this blog is going private on Friday. If you want to continue reading and haven't sent me your e-mail address yet... do eet! :)
2 comments:
Awww, what a great attitude to have! :) I'm not sure I would have kept my cool the same way with that whole paint-refrigerator-water spectacle! Isn't it the truth that kids are the WORST when the phone rings!? Grrrr....
Yes please, send me an email to keep up when you go private :)!
I've been reading your "Just Lenae" blog for a while, but this is my first time here - love it! Congrats on your husbands new assignment - I love DC!
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