Mommy vs. Kids Day 2 (Miss Lauren is Back!)

One of the things I cherish as a Mom is being the first thing my kids see in the morning.  This isn't possible every day so I really love it when it happens.  When Lily was a baby Jeff and I would race into her room in the morning just to see her bright smile.  One time Jeff body checked me into the wall just to beat me out to those wonderful smiles.  When Chloe was an infant she used to wake up every morning at 4 am and I would go get her out of her crib and put her in bed with me.  She would sigh and put her head on my shoulder every time and go right back to sleep.  Abby has always been a ball of energy practically leaping out of her crib into your arms.  Except for the morning she painted her crib with poop.  She was a little busy that day.  Needless to say Jeff was very unhappy he was the first on the scene.  Getting up every few hours with Lawson was exhausting, but I also loved it,  It was a time when I had him all to myself and I knew he was my last baby so I had to appreciate every moment.  Since all of these are such precious memories for me, I thought I would share the morning wake up with everyone.

Here is Abby

Chloe



Lawon (Holding his favorite ball from Ai Fort Worth)

These happy faces are something I look forward to every morning even if it is at 5 am.  Unfortunately, Lily got out of bed before I could get her morning smile so here is a pic of her when I got home.  Usually the child is in some sort of strange outfit like pjs and pink cowboy boots or a princess outfit and crocs.  Today was no different.  I really like the blue cinderella socks with the ballet shoes.  It adds that much needed pizzazz to an otherwise dull outfit.

In case you haven't picked it up from Jeff's earlier posts, we do believe in teaching our kids discipline, right from wrong, telling the truth, etc.  The telling the truth part can be interesting.  This weekend I folded some laundry and I put it upstairs in a laundry basket while the kids were napping.  I meant to put it away when they got up, but I forgot.  I ended up regretting that decision since I walked upstairs yesteray to find the laundry basket was now in the media room and the laundry was all over the place.  I asked Lily why she hadn't done anything to stop this and she said, "I didn't know they were doing it.  I was in my room reading."  I almost went with it until I realized Lily can't read yet.  Nice try kiddo.  She quickly amended her answer to she was looking at books, which is her version of reading so I gave a pass.  Reluctantly.  Another similar story comes to mind.  I was changing Chloe's diaper and I stepped on a part of the floor that squeaks.  Abby looks at me and busts out laughing.  She says, "Excuse you Mommy!  You tooted!  Say Excuse Me!"  I explained it wasn't me, but the floor.  I even showed her over and over how the floor squeaks and makes that noise.  She just gave me a very skeptical look.  She didn't buy into the floor squeaks theory even with proof.

Not only do we try to teach our kids things, we also learn from them.  Their unique perspective on the world around them is pretty funny.  Today a dump truck was dumping rocks behind our house.  Probably clearing some area for construction.  This scared the twins so Lauren was explaining that it was the driver's job and he was not scary.  This somehow turned into Chloe's favorite subject:  Where is Ashie (Ashley Boyd).  She took this to mean anyone can drive a truck (true) therefore the truck driver must be Ashie.  I think the kid is going to need some major tutoring when it comes time for her to answer the reasoning questions on the SAT. 

Tonight at dinner I was using Chloe's necklace (she always has one) to make shapes.  The kids called out the shape and I made it.  This opened the door for lots of conversation.  I heard all about the Mickey Mouse they watched that morning.  Apparently, Pete was quackers.  I asked if they were quackers.  Chloe said, "No, I twin."  Abby said, "No, I a girl."  Which led them to tell me that Lawson is a boy and so is Daddy,  I asked them where Daddy is.  Chloe said, "He went Bye Bye".  I asked her where he went bye bye.  She said, "He went Bye Bye in his blue car." She would make a great witness on Law & Order.

Well, its time for me to try to get some sleep before I have to get up and do this all over again.  Apparently the twins were trying to get out of going to bed and tried to hide from me tonight.

At least they are coming up with creative ways to stay up rather than just running from me screaming.  I thought I would leave everyone with pictures of the kids going night night.  It really is a sweet thing to be a part of.  Good night to everyone from the Straits!







PS-Only 2 more night nights until Daddy comes home!  We miss you Daddy and can't wait to see you soon.