A Kleenex-Worthy Post

Last night as I tucked Luke into bed, I snuggled him closely (as close as the belly allows for now), kissed him, and whispered in his ear, "I love you, little man."

Luke looked questioningly at me and said, "You know, Mommy, I already know that.  You don't have to tell me every day."

I smiled and replied, "I know, but I'm going to tell you every single day that I'm alive and that you'll listen to me say it."

Incredulously, he asked, "Even when you are old--like 64?"

I answered, "You better believe it!  EVEN when I'm One million and 64 years old and we are in Heaven, I'll still tell you every day."

He got quiet for a second.  "Mommy, do they have Facebook in Heaven?"

I half-grinned, thinking I knew where this was going.  "Umm, no, baby, I don't think they do."

With eyes beginning to tear up, he looked at some distant point over my right shoulder, "But, Mommy!  How will you be able to tell me that you love me if you die and I'm still here?"

A warm gush of tears filled my eyes.  I had to look away, too.  "You'll know it in your heart, Luke.  That's why Mommy tells you and shows you that she loves you every day now.  You'll always have that with you."

His voice choked as he inquired, "But what if I...(sob) forget?!?"

(Kleenex break.  I can't even type this without crying.  Whew.)

I assured him that there was no way that he could ever forget how much I loved him.  I hastily kissed him again, tucked him under the covers, and beat a hasty retreat to go have a good, old-fashioned ugly cry.

Today I took Emma and Luke to the cemetery where my great-grandparents, several great-uncles, and a great-aunt are buried.  Since this Sunday is Homecoming Day at our church, we typically decorate the cemetery with new flowers at this time.  We took  flowers to put on the graves of relatives that my kids never met, or were too young to remember when they passed away.

I explained to the kids that I know that I still carry the love in my heart that all of these family members had always shown me.  It's not something easily forgotten.  I think Luke feels better about it all now, but it served as a definite reminder to me that there should never be a day that goes by that I don't make sure that my children, family, friends, etc., know how much I love them.  I want them to carry that with them always.

Go love somebody today, okay?

Maybe It's Lost in Translation...

Last week I went on a field trip with Luke to see "The Wizard of Oz" in Birmingham.  When it was all over, Luke and I decided to go "someplace nice" for lunch.  (He suggested Taco Bell, which really wasn't what I had in mind.)  We enjoyed a wonderful and fun lunch at a hibachi table at Stix.  As we were about to leave, one of the Japanese waiters comes over to me and points at my stomach.

"Oh," he said.  "That looks like twins."

Y'all, I was so flabbergasted, I couldn't even react.  I mumbled something completely unintelligible about it just being one and walked away.

Well, at least it only happened once, right?

Oh, but no.

Alas!

Last Sunday night we ate at our local Mexican restaurant.  Our waitress looked at me and inquired, "Baby?"  I said, "Yes, only about 4 more weeks."

Her eyes stretched wide.  "4 BABIES?  QUATRO BAMBINOS?"

I quickly answered, "Oh, no, no, no.  Just one."

She laughed.  "Oh, okay.  First baby?"

I smiled as politely as I could.  "No, actually this will be my third."

Her eyes stretched wide again.  "Oh, so it's TRES BAMBINOS!"

I shook my head in a vigorous "NO" signal and excused myself to go sit in the car and cry.

Or not.  But that made you feel really sad for me, huh?

I saw a church sign today that said, "He who has tact has less to retract."

I like this a lot.  Especially right now.  The power of the belly compels total strangers to grope me and say things that are so far-fetched that I could scream.

In related news, I think we finally found Charlie Brown's long-lost "Great Pumpkin."

An Update of Sorts...

So, I haven't felt much like blogging lately.

I've been in the death throes of a raging sinus/ear infection with the added bonus of bronchitis.  

As if being uber-pregnant wasn't hard enough on its own.

The nesting instinct...

(Sorry, had to wipe sneeze off computer screen)

...kicked in about two weeks ago.  I was a cooking madwoman. I've got casseroles and lasagna and all sorts of pretty things in the newly-cleaned out and organized freezer.   I cleaned like there was no tomorrow...or like Martha Stewart was coming over tomorrow.  Whichever.

Then, the pollen plague kicked in, and I've felt like death ever since.  

Oh, the injustice.

Anyway, here is an update in pictures of what's been going on.

Luke called a girl last Friday.  This being the day after another girl called him.  He uses his hands a lot when he talks on the phone.  I may or may not have videotaped a large portion of his conversation to show him when he's older.  You're welcome, Luke.

We went to our church's egg hunt last Saturday.  My kids put all their eggs in one basket.  Emma came home covered in mud.  It was a good day.

The Easter Bunny was very kind to my kids.  They got Zhu Zhu Pets in their baskets.  While they enjoyed them a great deal, poor, long-suffering Tootie was not a fan.  Which, of course, led to all of us finding ways to chase her around with them.

They were mumbling something quietly here.  Tootie was on high alert.

"I will protect you, Mom, from the evil, tail-less talking squirrels."

"Did that one just move?"

"I think I can protect you better from over here...sitting on your feet.  Help."

I love, love, love this picture.  Luke adores his big sister.

It's only April and she's already got new freckles.

I love this face.

The pink ladies' club.  I smiled through the pain.  My ear and my abdomen were both nearing explosion.

Finally, this is why Tootie likes Grandmama and Granddaddy's house better than ours:

She can exert her dominance here.  And sit on the furniture.

"You WILL respect me, little man.  FEAR the Tootmeister."


I will end the post here.  I have lots more pictures and things to say, but I'm out of Kleenex, so...The End.