A perfectly-timed tantrum

This afternoon, I took Max to a class at an elementary school. It was fun to see him get a glimpse of what older kids are up to - he looked around at the kids in the lunchroom excitedly, and was smiling so big. The floors reflected the lights above, which made him hilariously afraid of walking on them. I ended up carrying him the whole way through the hall and up the stairs. Phew.

When the class was over, he had a hard time parting with one of the toy cars which led to an incredible tantrum. I carried him to the front office to sign out, where he laid on the floor screaming and rolling around. I hurriedly checked out and ushered his shrieks out the front door. He got a little more rambunctious, kicking his shoes off, flailing when I tried to pick him up, you know, the works! To be fair, it was smack dab in the middle of naptime and he had done so well up until this point. I tried to diffuse him by pointing out a penny on the ground, but he just wasn't having it.

It was then that I noticed a girl, a little younger than me, sprinting across the small parking lot. The way that she kept looking behind her while running so fast made me a little nervous. I glanced behind her and noticed a guy following her. Max must have noticed me tense up, so when I reached out to grab him, he finally let me pick him up. I thought we should probably just get out of there, whatever was going on. Then, I noticed a police car in the street. This was all happening so fast. The police car flipped on its lights and screeched through the parking lot, right towards us. I thought he was going to hop the curb and go after the girl, but instead he turned sharply and headed towards the guy. My body was so scared as I heard the tires squeal and I held Maxwell so close. I wasn't really sure what was going on, so I gave the policeman a look like, hello!?!? Could you not run us over please?? Again, this was all happening so fast. Before I knew it, the girl was gone and the policeman had gotten out of his car and was ordering the guy on the ground. The guy wasn't following his orders, so he kept saying, GET DOWN ON THE GROUND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND and in my wild mind, he had his gun pulled, but I can't remember for sure. All I could think was, oh god...there is going to be a shoot out...I need to get out of here...I ran back to the doors with Maxwell and into the front office. I was afraid to turn my back, like the guy was going to run after me in his desperation to get away. I was shaking and breathing heavily, and said "Um, there is an arrest going on in your parking lot..." The staff hurried to the front doors to lock them. As we watched from the windows, I had a realization. The guy was getting arrested right in front of my car. If Max had not been having his incredible tantrum, I would have been at my car, buckling him into his carseat just steps from where this whole scene unfolded. All I could do was laugh and kiss Max and tell him he was my little angel!

After just a few minutes, the police car was driving away. I was still a little shaky and couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. Max kept saying stuff about the loud car, as I made my way down my phone tree (Mike-Britt-Mom-Oprah) to tell them my tale.

I am reading Mindy Kaling's new book, and she mentions a few suggestions of things to bring to a dinner party - a new kind of hot sauce, an old picture of Colin Firth, or a great story of a near-death experience. I think this counts, so better get to an MK dinner party here soon!

What a day, buddy!

Crawl-baby

Miles has been worming around for a few days now, and then all of the sudden, he graduated to a strong army crawl. So, using the same standards I used for Max, I will now declare that Miles is crawling!

I'm coming to terms with the fact that Miles is moving out of "snuggly baby" phase and into "wiggly worm" phase. It's hard for me to realize when a phase is over. Lately when I hold him on my lap. he's been so wiggly. For whatever reason, I've been perplexed like, well what do I do if I'm not nursing him or he's not sleeping on me?? Hello helicopter mom, you can actually put him on the floor to play!!!

Oh.

So, I started to let him worm around on the floor and would you believe it, he's started to army crawl! Look what a little independence does for your babies.

Going for the nerf!

Maxwell kicked off his crawling while I was at work, so this time around has been less boo-hoo and more yippee! Thank goodness.

11.11.11

Four years ago today, Mike and I grabbed a table at the coffee shop across from my office after work. I remember that it was cold, only because I was wearing my favorite neon green gloves and they pretty much stole the show in the few pictures we had taken of us that night.

A deputy from the county clerk's office arrived with a large envelope, and after a bit of small talk, she administered an official oath to us. As a fellow-deputy myself, this was an oath I had given to people hundreds of times. Sometimes I was annoyed and did it hurriedly, not taking the time to savor the moment for the two sitting in front of me. Other times, I was really into it, and snapped photos of them with their right hands happily raised. My mood usually depended on my hunger level and how annoying my co-workers were being on that particular day. But you guys, the woes of my days as a county employee are not the point of this story.

We decided to take the envelope home, to a more cozy space. After grabbing a bottle of wine from the liquor store nearby, we headed to my tiny little house on Sylvan. The place where he dropped me off after our first date and I thanked him for not being a creep. The place where we had our first kiss. The place where I learned what a good cook he was, and he learned what a good cook I was not.

With two full glasses of wine, we got the marriage license out and proudly signed our names. It wasn't one of those magical moments where confetti burst into the air and we instantly felt changed. But the simplicity of the evening brought peace to me. For all the nights I had fallen asleep with a panicked heart, afraid of being alone forever, this night was washing away that gripping fear of never finding "him".

A big part of our story was written that night and reliving it now almost feels more special than it did then.

This morning, as Mike loaded us up into the car (in his bathrobe, like he always does...hi neighbors!), he said, Ash - you did it! You have completed your first term as my wife. As I laughed, Max laughed right along with me, like he totally got the joke too. And for all the days I peel out of the driveway in a hurry to get to where we need to be, this morning, I took a moment to just love life. Love my toddler's hearty chuckle, love my baby snuggled up so cozy in his carseat, love my husband waving at us from the driveway.

What an incredible joy it is to have these simple moments. I know I'll look back at these simple moments as the most special times in my life.

The post where I use the word "wonderful" 100 times

In my quest to not just be 'workin for the weekend', I have really been trying to be mindful of each day and how wonderful it is. Even though being apart from my boys is not wonderful, we have our little nights together and I feel like we are sort of, maybe, kind of, getting the hang of it. So, as each of our nights chugs along and is just plain ol' ordinary, I remind myself that ordinary is awesome. It's so wonderful to not have a pit of worry in your stomach about something. It's so wonderful to just lay around and feel accomplished and snuggle. It's okay that I'm not doing anything incredible right now, because the fact that I'm laying in a house that I share with a husband and two little boys that we created is pretty incredible, so calm down (is what I say to myself)

Some insignificantly significant moments lately...

-Max has been pretending to burp. Oops. I should probably take the blame for that one.
-Max starting to say "Oh my god." I know it's terrible to hear your two year old say it, but also pretty funny that of all the phrases he doesn't say, that's the one he manages to say so perfectly. Clearly an indication of how I speak to my sister on the phone. Again, oops. Blame me.
-Lately we've been going for a quick walk when we first get home at night just to clear our (my) heads and enjoy the cool fall air. We usually end up walking past some tennis courts, and it's a sure thing that each night we'll find a stray tennis ball or two stuck in a bush. Perhaps the moral police will tell me this is stealing, but I think of it as finding a treasure! Normally I give the ball to Max to play with, but this week, Miles started to show his spunk! He let me know in his 7 month old way that he wanted the ball this time, that Max can't have all the fun. Point taken, baby Miles!

Miles in his mountain formal attire at a wedding last weekend.
You can't even see the poop on his pants!

Max studying Mike's concealed weapon
permit book in his Christmas jammies.
Tis the season?