Can You Hear My Heart?

“Mommy, where is your heart?”

“Right here,” I put the toy stethoscope to my chest. “Do you hear it?”

“No, I can’t hear nothing,” he pouts.

“Listen VERY very carefully,” I whisper. “Do you hear my heart talking?”

His eyes sparkle just a little bit more as they twinkle back and forth, intent on listening.

“It is saying how much I love you,” I tell him.

“MOM!” he complains.

I guess it was supposed to tell him some exciting story about super heroes and villains.

“Alright, alright,” I laugh. “Let me hear yours. What is your heart saying?”

I put the toy stethoscope to his chest and look up into the air, like I’m listening really hard. “Mmm Hmmmm…” I continue to make listening noises. He is just staring at me with a Cheshire grin and a look of anticipation, like I actually know what his heart is saying.

“It is beating hard,” I say. “Oh my! Your heart is really loud. It is saying,” and I pause extra long for a dramatic effect, “that you have the coolest Mommy in the whole wide world! And it is also saying how much you love your Mommy and you are gonna give her a great big hug and kiss!”

“MOM!”

“Alright. Alright,” I say, but I scoop him up in a great big bear hug anyway and give him a big smooch.

xxx

“Pick That Up, Please.”

As I reached the top of the steps John Cena the action figure bit my big toe. Buzz Light Year grabbed my ankle and refused to let go. I told him I was going nowhere near Infinity or Beyond and to leave me alone. Hotwheels lined up and revved their painted threats and little army men stood their ground in a plastic mess. I threatened to melt them all or pull out their stuffing…they didn’t listen. So I yelled at the boys, “Pick up this mess!”

Only Collin came running to attempt this request. Bradley used to be so well trained, I don’t know what happened…probably being 5. Bradley can be a challenge and you have to get creative to get him going, or just threaten to take away his video games and that usually gets him motivated. But Collin, oh sweet little Collin, he is another story…

Collin doing dishes.

With Collin I always have an extra shadow following me. A little blonde hair, blue-eyed angel who is Mommy’s extra couple of hands. He is always there, no matter what I’m doing; it could be dishes, folding laundry, feeding babies, you name it and he is there. If I suddenly stop, he is running into the back of me. I often wonder why we even bought him Christmas presents because he never plays with them. He rather be in the cupboards stacking Tupperware or banging pots and pans.

When I do the dishes I bring in the step stool so he can help. Tonight he climbs up and is supposed to be rinsing. I look over and he is wearing the colander as a hat. I chuckle to myself. This is why doing dishes isn’t so bad, even if I do have to re-wash half of them. And every time I put something into the sink he says, “Tank too” (thank you).

He even helps unload and load the dishwasher. He puts away the silverware, but never in the right spot. Oh well, it keeps him busy and temporarily out of the way so I can unload the rest of the dishes. And most of the time clean  Tupperware lids get washed in the dishwasher. It’s all good. OR…my favorite from this evening – I hear this weird scraping sound and turn around…Collin has a Tupperware bowl on each foot and his walking/sliding across the kitchen floor. I decided to call it “Tupperware Skating” or “Leftover Skiing.”

Mommy and Baby Collin, 2009

So this kid is always up to something and I can’t turn my back for a minute. And he is extremely fast! So I also have him pick things up for me all the time and he loves it. It is also something I LOVE about this age. It is extremely helpful when I have one of the babies in the Sleepywrap, which usually happens when I’m doing the dishes. I will drop something, “Hey Collin, pick this up for Mommy, please,” and he tells ME “thank you” when he’s done. lol

So of course I am constantly dropping things, over and over and over again. It makes him happy and all I want is for my children to be happy. “Pick that up, please.”

***Note***  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Sleepywrap and have used it with the last three of my babies. It has came in handy at the park, mall, work, home, and a million other places. It should probably be a whole other post in itself. I highly recommend it.

Friday Favorites: May 2008

So every Friday I am going to post some of my favorite old pics. It’s my way of reminising…and catching up on my scrapbooking. It’s amazing how things can change so fast…and how my babies are growing so quickly. It really makes me realize to enjoy every minute with my kids because pretty soon they will be grown up and independent. And I’m not getting any younger and not having any more babies. These will keep me plenty busy for years. It just all goes by so fast!

Life before Collin and the twins.

I love getting all dressed up and taking pics. This doesn’t happen very often. This was taken at Brad’s mom’s wedding. Look how little Bradley was there. awwww… and that is when we called him Baby Bradley. He’s kinda grown out of it now, even though he will always be my baby.

It just seems like yesterday we took these pictures, but it was 3 years ago! and 3 babies ago! (yea, we have had 4 babies in 5 years- lol)

Mommy and Bradley