I hope I never ever in all my life, forget the little things. the little things that my children say and do, the way chris laughs, or toddler hands on my neck...
the little scenes from every day life that I tuck away into my imaginary jar that can hold all of the sweet memories and never let even one of them go forgotten.
...I haven't actually found a jar or enough room in my head to remember all of the moments that make me terribly happy, but this space thankfully can hold some of it for me.
I hope I never forget...
that most mornings for the past three years, have looked like some variety of this photo above.
intruder mickey... the night Abel left his blue mickey behind at my moms and didn't notice until we crawled into his bed. chris ran to the store to get inconsolable him another (enter red mickey) and returned to him having already fallen asleep. he layed the new Mickey in bed with him. when Abel woke in the early morning to come to our room, I heard him from across the hall and saw him as he exited his room (ALWAYS ALWAYS shutting the door behind him). he stood there studying this new intruder Mickey for a good 2 minutes before making his way into our room + crawling into bed to fall asleep... didn't say a word to me about it until morning.
the phase of Abel bringing whatever blanket he was covered up with in his bed AND any lovies he had to our room when he'd make his way there... and running back if he ever forgot one.
lucy squeezing my neck before bed and then saying, head... nose... chin... cheek... o'er one... lips... and kissing each mentioned spot so sweetly.
the way lucy always asks "tome?!" (come) if you tell her you are going to go somewhere
abel shouting, "go daddy! go broncos! touchdown!" at chris's soccer game
the way my kids laugh at bathroom humor (i don't know why) or when I hear them "reading" on their own... "sleep sleep poop" giggles and then turn the page and repeat
Lucy's 18 month old love of shoes. yours, mine, abels... if there's a shoe around she's gonna wear it
hearing their little conversations from the other room...
abel: "you like daddy?"
lucy: "uh huh!"
abel: him really nice to you?
lucy: "uh huh!"
when abel walks around singing "o come to the altar, the father's open wide!" or "god is so big and so mighty, there is *mumble mumble* can't do, for YOU! and points, or when he asks me to play his "water song" (grace like a wave-elevation worship) on repeat all day every day since the album came out.
lucy's grin or her 1.5 year old voice or the way she sings frozen's "summerrrrr" + the sparkle in her eyes...
abel's morning snuggles + how the smell of maple syrup triggers memories of a tinier him who always managed to have some somewhere, making him smell as snack worthy as he looked and acted.
I hope I never forget these versions of them, and next years versions of them, and last years, and on and on.
