love of coffee | laborofwonder

Cherish It All

by motherofwonder

I should get a tattoo of this. Ok, maybe not seriously, but seriously… I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that I love me some coffee.

So as I was sipping coffee I was thinking about/listening to my children talking amongst themselves, and just so I don’t forget one precious minute, I’m going to share some of our latest things.

Big kids, older siblings, teach their younger ones lots of new things. Occasionally, it works backwards. Littlest says thank you as soon as you give him anything or do anything for him (dress him? thank you. change his diaper? thank you? feed him? thank you. kiss an owwie? thank you.). It’s very sweet, and an obvious homage to my parenting prowess. Or he’s just a big copycat. One of those. But lately, it gets better. Every thank you is followed by a Wuv Uuuu! (= love you… obviously!). Heart melting. And his siblings have taken note. They all now follow all their thank yous with Love Yous. And this mama is totally lovin’ it!

Another thing that has passed from one kid to another. When saying our I love you’s, I frequently followed it with a series of questions: the most? forever? always? 16? (It was Biggest’s favorite number and when he was under 2, 16 was the biggest number he could think of, when asked… and it just kinda stuck. He occasionally tells me that it’s now one hundred and 81 hundreds. His love for his mama is growing. Or he’s more aware of higher numbers, one of the two. I’m picking his love is growing.) Anyways, Littlest now does this too and it is just sooo cute. Even daddy can’t help but stop whatever project he’s working on to listen to littlest say these things. I tried to catch it on video to share with you all, but his siblings kept chasing him by trying to get themselves in the picture. Aaaand, all his kisses still end with the MWAH! sound. I love that boy.

And Miss, well she eats like a 14 year old boy. And I am not kidding you. My MIL says that she’d put my Miss up against any teenage boy in an eating contest, and that my girl would win. She eats a million times a day. It’s to the point that by the time I need to be making dinner I am so burnt out from getting meals together allllllllllll day that it’s not as fun as I usually find it. And she’s freakin’ tiny. Seriously. Found an outfit she wore as a baby (it’s 3 months I believe) and she could get it on her little body. Granted it’s capris instead of pants and the shirt is more of a belly shirt, but it fits. Metabolism of a horse, I tell ya! We can frequently be overheard muttering the words So much attitude in someone so tiny! Seriously! The way this girl can express herself and articulate her thoughts is amazing. Especially when you remember that she’s still only 3! And she’s so literal, in a way that you would never expect/believe from a 3 year old. I’m telling you- It’s mind blowing!

And Biggest, well, he’s going through a stage that he finds exciting and scary. He’s growing and learning. Becoming more independent, even. Stages where more independence is learned is usually accompanied by some clingy-ness/whining while they adjust. Lately, he’s been declaring that I love Littlest more than him. I respond with, I love all my babies, and you were the very first baby I ever loved. He hasn’t been saying I love Littlest more lately, but I still get an occasional, Was I really the first baby you loved? And he’s becoming embarrassed about things. He doesn’t like me to share things he’s said and especially to be laughed at. And he’s starting to notice that girls are cute. He and I had a date last night and I caught him staring at a little girl. When I turned to look at her, he turned red, grabbed my hand, and said Mooom, don’t look at her! I looked at him, smiled, and just said, What, it’s ok! To which he sighed and said, ok you can look at her, but it’s just one of my big kid friends. (We’ve never seen this girl before.) When recounting this story to his daddy, he walked into the room midstory, and was pretty horrified that I would tell daddy about it. Hubbyman had a good laugh and was like, Ah! He’s starting to think girls are cute! He then told Biggest that he thinks girls are cute. Which made Biggest eye his daddy curiously. Hubbyman responded with, Yeah, I think Mommy’s cute. Biggest rolled his eyes and said, Dad! Mom is not cute, she’s just a mom! (Thank you, very much, for that ego boost, son I labored with for over 24 hours.) *Sigh*

My babies are growing and changing. And really, none of them are babies anymore. How did that happen?! When did that happen?! Moments, all these little, tiny, lovely moments… they go fleeting by. I hope I cherish all that I possibly can.

Life According To Me

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Coffee: You Can Sleep When You’re Dead

by motherofwonder

I stayed up late last night. And it wasn’t to read a good book or have a good talk with a friend. No, it was scrubbing counters, floors, picking up countless odds and ends, organizing, and laundry. Doing all the things that never seem to get done on the day to day, or have a hard time getting them all done in the same day. When you live in a house full of the under 5 crowd (ok, so I guess it’s the just-turned-5 and under crowd now), sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of it all. Especially when two are boys. Boys who leave a wake of disaster and destruction. By the time I switched yet another load of laundry, picked up the last dinosaur, train, and strawberry shortcake figurine and actually climbed into bed, it was after 2am. There was a time when that wouldn’t have seemed so absurd but when you have little people that wake like a lightning bolt and don’t stop until 9pm… you come to value sleep in a way I’m not sure you can really understand, unless you’re a parent. I thought about texting hubbyman, asking him to grind some beans (I don’t know why but I hate that part of making coffee) and set the coffee pot for me. But I was so exhausted, and -of course- Littlest woke up as soon as I crawled into bed… so I just fell asleep to the thoughts If he really loved me, he’d prep and set the coffee pot for me. (It would definitely be further proof as this is something I don’t think he’s ever done before.)

Insert a noise that may have been a cross between the words, I hate the sunlight and a curse word in a language undeveloped (Or just really-tired-mama-speak) when I woke to find that MissE was in bed with me (who is about as lovely in the morning as her father…. and maybe her mama) and Littlest was wide awake and mad. And it was only 7. I could barely even keep my eyes open. I tried to coax them into cuddling and just laying quietly, but they were not havin’ it. I got them cereal, turned on a cartoon, and stood in front of the coffee pot, willing it to magically make itself. And then I noticed a green light on it. That was the timer light! Which means that he really does love me!

(photo credit: Keeling Korner)

I still have more on my list of things to do today that I had high hopes of crossing off… but my Miss has just projectiled apples all over the living room. So I’m thinking this day may have other things in mind for us. Good thing my sweet hubbyman made enough for more than one cup of coffee. I’m gonna need it.