The Sad Truth

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in a room with Donovan and Howie when I hear this conversation:

Howie - Think about it Donovan, there's no way Santa can be real.

Donovan - Yeah he is Howie.

Howie - There's no way he can really go around to every single house all in one night. And he can't fit presents down chimneys. And there is no way anyone could survive living in the North Pole.

Donovan - Yes he's real, he just magical Howie.

Howie - Do you really think he could fit that trampoline in his sleigh? I think mom
and dad just bought it at Walmart and put it together themselves.

Donovan - Mom, Santa's real isn't he?

Me - Go talk to your dad.

So Matt has a little talk with them and reveals this sad truth. Howie was fine afterwards - it was just as he suspected, but the truth was harder on Donovan. I asked him how he was doing and he told me he was kind of sad. But then he says, "at least we still have the Easter bunny". I could have died! And I had to catch Howie as he was about to say something like, "seriously Donovan?" The look he gave Donovan was hilarious. I didn't have the heart to take away this last glimmer of hope. But it didn't last. A few days later Donovan found my planner and saw that on my to-do list was fill eggs and baskets. He sadly approached me and said, "Mom, the Easter Bunny isn't real is he?" I gave him a big hug and said, "no, he isn't." It was so sad! Donovan is such a sweet and innocent boy, I hope the world is kind to him.

She came, she worked, she left.

This last week was quite a whirlwind. I don't remember much, but I have been left with some pleasant changes. My mom came for a "baby visit" and helped me get my life back in order. And by help I mean she did a whole bunch of work while I complained about anything I could think of. I have pictures of some of what she did, but sadly none of her.

She took a disaster of a storage room and turned it into this:



She put together a collection of family pictures in our dining room:



She made Rex an official member of our family by adding him to our fireplace mantle:



And she stained this desk that Matt has had unfinished since he was in high school:



And in her free time she managed to mop our floors, clean our kitchen, babysit our kids, make a perfect chicken pot pie, clean our kitchen again, fold our clothes, pick up our living room, wash off marker from cars and desks and any other surfaces Nina victimized, clean the kitchen again, make lots of food, clean up our basement and clean the kitchen one more time. I love my mom and how generous she is. She does so much to ease our burdens and I hope I can one day be like her.

3 months and still a dream

I am going to admit something, and don't judge me. The whole time I was pregnant with Rex, I cringed when I looked at little babies. They are SO HARD. They don't sleep, so you don't sleep. They cry a lot. And this thing would be attached to me one way or another for a long time. Like over a year. Who in their right mind would want something like that??? I wasn't sure I really did. But I did feel like it was right that one more child belonged in our family and I kept praying that we would be able to handle this last one.



And this last one is a complete angel.



I have heard people say that a new baby brings a measure of peace along with it. I'm not sure I noticed that on the last maybe 4 go-arounds. I can't say for sure though because a lot of my life is a blur. Like the months after every baby we've had. And like a year after Cameron.



But even in our noisy house, I do feel more peace than I did before he was born. I also feel a little more disorganized, but I've made peace with the messes that I will be seeing for the next lots of years. We're going to be great friends, me and those messes.




And I don't mind because I have this little guy to hang out with.



This total dream of a baby.

ps

I hate this game too:



In this game, you have to line up all your clean Star Wars ships with your dirty hands before they all take off and shoot the bad guys.



But I really like this boy. He can be quite entertaining.