It's Fun to Watch Them Sleep (this one has pics!)

It's been a crazy summer and I've never dreamed of quiet days like I have recently; where the refrigerator isn't always open and the ipod isn't blaring over the PS2, the floors are clean and the doors are closed. Then I get a hug or watch one of their new videos or see their new creation, Lego or Heroscape, and I'm brought back to the reality that my kids rock!
Life can be crazy but I've never been more thankful that it's crazy with them.

I was talking with my oldest the other day about when I found out I was pregnant with him. The majority of the people in our lives suggested I give him up for adoption or not have him. I was 18 and Steve 17 at the time. I was graduating high school and Steve still had one more year. "You are crazy to get married and even crazier to have a child" seemed to be the general words spoken to me the summer of 1993. We had a pastor refuse to marry us and a family boycott our wedding; but the good thing about being a teenager is that we knew it all and knew what we wanted and should do, and we did it.

So now 15 years later I look back and can't imagine life without him, or them for that matter!
Has it been hard?
yeah, of course. We were teen parents, set out into the world to raise a child when we ourselves were not fully raised. I would suggest though, that it has been no harder or more challenging than another path.
Has it been worth it? No doubt!
Have we sacrificed? duh? yeah! But don't we all sacrifice. Marriage, friends, children- successful relationships require sacrifice.

One of my favorite things to do is watch my children when they don't know I'm there. I think this starts when they are babies and we would sit and watch them sleep. It was exciting. To see their little hands and wrists, their little mouth and eyes as they peacefully slept the time away. Then as they grew to preschoolers I'd stand in the doorway of their playroom and watch them imagine and make sounds- they were always in a land far off in their imagination. As elementary schoolers I'd love to watch them work on their school; mouth moving as they concentrated on forming their letters correctly or the intensity as they learned to read. As teens I still grab a peak at them sleeping and last night I watched them interact with cousins and grandparents at my nephews 1st birthday party. As I watched my heart rejoiced at the opportunity I've had to live these last 15 years with 2 totally rockin' boys! My boys! God's boys!
They drive me crazy.
I truly am blessed.

It's painful being loved on, I know.

He really does love his mama!

Our budding guitar player. Not that I'm bragging but his teacher says he's never had a student with a memory like J. I love the guitar and am constantly serenaded with Skip to My Lou, Iron Man, Smoke on Water and a plethora of classic beginner tunes as well as 80's hairband guitar solos (many of which he has figured out himself). Rock on!


So today when the door is left open and the a/c is trying to keep up; when the fridge is open and the pantry is being raided, when the floor I just vacuumed gets dirty and the yard I just picked up gets cluttered I'll sit back and read this post and remember that my kids rock and I'm lucky to have them in my life each and every day!

~Michelle