The Little Moments..

Over the last few days, I have had several special moments with my little family that I told myself that I always wanted to remember but so paranoid that I would forget, so I'm going to share them here so I can always read about them later.

Brycen Sick:

Last weekend, when Brycen was so sick and was puking every few hours; I found motherhood to be frankly, very disgusting. I'm not sure why, but Brycen decided that I would be his personal puke bucket and threw up on me more times than I want to count. Not once on Bryce. There were many times where Brycen would take my hand, put it to his mouth, and then proceed to vomit. Not only did I get to witness it, but I got to hold it, feel it, and smell it which Bryce stood by not too eager to help and I'm sure, silently laughing.

On Sunday evening, I was eating a warm, delicious cookie and was about halfway through it, when Brycen approached my lap and before I could even move, had decorated it with the dinner that he had eaten just a few hours before. If this had happened 48 hours before, I would have either done one of two things, threw up myself and that delicious cookie or jumped up in horror while yelling, "ahh, so disgusting!" But instead, since this was a sight that was no longer foreign to me, I calmly started breathing through my mouth, finished my delicious cookie, and then proceeded to comfort Brycen, "It's okay" while I first cleaned off Brycen before starting on my lap.

Those days were long and tiring, getting up every few hours at night to strip the bed, start laundry, and find a dry place to sleep; but those nights were also very memorable. Two of the nights, Brycen was so exhausted after his most recent episode of throwing up that he fell asleep in our bed; with his head on my stomach and his feet on Bryce's. One night, while I stroked Brycen's hair with my left hand and Bryce's with my right, they both started snoring heavily and I knew I wouldn't be able to fall asleep with such noise. So for a brief second I thought about giving a loving nudge to Bryce and a small movement of my belly to Brycen to wake them just a moment because I knew, from experience, that if I interrupted their sleep enough to startle them, I could have a two minute window to fall asleep before they started snoring again. Instead, I continued to stroke their hair and and reflected on what a precious moment this was. Something about sleep that makes people looks so peaceful, I love it... even if they do snore :).

Wal-mart:

Last night we made a run to Wal-mart around dinner time. It was SO cold and we were hungry so I was eager to get in the car and go home to make dinner. When I opened the back door to put Brycen in his car seat, he resisted. Screamed, straightened his back, threw up his arms. After trying to unsuccessfully put him in several times, I gave up out of frustration, slammed the car door and proceeded to go around the car to the passenger seat while saying, "argh!". Thank goodness Bryce was with us, so once he arrived from returning the cart, he turned around in his seat and managed to put the seatbelt on our child who was now screaming bloodly murder. He was so mad and screamed continuously for the next five minutes on a level I have never heard him scream before (stay away from hungry males :)).

After I calmed down, Bryce and I actually laughed because he was screaming so hard.... parents that want their child to be safe are just so cruel. Not wanting to make him more mad, I purposely didn't look back while we were laughing (made that mistake before) and waited until I was completely calm and then I looked back while asking, "Brycen, what is the problem?" I saw Brycen with tears streaming down his face, have an out-reached hand towards me. At first, I was a little hesitant to give him my hand because sometimes he uses it to try to push the seatbelt button and get out; but I did give it to him this time and as soon as our hands reached, he clung on to it for dear life, immediately stopped screaming, let our hands fall into his lap, and looked out the window as he did the hiccuping, that only comes from such crying, the rest of the way home.

Today:

Sometimes I find it very hard to be a stay-at-home mom. Brycen and I sometimes get sick of each other or sometimes after ten hours straight, I start losing my patience, etc. Well, today was one of those days. After Brycen had lunch and right before naptime, I took him into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He refused, he glued his lips closed, and would NOT let the toothbrush in. For some reason, this really pushed my buttons. Just like wearing your seatbelt, brushing your teeth is just something you are supposed to do and after what we went through with his teeth, I wanted him to so desperately to understand that this was for HIS good (and Daddy's wallet...).

I forced his mouth open and brushed his teeth and by this time, he was screaming so I took him into his room, placed him on his bed, and slammed the door as I left. I never leave for more than 10 seconds but long enough for me to calm down. I then came back in without saying a word, laid down on his bed with him, and pretended to be asleep so that he would then hopefully go to sleep. Within a few moments, Brycen wiggled closer to me and cautiously, laid his head on my shoulder. Almost as a reflex, my hand found his head and started stroking his hair like I always do. He immediately started to relax and lifted my other arm that wasn't doing anything, and wrapped it around himself. Within one minute, he was fast asleep in my arms.

I love being a mom, I really do. And I pray every day for more patience so that I don't have moments where I lose my patience. But at the times I do, I'm glad Brycen is brave enough to still want me to comfort him.