moment

I know this is a lot of blogging but if i don't get it all out, doug will never know what happened here while he was gone. The details usually get lost in the shuffle of life somehow.

In fact, i had a golden moment this morning for quiet and probably shold have written stuff down then. the babies, both awake, had cereal and bananas and were watching Curious George 2 in the family room. (Ugh, i know! Netflix really needs to get the real curious george. this one is pretty painful.) and the big kids were still sleeping! So, what did i do? oh, i got back in my bed and read the PEOPLE mag app on my phone. about stupid celebrities and their nonsense. it was really nice, (although i probably could have made a better choice for sunday morning.) Anyway, now my window of quiet is closing....we'll see how far i can get.

We'll start with thursday. Robyn came and picked up owen and penny to go play up at their house. sophie was at choir so it was just me and simon. JUST me and SIMON??? so we jumped in the car and made 2 returns to stores that i had been putting off because 2 is so much harder than just one! the oreck store....sorry steam mop, my floors are just too bumpy. and bed, bath and beyond. i hate that store, actually, but we sailed in and out, just the two of us.

And then we treated ourselves to a little chipotle.

simon does this a lot, his little hand on the chin. so cute. and loving up that amazing chipotle guacamole.

We need to do more of this one-on-one stuff with each of the kids, right? trust me, i know an impossible task when i hear one, but it's so easy to sail past the needs of the individual in an attempt to keep the whole gang moving along. I became acutely aware of this yesterday morning. simon had been up really late the night before. He was at Sarahs house while i was at the choir concert until about 9:45pm and then up to baylen's at 10 to pick up Owen and then back home and in bed by, like 10:30-10:45? on saturday morning he woke up at 6:30 and by mid morning he was sad and clingy and i couldn't figure out what was going on until it finally clicked! OH, you are EXHAUTED from the pace of our life, from the fact that our minivan is your second home. he was tired. and so at 10:15 i plopped him down in his crib and went to get a sippy cup. again, poor simon, does he ever get a "ritutal" before bed or naps? rarely.... penny and simon fight and grab and kick and bug each other during any kind of story time and since the day he was born (practially) he was the first in a very long line of 4 children to put to bed and usually the little dear amiably complies with a substandard ritual. plus he loves his sippy and blanket. they make him really happy. right? right?? ( when he was tiny, i used to call his binky his 'mama')

except the sippy cup and blanket just weren't cutting it yesterday morning. he cried and cried but he was so tired so i let him cry a little longer. then finally, this mama clued in. so i picked him up out of his crib, wrapped him in his favorite blanket and laid with him on Owen's bed.

and despite the music blaring from my room and kids running up and down the hallway, simon turned and snuggled right into me and slowly fell asleep. He was telling me that he needed me. not a sippy or a blanket but me.

oh and i reveled in that moment. i traced his forehead and his nose and just looked at him for the longest time. wondering who this little guy will be, the one so willing to go with the flow. his perfect lips, his yummy smelling skin, his soft little breath. i probably needed it as much as he did.

then owen, who was waiting for me to take him to target to get a bday present for his friends party that morning , started calling my name down the hall. "don't you dare wake him up!" i thought. i got up and let owen know i would put simon in his crib and then we could go (sophie was staying home.)

so i picked him up, kissed him about 1000 times and then gently laid him down in the crib. It was a perfect moment for me with my baby who will grow up too soon and be gone off doing important things in the world. (at least we hope right? and not living in my basement at 30?)

Then about 2 seconds after his body touched the mattress and before i could even pull my arms out of the crib. he woke up and started crying. Ah, crap! I ruined it! and now he was awake. i scrambled for his blanket and sippy cup in a last ditch effort to get him go back to sleep. no go.

my moment was gone, and the choas of life took over again. what do you do but throw everybody in the car and head to target to buy a TRON 3-man aircraft.

And then this is from Friday morning at the movies: winnie the pooh. Very, very cute. and penny and simon did alright. i give simon a C+ and Penny a B. she didn't like that i had to walk on the side with simon. simon didn't have lunch before so i think the rush of popcorn, m&ms and lemonade made him really hyper. and he's only 1. not the perfect movie age, really.

but here's the crew, minus owen and baylen.

penny, audrey, ashlyn, simon, leah, carter, brandon and tyler!

And here are the mamas. we got to go out last night SANS kids for dinner with Renee before she heads back to utah. we missed brooke and jackie but had a great time!!

until next year, renee! we love you!

And finally.....roller boogie. i turned this on with the kids on friday night. IT IS HILARIOUS! we only watched the opening scene because the kids were spazzing out.

Mom, my eyes. turn this off, it's so old!! - sophie

I don't want to watch this! Their shorts are so embarrassing! - owen

Maybe we can celebrate Doug's return with a special screening of roller boogie. someone has to watch this with me!

Now I've somehow made it to the end of this very long post. this is sophie's version what what i look like.

3 days. oh, wait. i guess it's 4 days today. sunday, monday, tuesday. wednesday. i got ahead of myself. we are planning a pasta dinner upon his return. i'm sure he hasn't had nearly enough italian food by now.