Thursday, February 26, 2009

Mother James

So, being about 9 months pregnant ( I only have 2 weeks to go!!!) I have been REALLY tired and as all other women who have had babies know, you don't sleep the last month of your pregnancy. I mean first off, I can't breathe when I lay on my back or on my right side. But when I sleep on my left side my entire leg goes completely numb, or starts to hurt so bad I want to scream (yes she is sitting on a nerve and sometimes my legs just go crazy...it is weird) But then to add on top of that you have a ginormous belly and tossing and turning is not as easy as it once was. Plus you are peeing every whatever minutes, and then you start cramping and having back pains and blah blah blah blah blah...I LOVE being 9 mos preg and trying to get a full nights sleep...........yeah.

So, back to the start, I have been really tired. So, when I DO fall asleep I am very very very deep asleep and so I do not hear my little children sneak out of their beds. This is where the Mother James comes in. James has taken it upon himself to be Harrison's little mom. First thing in the morning James will take Harrison to the potty, and then put his elmo underwears on him. Then he takes Harrison downstairs and gets him breakfast. He is pretty good at getting the cereal and can actually pour the milk without spilling it. Now before you think I am terrible for sleeping in so late that my kids are up taking care of themselves I should let you know that this usually happens before 6:30 or so, often in the 5 am category. So here are a few funny/sweet stories of James taking care of Harrison lately.

So the other morning, okay it wasn't even morning, it was still dark outside. I hear Harrison downstairs playing. I got up went downstairs to find him playing with the DVD's. I told him he needed to go back to bed and I was picking him up to carry him back upstairs when I heard a couhg come from under a blanket across the room. Poor James was sound asleep under the blanket. I then noticed the bowl of cereal James had gotten Harrison. James then poked his head out and said "mom, I got Harrison breakfast" the poor kid was so tired. I felt so bad. I put both boys back in bed, and when we actually did get up in the morning I explained to James that he did NOT need to get up with Harrison, that he could come get me or dad and we would take care of him. But James is extremely independent and still gets up with Harrison.

The other morning I woke up to a knocking sound...coming from the garage/kitchen door. I shook Ben awake and told him to go check what the world was going on (I would have jumped out of bed and rushed down, but I am not so fast these days...big belly) Ben went down, Harrison was sitting in front of the door, it was locked and James was in the garage knocking on the door.....yeah. This is what had happened. The boys got up, wanted a snack, but didn't want cereal. James remembered that we had had granola bars in the diaper bag that was still in the car. (yes I have an entire pantry and storage room full of food and about 20 boxes of granola bars, but I guess going out to the car is more fun) Anyways, he went out to the car, and while he was out there Harrison shut and locked the door. nice brother. So James was knocking on the door.

Yes yes yes I know you are thinking, what the world? why don't you put locks on their door or something so they don't get out. There are two locks on their door and trust me, that does NOT stop James. he can figure out just about any lock or door. He has been able to since he was able to walk. And they are so sneaky quiet!!! I don't even hear them get up. After the garage incident we had a long discussion about how we never open any of the outside doors without mom or dad being up first. Crazy kids. I think I am going to put a clock in their room and set serious rules about being able to get out of their beds before the clock says a certain time or something.

But I do have to say, that James is really just trying to be helpful, and that I think he is so super sweet to take care of his younger brother like he does. we have been potty training harrison and I swear James takes him to the bathroom more than I do. James is a very sweet boy and takes his oldest child role very seriously. He is the one that got Harrison to say his first prayer, Harrison would never do it for Ben or I, but when James helped him he would say it. Harrison looks up to James for everything. He copies everything James does. I am so glad to have my two little boys, they love each other so much, and I know they were just the best of friends before they came here, as they are best buddies now.

4 comments:

Stephers said...

That is always tough when you have kids who might have to use the bathroom at night! With Dallin I finally got a regular doorknob and turned it around backwards on his door, so I can lock it from the outside. I know it sounds terrible, but I just do it while he falls asleep and then open it up after he's sleeping. In the middle of the night he looks at his door and still thinks it's locked, so he won't come out. He was coming out ever night too and sometimes would scare me to death. James is so cute to get cereal for Harrison!

John said...

We unscrew Rachel's light bulb and lock her door every night. The other 4 kids have clocks and are not allowed out until a certain time. If they get up early then they have to be in charge of setting the table and getting breakfast ready. Since none of them like extra work, that works pretty well. But James sounds like such a cutie for taking care of Harrison. Adam used to try to sneak outside early in the morning, so John hooked up the security system and if anyone opened an outside door this horrible loud siren would sound throughout the house. It really scared the kids, but no one else tried to escape.

K said...

Totally outdoing any of our kids in that way. I'm trying to remember how old james is. When I had my first migraine, Gin was nine. I was reduced to lying on the couch, not able to move, and losing memory and vocabulary. She got the kids together and fed them dinner, and called our friends down the street for help and a blessing. It's good to have children who are willing to be grown up when you need them.

Amy Eds said...

How cute! James is so adorable! Aubrey and Mariah are a lot like that--helping each other out. I loved when he was on the couch asleep--how cute!