I Had Forgotten...

When you're right in the middle of it all with babies and toddlers life is just like that...you're feeding and changing and chasing and crazy. You never get enough sleep because your newborn goes to bed at 10 and your nutty 2 year old wakes up at 5 am...for 3 years. You don't get a nap unless you want to wake up to complete destruction. You squeeze in errands and food prep. If you pick up a book everyone piles on your lap. You generally only have one arm to do anything with. You're just right in the middle of everything and running around like a crazy woman and trying to get anything done.

Then all of a sudden they go play in their rooms together. For hours. They dress and toilet themselves. They unload your dishwasher and put away their own laundry. They sit on the couch and read themselves a book for 3 hours. Some start going off to school for several hours a day. They buckle their own seat belts. You have interesting conversations with each other. 

And you can sit and read a book for a couple hours...every day. All the chores get done and the house is spotless. You actually fold the laundry the same day you wash it. You sew and take a nap. When they are off playing at a friend's house you have no errands and the house is clean so you take a bath and read a book. No more meal planning because you can just wander into the kitchen at 5 o clock and decide what you feel like cooking...and then spend an hour cooking it just because you love to cook. You serve your meals in courses because it's fun. After the kids are in bed you putter around and chat with your husband and eat ice cream. You get plenty of sleep and even wake up 30 minutes before they do to read scriptures in the peaceful quiet of the morning, relishing the thought of a new day where you can enjoy time with your precious children and complete your to do list. You feel accomplished and efficient.

Then you decide it would be great fun to have another baby. But after a glimpse of that potential life it's a rude awakening. And you wonder how you ever accomplished anything with a baby AND a two year old. It's a small miracle that you actually did the laundry...that is if you did. Otherwise your kids have to go to school without wearing socks. And you never sleep and you had forgotten how much you resemble a zombie in appearance and temperament. Plus now you have to drive older children to and from school and dance and gymnastics and art class...so people may actually see you so you probably should at least wear clothes and possibly, if you feel really great, brush your hair. And you find yourself saying, "I don't remember any of our other kids doing ____ as a baby." Only to look at their baby books and find out they all did and Hyrum is quite typical. What? James didn't come out of the womb dressing himself? I'm pretty sure Matthias made his own lunch even back then, right? And Hannah slept through the night at 5 weeks. Oh wait, she really did do that. 

But despite all the craziness of it all we are loving our little Hyrum.