Tender Moments

With the birth of baby sister only days away, my boys are definitely sensing that something is about to change in their world. Nash is constantly at my side either wrapped around my legs or begging me to hold him. Atley seems to be lashing out and angry with me most days and an emotional wreck on the others. But there have also been some tender moments with Atley, moments that I will always cherish.
First, when Atley's cousin Alexis died, he didn't seem to have much of a reaction to the news. But, several days later as he was saying his nightly prayers he said, "Heavenly Father bless that Alexis will live again, like all of us." In my cynicism I immediately assumed he was thinking that he could pray Alexis back to life. Fortunately, I asked him what he meant before I began my explanation. He told me, "I know she will come back to life. We all will, at the same time, when we get resurrected." I began to explain that that wouldn't be for a very a long time but it wasn't necessary because he quickly said, "I think we will have to wait awhile though." Out of the mouth of babes, right?

Atley and Nash with their cousin's Alexis & Brittany along with Uncle Todd & Aunt Sara at downtown Disney last summer.
Second, Atley had a school assembly where his class was asked to sing a song about Mother's. They sang in Russian, French, Spanish, and English. When they finally started singing in English and I could hear and understand my little boy's voice above all the others I burst into tears. I'm sure that the other mother's think I must be crazy. I am more of the opinion that you must be heartless if you do not cry when your baby sings:
"May there always be sunshine,
May there always be blue sky,
May there always be mama,
May there always be me!"
Did I mention that there was also a slide show with pictures of the mom's and their children? Wow, I am crying again just writing about it! Maybe it's just hormones.


Third, one of my favorite books as a kid was Wilson Rawl's "Summer of the Monkeys". I started reading this book to the boys before bed a few weeks ago and we wrapped it up last weekend. To sum up the story, a little boy, Jay Berry, spends his summer trying to catch some monkeys that escaped from a circus train. He is hopeful he can collect a reward and buy himself a Pony and a .22 rifle. This same little boy has a very special sister who is crippled. His family is poor and cannot afford the surgery she needs to fix her leg. After a hilarious summer of monkey catching he goes to buy his pony and the pony he loves is also crippled. Of course the boy decides to give his reward money to his sister so that she can have surgery. As I was reading about Jay Berry giving away his money for his sister I started to hear some sniffles from underneath the covers. I pulled back the sheets to see Atley in tears. When I asked him what was the matter he exclaimed, "I am just so happy that Jay Berry made such a good choice. It must have been so hard for him." Then he wrapped his little arms around me and sobbed, explaining that he would do anything to help his family.

Finally, Atley had a play date today with a boy from school. He talks about this little boy all of the time. Atley idolizes him. I was nervous that the two older boys would be mean to little brother Nash. Of course Nash thinks he is as big as his brother and follows him wherever he goes. At one point Atley's friend asked, "Who do you like better me or Nash?" Atley looked at him funny and said, "Wow, that is a confusing question because Nash is my brother and you're just my friend. You guys aren't the same." I was pretty proud of that answer.
I hope they always love and look out for each other the way they do today!