So Not Normal.

On any given day normal sucks. Normal means a whole lot of busyness, chaos, non-stop movement (unless the kids are napping or on the rare occasion sitting still being quiet), and generally a stream of house duty responsibilities, dog duty, kid duty and oh yeah the husband to attend too. Phew.. I am tired after typing that. In a nutshell my normal as a Mom is busy. It's from wake up time to sun down time and even there after and sometimes before the sun comes up. It's okay though, I have adjusted into a mode of not knowing what to expect each day. For the most part the kids sleep great and my mornings can usually get started with a cup of coffee and a few minutes of personal time with Matt Lauer and Al Roker. I can't complain there. But once the boys are up it's game on. Even on school days, it's game on baby. I am just as tired at the end of the day and sometimes even more on the school days because for some reason the school days add extra stress alone just by trying to get out the door on time and not get side tracked by Ryan not wanting to wear his coat and Evan (the oh so defiant almost 4 year old) yelling at me that he doesn't like me anymore (insert knife through the heart here).

So that's my normal. . It's been my life since they were born.... My normal, my babies and guess what I love it. I know this now today after a very Non-normal day that has me even wondering why I tend to complain about normal to begin with.

My non-normal day begins with waking up at 7:00 (okay that is somewhat normal). But just as I attempt to drift off to sleep and just let the kids wake me up when they start making noise it hits me. Today is the day... Today is the day for Evan's big boy trip with Grandmommy and Granddaddy to go see Nana. It's means Evan goes all by himself in the car with my parents to see my Nana and spend the night in a hotel room. This is a first for him as we have never stayed in a hotel room with him before. I know he will be fine and that my Mom and Dad won't take their eyes off of him but still... I worry. I worry about him being 3 hours from me and worry about something happening. I worry about Ryan who will be separated form his brother all day and and I worry about everything in between the typical neurotic "Mommy worry" and just plain worry worry that after a few minutes of lying in bed trying to figure out which worry I am at, I get up and begin the rumblings of the day trying to keep things normal (probably for my sake more than the kids). My parents are due to arrive and pick up Evan in just a little less than two hours. So I have time to take my shower, hit the coffee button and get the kids up and breakfast started. A when it was time to wake the kids up normal stayed it's course by Evan fussing that he didn't get to open his door (I dared to open it for him and say good morning thinking he was over his obsession with opening and closing his door but was clearly wrong), and Ryan saying he wanted Cinnamon pancakes as he happy go lucky skipped down the hall way with his blankie in toe and his bed head hair flapping in the breeze. Normal normal. Next comes breakfast and a change of clothes, lot's of coffee for Mommy, and a last minute check of Evan's over night bag. I throw in extra outfit, extra pair of underwear and some extra toys as my husband of so casually reminds me he is going to be gone only for one night. I shoot him my famous "Listen here part timer, you don't know anything" look and add one more pair of underwear just in case.

At this point The boys are playing, and my heart starts pounding at the impending doom of my folks avrial to whisk away my baby, my first born.....my beloved Evan.

Holy Crap!!

Needless to say the arrival, transfer, last minute hugs and nose pressed up against the window frame as they drove away and I burst into hysterical sobs, went very, very well. Mr. Part timer sings and dances behind me now elated at the fact we are down to one kid. And there is some truth there. Ryan pretty much has been in Evan's shadow since he was born. This will be good, this will a great weekend to love on Ryan and spoil him rotten. Plus it was a big transititon weekend for him too. He was going to be moving out of his crib into his big boy bed. Somewhere along the way it dons on me that a lot of big boy stuff is going on in one weekend. But once again it's that famous roll with the chaos sort of life that I have grown so used to.

So my babies turned into very big boys in one weekend. One, the world traveler (okay only to Virginia traveler), and the other no longer sleeping in his crib, his last connection to babyhood and I find myself sort of a sad happy. I am happy they are growing up and can do things like travel with my parents. I am happy that the crib has come down as Ryan is finally getting to grow up like he has seen his brother do. So much is changing in such short time frame but when all is said and done and I look at my life and what's my normal. I wouldn't change a thing. Even on the days where the boys are fighting and I am at my wits end over everything... I wouldn't change a thing. My normal is my crazy. I wouldn't have it any other way.