Kids

Our kids are so amazing. I am so happy to be a Mom to all three of them. It makes life complete and full.
We had a great day yesterday at our friend's birthday party. The kids played in the beautiful fall weather (it was 74 and sunny!), running around the playground, making "magical creature" t-shirts, building fairy houses, and playing "fairy ball" with their friends. The food was great (thanks Lisa and Mike), and the company was great. The kids were soooo good the whole time, even without naps!
Later we went back to Mike and Lisa's house to relax a bit before our drive back to Greenville from Athens, GA. The kids played well together, even Grant and his little friend, Lucy. The babies were adorable interacting together. Grant kept handing her things, and at one point, he accidentally hurt her head, she burst into tears, and grabbed onto him, laying her little head on his shoulder hugging him, while he hugged her back and patted her back. It was one of the cutest moments I have ever seen! They even kissed and hugged good-bye, too cute!
We were off to a great start back home, for the almost 2 hour drive. Then....we had to stop for gas, and the shit hit the fan! The three of them had fallen asleep within a mile of our leaving. Doug decided to go outside the city a little ways, and before we hit the free-way he stopped for gas. BIG MISTAKE! The bright lights and stopping motion woke Grant up, who screamed and cried, then Rogan woke up from Grant crying and started crying uncontrollably, then Laila was next in line, who woke up and started screaming that they were "ANNOYING ME!" It was a symphony of screams. When we got back on the road, Grant kept screaming for the song "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles, and we had to play it for him to calm him. It worked, temporarily, until the song ended, then he screamed for it again, all the while the other two are sobbing. We played the song again, then again, then Rogan started screaming about that. He had enough, and we had too, but Grant would cry and scream when it ended. We kept telling Rogan to just wait, he is almost asleep, and then we will stop the song, but he wouldn't have it, he kept crying and screaming in protest. Laila would occasionally join in. We had to put an end to the song. Instead I had to hold Grant's hand (while my shoulder and arm went to sleep) until he fell asleep. Finally, about 30 miles away from home, the crying ceased and they were all asleep. I mean, it only lasted like an hour! And we think we are going to drive 12 hours up to Michigan at Christmas without pain? HA!!! Definitely gotta get some ear plugs!
But, despite these incidents, I love them fiercely. They are such good kids really, and are so loving. I enjoy my days here with them, even if I do get a little frazzled at times. We have a lot of fun together, and we learn a great deal from each other every day. I wouldn't miss these precious moments with them for the world, even though it is a lot of work.