M-day.

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a nice day around here, nothing too different. Went to church, I was able to go to the grocery store by myself (that really is quite the gift for me), and had some friends over for dinner.

As I was reflecting the other day, I decided that we've finally hit our "stride" around here. It has been a challening past 3 1/2 years for us, dealing with cancer, autism, new jobs, moving three times, and having 2 babies in two years. But, we really do seem to be a in a good place right now. I don't feel like crying at the end of each day (exhausted and overwhelmed) and we aren't operating in survival mode anymore. The boys are really starting to enjoy each other and that is so fun for me to watch. We have left the "really needy baby" stage (for six more months at least!) and can spend more time playing and doing other fun things. This morning I heard their conversation outside of my door:

Jesse: coughs, loudly and says, "Holy cow, big cough!" (An exact phrase Joel uses frequently).
Joel: Laughs saying, "That was a big cough, Jesse!" "Here you go, here's a toy for you."
"Say thank you, Jesse."
Jesse: "Thank you, Jesse."
Joel: "Do you want to go get breakfast, Jesse?"
Jesse: "Breakfast!" (sounds like bekfist)

Now if they really could just go get breakfast by themselves we'd be in business!

Seriously, they crack me up sometimes. I am so glad that they have eachother. Their bond grows every day and it warms my heart. Sometimes when Joel is unkind to Jesse, we remind him how special they are to one another and how they need to treat eachother with a very special love because they are best friends. Now Joel will randomly come up to Jesse and say, "You're the best friend." If we have another boy, it will be interesting to see how he fits in.

Jesse decided not to take a nap the other day (I know why and it was sort of my fault). So after letting him talk in his crib for an hour, I went in and rocked him. Jesse is not my cuddly, like to be rocked baby--that was Joel. We rocked for 1000's of hours probably. But I could count on one hand the number of times I've rocked Jesse to sleep. He'll sit there for 1 minute and then want down. This day was different though, and he snuggled in and fell right asleep. Joel was taking his nap (which was nice because those are hit or miss these days) and I really feel like God gave me that special time with Jesse. I prayed for him, thanked God for him, and just basked in the love that I felt for him. There was no other place I would rather have been at that moment. As I smelled his skin and breathed in his hair, I was realizing there won't be many more times like this since he's growing up so fast (and my lap may be more frequently occupied soon). I loved it. I love being their mom.

So, happy mother's day to me and all of the other wonderful moms in this world!