Just Me and My Thoughts

Jon left Thursday afternoon to go on a snow camping trip with the scouts. They will be back late tonight...I can't wait! Until then I sit here, my third quiet night in a row, trying to pass the time. These 3 days have gone better than I expected. We've tried to stay busy and at the same time to keep things low key. Yesterday we had a Friday Funday. In the morning, after chores, we went to Pump it Up to use our free play passes we got on Groupon. Emma has been begging to go since the last time we went (in February), so she was thrilled. It was a great way to pass the morning. After coming home, we had lunch, quiet time, and then got the grocery shopping done. Then we spent the next 4 hours, until bedtime, at our neighbors house. It was great! The kids all played hard and fell into bed as soon as we got home. That whole day just flew by!

Today has been much more low key. We had a pajama and movie kind of a day. We made silly face pancakes for breakfast, had cereal for lunch, and hot dogs and leftover pizza for dinner....the kids were in heaven! And honestly, it's been kind of nice to not feel like I have to cook the last 3 days.

The evenings have been kind of nice too. The kids are always in bed by 7:30, so I have been left with a few hours each evening. At first I really enjoyed it. I got a lot done around the house. By tonight I'm starting to feel like it's just too quiet. I'm ready for Jon to be home...to have someone to talk to again. And I'm ready to start going to bed at a decent time again. I've found myself staying up later and later each night that he's been gone. And for someone who's a morning person, that's not a good thing!

The last couple nights I've found myself reflecting a lot, mostly about the kids. I've found myself watching them a lot lately, in awe of how grown up they seem all of a sudden.

Emma especially seems so much older lately. It's interesting to see her personality continue to develop and mature. She can be very rough and tumble, but at the same time she is very sweet and caring. She is very aware of other people's feelings. We've been trying to work on potty training Matthew the last few days (it is SLOOOOW going...he knows what to do but just doesn't want to). Every time he has gone to the bathroom on the toilet, Emma gets so excited. She rushes over to congratulate him and tell him what a big boy he is. Then she tells him that she loves him so much and they give each other a big hug. It is the sweetest thing ever!

She is also getting so excited for this baby to come. She loves to feel the baby move...though she really believes that I have to eat a treat to make the baby move.  :)  She has become very aware of babies around us. She loves to talk to them and softly touch their heads. If she is around an older baby, she will spend the entire time bringing them toys and telling them how cute they are. We watched our friends kids a couple weeks ago. Their youngest boy just turned 1. Emma wanted so badly to teach him how to talk. She followed him around saying a variety of words over and over, loud and slow. Then she would occasionally giggle and tell him he was such a cute, big boy. It makes me excited for this baby to come. I can't wait to see how the kids do with this new little one. Matthew watches Emma very closely when they are around babies, and he has started to do the same things that she does, though he is still very curious and holds back more. He is definitely fascinated with babies and points them out every time he sees one.

One of my favorite things about Emma is how helpful she is. I love that I can ask her to do something and she does it, even if I leave the room right after I ask her. And often she will clean up or put things away without being asked at all. Cleaning the playroom is the kids' job. Matthew tries to help, but he usually just gets distracted and starts playing with whatever toy he's cleaning up. But Emma will go in, clean up her share, and then offer to help Matthew clean up his part. It is awesome!

And Matthew is still our cuddly little guy. He is generally very happy and has the funniest little laugh. He loves to be silly and try and make us laugh. One of the things that I love about Matthew right now is his habit of collecting and carrying random objects around. Every night his bed is filled with a random assortment of books, toys, and other things that he collected on his way to bed. Throughout the day he is never without at least one toy in each hand. At meal times, he always has a small pile of random objects next to his place. It's pretty funny to see what objects he gets attached to each day. He is also a  boy who knows exactly what he wants and is not easily persuaded to change his mind. He loves his trains and cars and will play quietly by himself for long periods of time. He will be 3 in a month...and I still cannot believe it. He is my little guy, my baby....not a big 3 year old! Just don't try and tell him that.  :) 

I guess in short, I have just been struck the last couple of days with how lucky I am to have these two. 

And now I need to make myself go to bed so I'll end my ramblings there.  Good night!