Take your kids to work day

Today was Max first opportunity to go to work with me for this yearly event. They were both excited; what kid isn’t excited at the chance to miss a day of school while healthy.

Work had a couple different things going on and I don’t really have a team in Gaithersburg anymore. So it was a bit of a different day then the previous experience Ellie had. They did one teleconference with me and drew on the board during that time. 

After that I checked them into the kids event to make slime. Parents were supposed to leave. The kids didn’t want to do it alone they were hoping I’d be with them. After slime I decided to check them out and take them to lunch myself. The cafe was crazy. There must have been 1000 kids there today. 

After lunch we visited the game room and saw Venkat and his daughter. They visited the game room. This might have been there favorite part of the day. After that we tried to learn about animals in the lab. That was a little rocky. We finished the day by spending their gift card at the store and having some candy. This probably made them the most happy. I’m not convinced they learned much. Oh well. It was nice spending the day with them. 

Night time snuggles

Ever since I went away on business for a week in February, Clair has come to my bed in the middle of the night about 95% of the time. I have mixed feelings about this. I do not get a good night sleep but boy do I love that she wants to be with me and snuggle. She can’t handle not touching. And she is happiest like this. This girl will grab on and hold me tight! 

Back on track with Piano

Today Ellie started piano lessons back with Ms Nancy. She really missed her great teaching style. Today, after her first 45 minute lesson Ellie came bouncing out of the house smiling. I’m so happy for her. It’s worth the extra hour of drive. 

Clair made me a foot rest

My foot has been really bothering me. So Clair made me this foot rest and insisted I use it- without squashing it. Lol

My baby is 5

Clair woke up early today full of vigor and curiosity. She was ready to go see the decorations and presents that game over night. I held her off until 715 by finally handing her my phone because she was just so darn chatty and me, exhausted because I spent 2 hours decorating last night before finishing my work. 

We took a walk downstairs, hand in hand, to explore her new goods. She knew she couldn’t open presents until later so she just played with the balloons, singing and dancing her way around the main floor until breakfast. She was so happy. 

After we got the big kids off to school we decided to pass the remaining 12 minutes of ages 4 by reading a lovely story and cuddling. She promptly had me fix her party hat and before you know it, she’s 5! 

When I wished her a happy 5th Birthday with many hugs and kisses, this is how the conversation goes:

Me, “happy 5th Birthday baby girl!”

Clair, “you mean 6th”

Me, “no 5th. I didn’t just lose a year of my life in that kiss.”

Clair, “well, mommy, on the day you are born you are zero but you celebrate your birthday. So this is the 6th time we are doing that.”

Yes, this just about sums Clair’s personality up to a tee! She was happy and loving as she explained her logic which was flawless to me. This girl!

She spent most of the day with Ms Sarah because I had to work. I did make her vanilla Oreo cake, which she requested so that Max could enjoy it too. 

At 3 pm I took Clair to the old neighborhood and we enjoyed a walk, chat and play together for an hour or so. I just held her hand, walked with her, listened to her and tried to let her lead. We both very much enjoyed the time together. I need to do this more with each of them. We miss Woodsprings. The walk around there was so stress reducing. 

When we returned home the 3 kids played together until it was time to open presents. This was the moment Clair had been waiting for all day. She also knew exactly what she was looking for in the pile of presents - Peppa Pigs Treehouse. She found that and opened it first. She knew the size of the box and felt very satisfied when she finally opened the present and confirmed it wasn’t the LEGO treehouse but the real one. 

All the presents were ripped open in 5 minutes flat. She was tickled with her Peppa additions. She immediately asked to have them all opened and created Peppa land right in the middle of the living room while I readied her Max friendly dinner of choice - chicken tenders, fries with Ketchup, and broccoli. 

After dinner we topped the day off with her special cake. Everyone enjoyed it! 

It was just another day in the life of Clair, but boy was she ready to be 5. She was tired when I tucked her in. She did assure me she would be in to snuggle me in the night tonight though. 5 year olds have even better snuggles then 4 year olds she tells me!

Reflections because my baby turns 5 when I wake up

Clair has been so very excited about this birthday. She just cannot wait to turn 5. It is a big deal to her. She’s been counting down the number of days for months, literally at least since it was 38 days away and I think many more. 

I have been telling her I wasn’t going to let her turn five. She was going to do four again so she could stay home with me and give me snuggles and keep me company all day. She was always very good natured about this joke. I think he consistently came up with a new good valid reason why that wouldn’t work but she would give me more snuggles everyday anyway. 

The running statement has been, “Mommy is X days you are going to have a five year old running around the house!”

Tonight when I put her to bed we took a few minutes to rock. My babies are growing and I don’t get the pleasure of rocking them to bed, cuddling and sniffing their clean heads as they lay against my chest each night anymore. During those years I knew i would miss it, yet there were nights I was so rushed I couldn’t stop to enjoy it. Today another milestone of my life and my parenting journey passes. When we wake up we will have a big kid on our hands. I know it’s just another day. But as I see almost 11 years of parenting as a lifetime journey of exhaustion, love and business continuing to fly by, I just wanted to take a few moments to reflect on the feeling of loss during another amazingly full and busy day. 

Clair had her big party today at Pump it up. She loves it. It was everything she wanted it to be. She had it planned. She loved every minute. She was a perfect little host. She really took it all in! I’m so greatful for those friends and family who were there for her today. 

After she went to bed I set out to decorate the house for her all day party on her real birthday. I hope it meets her expectations. I was at it for about an hour. Presents are under the tree. The children are all asleep. My work project that was late is now in my bosses email in box. I will lay down exhausted and try to remember each of my babies when I could rock them to sleep and let them snuggle in on my chest while they slept. Those days, those cuddles, they were my life goals. I love watching them grow. I do. I just miss those lovely baby snuggles. From the day Ellie was born I have not been able to snuggle another baby they way I did mine. It just felt different. I must have held 100s of babies growing up. I loved babysitting and helping others with their children. But something changed the day Ellie was born and I have never looked back. It’s like I was born again, differently, a mother. It is the best job I have and will ever have.