10 Things

Well, I did it. I managed to finish an entire week of household chores, child care, co-op accounting, and writing with success! This hasn't happened since February when I had my accident. It was still a hard week, my PTSD is still lurking around every corner and the after effects of the accident still plague me during the day, BUT......what a glorious BUT, I did it!!!! I managed to keep the house clean (spotlessly clean the way I like it) every single day, I stayed on top of the laundry and ironing, I took care of my kids and taught them things, I made tons of meals and didn't have to order out once, and I took care of my beautiful garden. This is a big deal for me. This is when the first smattering of color finally starts to break through the dark clouds and you think you might just see a rainbow in the next few minutes. I think its coming...my eyes are squinted and I think I may just see one in the next week or two.

Here are 10 snippets from our family of the past few weeks, some are funny and cute, others are just moments of complete grace that brought me joy.

1) The Bear is talking. Not baby talk, not cute first words, he is talking in complete sentences. This brings me both joy and unbelievable heartache. I would give anything to hear his sweet baby words one last time, but they are almost all gone now. He is chatting all the time. Reciting what groceries I hand him at the store, "taco seasoning, ricotta cheese, yogurt, blueberry juice" before depositing them in the cart for me. He wants to help carry things around the house. He loves to sweep the floor and wipe down the play table for me. He asks me, "more work?" and I can't believe his thoughtful kindness at such an early age. He gets its from his daddy, of that I have no doubt.

2) The Bear has manners. Let the sun shine down and the birds sing! This is Mommy's dream come true. Not going to lie, I am obsessed with raising gentlemen of the Mr. Darcy variety but with a splash of Mr. Bingley's congeniality. Without needing a command or request, the Bear will say, "yes please," "no thank you," and hold the garden gate open for me each time I pass, before closing it shut again. Hallelujah!

He is also singing songs, reciting pieces of the alphabet, counting forwards and backwards, reciting colors, I am truly amazed at how his mind has progressed in the past month. I am so excited for to begin our homeschooling this Autumn! We are going to have so much fun!

3) Cubby is on a mission to leave this earth. That is a horrible sentence I know, but just wait till I finish and you will understand. My goal with Cubby every day is to keep him alive. He climbs furniture with one objective in mind: jumping off the highest end or edge, preferably in the direction of something jagged or sharp. He likes to peel off socket protectors so he can stick things in the holes. He managed to scale three pieces of furniture in order to reach my counter top. He opened the car door while the car was in motion using his fat little toes. That he didn't undo his car seat restraints and try to parachute out the side is a miracle. He has managed to earn himself three shiners in seven weeks, along with countless cuts, scrapes and bruises. He also got a busted up bloody nose, in Sunday school of all places! I think our pediatrician suspects that I neglect him because every time we go for a check up he says, "you really gotta keep on eye on him, Mom, ok?"

3 continued) Cubby choked. Not on one cracker, not on two, he choked on seven crackers because he shoved them all into his mouth at once. Who chokes on seven crackers? I find that "constant supervision" is an understatement when it comes to my second born son. I need surveillance equipment, a safety net of the circus variety, compression bandages and if the electrical socket fascination continues, a defibrillator as well.

I am ordering a huge emergency first aid kit online this week. Not like the small box I kept in the Bear's diaper bag, this thing looks like a piece of luggage. Its huge! But for this kid, completely and totally necessary.

4) Cubby has sprouted four new teeth and is chit chatting all day long. From the standard "all done" type of chatter to the more sophisticated second born, "I got it," "look at that," and " I don't know, Momma." I am so proud of him. I love his sassy little smile and bubbly personality.

5) I felt our new little one move last night. A tiny flutter of movement just to let me know that I have 26 weeks before all hell breaks loose.

6) My husband. I will never be able to forget what he has done for us these past dark months of my life. The countless times he held me in his arms and prayed over me when I felt fear or intense pain are etched in my memory forever. He would rise at 5AM to work on his research, then get the boys started by changing them and feeding them, then he would leave for a grueling day at school although he would return on a moment's notice if I needed him. At night he would return for dinner, spend time with his sons and put them to bed, then he would clean the house for me on most days before going back to his office for more research until exhaustion beckoned him to bed. This happened more often than not, especially in the first two months after the accident. I never heard him complain. Not once. He showed his love for me every day in the kindest acts. He poured grace on me and prayed for me when I didn't have the strength to. He made a solemn vow to me, years ago, then demonstrated that he is a man of his word in every conceivable way. I want to weep when I think of what he endured out of love for this family. I praise God for our marriage and I rejoice for every day we share together on this soil.

7) ALL of my gladiolus bloomed. It was my first year planting bulbs and the fact that they all bloomed meant a lot to me. I felt such a sense of accomplishment every time I looked out my window towards the garden and saw those tall spears of vibrant color standing at attention.

8) Our neighbors are guajiros. I really like them. As is standard practice of the guajiro code, a neighbor can not give you anything without something from your home being given in return. For example: They gave us tomatoes from their garden so I gave them a fresh loaf of spiced bread that I had baked that afternoon, which made them give us a huge bunch of plantains, which made me reciprocate with a papaya. This happened in the span of about one hour and forty-five minutes and most likely would have continued but it grew dark out.

9) We have had two enormous electrical storms complete with torrential downpours in the past two weeks. This makes me happy. This makes the trees happy. In particular: the flamboyan trees and the mango trees. Big juicy mangos are on the forecast for later this sumer, get excited!

10) Lastly, our dog is still a diva. He also thinks he is married to my husband and that I am, in fact, the family dog. I am not amused.