proof that times are changing:
*for the first time in 8 years and 3 months, exactly, the littlejohns are diaper free. totally and completely diaper free! it feels like a miracle. anderson has been potty trained during the day for some time now, and i have just recently started to allow him to wear big boy pants to bed. he took to it like a champ.
*we also just took a road trip with no nursing stops. we did have some emergency pee stops, but hey i'll take it :)
*last night we decorated the tree with ZERO melt downs. (mark didn't even curse when he was hanging up the lights :) it was TOTALLY enjoyable to watch the kids hang their ornaments with tons of glee and glitter!
*everyone sat around the dinner table last night and chatted long after the meal was done. during the early years i only requested that the kids stay during the meal. once they were done eating i felt like it was one more "preference" of mine to enforce. when 530 pm comes i no longer have the energy to enforce preferences. it was MUCH smoother to let them finish their meal, clear their plate, and go play while mark and i ate in silence. but now they WANT to stay (except AJ, he still wants to run around!) and listening to their chatter makes my heart warm .especially, because katie is gone all day i love hearing EVERY (and i mean EVERY) detail about school.
* rules, family practices, and routines are having to be enforced less and less everyday. not to say our children have fully grasped every concept we are trying to teach them, and not that i don't repeat myself a gazillion times throughout the day, but i find myself less tired at the end of each day. and i will take any ounce of extra energy i can muster up. and i am TOTALLY enjoying using that extra energy to pick back up things that i love doing, that for a short season i had to sacrifice for the well being of our small children and growing family.
no, we are not hardly done parenting! no, there are still exhausting days ahead. there are still a million teachable moments waiting to be captured...
but it is so amazing to be on this side of pregnancy, infancy, babies, and toddler-hood. i love standing here on the verge of a new season, and looking back at the precious season left behind with little regret. for those who have gone before us, thank you for your example. for those of you who are at the beginning or smack dab in the throws of it, hang on.. even if it's just til 5pm. it's worth it! the thankless days, the mind numbing exhaustion, the pj's til 2pm, and reruns of sesame street. take it in by the hand fulls! give yourself grace to have an imperfect house, and unrecognizable body shape :). love your children well. love your children with no regrets. cause poof, it's gone before you know it!!
enjoy the christmas tree pics!
~s
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