a saturday reflection

this morning i woke up in an empty bed. this isn't something that happens often. most of the time eleanor is curled up next to me, pulling the covers over her head not to be bothered by the light while daddy gets ready for work. but today, it was just me and the sun. my husband left before dawn to attend a convention in kentucky and eleanor and wolfgang were still tucked away in their beds. i laid there awake for a moment with my hand on my belly, feeling every move my growing baby boy made. i took time to look at myself. how my body has changed after carrying three babies. i held my hand up to the sun and tried to remember what it looked like as a little girl. it's so funny how time moves and changes things without us even realizing.

once i heard the distant "ma ma" calls from wolfgang's room, i pulled myself out of bed and tip toed into his room. he was sitting patiently, waiting for me to scoop him up, open book in hand. i gave him a thousand good morning kisses all over his face and took him downstairs for his morning routine ... a diaper change, yogurt and an episode of sesame street. our boy loves elmo to pieces. he calls him elbo and we will never ever forget the sound of his tiny voice asking for it.

eleanor woke up shortly after and came bouncing loudly down the stairs as she usually does. you can almost bet that the first words to come out of her mouth will be, "good morning, mama! time for breaktest (breakfast)?"

for the remainder of the morning we just hung around the house like sloths ... snacking and cuddling on the couch. we watched a movie and then i put wolfgang down for his nap. 10:30am ... everyday the same time.

when he woke up we hopped in the car to meet grandma for lunch. we ate at a cafe we had never eaten at before and afterwards we went to a greenhouse. we are particularly fond of this greenhouse because it has an area for kids to feed goats and play in the sand. it's a win/win for everyone ... on the way home, we stopped for ice cream and drank lots of water because it was such a hot day.

as i was driving home, we were listening to this song. everyone was riding quietly and i looked into the rear view mirror. there they sat. my two children. they were looking out their windows with dried vanilla ice cream and hot fudge on their faces. they were perfect... i began thinking that for the past eighteen months, my life has been spent solely with them. our every hour has been spent together. our routine down to a science. i guess i hadn't really ever thought about it, ya know ... but we're a team. kristen, eleanor and wolfgang... best friends. life partners.

in ten weeks, we will be adding another little person to our clan. he will have to learn the ropes, that's for sure ... but i know he will slide right in and it will be like he was there with us all along. listening to our music, looking out the car window and living our life.