threebythirty: Sweet rewards of mommyhood

B's got an ear infection plus a ton of wax that needs to come out (sorry, if I had to see it/hear her scream as the doctor removed some of it, the least you can do is read about it). The poor little munchkin spent her afternoon sleeping. Her hours-long nap (so jealous!) started in the cart at Target while we waited for her prescription. It was quite a pricey prescription, I might add. $6.00 for the meds, $100 for the things I managed to put into my cart while wandering around waiting for it. While most of my purchases were warranted by *need* (read below), there were a few items that upon returning home, I wondered aloud, 'how the heck did that end up in my cart?'. Oh well...B's got two doses of medicine under her belt and both darlings are snoozing the night away. As they should be.

Not only am I owed a great night's sleep, but those two require one after the evening we had. Sorry to disappoint, but mass chaos did not ensue as it usually does when daddy's at work and mommy's attempting to maintain sanity until bedtime. No, no...tonight I was treated to an amazing treat (actually, more than one!). There were no fights. Not one. There were no tears (aside from the ones shed by Brynn as I cleaned out aforementioned wax before bed). They both ate their entire plate of food at dinner, fruit and all, no questions asked, no complaints lodged...and cleared their plates without pouting, or dropping them. They played together, nicely, for 2 hours(!) while I went on a manic mini-nesting binge that resulted in me *finally* getting their clothes put away, the kitchen cleaned up, and a few things organized. They even had pleasant conversation with one another, as Gavin shared what he did at school today, not in his usual 'braggart tone', but in a tone that implied 'these are the things you will someday experience, oh darling younger sister'. They were enjoying Blues Clues together when I came downstairs and rather than seeing (hearing) who can shout the answer to the clues louder, they were calmly and quietly watching the show. I almost passed out, but instead...I grabbed the camera...

*ok, so they cleared their plates but neglected to wipe their mouths...you can't win 'em all!

*yes, he did this on his own, after I asked him if he was helping to make Brynn feel better

Wow. I'm fairly confident that these are the kinds of nights that moms all over the world rejoice about. Granted, the day did not begin well (lack of sleep, ear infection...oh yeah, and I backed into a pole at the car wash today--in the new car *I don't even want to get into it*), but it sure ended beautifully. And I'm not just talking about the kids.

Remember those *randoms* from Target that magically ended up in my cart?