Ruminations: May 2012

"I got three days to wash the road out of my soul. I got three days to love you out of control. And I wish I had a lifetime to hold on to you this way. Love can do some healing in just three days."
~Pat Green, Three Days

This was on the radio when I left work Friday at noon. Okay, so yes, this is a love song- a great one, if you ask me. But the chorus kept playing over and over in my mind all weekend. Somehow, I managed to score a 3 and a 1/2 day weekend over Memorial Day and I was ecstatic. I promised myself to live it up and soak up every second and forget about the rest of the world. Three days with no plans other than to love on my sweet family. Heaven.

Saturday, Coleman and I laid around most of the morning. He nursed himself to sleep and set in for a nice long cuddly nap. Yeah, so, that might have put a hold on the earliest stages of sleep training and setting a napping schedule, but I really don't care. That afternoon we cleaned house a little while Scott finished mowing, weed-eating, and shredding the pasture. It is such a great feeling to have our new-to-us little house in order!

Sunday, we did the church thing. We were late, again, and Coleman was hungry when we got there, again, so the three of us just hung out in the cry room. Granddaddy was leading singing and Coleman was listening to it over the loud speaker. When I would sing along he would stop nursing and stare at me as if I was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. He decided he was done eating and sat in Daddy's lap for a while. Then he really got going- he was laughing and talking and singing along. I think it was the first time Scott had heard him laugh out loud. After we finished singing a song he would keep cooing and squealing and get mad that we had stopped- it was just awesome. I heard bits and pieces of the sermon- something about helping one another out with our "demons" based off of the Legion passage- but who could think about demons when I'm looking at the love of my life hold our precious child?

Sunday evening was very special: Mom and her twin sister, Auntie Linda, spent the night in Bowie on their way to Arkansas to inter my Grandmother's ashes. I had forgotten how hilarious those two are when they get together!!! It was only Mom's second time to see Coleman and he's quite different now that he's almost 3 months old with all kinds of personality and not a sleepy, fussy 6 day old newborn. Scott cooked ribs and sausage and the Holloway's brought homemade ice cream. We gave our moms their Mother's Day presents- collage frames with pictures of their grand kid. They gushed, of course and then all of a sudden we realized it was after 10 p.m. and everyone went home. It was a great time!

Monday morning Mom and Auntie Linda came back over for a quick visit and then got on the road. We went to Kenton & Suzan's for hamburgers and then home for a nap. Auntie K and Suzan came over to entertain Coleman and help me finally decorate the house- it's really starting to look like home. We were getting close to being done when we noticed a rather ominous looking cloud bank headed our direction. We haven't gotten Internet or satellite yet and our phone service is awful, so we were shocked to hear that severe damaging winds and hail were headed our way. Suzan & Kendra went home to put their cars up and Scott and I inched our trucks into the barn.

Oh my, what a storm! First came that heavy, hot, and humid generalized eeriness. Then, it got pitch black, the trees started whipping around in all different directions, the lightning and thunder were nearly constant and it was scary. Reports are that winds were in excess of 90 miles per hour- I believe it. We have two large willow-ish trees (no idea what they really are) that are full of large dead branches from the drought last summer. One of them overhangs the back corner of the house and I just knew it was going to break off and damage the house or at least the roof. But no- first we lost a section of wooden panelled fence and the cows attempted an escape. Scott and our neighbor, rather stupidly, quickly put up portable panels in the midst of the storm. While he was out there (I was so mad at him!) one of our beautiful Bradford pear trees broke in half and landed 10 feet from him. He came in soaked and muddy and went to wash off, only to discover that we didn't have any water, or a well-house, or a well. The worst of the storm passed while we huddled on the couch and Coleman fell asleep in my arms, blissfully unaware of possible danger we were facing.

Monday night, we laid in bed, thankful that we didn't loose any more than we did. I was so incredibly grateful to have had that time to spend with my baby. And Scott. Three whole days. I've been back at work for 4 solid weeks and had to leave him at daycare every day. I know they take care of him very well and they love him to death, but it's been so hard. They get the best of him every single day- they are the ones that told me that he started laughing out loud, they got to rock him to sleep and watch him smile and told me he found his hands and can use them to bat at things. It breaks my heart to know that I'm missing out on these milestones. But believe me, I spent every second I could marveling at this amazing little human that God has placed in our lives. Tuesday was maybe harder to leave him than the first day back at work. I look forward to the next long break with my sweet family and plan to make it just as special- to love them out of control!

Coleman,

You are amazing. Daddy and I fall more in love with you every day. Your little personality is getting more apparent and we love playing with you. You started daycare last week [Mommy had to go back to work :'( ] but you are a superstar there! You are already a very social baby and have to see what's going on at all times. Because of this, you have a hard time napping and get overtired and very fussy easily. But you slept for over 6 hours 3 night last week!!! You have started laughing and playing and are trying to hit things with your fist. You have recently discovered your hands and love to stare at them. You like it when Daddy makes airplane noises and when Mommy makes kissy noises. You look less and less like a baby and sooo much like a little boy. At your 2 month check up, you weighed 10 pounds 9 ounces and were 23 1/4 inches long. You got immunizations last week and were a champ, but we could tell you felt bad that night and the next morning. You are eating 3 1/2- 4 ounces at each feeding and drink 3-5 bottles a day. Here are a few more milestones and fun things you've been up to!