mish-mash

As Landon so kindly pointed out via Facebook, my blog is feeling a little unloved. Whenever I have a period like this where no blogging happens, I generally don't have a great reason for it. Sometimes, I just don't feel compelled to blog. I guess that's why I've never been the best at keeping a journal regularly. I'm just hit or miss, and lately, there's just been a lot more miss than hit . . . Anyhow, I'm writing today for the sake of getting something down, not necessarily because I felt overwhelmed with gratitude and/or frustration, which are generally the two things that get me writing. As such, today is going to cover a bunch of small things that for which I have been grateful recently.

Thing 1: Mason is an amazing kid (I'm nothing if not redundant, I know).
On Monday, I was on day 4 of an upset stomach (11 years post-diagnosis, I'm still not great at eating with my lactose intolerance in mind). After I picked Mason up from school, I laid down on the couch. Mason took it upon himself to make a snack for himself and Marissa. The two of them ate happily together as I moaned to myself into the couch cushions. Mason finished his snack and came to check on me. As I was laying on my face, he came and rubbed his little hand on my back and asked if I was okay. I assured him I would be fine and told him my tummy was hurting. Mason offered to fetch me some medicine to help me feel better. I declined, thanking him for being so thoughtful, and sat there feeling so proud and grateful for this amazing little man. Then, the dude picked up a dirty diaper I had taken off of Rissa earlier but hadn't gotten around to throwing away, took it outside to the diaper champ and disposed of it properly. He came back in and picked up some video game junk that was on the floor and put it away. Again, I thanked him for his help, and he happily returned to playing with his sister. I just watched him in amazement, overwhelmed by how thoughtful, kind, loving my little man is. I really lucked out the day that kid came to live with me.

Thing 2: Holy crap, my mother-in-law is super freaking awesome!
My in-laws are fantastic generally, but in particular, my mother-in-law rocks. I don't think it's possible for me to deserve such an amazing person in my life, but I'm sure glad I have her. This weekend, she offered to keep our kids the whole weekend. Like, I dropped them off Friday afternoon and didn't pick them up until late Sunday afternoon. The whole, entire weekend. My kids were so happy to be there and had so much fun that neither of them could be bothered to talk to me for more than 60 seconds when I called to check in on them. Landon and I got to rest and sleep in and take it easy the whole weekend, which any parent will tell you is like the best thing you could ever hope to happen, but when we showed up to get the kids, it got better. Upon our arrival, Kelly was taking my favorite cookies out of the oven for us to take home. Then she tells me that she washed all the kids clothes. Then, get this, SHE thanks ME for letting her have the kids. Sometimes, when I am frustrated with my husband, I remind myself that Kelly is part of that package, and it makes it a little easier to get over whatever happens to be bugging me that day. I am so incredibly lucky that Kelly is my mother-in-law. And because I'm actually a selfish and bad person, I secretly hope I never have to share her with anyone else. I'm so glad that my brother-in-law is a bachelor and has no children because my family gets to have all of Kelly's love and affection. So lucky are we!

Thing 3: Marissa has become quite the cuddle bug, and I LOVE it!
I know I've talked about this before, but Marissa isn't as affectionate as her brother. I don't know if that's just how she is or if it's because I couldn't co-sleep with her like I did her brother or what. She's just not as snuggly, and that's fine. However, recently she's decided she needs snugs with Mom first thing in the morning. I love snugs in the morning! Landon goes and brings her to me, she nuzzles into my armpit and we snug for as long as I have time to before I have to get Mason ready for school. It's been awesome to get this affection from my little girl, and it's starting to spill over to other parts of the day. Like, if I go and lay down on the couch when she's watching her show, she is thrilled to snuggle into me for the duration. In fact, the other day when I was feeling sick, she happily snuggled me while she watched movies and shows most of the day. It was like heaven, having her happy to be with me, sitting still and staying out of trouble. Believe me, I'm taking advantage of this cuddly period because, with Marissa, who knows how long it will last. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to love on my baby girl for the first time since she was tiny!!