Sweet Spot

Today has been a sweet spot in the last few weeks.  Not that the last few weeks have been a terrible burden, just life with a newborn while trying to sell our house.  Crazy, intense days followed by the periodic dull, boring day.  It's really easy to get bogged down and frustrated on the crazy, intense days when I'm tired from getting up too early, the baby won't sleep, the girls are whiny and someone wants to come see our house.  So sweet days like today are worthy of soaking up and relishing.

For starters, life is beautiful because I am not pregnant.  Being "not pregnant" makes everything easier, even having a newborn.  But then, Z slept until I woke him up at 7:30 am this morning!  Great start to the day!  The girls stayed in bed until their lamp came on, so I didn't get out of bed until 6:45 am.  They enjoyed the new cereal I bought them (frosted mini wheats with fruit filling for other mommies of picky eaters).  Daddy ate breakfast with us and changed a dirty diaper before he left for work.  We all went outside to play in the driveway before it got too hot and got to talk to some neighbors.  Z fell asleep in my arms without me even trying.  We went back inside and I did "circle time" with the girls.  They stayed engaged with me for an hour and a half!  We read our Bible story, prayed, sang some songs, did a little art, read some poems, worked on scripture memory, read three chapters in our chapter book (!!) and finished with the last 24 hours in pictures.  Fabulous, blessed time together!!

Then they played happily together making a birthday party for their stuffed animals while I tended to some chores.  I realized Z had been sleeping for a little over two hours and went to check on him.  God's grace to me today....

...he has found his thumb!  This was his second nap to be prolonged by the sucking of a glorious thumb! We might be on to something here!  And hallelujah, because the last few weeks have really been exacerbated by a cat-napping baby.

I woke him up, fed him, and put him down to play while I made the girls' lunch.  I turned on some fun tunes and laughed with Z as he kicked in his bouncy seat.  My eldest, pickiest eater asked for leftovers from supper!  (Cheeseburger pie for those other mommies of picky eaters.)  And she ate them all and her fruit without a fight.  (Audiobooks are my new secret weapon during lunch.  They're so busy listening, they don't get silly at the table and we avoid most of the common pitfalls of table discipline.)  We finished lunch, watched a show, and started quiet time.  Z went back down for another nap without a fight and he's still sleeping!  Praise God for thumbs!!

I got a little cat nap before getting up to enjoy an ice cream sandwich and write a blog post.  Ladies and gentlemen, life does not get much better than this day!!  I know not what the afternoon holds or how it may all fall apart tomorrow, but I shall enjoy the glow of this moment and savor it.  May your day (or some day soon) be equally as pleasant and peaceful.