'taking it easy'

the lighting in ihop leaves a little to be desired ...
but my company at breakfast was perfect.

i told myself i would take it easy this weekend. after all, i had surgery - albeit very minor - on friday morning, so i would need all the rest and laying around i could get, right? 

but saturday morning, i woke up feeling REALLY good. pretty much normal, actually. and when i saw a commercial on tv for ihop and their pumpkin pancakes, i couldn't resist ... so we headed off for delicious pancake breakfast. and, despite having to wait about 20 minutes, we actually had a great family breakfast.

john got his very own plate of silver-dollar pancakes, eggs, and bacon, so goodness knows he was happy.

and after breakfast, it was off for a haircut for my shaggy-haired little monster. he didn't like it much - did a lot of wiggling - but at least he didn't cry the whole time like he did last time. and that was a MIGHTY full morning for a wee peanut, so he crashed hard on the drive home:

i know i post john-sleeping-in-his-seat
pics all the time. but they're just so darn cute.

i did take a nap while john napped saturday afternoon. but then we did laundry and dishes and decided to go to auntie's house to watch the lsu tigers football game. i thought surely i could take it easy there, just sit on the couch and watch football.

i didn't take into account that john did not want to just sit on the couch and watch football. so even though my husband and i were both there, we both managed to exhaust ourselves keeping track of the little bug. it was a blast, as always, but not exactly restful.

sunday, i thought. sunday will be a restful day.

so we slept in late on sunday. (by late, i mean 8:45. but that's late for us.) and in the morning, i just did some low-key laundry folding - not too high stress, right? just sit on the couch and fold. and fold. and fold. how does one little family wear so very much clothing? and then on to the dishes. and then straightening john's room. and oh wait, we have to go grocery shopping! let's take the whole family grocery shopping. and ... lo and behold it's 5:30 and i am spent.

on an up note, john's bravery in the bath continues to grow. he laid down on his back and wouldn't get up - even after the water drained away, he just kept saying, "i lay back, mommy! get my head wet!"

and then he ran around the house yelling "naked savage!" so it was all ok.

*   *   *

i did have an odd highlight of the too-busy weekend. i couldn't fall asleep last night for some reason, so i was in the living room reading my book in a quiet house. all of a sudden, i heard john wailing in his room. i waited a moment for him to fall back asleep, and when he didn't, i figured i best go check on him.

i tiptoed into his room and rubbed his back. he cried a little more, and sat up and said, "i want to go night night in mommy's bed."

i'd promised myself not to make a habit of bringing him into our bed, so i said, "no, baby, but mommy will hold you in your chair for a while if you like." he said yes, and i wrapped him in his blanket and snuggled him in our rocker. and we rocked and rocked, his bare skin against my chest, and i listened to him breathing and breathed in the smell of him, clean and fresh and sweet. and occasionally i whispered, "are you ok baby?" and he whispered back, "no, mommy."

until finally one time he didn't whisper back at all, so i picked him up to put him into bed, sad that our quiet time was over. and he woke up and kissed my cheek and said, "i want to go night night, mommy." so i laid him in his bed with a kiss and said, "i love you, baby. are you ok?"

he said, "yes, mommy. i love you." in his best sleepy sleepy whisper.

and i went off to bed and fell right asleep myself.