Friday, July 11, 2008

evidence of motherhood

i remember it like it was yesterday.

buz and i were engaged. we were going to the church that we currently attend, but it was very far from buz's house and my apartment. for a while, we did it. we had breakfast together and then headed to church. it was really an entire day event. which was fine. i was madly in love with buz. i had NO PROBLEM with anything that was all day. if i was with my man.

but at some point, the drive got to be too much. we were really in need of something a little closer. so we began church shopping -- a process i do NOT care for. but we did. and every so often, it was fun. because i would look over at buz, all lovestruck, thinking about what it would be like to go to church together, arm in arm, with rings on our left hands.

but there was this one day. oh my. we got to this church. a fairly large Baptist church. we decided in our relationship bliss that we would check out the newlywed class. after all, we were going to be, you know, newlyweds.

everyone was so nice and cordial. we sat down, and the Sunday School class began. and it was nice. sweet, if you will. the class itself was good. don't remember what they talked about. until.

until they got to "announcement time" where they proceeded to talk about the upcoming social events. and when they started talking about the second event, the sunday school class leader said, "and just wait. there is going to be child care there."

and there was applause like none other.

i'm having to take a seat for a minute to catch my breath just retelling the story.

it made an impression on me, to say the least. and as buz and i drove away to go grab some leisurely we-don't-have-kids-so-we-can-linger-at-any-restaurant-that-doesn't-serve-chicken-nuggets lunch, we could NOT stop talking about how we were NOT ready for that class yet.

we really could NOT imagine our life like theirs.

fast forward seven years. where there is evidence of motherhood all. over. the. place.

this is what is currently in my living room.



yes. that IS a four-person tent. in our living room.

the other day, i told myself i had to go through my purse because it was just too heavy. it had to be cleaned out. (kelly is laughing. she thought the same thing when she was here.) and once i started going through it, i had to get out my camera.

oh my.


let's gaze upon the beauty of this handbag.


but oh no. what is all that stuff inside?


diaper. wipes. makes sense.


wallet. pocket bible. necessities.


best notebook ever created. thank you, dollar spot. thank you.


my change purse. and yes. this DOES have speed racer on it. and yes. it IS from mcdonalds.


beads. in the event goo needs that last minute accessory.


big lollipops from disney world that i want to give to big h and the goo for a special occasion. sometime soon. but of course, i can't unwrap them or they'll see them.


don't laugh. this is my "pen wallet." ok, go ahead. laugh. but as my friend jenna and i have agreed...one cannot have too many pens. you just never know.


big h's baseball trophy. these things are important to their little self-esteems, you know.



all of my emergency pinches. hair accessories. oil-absorbing sheets. i live in texas. paper clips. gloss. and yes. on the right. that's a mirror and comb. that says speed racer. from mcdonalds. clearly, i highly value my beauty regimen.


the electronic portion of my handbag. on the right you'll find my iPod nano. previous generation. works perfectly fine, thankyouverymuch. in the middle, you'll see my ultra cool doesn'tdoanythingbutcallandtext phone. but did i mention? it doesn't really hold a charge. so in the car, it's essentially a big black box phone. and on the left? a palm. i'm very proud of this. i know it's not an iPhone or a blackberry or some other kind of wireless PDA. but it works for me. so back off.


and of course, the european smart car and a mini magna doodle. we've found that the smart car is always a mood lifter. and goo? she loves her some magnetic coloring. anytime. anywhere.


and the reason my handbag was so heavy. case in point.

i took BOTH of my children to the movie yesterday. and we had popcorn and candy and drinks. and laughed. and MY sweet victory of the entire day was that goo wore a bow in her hair. not that i want her to wear bows everyday. but hair getting long in the summer in texas = need for something to keep your hair out of your face. and seeing as how she has NEVER let me put ANYTHING in her hair, i counted this a milestone. and wrote about it in her baby book.



you think i'm kidding.

big h and i had a conversation today about poop and tooting. "mama, pooping just makes my tummy and my bottom feel so much better. don't you think so? and when i toot, it just feels so good. don't you think so?"

to be honest, never really thought about it.

my plans for saturday evening? they're giving away free ice cream at a local ice cream shop if everyone in your family comes dressed in their jammies. don't think we're not doing it.

goo and big h both wore superhero jammies to bed tonight. and you know what? it was the best part of my day.

tonight i got some free time to myself. know what i did? went to old navy and spent my extra lunch money (don't laugh) on a cute on-sale sweater.

and what am i doing online awake when i should be asleep like everyone else in my family? looking at gap.com and babystyle.com trying to decide what new clothes my almost TWO-YEAR-OLD would look cute in seeing as how she's growing like a freaking weed.

and tomorrow? is donut friday. (like it has been every friday since 2005.) and i've been looking forward to it all week. we're off to eat sprinkles and then head to the library to check out new max and ruby books.

this is what i use my camera for.



my end-of-the-evening discussion with buz tonight was romantic because he told me what a great mom i was. what a great job i'm doing with my kids, raising them and loving them. yeah, he's hot.

and all of this? means more to me than eating at a fancy restaurant with buz. than going to concerts or whatever else people do without children. i didn't think i could ever imagine my life with kids. now, i can't imagine my life without them.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

That is so sweet. You can tell what a great mom you are by how happy your kiddos are. Just scroll up to your header to see their bright smiles!

Anonymous said...

I love all of it :-) SO sweet, but especially the pen-wallet. Seriously. Where do I get one of those!?

Jenna said...

I second Buz on the good-mama discussion big time!

I LOVED everything about this post, my friend. The tent (my boys would die of sheer joy if they had that), the purse (SO cute by the way), the purse contents (from the 'Stuff Your Purse Full' club president--good job), the jammies (can't handle it), the movie pic (really can't handle it), and of course the pen wallet (thanks for the shout out, and I need one of those! my pens live at the bottom of my purse). You make me laugh so hard.

Happy Friday, my dear!

Anonymous said...

What a great post. Totally resonnates. Purse too! ;)

Nicole - Life in Progress said...

This post was freaking hilarious and super sweet all at the same time. I loved it.

Ok, a few things:
Goo is rockin' that hairbow - so cute!

Love the purse, and please tell me you had some gum wrappers and crumpled receipts at the bottom of it so I don't feel so bad about my own purse!

I would wear superhero pajamas myself if it meant free ice cream....I'm just sayin'.

"i didn't think i could ever imagine my life with kids. now, i can't imagine my life without them." I feel exactly the same way.

Anonymous said...

girlfriend! the purse! how are you not crippled? (i act like mine's not exactly the same) loved this. it made me smile and i want to eat goo's curls up with a spoon!

Chrys and Mike said...

great post, friend. funny and oh, so so sweet. i totally agree. motherhood just changes everything.

love it.

chrys

Sunni at The Flying Mum said...

That last picture? Too precious for words.

And I'm jealous of donut Friday. Maybe I'll start that!

Kelly from Montana said...

i miss you - so much fun for you! life is good!

Janelle said...

Did you happen to put all that back into that purse? I love that you have a baseball trophy in your handbag.

I love your posts. I feel like I am getting 2nds and 3rds at the best restaurant.

That picture of Goo needs to be framed.

Missy said...

1) I totally relate to the hairbow achievement and

2) I can't believe you have never realized how good it feels to toot.

Amy Olivarez said...

OK---LOVE the change purse and must tell you that all three of my girls have that change purse from McDonalds:)!!
Amy O.

Colored With Memories said...

I was having a hard time examining the contents of your purse because I was too busy looking at the rug they were laying on...we have the same EXACT rug!

how fun is that?

loved the post though!

Anonymous said...

I must be the luckiest mother-in-law/grandmother alive, to have you belong to us, Brad and our beautiful babies. You are soooooooo sweet and funny, I can't stand it.!!! Can't wait for you to explain to me what all those electronic things are. It is so great to have a tech genius in our family, besides all the aforementioned qualities. Love you, Me (gramma wiz)

Missy said...

Ok, regarding your "too long of a story for a comment" comment on my blog...

I have cut comments i wrote before because they were already a basic new blog post. Brevity is not my strong point.

But I loved that story, so I am glad you kept it!

Alana said...

Hello, sweet friend. How are you?

Love this post. Don't know why, but it just made me happy to see all the contents of your purse ;-)

Love that Buzz recognizes your hard work as a Mom.

SO love the donut friday idea...wish I could have one...sigh ;-)

Missy said...

Oh.
My new friend.

Did you partake of the glory that is Project Runway??

It will be repeated...

Trust me.
Go there.

My husband even loves it.