Monday musings on a Tuesday

My Monday proved to be quite busier than most, in such a positive way. There are good people in my life these days, and I spent much of the day enjoying them (and making the most out of some alone time with a daytime sitter-swap as well). So alas, my musings from yesterday are coming atcha today.  

 

*I signed my baby up for Kindergarten, and then I looked at myself long and hard in the mirror and said, "Self, are you ready for this?" And all I could say was, gulp.

 

*Walking around in freezing weather (negative 18 with wind chill last week folks) makes you realize just how many dogs live in this city, mostly because their yellow pee freezes all over the sidewalk (instantly I presume, although I didn't let Talmage test his hypothesis!) We are ice skating down our block on dog pee. Three second rule for dropped treats? Not in New York.

 

*T is making a name for himself as being very, um, outspoken in primary. Shocking, right? His recent outburst? "I HATE New York weather. I'm moving back to Stanford."

 

*Word for the wise: if you must carry your groceries home in the rain choose plastic over paper. It might be a bad choice for the world at large, but it's definitely a positive choice for your personal world. And for the innocent bystanders that might see a mighty scene were one of your paper bags to disintegrate.

 

*Ever to me, as sincerely and innocent as can be: Mommy, I go poo-poo in da toiwet because I wuv you so much.

 

*I'm kind of digging the Christmas trees all over the streets of New York waiting to be picked up. The smell of pine drifts through the air on my walks and it's almost like I'm in a forest...that's being logged. Anyway, I definitely don't cry the day we take the tree down. But Christmas cards, that's another story. Those will be on my wall for months if James doesn't protest soon. There will be a lot of tears when they leave.

 

*That moment when you see the mailman walking down your street and he says, "How are you? It's been a while!" and yet you just saw him a few days ago. And after your conversation you realize that you're a grown up and you are friends with the mailman and you remind yourself an awful lot of your parents. Me, yesterday.

 

*We make Talmage run up and down the stairs in our building to release some energy because he has a lot more than too much, especially on our recent stint of inside-only days. James came back after a particularly rough T-day with a tired kid. Turns out running up and down 40 floors will do that to you ;)

 

 What Ever and I do while climbing the stairs after T. Pictures and faces and huffing and puffing. And him in my arms, always.



You see those quick little feet in the background of the picture? That's what T does. He takes his work-outs seriously.

Cleaning the Commode

 

The rule in our house is simple: all those who sit on the throne, shall clean the throne. And all of a sudden, my little Everett has found himself doing the dirty work. He's a peeing pro these days and when his little underwear bum wielded the toilet sword {read: wand} for the first time this week I just couldn't believe my eyes. It's official, my house is void of babies. I didn't think I'd be in this no-diaper phase for many years to come, but here I am, with two big boys and an awfully clean toilet. 

The Three Wigs Meet The Three Kings

Our radiator has sounded like a construction site for months, what with the hammering and puffing and banging when the darn thing turns on. Today was the blessed day for it to be fixed and I was supposed to have my children out of the house for the ordeal, mostly because said radiator just happened to be in their bedroom (waking them up bright and early every morning might I add). But people, it was pouring. Not snow, rain. Weird since yesterday was like 30 degrees and tomorrow's supposed to be like 10 degrees, but today it was 50...and raining hard. Ugh. So as the men worked patiently, Talmage and Everett sat on the bunk bed telling them stories and asking them questions about every tool they used and Polish word they said. Neither party understood the other very well, but gosh, those men were like superstars in those little people's eyes. Case in point, Everett told me he wants to be a construction worker when he grows up and Talmage said, "Did you even know that Teddy can fix everything around here?"

 

I had consigned myself to a day indoors bugging our kind workers and eating endless scoops of the world's best cookie dough until our Super came in a few minutes later with bad news--the main water pipe had busted while thawing out this morning and in order to fix it, the water in our building was to be turned off for the rest of the day. So, between the no water thing and the sincere sympathy I had for the radiator-friends I said, as you'll learn I often do, "Boys! We're going on a scooter ride!" The rain had let up and I knew it was now or never baby. So now it was.

 

They got their helmets on and left the winter coats at home (because, 50 degrees) and we scooted to our 72nd street subway station where I carried one stroller, two scooters, a purse, and Ever Knight down two flights of stairs so that we could take the 2 train to Spanish Harlem. We were off to see the 3 Kings Parade, which was my original plan for the day before the rain, and became my back-up plan after the flood. The whole thing made me feel awful heroic, braving the rainy elements to accomplish the grand adventure that I've planned for weeks to do (let's just forget the part about no flushing toilets being the real reason I left home and let me feel amazing, alright?)

 

We showed up just as the camels and Wiseman were turning the last corner and I couldn't have timed it better myself. We walked along the parade route, Everett begging me to carry him for a better peak and Talmage mimicking all the silly sounds those camels made. Just then, one of the wise men came right at us, and bending over to look in my boys' twinkling eyes told each of them "Felicidades" before continuing on the parade route. It was about right then as I was explaining to T and Ever what felicidades means that I realized, once again, that life is pretty darn awesome.

 

Just in case you're wondering, this was one of the three camels that we stalked...seriously we followed them right to their horse trailer! I think I need to add "ride a camel" to my list of things I want to do someday.

Also, because I was in a stalkerish mood, we waited in line to take a picture with those wise men, and Joseph, Mary and a little cabbage patch baby Jesus. It was about this time that I realized we were the only ones around that spoke English, and my Spanish is not awesome enough to understand any of what was happening.

The rain started coming down in sheets so we hid out in a dollar store and ended up buying way too many dollars worth of only somewhat-needed things. But it kept us dry, and out of our house for a little bit longer. After we got closer to home, Ever decided to throw a fake little tantrum that was adorably hilarious. He seriously can start full-on, rushing-tears crying on demand, the little pill!

But he was happy only seconds later and just, gosh, just so cute. He really is getting big and I kind of want to eat him for dinner.



Hercules! Hercules!

We woke up on Friday morning to a winter wonderland of sorts. It's amazing how snow can make my California boys instantly LOVE the cold weather. I think I even heard Talmage say that he loved winter, which kind of is the opposite of everything true in the world! But it was pretty fun to see nothing but white in this big ole city of ours, plus James got an early morning phone call from the court saying that the federal government was taking a snow day...um, yes please! He still had to work from home, but he took his lunch break in Central Park so that we could capitalize on this Herculean snow day. We were all ridiculously layered and it did us good--we played for almost an hour in zero degree weather without so much as a sniffle! Yes, zero degrees. Those are numbers I never, ever wanted to see on my weather app (and PS, never want to see again please) but boy, we made the most of that winter storm!

 

The first thing T did was fall into the snow and start making angels. Lots of them. Side by side there were rows of Talmangels!

 

 He was so happy, and wanted to get in as much snow play as possible into what he knew would be a short romp in the park, due to, oh did I mention? ZERO degree weather. He was throwing snowballs, building snowmen, creating snow villages and making snow angels like a wild-man, always with a smile on his face.

 Before long Daddy got in on the action and helped us build a family snowman. Which, by the way, was when we realized that none of us know how to build a snowman. It's kind of much harder than you'd think, right? 

I think we did all right after all. The boys sure were happy and of course it was a Stanford snowman!

Why hello there, new year.

2013 and I didn't get along super well. I learned a thing or twelve from Sayville, so I would feel ungrateful if I didn't acknowledge all the amazing things that have rocked our Wiggy world...but in the deepest parts of my soul I just want to leave this year in the dust with a big fat, "good riddance."

 

2011 shot us into the heart world and 2012 found us in open heart surgery and such, so my hopes were high that 2013 would be the dreamiest, you know? But then the miscarriage from hades happened (and kept happening!) and as I look back I see a year that was consumed, from very start to very end, with getting my body healthy again. It's been a full year since everything happened and I thought I'd be further along in the process by now. But I'm not. Because that 2013, it just didn't want to give me any news that wasn't super lame.

 

A few days ago I was talking to my mom, who was as positive as ever and said, "I'm so excited for 2014--it's going to be a great year!" and the whole thing just really caught me off guard. You're excited? A great year? I could feel the cynicism rushing through my veins because sadly, I've started believing that something awful is waiting for me just around the corner. It's almost like I'm scared to hope for a great year because when it goes south, shoot--it's going to hurt all the more. But let me tell you, that is no way to live a life. So for the past few days I've given myself little pep talks (and cool downs) and finally come to terms with this 2014 thing, whatever the heck it brings. Not only have I come to terms with it, but I think there's finally some excitement a-brewing. The whole process has been healing and empowering and exactly what I needed at the end of one year and the beginning of the next. 

 

So dearest 2014, I welcome you into my life, as you have welcomed me into yours. Let's be nice to each other, ok? 

 

I took the boys to Times Square on New Year's Eve. We absolutely were not going to wait all day and night to see the ball drop (you have to be in your place and can't leave after 3 pm!) but I wanted to show them what it was all about. Plus, the visitor center has next year's ball on display which I thought would be cool to see.

We also submitted our wishes for 2014 on pieces of confetti that were dropped onto Times Square at midnight. The boys both want to see "Newsies" in 2014 (Ever copied T in the wish department) and my wish? Well, I bet you can guess.

James and I went out on a hot date after celebrating an early New Years with the boys (early meaning they were in bed by 7--napping problems are still abundant around here!) It was so, SO fun to go out together!

Our friends hosted a NYE party at their home and everything about it was perfect and beautiful and I'm so glad we got to go. I'm also so glad that James sang to me on our walk to the party while I filmed him and people stared at us like we were drunk. It was just the best moment, maybe topping my list of awesome moments in 2013 :)

 Noise makers, which we used in full force when the clock struck midnight!

I was totally obsessed with these glasses and this fun couple. We were lucky to be surrounded by so many great friends this year!

I always cry at midnight. The ball drops and bam, tears are streaming down my face. Most of it has to do with seeing the camaraderie between all those crazy people who camp out for hours to experience Times Square at midnight and then achieve their common goal. Silly, I know, but it's true. This year was magnified because we watched the ball drop on our friend's TV while also watching the Central Park fireworks out their window. No, I don't believe there was a better place to ring in the new year.

On being his Mary

It was far too cold to be outside, but they were far too crazy to keep indoors. Talmage was singing the "I'm a gummy bear" song for the bajillionth time and Ever was following the direction of the old school anthem bearing the same name by "bouncing here and there and everywhere." We must do something, I thought while watching the mayhem unfold in my living room (which doubles as the kitchen, dining room, playroom and more often than not, bedroom).

"We are going on a scooter ride!" I told them, knowing that the sanity of all three of us rested in that decision. So helmets on and out the door we went.

We were not adequately prepared for the cold that met us as we ventured out our lobby doors--no mittens were worn and no hats covered our ears; I didn't even bring our stroller with sleeping bags for each boy to escape into when the going got too tough. But the air was fresh as it hit my face, and I could tell that the boys were feeling the same energy I was. We were alive, and we were outside, a welcome combination on this late December morning.

Talmage scooted and Everett half-scooted, half-complained all the way to the park near our house. T-Man was in heaven, scooting into the frosty wind and showing me all sorts of "new tricks."

"Watch Mom, did you even know that I can do a spin move?" And then he'd spin, and I'd clap and the cycle would begin anew with Talmage searching for more acts to show me.

By the time we got to the park, Ever was a popsicle and asked if he could sit on "da warm bench" with me while we watched T tear up the playground on his kickboard. I held that little 2-year-old in my arms and tried to warm him up. I tucked his hands into his jacket, I covered his face with my scarf and as I rubbed his body for warmth, I rocked him back and forth and sang him a song which both of my boys love--the Signing Time song, changed to say their names.

"Baby, baby, baby Ever Knight. Baby, baby, baby Ever Knight..." I sang and warmed him until my made-up words were sung and his body was no longer shivering. As I looked down at that baby on my lap, I saw his big brown eyes, twinkling a love song in my direction.

"You my Mawy," he said with the sweetest, shyest smile.

"I'm your Mary?" I asked, unsure of what he meant.

"Yeah, you my Mawy. And I yo baby," he said, his eyes still dancing. And then I understood. For weeks he's been hearing stories of that night in Bethlehem when the Christ child was born. We went to a live nativity and we've played with our Fisher Price version every single day with perfect accuracy (of course, with T as the director how could it not be!) We've talked endlessly about the baby Jesus, but we've also talked a lot about his mother Mary, that beautifully strong woman who loved that baby more than life itself. And as I was cuddling Ever Knight on that cold winter day in the park, he saw Mary in me, the highest compliment I could have ever been paid.

I looked down at that baby in my arms with wonder at all he continues to teach me. I thought about all the times I wondered if God knew what He was doing in giving me such a special soul to mother. I wonder still what He has in store for me, and him. And sometimes I even wonder why. Images of late-night hospital stays, journals full of worry and pleas to the Father filled my heart and for a brief moment, I shared a silent, sacred kinship with Mary, that young women who "offered all she had, to the mercy of His plan."

"Are you pretending you're Jesus?" I asked him, after a few moments spent pondering.

"Yeah, I petending be baby Jesus," he replied. But then he slowly shook his head with new words to share, "No, I be yo baby, I Ever Knight. And you my Mawy."

He wanted to be himself, my sweet little Ever Knight, but he also wanted me to rock him, to keep him warm, and to console him just as he'd seen Mary do so many different times this month. He wanted me to be his Mary, and I was sure grateful to fill the role.

The moment passed slowly, and with just one simple request life continued.

"Sing to me?" he asked.

"Of course," I whispered.

So I sang and we sat and I was warmed by the spirit as he was warmed by my hands and I thought about Christmas and Christ and Mary and my baby, Ever Knight, who found a way on this cold day to bring them all to life again.

Our Christmas

I've done an awful good job feeling the holiday spirit this year, and sharing it with my boys as well. Last year was kind of a doozy as far as December was concerned so I feel like we all missed out, but this year, we celebrated Christmas hard core. It was fabulous and peaceful and so happy, and started the very day after Thanksgiving and lasted all month long. It also helps that I did most of my shopping before Thanksgiving because December was all about celebrating the Savior and Christmas in the city, and none about stressing over presents. It was great! Christmas Eve and Christmas day were just as special as can be--having little kids in the house makes things pretty magical, and boy does NYC have a lot to offer in the Christmas department.

 

But because I don't pull any punches on this blog I'll tell you that come the night of Christmas, after our company had left and the boys were in bed I felt pretty melancholy for our family in Cali and all the fun and togetherness that they were experiencing without us. But like I've said to Talmage a million times--it's ok to be sad. It would be even sadder if we weren't sad that we weren't with our family, right? Right. We're sad because we love them, and that love is what Christmas is all about, so it's actually a beautiful feeling--or at least that's what I told myself! I also told myself that there will come a day when we'll afford tickets for all four of us to fly home for Christmas, which will be awesome :)

 

Christmas Eve was wonderful. We had brunch with some good friends of ours and the kids warmed my heart to the very core with a Christmas production (full of princesses, Jedi, monsters and the cutest little Ever KNIGHT there was). Everett was super bossy and wanted to direct the whole thing, much to Jackson's chagrin, and it reminded me of my family parties as a child--although no one ever tried to steal my director's chair (which I'm sure has nothing to do with the dirty looks and threats my cousins swear I gave them!)   

 

Everett taking a bow at the end of the play. Talmage was still hiding under the table at this point, in full character!

That afternoon we went to a gorgeous Episcopalian church on the Upper East Side to see a children's live nativity. The kids were adorable and there were live animals--the lambs nearly set my boys over the edge with laughter with their "baa-ing." It was a great way to remember what Christmas Eve is all about.

We walked home through Central Park just as the sun was setting and sang carols at the top of our lungs. The Empire State Building was lit up like a candy cane and everything felt so perfect, and beautiful, and right. We took the long way home, zigzagging across bridges, and around the lake until we finally hit Central Park West.
 

When we got home T and Ever got to open up their Superhero Christmas pajamas from Mema and Pepa, and also they got to open up the presents they bought for each other. Talmage got a 3 train from Ever (T is obsessed with the 3 because it's the fastest!), and Ever got an E train for T (T thought it was a good idea since his name starts with E). They adored the gifts and were truly so grateful.

I was giving T a kiss because I was so thankful that he was being so thankful, and then Ever decided to join in on the action. I sure do love those boys.

After the boys were in bed James and I ordered Chinese take-out and loved every second of not having to cook or clean anything. Such a great Christmas gift to myself!

Since we don't have a fireplace, we had Netflix help us out and create one. Have you tried it out? It crackles and everything! This picture was taken after Santa Clause came and delivered stocking presents...and the Jack-in-the-box that Talmage requested!

Letter from Santa!

Things were pretty magical in our tiny apartment, that's for sure. I could hardly sleep on Christmas Eve (and James straight-up couldn't sleep) because we were so excited to see what Santa had brought the boys--and see their reactions! The rule was that they couldn't get out of bed until there was light outside, and you better believe that at 6:30 am when there was just the tiniest speckle of light through the windows I started to hear them stir. They were excited, and who could blame them--it was Christmas!

I didn't really take any pictures of the rest of the day because it was Christmas, and we had the most enjoyable time ever just relaxing together as a family. We opened presents and ate cinnamon rolls and read books and played games and painted, and I almost wasn't ready when our friends and the missionaries showed up for Christmas dinner (we had a fiesta, PS) because it was so nice to do nothing all together. But suffice it to say, the boys were spoiled with love and presents and when Uncle Jordan asked Talmage if he had had a good Christmas he said, "No, I have not had a good Christmas. I have had the BEST Christmas ever. In the world!" He couldn't have been more excited or grateful all day long, and I was feeling like the luckiest mom in the world.

Hello new electrifying pink scarf--you're fun! I like you!

A few weeks ago T decided he wanted to make something really special for me for Christmas--but it had to be a surprise. He told me what to get him (crayons, red paper, scissors, etc.) and I was to give those things to him, no questions asked! Then he wrapped it up for me and put it under the tree. It was absolutely adorable and I love it so much! He colored a picture and then wrote all sorts of letters on the top. On the bottom, he wrote "find the letters" just like the games in some of his workbooks. so sweet and he was so excited!  

Ever was happy with everything he got, but I think his favorite part of the day was eating endless--and I mean endless--amounts of sugar. That boy has a sweet tooth that is unreal and he ate so much junk...and loved it! He even finished Santa's cookies in the morning. He also loved his scooter and new dinosaur helmet (to match his bro's shark helmet!) I loved watching him ride up and down the street in his pj's, chocolate spread all over his face and a smile that kept me warm inside! I just love that baby boy.

 

It was a very merry Christmas around here indeed...so, it's time for Spring again, right? ;)