just a morning

6:15 am, Nicholas bursts into our room to tell us that his stomach hurts. (He says this almost every morning.) 

I tell him to go get a granola bar. He doesn't want to.

Kent tells him to get back in bed.

He leaves.  A few minutes later, he comes running back in, uses our bathroom, and shouts from behind the closed door:

"I went potty and now I feel much better!"

He goes back to bed.

7:20 am, time to get up. The kids wake up as we are getting dressed and showered.
Ellie's really hungry. As usual.

I heft myself off the bed to hobble down to make pancakes. (In the mornings, I remind myself of a turtle stuck on it's back, trying to get out of bed.)
Nicholas: "I want THREE pancakes this morning. I'm so starving!"
Ellie: "I want TWO pancakes, because I'm little.....actually, I want three because I'm three!"

In the blessing on our breakfast, Nicholas adds, 
"And please bless Mommy that the baby will come out soon so she can run and play again."
Just a few more weeks, bud. And then I'm going to feel SO much better!

 During breakfast, Ellie sees a dog. Nick gets mad because he can't see it.
While he pouts in his chair, the dog comes back. They both see it. 
Nicholas asks me if the dog likes sandboxes. And toys. And if the dog will take his sandbox toys.

 Halfway through my pancake, I have to stop. 
My stomach is pretty tiny right now. 
I eat all day long, but only a little at a time.

Unlike Nicholas, who eats all day long, but scarfs down everything in sight. This morning, for breakfast, he has a bowl of applesauce while I'm cooking the pancakes, all three of his pancakes, two pieces of toast, a huge glass of milk, and a bowl of yogurt. He's still hungry. I tell him we'll make peanut butter balls after he gets back from school.

 In between bites, Ellie manages to remove the couch pillows for the first time today. 
It won't be the last.  
The next couch we buy? Won't have removable pillows.  

 Bright eyes, milk mustache, and bedhead.
My kids are the cutest in the mornings.

During breakfast, Nicholas is humming. He's always humming. 
Trouble is, he gets caught up on a single line from a single song, and he'll hum those same three measures over and over, all day long. This morning it was the first line from "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."
So I try to help him branch out. I suggest he sing lots of different songs.
He insists he doesn't know any other songs. I'm sure he's wrong, because yesterday he spent three and a half hours singing the first measure from the theme song from Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat cartoon.
He tells me, "Humming's my favorite! It just makes me so peaceful."

Time to get ready for preschool. Brush teeth, socks and shoes, find jacket.
As I watch him, I can't believe how lanky and tall this boy is getting.
He's not gained a single pound since his well check in August, but I'm pretty sure he's grown at least three inches. 

We say prayers with Daddy, then pile into the car. 
Ellie asks if she has to be buckled. 
Yes, Ellie. As always.

On the drive to school, Nicholas spends the entire twelve minutes listing all the reasons he loves summer. 
I don't listen to all of them, but here's a few that I heard:

Summer is best because the grass is green and the trees are green. We cut the grass. We mow the lawn. We can see the grass better. We can see the weeds better. The houses are painted better. We can sit in the shade and have picnics. We go to the parks. We go to the castle park. We can go swimming. We go to swimming lessons. We can get shaved ice with little umbrellas in it. Kids have so much fun in the summer. We go to the beach and Bear Lake. The rocks are shinier. WE can eat candy. We can cut the grass. (He said this one several times....)
He ends his list with "Summer is my favorite day of the whole week!"

Gosh I love these kids.