I think this may be the best Mother’s Day yet. I debated for some time whether to take John’s offer to whisk the kids away for a big part of the day so that I could actually accomplish things at the house. I honestly don’t know how work-at-home moms do it– all the cooking and cleaning and entertaining while finding time to sit down at a computer for more than five minutes in order to get something done. I keep encouraging myself to stick with it. Maybe someday I’ll be able to form coherent sentences in my mind and get them down on the computer before the baby cries or the big kids are starting World War three.
But then I started thinking about something I miss dearly. And that’s spending time with my big kids, who at 5 and 3 are not very big, yet they have sacrificed a lot of mommy time in the last year while I tended to the youngest (and by far crankiest in case you’re new to my cranky baby saga). I miss spending time with kids who can talk to me and enjoy some of the things I do. Who don’t need to be held 99% of the time and cry 99% of the time.
So I opted for a big date with the bigs. I’ve been wanting to see Beauty and the Beast for awhile, and although I didn’t really think they would handle the intensity well I took them anyway. Because darn it, it’s PG and I’m allowed to be selfish on Mother’s Day. And sure enough my emotional child spent most of the movie on my lap hiding her face, but loved the songs. My little super hero spent the last battle scene yelling at the screen that he was going to bring his sword and fight Gaston. Gotta love boys!
We then had a picnic up on Lake Michie in northern Durham county and rented a canoe to explore the lake. They were wiped out (and maybe I was, too), but it was a great reminder for this often overwhelmed mama that although I feel buried in the baby shit right now (I’m not a baby person), soon enough all of them will be old enough to enjoy a day like that and I will be a much happier person for it!
Which brings me to the BIG NEWS. I’m going to have to find a way to love the “baby shit” one more time because…
The Big News
I say it lovingly, and I am SO very excited (and possibly terrified that this one will be as hard as #3). PS: anyone have a trick to getting the goofball child of the family to just smile? I was laughing so hard I was crying while sorting through all my photos, because he is making a face in every. single. one. And how I love him!
Get the Look
Want to duplicate the chalkboard baby announcement? Snag some cute mini boards here on Amazon or at Michaels.
I looked up some of my favorite chalk artists and duplicated some of the writing styles as best I could. I was going to have the big kids hold the “Partners in Crime” sign, but of course Larkin wouldn’t hold her Sidekick sign. Shoot, all that kid wanted to do was cry and run away. Good thing she’s cute!
Stay tuned for the gender reveal BBQ photos, because this will be the last baby Clark and we’re going out with a bang!