Friday 5: Auntie Love, Traveling Woes, and Missing the Boys

5 Thoughts from the Week

1. I completely forgot how a tiny newborn baby can take over an entire household. As Shakespeare said in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Though she be little, she is fierce!” And when little Maddie wants to nurse or sleep or be unswaddled, she’s gonna get her way, by golly.

2. I also forget the utter awe one feels at being around a newborn. Many resources call the first four weeks outside the womb the “fourth trimester” because the baby still acts very much like she did in the womb. I remember this with Case, but as a new mom to Brooks, I was so overwhelmed, I don’t remember much of anything. Now I get to watch Maddie and her little body movements, sleep patterns, facial expressions, etc. are still so much like they were in my sister’s belly. It’s incredible that merely four days ago, she was still inside the womb and now she’s out in the world. She is just so precious. We are all in love.

3. I had a number of traveling woes trying to get here. Ten minutes away from the airport on Tuesday night, I get a call saying my flight had been canceled due to “heavy air traffic”. What? I was so upset! I tried my best to talk the airport into putting me on another flight, but there were ZERO outbound flights to DC (or so they said), so I had to go to a hotel and spend the night and not fly out until noon the next day. The morning of my flight, I had to walk 3/4 of a mile with luggage in 90 degree heat to catch a shuttle to the airport, but oh well.  I had already missed an entire day with Baby Maddie and I wasn’t chancing missing any more time.

4. Yesterday, I went on a quick run to get out of the house for a bit. I love running in Old Town Alexandria. The harbor is on the Potomac River and the old cobblestone streets and alleys are simply beautiful. My runs go by so fast because the scenery is stunning. I always try and get a few good runs in when I am here.

5. Watching my sister and Maddie has made me realize how insanely time flies. I am missing my boys something awful. I am missing them because there such a part of my every day. I feel kind of lost by myself. I also miss them because seeing newborn Maddie has made me realize how big Brooks and Case really are. At 6 and 3, they are ions away from being infants in my arms. I love the ages they are now, and we can do so many things with them. But on the same note, my heart stings a little that they’ve grown so fast. It’s been so fun watching Maddie and my sister because it has completely taken me back to when the boys were little and has flooded my mind with all of my own memories of those days. It’s truly been a special time up here, and I still have four more days. Yay!

 

5 Photos from the Week