The Beauty in the Backseat

Today was just one of those days...one of those days where things don't go "as planned" or the way that you want them to. A day where the preceding night has seemed way too long and yet also way too short at the same time. A day where having a cup of coffee (or two) is definitely a necessity, haha! ;)

Late morning I dropped Eli off with Aunt Jenna so that I could take Johnathan to the doc for the second day in a row...I wonder if our pediatrician ever tires of seeing us??? Probably not, I am betting that his kids are well on their way to having full college funds because of us! ;)

Yesterday our little Monkey boy was diagnosed with the common cold, but overnight his cough turned really nasty and frequent, and this morning I could not get him to stop coughing...poor little guy emptied his stomach several times from coughing so hard, it was really tough to see. Anyways, today the doc said that in addition to his cold he has strep and also the excessive coughing and difficulty taking normal breaths is from asthma...that is sort of Johnathan's MO...with almost whatever sort of illness he gets the asthma always gets the better of him and he almost always gets sent home with a regimen of oral steroids...this time was no different...except that he got a steroid shot too which was just the icing on the cake for poor Monkey. Obviously most kids hate shots, and Johnathan fits right in that category...and I most certainly hate having to hold him down, arms pinned, while he gets said shot. But it had to be done and I can already tell an improvement in his health from this morning.

We went to pick Eli up after having been gone about and hour and a half, and both boys were exhausted. Shortly after leaving Aunt Jenna's they both fell asleep in the car, and I sure as heck wasn't going to wake them up. So I just drove around town for a bit 'til they were both deep in slumber and then I went to the Starbucks drive through to get myself a cup of coffee, my second for the day.

After sipping some of the dark nectar I drove down to the ocean and parked in a good spot to see the waves crashing up on the rocks where the sea met the land. It was beautiful, the perfect spot to rest while my two precious sons slept soundly in their car seats in the back. It was also the perfect spot to reflect, and upon seeing the beauty that God had created I felt undeniably peaceful.

While the waves crashed against the rocks and boulders outside, and while the wind whipped around us all was calm inside our little car. The soft snores of my boys filled the space and I couldn't help but stare through my rear view mirror at the beauty in the back seat as well. It's hard to express how much I love my two little dudes, and more often than not they are running around (well, Eli is quite running yet, but you know what I mean) like little wild men with a million volts of little boy energy coursing through their bodies. So, it was quite nice to be able to stare at their little faces, to admire their perfectly pink cheeks, so fresh and baby soft, their sweetly formed little mouths silent in slumber and their beautiful, dark eyelashes that contrasted so perfectly with their pure skin. I was surrounded by beauty today, and I am so thankful that I was "forced" to just stop and enjoy the beauty that God gave me today. I sat there close to an hour just enjoying it...and my coffee, too, of course! It was a wonderful respite during an otherwise harried day.

Now my two little dudes are once again asleep, and I'm hoping that tonight goes better than last night, and that just maybe Eli won't get sick...but, with way that Johnathan so affectionately bestows kisses on his little brother it's pretty likely that we'll be seeing our dear doctor again...oh, well, I guess his kids will get to go to college for sure!

*Grace*