Perfect day

Cue the song from Legally Blonde because now it's in my head. ("perfect daaaay, nothin's gettin' in my waaay." You're welcome.)

My mother-in-law texted me a few days ago: "Are you OK? You haven't blogged in a week!"

I am OK (phew :) but I haven't gotten on the computer much. Nor have I taken many pictures other than phone pictures. Here are some phone pictures from one perfect day in October. We went to a park for our friend Sterling Henry's third birthday party and ended up staying and playing at the playground there for over 4 hours. Theo and Ida roamed the place and actually talked to other kids (rare for them) while Lars took naps in the stroller as I walked him around and around...and around.

One funny moment while I nursed Lars on a bench was when a random kid came up and asked about my nursing cover. I always used to make fun of nursing covers and I still think the concept is kind of funny, but I love my nursing cover which my mom made when Ida was a newborn. It's especially great when babies start paying attention to the world around them and get distracted easily. My answer was that I was using it to cover the baby while I fed him, and the kid said thoughtfully, "Okay....so it's like a big bib then." Yeah. Kind of!

The weather was warm but not hot, then cool but not cold, and the leaves were just turning colors. We finally left because I was out of diapers and snacks and it was getting close to dinner time. Ida fell asleep in the car on the way home and we all slept like rocks that night. The kids' Halloween costumes had arrived in the mail while we were gone, and they wore them while they played in the backyard until bedtime. It was a beautiful, happy afternoon that I always want to remember. The kids probably won't but I will.

My house is such a disaster most of the time (including this very moment...wow, it's bad), and my kids fight (Theo! Bossy Pants!!! Ida! Whiny Face!!!), and, after a promising start, Lars now wakes up all night, every night. But I have been so blessed lately to love and enjoy my little kids even despite the fact that...they are little kids. The dishes pile up and everything gets reeeeally dusty and we have fun together. You know, punctuated with time-outs and me apparently walking around with a scowl (I know when I look angry because my kids say, "Mom...? You're happy"). Matt gets home late sometimes but adjusts his work schedule when he can and helps when he can, and spends a lot of time with the kids and me, and has patience with us. I would have fallen over with happiness a year, two years, three years ago knowing he would one day have more flexible hours doing a job he likes.

Every couple of weeks I get the fever and madly run around until 1 a.m. straightening everything up. Then somehow within a day or two it's back to the Post-Tornado Look.

Most of the leaves have made their way off the trees now, and we even had one day of snow just before Halloween. But the forecast for this week is 50s and 60s. I'm glad that winter is holding off for a little bit longer.