Heart Head Stick Figures for Evelyn

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Okay, so I had to get up from my writing to check on why baby Vivian was missing from the living room. She had crawled into the hall bathroom and shut the door, since the kids left it open...AGAIN. I returned to a computer that was shutting down. Upon rebooting, the above entries were there, made by my son.
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Before I ever had kids I used to romanticize moments in the future when Robbie and I would lounge in our bed with a small child between us. This morning was a roller coaster of good and bad from just after 6 am until almost 8 am. At one point Henry and Evelyn were playing in her room, and I brought the baby into our bed. She pulled at my PJs to nurse, played peek-a-boo with us, offered her little blanket to Robbie, and rested her head on his chest. It was precious. We experienced one of those rare fleeting moments. Then Henry started screaming, and she knew that he was awake. She wanted her brother. He climbed up onto our bed and proceeded to thrash about like a young maniac. He threw his little blanket at Vivian's head over and over. She squealed with delight and handed it back to him again and again. Evelyn joined the mix, and she held the baby while Vivian snuggled into her big sister's lap and sucked her thumb. It was really special, but it was pretty wild.



Robbie is making biscuits and gravy. He turned on our iPod, and the baby was on her knees trying to dance. Evelyn is searching for ballet slippers for better dancing. Olivia isn't home at the moment. I have a nice hot cup of coffee and some time to reflect on the joy that is my life. I'm really happy.



Vivian's birthday was Tuesday. I made her a heart-shaped layered chocolate cake with pink frosting and my first icing flowers of any bithday cake I've made. We had a few neighbors over after dinner, and it was a nice celebration. The next night she pulled up on the side of the bathtub to try to get in with her brother. That was the first time she had ever stood on her own. Yesterday she pulled up in her bed while I sat nearby with all of the children and did Olivia's hair before school. We all clapped for her, and she let go and fell to her bottom. She has many cheerleaders in this house. Last night when Robbie got home from work she had pulled up to kneel at the windowsill of our front picture window, and her dad could see her little head and waving hand. She's been using her version of "I love you" sign language with us, and we adore the sentiment.

Last night while I rocked and nursed Vivian at bedtime her big brother asked if he could kiss her. He gently kissed her and sweetly patted her soft hair. "Vivian is a wonderful little baby girl," he whispered. I told Henry that he is the best little boy I've ever had. It's true, right? He said, "You're the best mommy I ever had." I told him that makes my heart sing, and his response was, "My heart sings lullabies to me." He can be so sweet.

My neighbor got some great bargains on dressy clothes for children at Macy's this week. She told me about the sale, and I checked it out when I only had two children with me. However, the temp was in the low single digits, and we about froze. I got three matching Christmas dresses, cords and Ralph Lauren jeans for Henry, a 3-piece sweater/pants set for Henry, three boy sweaters, and two pairs of PJs for $60. I bought one size, up. so he's now in good shape. I was pretty happy. One pair of PJs were spotted by the H man...black flannel Lightning McQueeen Cars themed. They were $3.50. Prior to that I have been unable to keep the similar blue ones that Santa gave him clean. He'd never get out of those Cars PJs if allowed. He's a happy guy with his new sleepwear.

This week on the drive home from preschool Evelyn pulled a paper out of her bag and asked me what it was. I told her I couldn't tell while I was driving. At home I saw that it was a drawing of two stick figures with heart-shaped heads. One had blonde hair and a bow, and the other wore a top hat. They were holding hands. I didn't know what it was until I saw through the back that there were two names written on the back. It became clear that one of the very nice boys in her class made a picture for Evelyn and put it into her school bag. I said, "Oh, Evelyn. ____ drew this for you." She put her little chin down and her face turned red. She was embarrassed. I showed Robbie as soon as he got home from work, and he said, "Are you kidding? It starts in preschool?"

Olivia has been so sweet lately. She checked out a race car book for Henry from her school library two weeks ago. This week she chose a dogs book because she thought Vivian would like it. She is only allowed to choose two, so I think that speaks volumes about her thoughtful nature.

Saturday morning is my favorite one of the week, so I'm going to enjoy it. Soon I'll have a full belly. I smell the sausage cooking, and I snatched some of Robbie's from scratch biscuit dough when he was turned toward the stove. He's protective of his dough, so I had to be quick.