Happy Birthday To Eric

Well, it's all over for the man of our house. Today Eric turned 30 years old.

I am not sad or worried about turning 30. I am looking forward to it. But I am honestly a little weirded out about Eric turning 30. He was just a kid - 15 years old - when I first fell in love with him. He was a thin boy who wore a Charlotte Hornets starter jacket. He was terrified of speaking in front of people and was always nervous about going to school. I decided he was the one for me and I got to know the real Eric - the kind, loving kid who valued family above everything else. And he was funny. Oh man was he funny. No one before (or since!) could make me laugh the way Eric could.

He's getting better with age. I really like 30-year-old Eric. Just as kind and loving...and as it turns out, he is a really, really great father.

Eric, I love you. You work every day to make it possible for me to be a stay-at-home mom. I will always, always be grateful to you for that. Thank you for making me laugh when life is crap. Thank you for being so wonderful to our babies. Thank you for being my best friend.

Happy birthday!

Kissing Cousins

One of the best parts of our trip to Iowa last week was getting to see my cousin Joni. We are the same age and I just adore her. We very rarely see each other - why is that? - so I was very excited to hear she'd be driving over.

It was really fun seeing our kids together. It seems like just yesterday Joni was visiting me in my freshman dorm at Waldorf and suddenly we are both the mother of two. Her kids are soooo cute and amazing. As always, thanks to my dad for the pictures!

Here, Sam is wrangling 10-month-old Isaiah while 5-year-old Miya tries to hold up Matilda's big head.

The kids were antsy after being inside and wanted us to play with them. Joni told them to play Run To It. It was fantastic. Sam and Miya would stand in front of her, panting and excited, and Joni would say, "See that pole over there? Run to it." The kids would dash off happily, giggling, and eventually end up back in front of Joni. "Okay...do you see that bush?" she'd ask them. "Run to it." I like to think I have a few parenting tricks up my sleeve - but I'm going to have to bow to Joni for this one. She's a genius.

Run to it! They couldn't have been having any more fun.

Poor Isaiah and Matilda were too little for the fun, so Isaiah thought he'd make his own good time. He kissed Matilda every chance he got. Here he's planting one right on top of her head.

I desperately wish Joni and I lived closer to each other. I'm daydreaming about more afternoons in the front yard, playing Run To It and giggling the hours away...

I'm Trying To Get Over It

I know that everyone knows that Matilda has blue eyes. I talk about it all the time. "Oh, Matilda is doing really well! Sleeping through the night, gaining weight...and she has blue eyes."

Somehow I will figure out how to stop talking about it but I don't know if I'll ever get over the shock of it. I never, never in my wildest dreams pictured myself with a blonde, blue-eyed daughter. I had crossed my fingers for blue eyes but had assumed she'd have dark hair like me and Eric.

My dad took this picture of me and Matilda:

I usually avoid posting pictures of myself but I can't stop looking at this one. My eyes and hair couldn't look any darker compared to Matilda's! Clicking on the picture will give a closer look at just how blue those eyes are. Even her skin is different. I have a yellow tone to my skin and Matilda's is pure white and pink. If it wasn't for our chubby cheeks, we'd look nothing alike. Every day I marvel at how pretty she is.

Okay - now I promise to stop talking about it.

Work With Me, People

The life I try so hard to live:

My life as it actually is:

Oh well. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em - right?

That's Not All He's Lost

Yesterday afternoon Sam and I were sitting together in our big chair. I was holding Big Bird and he had Cookie Monster. We had them dance, kiss, and hold hands. Sam linked their arms together, lifted them in the air, and said, "They're flying!"

"Oooh, fun!" I said. "Sam, can we fly?"

"Yes," he said.

"Really?" I replied. "Mom and Sam can fly up in the sky?"

Sam nodded. "Yes," he repeated. He began looking around the room. "Except I can't find my wings."

He hopped off the chair and looked all over the room. "Wings? Wings, where are you?" he called.

He looked for several minutes without a trace of kidding around. Disappointed about not finding his wings, he eventually wandered down to his room to play.

I never - NEVER - know what in the world he is talking about.

A Beautiful Scene

Picture it: Iowa, late last week:

An extended family sitting down for lunch. Great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

There is sunlight coming through the kitchen windows, making each filled water glass sparkle.

The table is covered with a beautiful lace tablecloth. There is chicken and potatoes, fresh salad, hot biscuits, and pie for dessert.

After saying a prayer the happy family begins dishing food onto their plates.

That's when the dark-haired three-year-old boy, sitting next to his unsuspecting mother, decides to throw up directly onto the table.

Believe me when I say...it was one of the worst moments of my life. I don't know if I'll ever be able to think of it without cringing.

Not All Superheroes Are Giants

I've been pretty lucky as far as in-laws are concerned. Eric is part of a loving, supportive, hilarious family. No matter what, they are fiercely loyal and there's nothing they won't do for each other.

If the adage is true - looking to a spouse's parents to see what one will be married to in twenty years - I'm going to be very lucky. Eric's dad, Wally, is so important to all of us. He loves and adores us. We know, because he shows it.

The man is just always working. He doesn't come over to our house without tightening a loose railing or helping Eric load scrap wood into his truck. When our car breaks down, Wally loans us his car and takes ours to a guy he knows. We can't leave his house without a bag full of food from his freezer. On more than one occasion he's walked me out to my car, eyed my tires to make sure they were okay, and offered me $20.

There is nothing Wally can't do. I have now realized that Eric, too, is capable of doing anything. In the beginning I didn't know that. For years, as Eric installed an electrical outlet or fixed the toilet or changed my brake pads, I was standing behind him. Wringing my hands, I'd say the one thing that always drove him crazy: "Don't you think we should call your dad?" I should have remembered that Eric had learned from the best!

As much as I love and respect Wally, it doesn't come close to the complete adoration that Sam feels about him. Papa is Sam's best friend. As far as Sam is concerned, his Papa is the smartest, strongest, bravest person in the world. I think it's the way Papa has always treated Sam like a person, not a little kid. Papa holds Sam to the same standards as anyone else - and gives him the same amount of respect. For a man who has likely never read a child psychology book, he is unbelievably gifted at making my son feel loved. Sam always stands a little taller around Papa. Sam knows he's with someone who believes that he is very important.

If this isn't the face of a little boy looking up at his hero...I don't know what is.

Perspective

My washing machine has given up. Why don't I get that option?

It stopped mid-cycle, leaving my clothes soaking in a tub full of soapy water. I pulled everything out and have been rinsing each item in the bathtub before wringing them out the best I can. Of course, it was my load of sweatshirts and jeans - not a load of bibs and baby pajamas. I have found that laundry detergent is pretty strong stuff. My hands are burning and they are already cracking!

It's fine. I'll get a repairman/woman out by next week. I can handwash little things and take my bigger stuff over to Jackie's in the meantime. A new washing machine was certainly not in our budget this month. But we'll be fine. We always are.

I just can't stop thinking about maids and mothers and wives who have been doing this since the beginning of time. Right now there are women taking their children's clothes to a creek to get them clean. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to trade problems with me for today.

I guess I'm feeling a little more emotional than usual today. I started out so upset about the washing machine shorting out and now I can't stop thinking of all of my blessings.

It's a good day.

Medical Attention

Sam and I are in the office. Just a moment ago Sam fell off the bed and started really crying. I hugged him and rocked him. In between sobs I was able to figure out that the pain was in the second toe on his left foot.

As his crying was dying down, I said, "I'm so sorry you are hurt, Sam. What will make you feel better?"

His face crumpled. "A doctor!" he wailed, and started sobbing again.

Good grief. I'd been planning on offering him a piece of leftover Easter candy.

Egg Hunt, Part Two

We spent Easter afternoon at Papa and Grandma Susan's house. The weather was beautiful and all of the grandkids got to do an egg hunt in the backyard. Papa, who takes his grandpa duties very seriously, was rumored to have started hiding eggs at 5:00 am. The eggs were color-coded so the older kids knew to pass by Sam's easy-to-find blue eggs.

Sam had so much fun, found all of his eggs, and was allowed to eat a piece of candy out of each one. Each one had cash in it, too! I certainly don't remember earning money with my Easter eggs...