Dear Mommy: Stop and Hold Me

Well hello everyone, yes it has been many moons since my last blog post. However, I am not apologizing. Sometimes things are just too busy to blog, right? But if I had to offer excuses, I do have two: firstly, I am in the last stages of the first trimester of this pregnancy, and much like last time I have been very, very sick. Let's just say when those pregnancy books off-handedly mention the "less than 1% of pregnant women who will suffer extreme hyperemesis gravida,"they might as well put my name in that sentence. It's just ridiculous how sick I've been, but I have hope that it will soon end! I have tried every medical and old-wives-tale remedy and although some things help a bit, nothing works very much. BUT I am NOT complaining....just sincerely wishing that the sickness part would end soon.

My second excuse for not frequently blogging is this little mess of a diva, seen here in her pigtails, princess panties (that she insists on wearing over her diapers), and big brothers cowboy boots: (pic removed by author)

She is VERY attached to me, and every time I sit down at the computer, she feels that the only place in the entire house she needs to be at that very moment is either on my lap, commenting on every thing she sees on the computer and making attempts to type herself....or standing on the chair behind me, sweetly singing and "scatching" my back, as she puts it. She's actually a pretty good back "scatcher" but still....it's hard enough to intelligently write when you are sick and exhausted...but much more so when you're distracted.

And I love that she's attached to me. I treasure these moments. I will leave the computer, turn off the dishwater and walk out of the kitchen, or get up from sorting the laundry just to sit down on the couch with her for our very frequent cuddle times. Things don't get done (including blogging, obviously), but Liv and I have many special moments together. Samuel wasn't much of a "sit and cuddle" type (is it a boy/girl thing?) so these are great times. She and I sit and sing, play with each others' hair, and tickle each other. We nuzzle each others' necks and make funny faces. We snack on random things that suit our immediate craving (my constant pregnancy hunger and she eats everything in sight, all day long), and laugh at the birds outside.

Maybe she's spoiled. Maybe I'm lazy. And certainly, I don't care if anyone believes either sentiment. Because one advantage I have in being an 'older' (over 30) mom is that I know how fast time zips by at a dizzy speed, never to be regained. I know these little munchkins grow up too fast and my time with them is too short. I will have years (later) to clean my house, write a blog, and sleep as late as I want. My years with these babies, however, is brief, so if I have to let the dishes pile to the ceiling just so I can get an extra hug out of my son or a soft kiss from my daughter, then so be it.

Samuel and Olivia 'helping' me sort the laundry by just taking over the laundry basket and making it a boat that will save them from the ravaging floods. I love that Samuel is also saving his favorite red & white puppy that was rescued from a yard sale.

Now the boat has become his bed, using Daddy's sleeping bag.

Living proof of how fast time flies: my nephew Joshua Royer when he was about Samuel's age. I was there when he was born!

This picture was just taken a few years ago....or so it feels.

Joshua graduating from high school, 2010. See....he grew up in just days and now he's a young man, about to enter the world on his own.

So I leave you with one of my all-time favorite poems:

Cleaning and scrubbing

can wait 'til tomorrow

For babies grow up,

we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs,

Dust go to sleep,

I'm rocking my baby

and babies don't keep.

(by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

adapted by Wendy Lyn)