October 4, 2010

A word of gratitude

This post is dedicated to the two wonderful men in my life: Nick and Toby. First let me elaborate on the awesomeness of Nick:

Since I have been a little busy growing a human inside of me and been bit under the weather, Nick has more than picked up the slack. If there are ever dishes in the sink or dishes to unload, he is on it. If there is a mound of laundry piling up in our hallway, he throws in a few loads AND puts them away. He has taken Toby to his parents house in Hyrum a few times just to give me a break and time for myself. And he hasn't complained once about me not making him dinner in the evenings because of my queasiness (let's be honest, he's not really missing out on any culinary masterpieces anyway). Oh and have I mentioned that he goes to school full-time and works full-time? Yeah, he pretty much rocks. And whenever I am tempted to feel guilty for all that he does, I just remember that I would do the same for him in a heartbeat if he was down and out for a few months.
OK, don't me get me wrong people, Nick and I have our issues, ugly moments, and definitely our disagreements so don't think I decided to get online tonight to brag about how perfect our marriage is. If you know us well, you know we are far from claiming perfection. I just wanted a moment to give a huge virtual hug to my husband and tell him how much I appreciate all he does. And now I am done.

Now for the Toby-meister. The boy who has a tender heart and raging spirit. Though we've had some rough times the past 12 weeks, I am shocked at how well he has coped and adjusted to a boring mommy. Not only that, but I am becoming less scared about him being an older brother. He has been such a strength to me. Here are just a few things he does ALL ON HIS OWN. And let me put in a disclaimer that I don't brainwash him or bribe him to do these things. He does them simply because he wants to (and I am suspecting the "Nick-isms" are coming out in him, which is not a bad thing):

- Not every morning, but at least a couple times a week he will get Kaya's food out of the pantry, scoop it up, and carefully pour it into her bowl. If any food gets on the floor, he will pick it up one by one until all the food is in the bowl. Then he will put the food away back in the pantry.

-Any wrappers or garbage on the floor he will immediately put in the trash can.

- When he has been outside playing in the sandbox, he will come inside, push a chair up to the sink, wash his hands, dry them off, and put the chair back under the table. I have never once asked him to do this. It's all Toby.

- One time I was so incredibly sick and on the verge of vomiting. I told Toby I wasn't feeling good. Without asking him to, he disappeared into the other room to retrieve my spit/throw-up bowl (it was clean, don't worry). WHAT?! My heart just melted.

- He will turn off the lights or the TV (if its on) when is done playing downstairs. I will admit I have major OCD tendencies with turning off lights when I leave a room....and apparently the T-man has picked up on that. :)

- My favorite thing would have to be though is when he grabs my face, brings it to his, and says "you're cute mommy." Even coming from a 2 1/2 year old, it totally boosts my self esteem. Especially since 90% of the time I have on no-makeup, I'm sportin' Nick's old t-shirts, and my hair is shoved up in a clip. Gosh, I love that boy.

Finally, the post of gloating and gushing has come to an end. Thanks for indulging me. :)

5 comments:

Aleta said...

Cute! For Toby to take the time to put the chair back or Kaya's food back when he's done - he sounds like a (relatively) clean kid!
And I remember your OCD tendencies with turning off lights - I think I recall a few employees still in the bathroom when you turned the lights off on them :)

Colleen said...

Aw, sweet post. Just remember all those darling, sweet things Toby does when he starts acting up. :) Elijah has definitely gone through phases where he's had me at the end of my wits, and I've always said he's lucky he's so dang cute! So glad your boys are taking care of you.

Debbie said...

Aleta-

haha yes that was one of the first things that popped into my head when I was writing about turning of lights. :) Oh good times.

And Colleen-

Yes, today was a day that I was definitely was pushed to my limit! I re-read through this post when I got home and thought "focus on the good....focus on the good." :) It's nice to know I've got some friends who can relate!

BeeP said...

WOW! That is so cool! Glad you wrote this down so you can remember they are sweet on occasion. ;) Glad you are being taken care of.

Jessie said...

Wow, see! He'll keep getting better and better. I mean, 3yrs has some doozy stages for sure, but there are bonuses along the way.
He'll be a great big brother!