POP Night

It's hard for me to believe that my little man is about to start the second grade. Wow! Seems like just yesterday I was waddling around the ER with him in utero! It was entertaining how many people asked me "when are you going on maternity leave" in the last few weeks. Apparently, I looked as if I were going to give birth any moment!! My response was always "when my water breaks or I have to push." Maybe it was a bit of an exaggeration, but suffice it to say, I had no intention of wasting one moment of my maternity leave at home by my fat self. In fact, I worked on Wednesday, saw my doctor on Thursday afternoon, went in to the hospital on Thursday evening, had Lane Friday morning and went home Saturday afternoon. Oh, and since I can't stand to lose, I had him at church on Sunday evening. (My mother took me to church at the same church for the first time when I was 9 days old. Nothing would suit me but to take Lane when he was 2 days old.)

That tiny 2 day-old infant has transformed into this boy at what seems like warp-speed! He's far too cool to have his picture taken and is constantly clowning --- anything to make his friends laugh and everyone is his friend. I don't know how, but apparently, the entire school knows who Lane is. They might not know me from Adam, but they know Lane. Chances are if they do know me, it's as "Lane's Momma." He loves to hear his friends say "Lane, you're so funny." I know what you're thinking. He does not get that from me ---- I promise!! I hardly spoke until I was 14 years old!! I have witnesses to support my story.

Tonight was POP night at school. We were able to go, drop off Lane's school supplies, meet his teacher and have a brief orientation. Lane is really excited about school. He was totally jazzed about buying his school supplies, but moreover, I think he can't wait to get back to his friends. He's already making arrangements as to who he's going to play with on the playground.

It's truly hard to see them growing up so quickly, but it's such a blessing too. I enjoy being witness to the loving, creative, smart boy I'm watching him become. It's my hope that he will grow into a man who can be both tough and tender. Mothering him is such a gift. I am tremendously thankful for my sweet little (or not so little) boys

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I'm not sure I can put into words what a life adjustment it has been for me to be the mother of boys! Not that I'm the girliest of girls, but I don't recall ever being accused of being a tomboy. I've never been too fond of being dirty, but since I had 2 older brothers, I couldn't be terribly tender and survive. Sure, they were protective of me, but since they were 7 and 11 years old than me, if I wanted to keep up, I had to work for it!

I will never forget the moment when I learned that Lane was a little boy. You could have knocked me over with a feather! It had barely entered my mind that I might have a baby boy. What??? All I knew anything about was girls and girly things. At the time, I had 7 nieces and a step-daughter but only 2 nephews. I knew plenty about pigtails and bows, dance recitals and beauty pageants. It was only natural for me to assume that the girl trend would continue. Instead, I lay on the ultrasound table -- one friend 'taking a peak' and another beside me to share in the excitement. Kenny and I had discussed whether we wanted to know the baby's sex. My husband, a fan of surprises, didn't want to know but I, being the control-freak planner that I am, definitely did. When my friend asked "do you want to know what it is" I was pretty unprepared. I'm sure I stumbled with my speech for a moment, but then asked "are you SURE you know?" Not only did my ultrasound tech friend respond with a resounding yes, but the other one did as well. If you know me, you know I'm pushy and tend to get my way (did I just admit that? I meant persuasive. That's what I meant). A quick call to the hubby at work and I had permission to find out. I held the phone toward my friends and waited to hear the announcement. I was shocked by their excited exclamation. "It's a boy!!" I have no doubt that life would have changed as well had their words been "It's a girl" but the "It's a boy" announcement has totally transformed me.

Who'd think that I'd be blogging and posting pictures of frogs, taking photos of smiling boys with bloody deer and all those great things that mark you for life as a mother of boys? I was a pro at dressing little girls, buying dolls and playing Barbies. Today, I know about Pokemon and Spiderman. I buy camouflage and cleats but now and then, I draw the line. On the way home from Arkadelphia Saturday, we saw an enormous timber rattler (tried to get a pic, sorry) in the highway. Shortly afterward, he asked "Momma, what if I wanted to have a pet snake" to which I responded "Baby, you are welcome to have a pet snake if you like (I'm sure Kenny's eyes widened at this point) but not if you want to live in my house." Oh, no, no, no. I sure love those boys but there's no snake on earth that I could learn to love!

When They're Quiet

I'll bet there are plenty of mothers out there that would tell you this. If your kids are quiet, they're probably into something! This is oh, so the case with Cohen and of course it was when Lane was his age too.

This morning, I was awake but not quite ready to peel myself out of my nice comfy bed (Isn't that the hardest thing to do?). Lane and Cohen were up and going strong but then I began to notice that I wasn't hearing any noise coming forth from Cohen. I layed there knowing I needed to go investigate, but still unable to pry myself up... until Lane said "Momma! Cohen got your bag and is painting on it!!" Horrible, horrible news this was. We're not talking about a Walmart bag or a lunch sack. This is a baby bag I've been making for a friend's baby shower and have put several hours into. OH! I swiftly dealt with Cohen and turned for a closer inspection of the damage. I hoped to determine that all was not lost, that somehow I could salvage my project. Luckily that was the case! Whew! Instead of painting with actual paint, he was using the textile medium. What are the chances? Thank you, Lord!