bring on the busy

Today is day # 4 of  100 Days to Christmas. So far I have added my calendar pages to my 100 Days to Christmas Binder. I had the "wish list" discussion with my family and jotted down what we plan to get the boys. Today's task is to set the budget, which is especially important this year with me not currently working. Since my husband and I have been talking about this already I know this task will not be difficult to complete. The remainder of the tasks for this week include making my gift recipient list and starting to think about gifts for every special person on my list, including any home made gifts I might choose to give. later in the week the tasks turn from thoughts of Christmas back to the current season, when I will be asked to finish decorating my home for Fall. Christmas made easy and relaxing, in just a few minutes a day!

I am also happy to report that we had a very busy weekend- busy for us, at least. Between the board meeting I participate in and the two classes my big four and a half year old takes my entire family spent the entire morning Saturday at China school. We left the house at 8:00am and didn't return until nearly 1:00. We then raced around getting the boys fed and getting ourselves ready for our anniversary date. When the sitter arrived, less than an hour after we got home from China school, we were ready and I was not doing my usual running around like a crazy person getting the house ready so as not to be judged by this person taking care of my children. It was awesome!

Between Friday night's tee ball game and Saturday's activities I still found time to stay on track with my daily cleaning and organizing and so was able to enjoy not just a great night out Saturday but a relaxing Sunday which included a family football game in the backyard, (my team lost. that tiny toddler just won't man up...) I also went to the baseball fields with the boys, something my husband would have done alone in the past because I would have felt like there was too much to do at home to go and run around the bases with my kids. I was able to relax at our dinner out because I wasn't mentally freaking out about all the household stuff waiting for me at home. Oh, and because we tried Alex in a booster seat for the first time and settled him in next to Daddy, who then spent the entire meal pushing him back down into his seat, pulling him off the table, taking silverware away from him.... When my older son was little he wouldn't sit anywhere but right by my side, so I was totally enjoying watching my husband be tortured for a change!

So another great weekend, more amazing memories, brought to you by strong organization. Bring on the busy!

occasionally someone is crying. and it's not always me.

I have noticed a change in my parenting style this second time around. Oh, who am I kidding. What I have really noticed is how much calmer I am with this new little guy. Maybe it's because we spent so much time with him in the orphanage. With such a huge glimpse into his daily life I knew exactly what he had been exposed to and what would be brand new to him. Having received my oldest son in a sterile government office in Guangzhou, China, I had only a small idea of what his days in the orphanage were like. When we came home I watched his every move. My fear of the fact that my son had never seen a flushing toilet, stairs, a stove - I was terrified that something horrible would happen. He had a tent on his crib. (which he loved, by the way, and which we still use with our youngest.) The stairs were gated at the top and the bottom. That baby didn't make a move that my watchful eye missed. The first time he rode the RTA with Daddy and attended his first football game I was a nervous wreck. And when he got hit with that softball during his first tee-ball practice, resulting in a bloody nose, I was mortified. My baby!

The joyful arrival of our second child brought back the crib tent. It brought back the gate at the top of the stairs, which, frankly, I'm pretty sure the little guy can already open. The bottom of the stairs remain open, even though my frisky little twenty-six  month old chases the cat up the stairs at least a hundred times a day. But his arrival also brought something I didn't have the first time. Calm. Security. I knew to expect this, I suppose. It's not like I wasn't aware that second children are often allowed more freedom. I just didn't expect to be letting go of that nervousness quite so quickly.

A typical day for Alex includes the following, happening at least four times, in no particular order:

• climbing out of high chair. even with the harness latched.
• rolling down the bottom two steps. how he makes it all the way up and then almost all the way down, every time, is beyond me.
• getting knocked down by his older brother.
• nearly slipping under the water in the tub while attempting to pull his brother under with him.
• gently rolling off the sofa, accidentally. then climbing back up and falling off on purpose.
• walking into the corner of the kitchen table. one day I watched him walk into three of the four corners, one right after the other, as he rounded the table to head outside.
• getting knocked down by his older brother.
• falling off the coffee table. don't even ask.
• running at top speed into the stove, dishwasher, walls.... he is mimicking his older brother, who thinks it funny to run into a wall and then fall down. he is just pretending. Alex, however, is too young to understand this type of humor and so he is literally running into the oven and falling over. repeatedly.
• oh, and getting knocked down by his older brother.

And I don't even bat an eye. I pick him up, check for broken bones, give him a kiss and set him upright and on his way. I don't blink when I watch him climb down the garage stairs and then stick his thumb in his mouth. I simply wash it off and move on. I watch as he climbs the stairs chasing the cat, knowing all the doors are closed and he can't get anywhere but the hallway. But I don't rush to get him. I let this little guy explore. I let him fall. I let him play rough with his brother. I let him be the boy he is. And in the process, my older son gets to be the boy he is too.

I know that one day my toddler will be riding scooters. I will be pulling candy wrappers, matchbox cars, leaves and dirty rocks from his pockets when doing laundry. And when that day comes I know my older boy will have moved on to big boy bikes and climbing trees. Eventually they will be riding roller coasters, having crushes on girls, driving. (gasp). There will be dirt in my house and on them. There will be loud toys and video games. There will be monster truck shows, demolition derby's, trips to the race track. There will be football and baseball and soccer. (and because they are my boys there will also be music lessons and trips to the library.) My life will be messy, and I won't always be able to control the chaos. So I am glad I have learned this lesson early. My life with these two boys is loud. It's messy. It's often sticky. Someone is usually tackling someone else, and occasionally someone is crying. And it's not always me.

I am the mother of boys, something I never dreamed I would be. And I am just calm enough to tackle each day right along with them.