Georgetown with Jess

I started this post about a week ago but am now just remembering to finish it...better late than never right? I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately.

Two Fridays ago, the girls and I drove to Washington, DC (specifically Georgetown) to hang out with Jess for the day. It was really fun to get to have Jess all to ourselves for a few hours. We ate lunch (or breakfast for Jess) and then got cupcakes from a great place called Georgetown Cupcake. It was too small and crowded for me attempt to take Maddie and the stroller into, so Noelle and Jess managed to pick out four delicious cupcakes on their own. And when I say delicious, I mean the best cupcake I have ever had, hands down. It was genius really. From the peanut butter whipped icing to the fudge that filled the middle of the delicious chocolate cake part, it was seriously a cupcake I will never forget. We went to a park after picking up our cupcakes and after Noelle ate some of the icing off of her cupcake she was ready to find some kids to play with. Unfortunately for Noelle, the kids she wanted to play with did not seem very interested in making a huge effort to play with her. This is normal since Noelle is a stranger, but in Noelle's mind all children are potential friends and an attempt should always be made to include her in any activity that is taking place. Even though she was wanting to play, she was being unusually shy and wanted me to do all the work of getting them to want to play with her. I eventually had to explain that they weren't going to play with her and if she was going to have any fun she was going to need to find something else to do. It's hard to know how honest to be with a three year old because I didn't want her feelings to be hurt but she was wasting her time and energy and continually subjecting herself to feeling left out. Sigh...the trials of the playground when you're an incredibly social kid.

It was a fun few hours and it made me wish we had more time but I was happy for the time we did have. It's weird because when I lived in Idaho it wasn't weird that Jess was on tour because I wouldn't have seen her anyway, but now that I'm back in Delaware and she's the one gone it is a completely different experience. It's sad to say goodbye after all of her visits home but what an incredible blessing to have a friend that is like a sister and to know that we have many, many years ahead of us to continue to enjoy our friendship.

By the time we had hugged Jess goodbye and were in the car buckled in, Noelle was asleep. I have never seen her fall asleep that fast. Jess closed the door, I checked my directions and I looked back to see Noelle's eyes closed and her head fallen forward. How great to be a kid and just get to fall asleep while your mom navigates your way home through rush hour traffic : )

I will end this post with some pictures of our day:

Good times

Noelle and I were talking awhile back and I told her how much a I love her and she told me she loved me too. I then said "you're so special" and she said "you're so special too Mom". She walked up to me and climbed on my lap and we hugged. As we hugged she told me very seriously... "Mom, I'll never leave you". My heart felt so full and so in love with this little person who is my daughter. I thought about whether I should explain that she will eventually leave me and probably be happy to do so, but I decided to just enjoy the moment and let her believe this is how it will always be. I love being her mom so much and I love that I will always be her mom even though she will grow up and leave one day.

She's been seeming so old lately. I feel like she should be starting kindergarten in the fall but no if she goes to public school she will have two and a half more years until she starts kindergarten. It feels to me like she's already half grown up!

And then there's Maddie...sweet, smiley, determined Maddie. My little baby is nine months old now and I really do wonder where all the time went. She has the greatest way of interacting with people, from her glorious waving to her array of smiles, she is captivating to say the least. The best present she can give me is to give me the biggest, chubbiest smile she can. The one where her tongue is sticking out, her eyes are squinting, and her chin is squished so beautifully into her neck that her face is at it's fullest. She is a delight in every way. Her personality is already so endearing and I think she's going to be a socialite like her sister.

It's crazy how you live your whole life without your children and then you have them and you can't imagine not knowing them. Even just when we had Noelle, thinking about another baby was so strange because all we knew was Noelle. You know where this is going...now we have Maddie and that's right, I can't imagine life without her. I'm glad I don't have to and that there is the possibility of bringing more wonderful children into our family that we won't be able to imagine life without.

Independence

Noelle said a cute thing the other night so I thought I'd share. We were in her room getting ready for her to take a bath and she very nicely said to me "Mom I'm a big girl so I don't need help with putting my towel on anymore...I don't need my mom, or dad, or granmudder (that's how she says grandmother), or papa...I can do it myself now." I am not one to argue with a three year olds declaration of independence when it has to do with something like using a towel so I agreed with her. Later though when it was time to get out she picked up her towel but changed her mind. She told me that she didn't think she knew how to put her towel on herself and I was actually happy that I had not been relieved of my motherly duty in this area yet. I got to put the little elephant head on her cute little head and wrap her up in her pink elephant towel once again. It's weird though that one day I will not get her out of the bath and put her towel on...someday she will do that all by herself. Until then I will enjoy getting to wrap her up and squeeze her and pretend she is still my little baby.