Summer Daze

Well it's officially summer. How do I know this, you ask?
My children have returned to their nudist roots. Piles of clothes and discarded diapers fill every chair on the patio. Unexpected guests are greeted with a warm and gentle, "Hold on a second! Paisley! Get some undies on! Now!"

In the not-quite-miserable heat, the girls have been bug-catching, blue-pool lounging, and letting their imaginations run wild with dozens of little animals (about which I gladly sacrificed my hippie ideals for some plastic, made-in-China, hours-long entertainment i.e. mommy-time.)

The boy continues to be the World's Cutest Kid, smoothing over any parental irritation with a dimpled smile. He's absolutely obsessed with colors and letters-- at 20 months he knows every color, almost every letter and a few letter sounds. His awe-inspiring fits are getting shorter and more manageable, and after 2 whopping months of sleeping through the night, I'm getting serious baby-fever again. Ruh-roh.

Pais is growing up quickly-- it seems like kids have these sudden spurts where they do a year of maturing in 2 or 3 months... she's in one of those. She still has a 2-second attention span (at least for things *I* ask her to do), but now she's asking great philosophical questions and peppering her speech with words like "espeshewy," "sewiouswy," and "intewesting." Her imagination is amazing, and right now she's spending hours outside every day acting out plastic-animal dramas, comedies, and American-Idol spin-offs.

Layla... well, she's always been old. I swear we're going through pre-teen drama right now (at nearly 6). She's rolling her eyes and asking "seriously?" when Daddy tries to be funny. (which makes us want to do it even more). She's reading chapter books, and loving being a big sister. She's leading the campaign for baby #4, and she's convinced her sister to want one as well (though Pais was at first completely against the idea. "I don't want anotho baby, because like, they take SO long to gwow up and PLAY with us!")

I'm finally FINALLY being artsy again. It feels so good to be doing something for me-- something besides all of the day-to-day mama stuff. I love the mama stuff... but it gets monotonous, and like lots of other mommies out there I felt like I had lost part of myself somewhere between the 1,232nd diaper change and 425th load of laundry. Making things and reading helps me remember that other part of myself... now I just need to get better at making and maintaining friendships. I feel like such an idiot sometimes, starved for adult conversation, with other mommies right across the street... and I don't do anything about it! Mom-dating is even worse than regular dating I think (though the latter is pretty foggy). I just need to get my butt out there, and make a priority of hanging out with other moms.

Oh yeah, and I also need to cut down on my carbs. And exercise. And keep up with the laundry, homeschooling, and my jewelry business. And make sure the kids are active enough, social enough, and eating healthy enough. And that Jacob and I get enough alone time. And that I get enough *me* time. So many things I feel like I'm not doing as well as I should be, and yet I want another baby. I must be crazy. And yet... watching my three snuggle together on the couch, I get a little teary. And I realize that for me, the very best moments of parenthood-- those Hallmark, cue the music, life-doesn't-get-any-better-than-this moments, have all been watching them together. Paisley stealing a kiss from baby brother on her way out the door, The sisters cuddled up together asleep in their bed, the way Thatcher looks at Layla with such complete adoration (and sometimes accidentally calls her mama)... so yeah, maybe I'm crazy, but I'd like one more. Even if we don't have another though, and even though it's hectic and loud, messy and emotional, I really do feel like the luckiest mama and wife in the world.