Daddy's Presence

It's been a long week, as Christian flew out Sunday for work and is literally in the car driving home right now.  I've been spoiled because he hasn't traveled much for a couple months now (summer is always a down time as far as travel goes with his company) and while I was mentally prepared for it to happen, I wasn't prepared for the Micah I have seen much of the week.

As I was at the splash pad with a friend and her boys tonight, I was reminded of Micah's behavior the last time Christian was gone for awhile.  And it hit me.  This boy REALLY misses his Daddy.  He may not be able to put it in to words as such, but his meltdowns and disobedience and constant need for attention all screams out to me a void of something.  And that void is his Daddy's presence.  We have talked about when daddy would return, and this morning when Micah woke up (for good - not at 2:20 and again at 3:35...loooooong nights this week too!) the first thing he said to me when I came in his room was "Is Daddy here?" and when I replied with "no, tonight!" he said, "I miss Daddy."  Literally the first thing he said.

My patience runs thin, but I do my best to stay calm when I'm encountering meltdown after meltdown.  He misses his Daddy.  And while that doesn't give him an excuse to act the way he has this week, it provides a reason.  I just hope I can figure out how to handle it better and help him through it in a more humane way, because week's like this one are not gonna fly this fall when Christian is gone more consistently.

Brothers

These moments are rare, but I love that these two are sitting quietly watching a show.  And I absolutely love Micah's hand on Reid's leg.  This moment lasted about 5 minutes, and then Reid was done, but I'll take those 5 minutes.  They really do love each other and I love watching them.

Bike Rider!!!

It's been a long time coming, but Micah finally rode his bike around the neighborhood on our walk tonight.  It was a slow moving walk, but I was still super proud of him.  I've told Christian on a number of occasions that I feel like Micah should be pedaling and riding something more than he is.  But I'm working on giving him time and just encouraging him when he rides.  Today was a good day for that!

We have a nice lake in our townhouse (neighborhood??) complex, so we were halfway through our walk tonight and stopped to have a look at the number of ducks and geese in the water.  Reid was quite enthralled.

Micah, in turn, wanted to watch right along with Reid.  Such a sweet moment.

And it quickly shifted to some wrestling, lol.  

They usually have a pretty good time, though I have to remind Micah periodically that Reid is still a little boy compared to him and he can't be so rough with him.

The geese got scared (maybe by their wrestling, haha) and about 7-10 geese were right above our heads.  Both Reid and Micah were amazed.

Then he's off again!

And grasping for anything as big brother's about to knock him off his feet.

Micah wanted a "cheese" picture.  

Probably my favorite, well, maybe 2nd favorite, of the bunch.  This was a proud little boy for his accomplishment.  And if you could have seen my face, it would have looked just as proud.

Super Heros

We had a Super Hero party to attend this weekend for a 5 year old and I discovered quickly we didn't have any super hero gear.  I went and found some "Woody" shirts (from Toy Story) that had capes attached and decided that would have to do.  No, I know that Woody is not technically a super hero.  But the attached cape made it work :)  And while I had some grand plans of doing something myself, when I saw what the hosts were actually doing for their party via a facebook post of bedtime tucking in (in costume!) I realized nothing I did would live up...so that combined with a 90+ degree day outside caused me to do nothing but come in a tank top.  I did, however, have a yellow tank on, so could I be called Woody's Mom??

The party hosts - Super Woman and Captain America.  Did I mention it was 93 degrees?  Good sports, for sure!

My Woody wearers.  I know you can't see the cape, but there's something pretty cute about boys wearing capes behind them...

Kate put together an obstacle course - super, super creative.  I was truly impressed!  My friend Laura and I joined forces since we were both a man down, and you can see me in the background carrying part of my team :)

Alex was getting tired of pushing Micah, and when they got to the next part of the obstacle course, Micah went off to play at the park, Alex took off in a go-cart that was unattended and Reid decided to sit in a little tikes car.  Welp, so much for our team winning...or even completing...the course.  But truly, a great idea for the super hero party.  

Here was Steve's family.  Definitely veterans in the dressing up category.  Kate has had many a parties where dressing the part and participating is a common theme.  Kudos to them all, though I was particularly impressed with He Man and She Ra (is that right??).  Homemade costumes and all!

Good times and a nice, albeit hot, way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Happy Birthday Max!

Videos!

I always have trouble loading videos, but I think I got these two to work.  The one where Christian is chasing Reid like he's our cat, haha, is from mid-July.  The one with Reid dancing with my shoe was just last week.  Love this boy and the joy that he lives life with :)

Well, looks like I only got one to load.  If anyone has any bright ideas on how to consistently get videos to load, I'd love to know!

Cincinnati, Baby!

Christian and I had a very enjoyable weekend away thanks to Grandpa and Grandma watching our boys for a couple of days.  We made plans a few months back to head over and watch the Western and Southern Financial Series Open.  It's the largest USA tennis tournament outside of the US Open, and it's a spectacular tennis tournament!  Truly an amazing experience for tennis fans and super fan friendly.

Kari, Christian and I went to this tournament together 4 years ago and had a great few matches to watch.  We saw the top four play each other, and were able to get 3 of the 4 autographs.  We got Federer, Djokovic, and Murray.  Nadal eluded us then, and almost eluded us this time.  But that's for later.

A huge thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for watching our crazy busy boys for 2 1/2 days so that we could get away and thoroughly enjoy our tennis addiction!

About to enter the non-grand slam tennis mecca ;)

A few from the inside of center court.

Juan Martin Del Potro warming up for his match against John Isner

Yes, I am actually that close!!

Rafa Nadal!!  I'm there on the left in the brown and white.  I had just said "Hi Rafa" and he responded with "Hello, good morning."  I like to think that little smile on his face is from me saying hi, lol.

Rafa signing after his practice.

View from our seats.  It looks far, but truly, they were great seats.

Rafa serving in the match against Berdych.

Coming up after his win.  This is where I got a high five!

Rafa at the ESPN booth after his win.  

Seriously, so close to fame...right? :)  I did, however, score his autograph at this time, yay! I can now complete my collection of the top 4 men.

Due to Rafa being the top seed left, we got lots of Rafa time.  Below is us watching his practice on the day of the final.  It's surreal to see how close we actually were.  I don't know why he chose this court to practice on, but all it has is a wire fence.  And Christian and I were literally fans 4 and 5.  Such an amazing experience.  And wow, these professional are serious hitters!

Finals match!  John Isner vs. Rafael Nadal.  

Rafa won, but it was a spectacularly close match.  Two tie breakers - really good tennis to watch!

Women's match.  Serena vs. Azarenka.  

We ended up not staying for the 3rd set for the women's match because we needed to get back home and relieve Christian's parents.  Plus, it had been a long couple of days baking in the sun.  But we had a blast and will for sure be back many a times in the future, I foresee.  Fun times, fun times!

Heaven in the eyes of a 3 year old

After reading the last story in Micah's toddler bible tonight before bed, we had a discussion about heaven.  One of my favorite conversation to date with Micah, that went something like this:

Me:  Was that a good story, Micah?  Are you so excited about going to heaven some day?
M: And we will not have this house anymore.  But we will have all of our toys downstairs.  And our clothes.  And our pajamas.  And my trophy and ribbon.  And figurines.
Me:  Well, okay Micah.  You know what else will happen?  There will be no more crying or pain.
M:  And we will be happy?
Me:  Absolutely buddy!
M:  And we will need lights too?
Me:  No, remember what we read in the story?  There will be no sun or moon, because God's light will be all that we need to see.

Oh how I love watching the wheels turn in his little mind.  He's so insightful and he truly analyzes what you are saying.  He takes it all in and really processes what the conversation is.  It is such an enjoyable part of my parenting job - watching these little people grow and mature!  I love being a part of this amazing experience called raising children.  :)  I just pray we are doing a good job and steering him towards Christ.

Tent making 3 year old

We have a Curious George camping book that has been read frequently, and thus began the desire for Micah to go camping.  Well, now that that has happened, he enjoys making tents at home with different creative measures helping the outcome of these tents.  Sunday was one of those days, and he made a "tent" for him, Christian, and myself (no Reid, as he was sleeping).  The one he made for Christian was my favorite as he put toys, a pillow and a blanket in there so Christian could sleep and play with toys when he wasn't sleeping.  

Pretty tight quarters, but seemed to be comfortable all the same :)

Brookfield Zoo

We had a fun weekend consisting of running, pool time and zoo time and enjoying some beautiful weather as well!  I just love these kinds of weekends and wish I could slow down time and soak in all the fun in slow motion.

I had been trying to get zoo passes from our library for about 3 weeks, and finally scored some last Wednesday.  We don't have a membership to Brookfield and at $15/adult + kids + parking, it's quite an expensive outing unless we are able to get some help from our library.  Their pass allows both Christian and I to get in free which helps the price immensely and therefore makes going to the zoo a worthwhile activity.

Watching the lion.  

(I always wonder what the kid stuck in the stroller thinks about the zoo :))

Cheese.

In the Monkey House.  Reid was much more concerned about grabbing the phone than smiling for the picture.

He gave me one thoughtful pose here, though.  And then he was off and running.  This boy never slows down!!

Micah's favorite thing was getting to ride on the carousel.  I'm glad he had that moment with his Daddy.

Getting tired, so Micah joined in the stroller ride as we headed to the park for play and picnic time.

Yay! (And yes, I still have Reid's shoe :))

Two little boys can be quite exhausting, but I am blessed beyond measure with them and am doing my best to soak in the days, even the long ones, as I know soon enough I'll be looking back on these days wondering how they grew up so fast!!