Fourth Day of Advent

"Hey Tate, you ready to go upstairs and get ready for bed and open a present for Advent?"  Visualize said 28 month old RACING and I mean RACING to the stairs shaking the gate trying to scamper up those stairs!  


Once almost to the top he really took off!  Ran into our bedroom and came galloping back out, panting "Where's your camera Mommy?  I no see the camera!"  I showed it to him in my hands and he gave a most belabored sigh of relief.  He went in search of his hippo and pacifier and Aunt Lindsey read him his 'J is for Jesus' book while I readied the bathtub.  (though apparently I need to question her reading skills as she called it "Tis for Jesus")  The letter J seems to be confusing for her!!  :)


After I got him dressed and ready for bed, I went to clean the bathtub anticipating he would read books to himself like he does every night while I clean the tub.  I came back and he was sitting next to his Advent basket just waiting to have his picture taken, cheesy grin in place and all!  He somehow chose another Crystal Bowman book tonight... this one about angels.  He did ask to have it read to him, and it was another really sweet story about the birth of our Savior.


We had a nice quiet day together.  It was just the two of us all day except for about 45 minutes in the park this morning with my favorite neighbor K and her 4 year old nephew D.  Love me some K!!  She is just the sweetest, most open hearted person I know and her husband is just as awesome.  They have been so fabulous to me and now Tate and me since we all moved in here in the summer of 2003.  We both had our homes custom built in our little set of 6 townhomes, and moved in within a couple of weeks of each other.  I had a roommate initially (a gay guy) who did all the male stuff around the house, but he only lived here about 9 months.  Since then R (K's husband) has moved furniture,  brought in and removed many a Christmas tree, killed bugs, changed my impossible to reach air filter (in my stairwell!!! He can barely reach it, and he's a good 6 inches taller than me!!!) and any other manly need I have had.  They're fun and just all around good people.  


Anyway, we met K and D at the park and Tate had a blast.  I don't usually go to this playground at the park because there are usually so many older kids, but this morning it was all 4 and under it seemed.  As it was in the mid 70s at 945am everyone was out with their kiddos. (yes we should have been in church).  It's just unseasonably warm here...blech!  Tate was all over the big slides and running around having so much fun.  But after that it was just him and me.  He napped after lunch, then when he woke up we hung out all afternoon as it was nasty, cold and rainy outside.  (the temp dropped to about 50!!!)  We played trains, made ornaments and cards with glitter (that was a messy endeavor) and rolled about the floor all afternoon!  I'm exhausted, but it was so much fun to hang out with my little guy all day (and we each only had one tiny meltdown apiece...me with having a very tense, frustrated tone, him throwing a book landing himself in a time out)  


I am going to miss him terribly tomorrow.  I really hate having to work.  I just want to savor and spend each and every moment with this precious child of mine.  I am not one of those mothers who goes to work and immerses herself in what she does, grateful for the adult companionship.  Maybe it's because I'm not around adults all that much...I'm with other people's kids.  Though obviously my staff is adults it's not just not the same.  In any event, my place is with my son, especially at this time in his life.  I just wish I could figure out the way to make that happen, but as this isn't a fantasy life I have to make the most of the time we have together.  It's why it's so hard for me to spend time away from him on my days off, even the evenings, because I want to be here on the off chance he wakes up and I certainly don't want to pawn him off on someone else during the day.  I do do that on Fridays sometimes when I'm off...I take him there for his lunch and naptime while I run to the doctor, hair salon etc.  But the guilt.....


But this is a season of joy, happiness, anticipation, and most of all love.  And my life is full of all those things, day in and day out because of this amazing gift God sent my way.


21 days until our dear Savior's birth-day!

 

Counting the ornaments on the tree in his new book!