Reflections

I'm dropping Ben off at a friends house today for a bit while I go to a dr's appt. I was mentally thinking of what I needed to drop of with him and the thought came to mind (sorry this is gross but it's real life friends) "well, he won't need any diapers since he pooped 10 times yesterday so at least she shouldn't have to change any poopy diapers". He's one of those that poops 10 times in one day and then doesn't go for a few days. Aaaannnyway....I was chuckling to myself thinking how when Emma was a toddler and I dropped her off somewhere to be watched for awhile I'd pack a whole diaper bag full of stuff - 10 diapers, wipes, extra pair of clothes, snacks, medical card etc. etc. Now kid number three I practically throw out the van door as I drive by the sitters house. No wonder birth order makes such a difference in behavior (or so they say).

We've been having awesome storms here this week. Lots of heavy rain, a little thunder (not enough for my liking but at least a little) wind. Some people had flooding, mudslides etc. Today however the sun peeked out from behind the clouds for a bit and it was brilliantly sunny out. As I drove up to my house there was a huge beautiful rainbow across the sky that took my breath away for a moment. Now if that isn't the most symbolic thing - a beautiful rainbow after the storm. God is so marvelous. It just reminded me of how things always come out better after we weather life's storms.

Back when Emma was a baby and before we had to live on a school schedule I used to drive up to Sacramento to visit family more. My little sister and I used to play super Mario Bros 3 on her Nintendo for hours! We were addicted, we wanted to conquer the game...and we did. My mom has pictures of me breastfeeding Emma with a Nintendo controller in my hands. I got pretty good at it. Well if you have a WII you might know they just came out with Super Mario Bros 3 for the WII and my video game addiction has reared it's ugly head. My little sister was here after the New Year and she, Dave, and I spent a good many hours on it until we conquered the game! It was fun.

I'm afraid to say however I've passed my love of Super Mario on to my middle child. Jacob is completely addicted. I usually only let them play WII on Saturdays but with the rainy weather I've been a little more lenient. Especially after he was sitting on the couch every morning reading the instruction book that came with the game for like two weeks. One morning he said to me "mom, do you know why I like reading this book...it makes me feel like I'm actually playing the game". The reason I usually only let them play Saturday's is because there is so much wailing and gnashing of teeth when I tell them it's time to turn off the game and I don't feel like dealing with it every day. Jacob especially has a meltdown when it's time to turn it off. He told me a couple of days ago though it's not his fault. His body just cries when the game goes off and he can't control it. It's not him doing it - it's his body. Last night he again cried as I turned off the game and after I told him to go to his room until he was done he said "mom, it's my body, it's doing it again. It's just crying and I can't control it". It's so hard not to laugh.