Today was pajama day at the twins preschool. They have been talking about it since last week when their teachers gave them a sneak preview of the upcoming event. I kind of wish they hadn't done that, since every night since then, before they went to bed, they asked with hopeful smiles, "is it pajama day tomorrow?" Each night, I would have to say, "not quite yet" and then after depressing groans, we would count down the days until the big P day.
We discussed which stuffed animal they would bring and every day their selections changed. After their preschool class on Wednesday, when they made little bear hats for the BIG day, I decided to set out their new pajamas and we made one final choice of teddy and set them on their dresser.
D went out of town on Wednesday morning and was going to be away for the rest of the work week, so I knew anything I could organize for all the children's various activities would be helpful in running a smooth ship. Of course, every time D goes away, something ALWAYS happens. It's Murphy's law. This trip, my LG dryer stopped working around the time he was packing for his trip which I thought was really interesting. Then today it started to snow...but thankfully only a few flakes drifted down. I do NOT have snow tires on yet. As I said, it's always something.
Any planning and organizing I can do ahead of time is a lifesaver. As tired as I may be at times, getting things ready the night before, always makes things flow better in the morning. When I tucked the little girls into bed last night, (Thursday night) they knew the next morning was pajama day and they were so "becited" as Victoria likes to say.
Good night little girls....
Sweet Dreams!
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| The final teddies have been selected...notice the Beatrix Potter books...they love these...and to the right, the angels holding three babies up in the air...the inscription under their feet is, "I knew you before you were born" |
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| "I'm so BECITED!" said Victoria |
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| Kate kicking back but looking forward to waking up on Friday |
I had to get up soon in order to drive Harrison to his High School Jazz band meeting and then get Will and Grace up and off to school. Then get the little girls out of their jammies, bathed and dressed into their "new snowflake" pajamas for their special party day.
Thank heavens, our University son was staying home to work on a large project due next week. That was one kid I didn't have to drive around. If I could just get through the morning, all I had to do later in the day was pick up Harrison from school at 4 pm (he likes to go into the weight room after school) and then take Grace to a swimming assessment, as she has been wanting to join our local swim club. After dinner I knew D would return home and I could exhale. Also, remember, my dryer has been broken most of the week and for someone who does at least 2 loads of wash a day (minimum) it has been another challenge to deal with...washing the least bit of clothes and hanging them to dry.
I thought I was doing really well. I even had time to take a few pictures of the girls after they were ready in their new pajamas with their teddies in their arms.
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| For some reason this picture didn't turn out well....were they moving or was their too much light?..but you get to see them in their new pajamas....which for some reason was really thrilling for them. Oh no, fashion divas! |
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| Here's a snap I took of the girls the other day all bundled up...but of course Victoria likes to take off her gloves...I need to put a string on those gloves as sure as shooting we are going to lose them |
We jammed to Van Morrison all the way to preschool. As I looked into the rear view mirror and saw them rocking side to side in time to the beat, with big smiles on their faces, I experienced a flash of deja vu. Before they were born and I mean BEFORE, they were even conceived. While we were just trying to conceive, I used to look into the rear view mirror of my van and dream about little ones in the back seat. I never dreamed I would have TWIN daughters, well okay, maybe for a second, but I don't think I could imagine a dream that big, coming true.
As we drove into the preschool parking lot, it wasn't just the little girls getting excited for their pajama day, I was starting to feel rather bubbly over the affair. As I parked, other little ones clutching teddies and holding their parents hands were going down the steps to the preschool. WAIT!
BACK UP! The other ones were clutching, TEDDIES! AHHHHH! I knew before I even looked in the back seat that we were teddyless. No teddies. In a car that normally has a few story books, a sleeve of crackers, an apple, someone's hoodie, a whole bag of things on route to the Goodwill, but this time of course, NO teddies in sight. Again, Murphy's law at work. When the van is always loaded with all sorts of stuff...except on the day that you need a few lovies...well that is par for the course when D is out of town. Blame it on me being too clean and organized this week.
I didn't say a thing to the girls. We grabbed their lady bug back packs and headed for the door and it didn't take them more than a second to realize that something was wrong with this picture. As we walked into the welcoming room and they saw all their friends holding their stuffies, that was it. Victoria's lip started to tremble and Kate's brow furrowed even more than usual and she gave me a look that said, "Mom, this just won't do!"
I acknowledged their disappointment and apologized several times for forgetting their teddies. Victoria asked me several times if I could PLEEESE just drive home and get them. Kate let her do all the talking but was very invested in what her sister was saying. I started to tell them it's really unfortunate that we forgot their teddies but to drive home would be a waste of gas (totally against my being green and frugal) and perhaps their teddies were happier at home anyway.
Victoria's eyes grew round and surprised. I don't think she has ever heard me say no to anything, of any consequence anyway. When I saw that look of deep, DEEP, disappointment in her eyes, I KNEW, I was going to cave. As tired as I was, I knew I was was going to drive all the way home, pick up teddies and then drive all the way back to the preschool. (you know we don't live right in town right?) I was prepared to do that for my daughters and they recognized me relenting and had hope in their eyes....and then their teacher, Miss C, had overheard our conversation and she came to the rescue.
"Kate and Victoria, how would you like to bring one of the preschool stuffies to the pajama party?" she offered. They looked at each other and almost in unison said, "Okay." And off they went in search of a furry friend. I whispered, "thank you" to Miss C, and followed the girls into the next room where said stuffed animals lived when they weren't in the arms of a child.
As I kissed two, HAPPY, little girls goodbye, each holding a new friend, I thought how very blessed I was to experience this moment. Although over the years of trying to conceive these last babies to complete our family, I experienced a lot of disappointment, it was only when I was able to shift my focus and let go, when they arrived at long last. My sweet dream came true. Doubly blessed with them and thrice blessed with William, Kathryn and Victoria.
Isn't that true for anything we desire in life though?. Sometimes, no amount of laser focus on our intention, brings what we want into our life. Sometimes, we have to shift, take a deep breath and let go and then and only then is disappointment replaced with joy and peace. A sense of well being floats over us and then, sometimes, something even better than we ever DREAM comes to us.
As I walked into our house, look who greeted me....
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This was a good lesson for me today. After a really busy week, things turned out really well. I just need to follow the little girls lead and be open to bringing another furry friend to the party.
When I went back to pick up the girls from preschool, they were happy and excited and as we headed to the van, with me wearing Victoria's bear hat on my head, they took turns sharing stories of all the fun activities they had experienced that morning. I told them that I was REALLY proud of how they accepted the bear disaster with such grace and how I would like to do something fun with them when we got home. Soooooooo...
As soon our coats were put away, with bears in their arms, we all went down to our Hobbit's Hollow (our crawl space media room....I have to write a blog post about this space) and we made two big bowls of popcorn. We brought it upstairs, I made a healthy smoothie and hooked up my computer to our big screen T.V. in the family room and we proceeded to have a Beatrix Potter film festival. The movie we watched is called, (click on the hyperlink if you can't see the YouTube link below)
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends, episode 1
It's a delightful show and the music is beautiful.
I often think of Will, Kathryn and Victoria as my little bunnies and some of our favourite books to read together are the little books we have by Beatrix Potter. Alyssa loved them when she was a young child and I think it inspired her fondness for Victorian literature.
When Grace was a baby, I bought this sweet wooden wall hanging, (very cottagy) with three little bunnies hopping on a blue wooden ribbon. I didn't know then that we would be welcoming three more little ones into our family. (Watch how you decorate your house is all I can say) Below, is a picture of the little nursery we made for Will when he was a baby. See the three bunnies on the end wall. Talk about using space wisely. We turned our former walk in closet into a delightful nursery. Here are a few pictures from when he was a baby.
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| I love the colour of the nursery's walls. It's called "soft earth" by Ralph Lauren. Lovely and peaceful. In this picture you can see the three bunnies over the crib |
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| The room is so small that we did the entire end wall in mirror |
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| His bedding was sage green and cream and had little lady bugs and dragon flies on it....little did we know but his baby sisters would be born in May and were called our little "lady bugs" when I was pregnant with them |
The blue chair in his room was bought almost 20 years ago for our first baby's nursery.....I've nursed every one of our little ones in this chair....the pillow is one I made and embroidered for Will..."Allow Miracles to Happen" The crib is also old...we bought it for our first baby 20 years earlier...originally it was white but we put a tea stain on it for Will...and D reinforced it to make sure it was still safe for him.
Will was only 23 months old when the twins came to earth, so we left him in the nursery and the babies crib was in our room for the first year of their life. They slept comfortably and happily together in that crib until they were one. Often I would find them curled up together in the middle of the night. Notice the the pair of cottage craft bunnies over their bed...the Bunny theme continues.
I I thought I would share the above pictures because so many people I know wonder where we find room for all of our children. I like our babies and young children close so this has worked out really well for us. There was a time when we thought we had to have everything for our children. When we had our first baby, we had a fancy nursery for her and I think she would have been much happier in her crib right next to our bed. We all have to find what works for us, but my advice to new parents is, don't spend a lot on baby things, decorations, baby clothes, because babies just want to be in your arms. They want to be held and feel safe.
Isn't that truly what we all want?
Well, D arrived home safely as I was typing this blog post. I took about 1/2 hour to bring him up todate on all the happenings and then he said, "I'll just read it in your blog." So, dear readers, I think I had better go and follow him to bed. Each of us has to find ways to shift when disappointment arises in our lives but I hope the next time you are saying, "oh crap," you will put on your pajamas, find a furry friend to hug, make some popcorn and watch a good movie...or better yet, find a great blog to read.
For those of you with little ones, I hope you sit and watch the above YouTube together. It's really quite magical. And of course, may all your sweet dreams come true.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope
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