For all my whining about my husband last week, he hit it out of the park with Mother's Day.

 I think one of the things that I have yet to learn, in all of the writing I've done, is word economy. This could be a really short blog post where I thank my husband for doing something amazing, thank you for reading and go about my evening. 

You can probably deduce that with Bubs more or less out of commission and me and my little 10 times a day nursing partner--that our house has been an absolute disaster. I don't think I'm a clean freak (everyone around me completely disagrees) but I would walk into our kitchen and actually feel a panic attack coming on, it was so disgusting. It was even worse in that my brother and his fiance just finished up their school semesters so they were both going to come stay with us before he has to go back to Yuma and start a new research project in about a week. The room we set up for Evie is right next to the kitchen and there was no way I was going to let them sleep next to what amounted to a war zone. 

Bubs has been able to get up and move around a bit and he knows me well enough that I was going to forgo what little sleep I'm able to catch to get the kitchen and surrounding rooms spotless before Evie and Brian showed up on Saturday. On Friday he told me that if I could just hold off until Monday, he'd get a cleaning service in and would stave off Brian and Evie by either having them stay in Yuma or talk Brian into taking Evie for a romantic weekend and one of the resorts in Tucson or Phoenix before they got here. I looked at the mess, gritted my teeth and accepted that despite my nature, with everything else going on, the mess could wait and a cleaning service would be money well spent. 

Unfortunately with a new born, Mother's Day isn't much of day of rest but Ashley slept like a little champ on Saturday night--in a very weird way, I think that me getting on and venting about our therapy session made me more calm which in turn allowed her to settle down a bit. She only woke up once and actually let me nurse her while I was laying down in bed. She woke up at like 6:30 and I almost felt like I got an actual night's sleep. 

She was hungry when she woke up so as I sat in my rocking chair feeding her, I could hear TJ's 1000lb steps making trips up and down the hall way out side of my room (speaking of which, TJ is a very average weight for his age--I think about 55lbs the last time we weighed him, and it is astonishing how that kid can clomp around. I have literally been able to find him in a crowd by hearing him well before seeing him). On about his 4th trip up the hall the closet I asked him to come in and talk to me and asked what he's up to. 

"Hey Mom, Dad's having us surprise you for Mother's Day, we're cleaning up the kitchen." 

Sooo...maybe he's not the Marvel Supervillain I thought he was...but I love him anyways. 

Having been through two rounds of Bubs defying doctor's orders I nervously asked "That's so sweet bud, what's your dad doing?" 

"He can't hurt is balls again Mom, so he's just wiping and stuff but me and Abby are doing most of the work." 

Ok, not a Supervillain but hysterical.  With every degree of earnestness of a 7 year old on a mission, he excused himself and clomped back towards the kitchen. 

Ashely finished up shortly after and was ready to be walked around so I used that as an excuse to get up and see how thing were going...I loved the gesture but I was a little worried about the execution. 

I can't even joke--they crushed it--and not just in the way of kids doing their mom a favor--the kitchen and dining room next to it looked amazing. The clean dishes that had taken up residence in dishwasher were stacked neatly. There was a new load running and when it came out it had been organized perfectly on the racks so those dishes here also spotless. The counters were wiped down, the floor was clean and even the sink had cleaned and sanitized. It was the first time since my in-laws left that I walked into my kitchen and didn't feel like I was about to have a breakdown. And true to TJ's word, Bubs was in a kitchen chair supervising the whole thing and not exerting himself. 

It was so sweet that I actually cried--I love getting surprises and small gifts but acts of service like that absolutely make my heart melt. I told Bubs that I was so appreciative and I'm sorry the surprise got ruined and I didn't get to have the "in awe" moment of walking into the clean kitchen unexpectedly. He said he new the gig was up when he sent TJ down the hall to get vacuum and saw him take  a detour into our room.  

With everything so clean and that off my mind, I even got a bit of a break when Bubs took Ashley to lay down with her in bed and started typing this up yesterday...but then Brian and Evie got there and she and I talked each other's ears off about her potentially staying with us on a more permanent basis so she can do student teaching next fall. That was a gift in and of itself--I love having her here and she is such a huge help with the kids. There are still some things to be ironed out since she's still at Texas school and would be student teaching out of state--but those were things she would have to get figured out even if she decides to student teach in Yuma. 

I'm blathering and I should have typed this up yesterday--but Bub's I know you are downplaying what you actually accomplished, but with everything going on--that was legitimately one of the best Mother's Day presents you could have possibly given me. Hope you and your "parts" are ready for Fathers Day--I know mine will be!