Boy Emmett

I don't know what it is about love, but sometimes love just hurts.  It doesn't hurt a lot today, but thinking about our birthday celebration for Emmett just tugs at my heart a little bit.  I can't believe this kid is 3.  He, on the other hand, has a hard time believing that he's not 6, or 4, or that he's not JUST AS BIG as his older brother.  Haha!

 

We're in a really fun stage with Emmett right now, but it is definitely a new and different stage.  His favorite movie used to be Tangled, and he would hug me and kiss me at the end when Rapunzel kisses Flynn.  I often used to call him "My Cutie Patootie" and he'd grin back at me and say, "You're a Tooey-Tooey!"  And without fail, when I would ask him, "Will you be my little boy forever?", he would say, "Yes, I wiwll!"

 

But all of a sudden one day, about a month or two ago, when I asked him if he was going to be my little boy forever, he responded, "Nope.  I grewed up!"  And now his favorite movie is Star Wars, and he has me read him the beginning part every time.  He makes me insert something about Darth Vader (even if Darth Vader isn't mentioned in the paragraph).  And he doesn't "give loves" as freely anymore...and he seems to only like doing things if it was his idea... 

 

This picture is a prime example.  Don't you love his pouty face?  He was laughing two seconds before the picture, because he had the donuts on his eyes, but when I suggested a picture he was not happy.  Oh well--serves me right for suggesting the idea.  : )

 

Making faces was Emmett's idea, and he's the birthday boy.  That's also why we made donuts today.  OF COURSE it was Sunday, so we had to improvise.  I asked him, "What do you want for your special birthday breakfast?  Eggs, or pancakes, or cereal...."  His response: "Donuts." (clearly HIS OWN IDEA and not anything I suggested).  We only shop on Sundays for emergency things...even if it is a birthday...but it's a typical Emmett situation for this stage that he's in and fortunately we found a way to make him some donuts for his birthday breakfast.  Whew!

 

Here's another snapshot of life with this adorable kid:  we were in the middle of getting ready for church and he wanted me to read to him, but when we told him to pick his favorite book, he translated it into his favorite twenty-nine.  "That's my favorite, and that one, and that one, and that one..."

 I don't know if he's shy or what, but he wouldn't smile while we sang happy birthday.  I think he liked his pirate cupcakes that my mom made for him, though.

 He had fun opening presents and having the spotlight for a little bit.  He has a special place in his heart for all of his family and it makes me feel good to have the love from all of them.  He loves all of his aunts and uncles and grandparents so much, even if he shows it only on his terms.  : )  When we're at Grandma & Grandpa Borden's house, he will often refuse help from me because he wants Grandma Borden to take care of him.  I could mention the way he interacts with everyone, but I don't have enough room.  I'll just mention one more:  I also really appreciate the way Brian has treated him.  I don't know what it is about Brian, but he's got this really soft side with my kids, especially Emmett that makes me happy.  Ever since Emmett was tiny, it seems they have had their own little connection, and I know Emmett looks up to him and has felt special because of his cool uncle with a motorcycle who will pay attention to him.  : )

 Even though I knew it was impossible for him to be my little boy forever, I still kind of feel like it's not really fair that he thinks he's grown up already.  No matter what, though, I'm his mom, and no matter how big he gets, I will probably always think of him as my little boy, my cutie-patootie, my little buster, and thanks to Mitch's creativity he has his own Star Wars theme song that's here to stay, too:  "E-M-M-E-T-T, spells Emmett!  That is the boy who we love, don't forget it!"

Happy 3rd Birthday, Emmett!!!!  We love you!

 



Just Another Day in Paradise

Just when you think your day is going great because you had a fun morning with cousins and friends, you get home to realize that the next half of your day is going to be disastrous!  Your bus driver is on vacation and the poor guy running the route was given the wrong maps, leaves the school 10 minutes after the kids should have already been home, gets all mixed up and returns your Kindergartner safely to his stop only 50 minutes after you were at the stop waiting.  He pulls up and you realize it's a friend of the family who actually wishes you didn't know him today and he drives off.  That's when you start laughing because the situation is suddenly comical and you call Transportation to let them know that even though you called earlier wondering what on earth was wrong with the buses today, that the driver is actually a nice guy and deserves a second chance.  : )

Then, just when you think things will calm down and you can move on with your day, you sit down with your baby and realize he stinks and there's something slightly wet and sticky on your arm and when you look down you see that there's a reason it stinks.  Yes.  The poopy diaper HAS just blown out ALL OVER YOU:  on your pants, arm, shirt, and all over the baby's clothes, and it's NASTY because he's recently started eating baby food.  By the time you get the child smelling powder-fresh and rinse out the poop stains from all the clothes, you realize that you were actually wearing the only outfit that was clean because it's time to do all your laundry again.  *sigh*  And then to top it all off, the lunch hour has come and gone because of bus issues, baby issues, and laundry issues, and fortunately your older children know how to feed themselves, because amidst all the chaos they made themselves a lunch out of chips--and not the nutritional kind.

How did my day turn into this?  I don't even know!!!!  But all I can do is smell my tropically scented candle melting and remember that this is my paradise.  The dirty dishes, the homework, the bills to pay, the poopy diapers, and late buses, and laundry...and I don't ever want to miss a day of this.

 

Because in My Paradise we also get to build forts and have Star Wars marathons when the boys' daddy comes come.

 And in my paradise, my 4 month old sucks on his fist, and he's such a cute, and good, and happy baby.  And he grinned at me the whole time I cleaned up his blow-out today like it was a normal day.  He didn't even know he pooped all over me!!!!

 And in this paradise, I have a son who sports his band-aids from getting his shots FOR DAYS, and he builds Lego creations that he won't let me take pictures of--such as a tower of Lego heads.  And he waters the plants for me, even though we have a drip system, and I can never get him to keep his clothes on for the day...somehow he always ends up without his shirt on, or only in his underwear.  Crazy boy!

 And in this Paradise, I have a Kindergartner who says his prayers on his own and writes notes to my Aunt Mary who just lost her husband, and his note reads, "Love to Aunt Lewis, From Tyson"  Naturally the Lego family includes some robot stickers, too.

Most days are crazy.  Most days I can't keep up.  Most days I wonder if we'll be able to keep making it on one income.  But no money in the world could ever make up for the time I have with these boys.

 

We're just having another, regular, crazy sort of day in Paradise.  : )



Life With Boys...

No one ever told me what to expect when you give birth to boys.

 

...Maybe that's because you NEVER CAN PREDICT what they're going to do.

 

 

 

When you have boys help you do the laundry, you just might find their underwear on a hanger.

 

 

When you have boys and need to get a dish rag, don't be startled by the Transformer/Exo-squad guy pointing his gun at you.  He's just hanging out there waiting for bad guys.  Naturally.

 

When you have boys, don't expect to take a picture perfect photo--they'll tell you WHEN AND WHERE they want you to snap shots (whether they're wearing shirts or the toys are picked up or not--it's on THEIR time table).  And if you have a boy named Emmett, he might just smile for one picture, even if it was HIS idea and then tell you, "That's enough.  No more pictures."

 And when you put the BIGGEST of the boys in charge of getting ready for "Mustache Day" at school, you can expect the most deluxe mustache selection possible.

 

I can never guess what they will come up with next.  They never cease to amaze me. 

It's like I get a daily epiphany that "BOYS WILL BE BOYS!" 

 

But oh, how I love my life with all of these WONDERFUL BOYS!