My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Here’s a link to a blog posting about motherhood that I found amusing:

Motherhood in Stages

Although I don’t think I’ve been a mother long enough to advance into the later stages, I admit that I’ve vacillated between Stage 1 and Stage 2, depending on how much sleep I’ve gotten and how many diapers I’ve had to change in a 24-hour period.  However, I can already relate to aspects of the later stages, such as the carelessness that characterizes Stage 3: “Your clothes are stained with bodily fluids of your children and you don’t even notice or care.”  Case in point: Much to Jim’s chagrin, I often forgo cleaning off the baby spit-up from my shoulders and simply smear it into the T-shirt and hope that it evaporates.  Motherhood has not only widened my waistline,  it’s also blunted my gag reflex and blinded my eyes to what normal people consider unsightly stains.  It’s not “spit-up” to me – it’s evidence of a much-appreciated, much-digested meal.     

Jim and Susie acted as arm-chair quarterbacks for our across-the-street neighbors as they attempted to get their tractor-trailer unstuck from the snow.  It was a long process, but someone had to watch.  Daddy dutifully explained each step in the process.  Susie now has an early lesson in using a winch, straps and the laws of physics to tow out a stubborn truck.  I’m sure her Daddy is looking forward to the  first time he can coach her through the same process with her behind the wheel.  Mama probably won’t be watching from the window, however.  I’ll be burying my head in the snow!   

Jim and I were relieved tonight that the girls behaved themselves when we went out to Jim’s favorite restaurant, Chili’s.  The last time we went there, the girls inexplicably developed sudden-onset stranger anxiety which caused them to cry through the entire meal.  Tonight, despite a few squawks here and there, they mostly contented themselves by playing with the ketchup bottle and grabbing the handles to our water glasses.  Our friend Carrie was a wonderful help and kept Rebecca entertained by producing new and exciting objects for her to grasp, including allowing her camera case to be used as a teething ring.  I don’t expect dining out to ever be uneventful again, and I imagine we will be restricting our family outings to noisy establishments like Chili’s (much to Jim’s relief, I’m sure!).  Even when the girls fussed, one could barely discern their cries above the sizzle of fajitas and peals of laughter from the merry revelers at nearby tables.  Thanks to the girls good behavior and the general chaos all around, I don’t think we disturbed too many other patrons.  In fact, I think the parents at the table next to us were happy to have their kids distracted by our kids!   

Here are the girls in their going-to-Chili’s outfits:

Here is Rebecca sharing her father’s joy at the impending outing to Chili’s:

I think the girls will be happy when they can partake of the Chili’s kids’ menu and not be forced to eat carrots:

Our girls are so blessed by having four wonderful, loving grandparents.  Here are a few pictures of the grandparents entertaining the girls (or is the other way around?).  We wish my dad could have been with us tonight – I’m sure he was sending his love from across the seas! 

I don’t know who had more fun with bath time today.  From start to finish, we were all smiles!

Before…

During…

After…

Susanna was so pleased with the day that she even blessed me with goodnight kisses!  It was the cutest thing ever – over and over, she pressed her little mouth into my cheek.  Who knows, maybe she was actually trying to lick some food off my face, but I prefer to think she was being affectionate!