Wide Open Spaces

We knew the rain was coming. Not because we're pyschic or because my left knee was paining (I'm pretty sure that's a word). But because my husband watches the news and might be slightly obsessed with the weather. Like last night when the thunder storm woke us, he grabbed his phone and pulled up the radar. I guess he had to make sure there was a gigantic storm over our house and we weren't imagining the thunder and rain and wind.

But before he grabbed his phone, he jumped out of bed and ran to Kane's room to make sure the thunder wasn't scaring him. What Matthew didn't realize is that Kane was already in our bed. Haha. He's a good dad, just a little oblivious when thunder wakes him up in the middle of the night.

So on Sunday, the day before the rain came, we took the dogs for a walk. Kane loves wide open spaces. And to him, just about anything is wide open. Our quiet street, the big field across from our neighborhood or the aisle at the grocery store. He doesn't care, just likes to let those litle legs pick up some speed.

And look around. And explore. And run some more. And be outside. Anything outside is ok with him.

I see the joy in his eyes when he gets to play outside so I try to take him out as much as possible. And I let him run free as much as I can. I'm the mom with the toddler running down the aisles at Target. He leads and I follow, making sure he doesn't start pulling boxes off shelves. As a stay-at-home-mom, I have the luxury of letting a grocery trip take 2 hours.

It's one of those "life lessons that a baby will teach you". I make a conscious decision to slow down, to leave extra room in my schedule, to give him space to explore and run. To say yes when the opportunity presents itself. You know, stop and smell the roses. Or in this case, stop and smell the random dog poop in the open field. Whichever.

He was cuddly after his bath that night and I took this picture to remember how sweet he is with his father. But when I was editing, the first thing I saw was how long he is. He's recently outgrown his 18 month pajamas (he's 16 months) so I know he's getting taller, but sheesh. He looks like a 3 year old here!

So with the rain, comes inside play time. Like bedspread forts. I wish I had a picture of what was going on inside this fort. Matthew was on his back with his feet in the air being the poles. He may, or may not, have been practicing his child birth position. I can't confirm or deny that. Kane was rolling around, poking his head out of every side, having a blast. I was trying to catch any random baby parts that escaped the protective walls of the fort...fingers, toes, ears. When I peeked under the blanket, I saw that Matthew had his phone out and was reading while all this was going on. Maybe dads can multitask. Maybe.

And inside times means playing with trucks in the bay window.

There's a baby that lives in the glass of our bay window. Kane likes to look at him. I guess they're friends.

And cold, rainy days beg me to pull out the crock pot. So we had Jamaican Jerk Chicken stew.

And took some time after dinner to stop and tickle the baby.

If you live in Dallas, you may realize that the thunderstorms were really the night before last. I started to write this post last night, but couldn't.stay.awake. We've been getting up very early this week. Matthew leaves for work at 6:45 and Kane is not only up to see him off, he's already had his breakfast by the time Dadda leaves. That's too early for this momma, so I'm a bit tired. I don't mind the occasional sunrise, but remember we weren't going to make a habit out of it? Someone needs to send Kane that memo.