7 Quick Takes Friday

As Baby Thomas and I wing our way to Nebraska to visit my grandfather for his eighty-fifth birthday, I think of whom I will miss.

1.

My husband, who encouraged me to take this jaunt while I have a toddler old enough to leave and a baby young enough to take. He will be holding down the fort and I'm sure making lots of Fun Daddy Memories in my absence.

2.

John, my getting-tall 8-year-old who manages to hear my foot creak on the stairs no matter how stealthy I am, no matter how early the clock reads, and who bounds out of bed to join me and talk off my ear in the dark kitchen.

3. and 4.

Mary, in her last few days of being six, and Margaret (four) who really do love each other, despite how they act. Who will come to me two hours past bedtime each night bursting to recount the latest novel she is reading? And who will insist on being my dinner helper each night because She Is Almost Five, despite how much faster I could work alone?

5.

I will deeply miss Joseph (2, ever closer to 3) who, despite being impish in his new-found disobedience, verbalizes his affection many times per day with exclamations such as, "I like you!"

"You are my mama!"

"You are my best friend!"

"I want to be with you!"

"You are sweet!"

6.

Thank God I won't have to miss baby Thomas, as he will be along for the ride with me. This will probably be the first time he experiences having all his needs met immediately since I won't be pulled in a dozen directions at once by each of his siblings and all my household duties. One little squeak and I'll be able to pick him up and hold him!

Could you not just eat him up?
3-1/2 months and 17 pounds now (informal weigh at home)

7.

While I'm missing all these loved ones, I will get to see my grandparents, one uncle, and my beloved Auntie Erica (Mom's twin)! Please keep me in prayers to have easy travels . . . although after having flown so many times with numerous children, the thought of flying with one easy, portable three-month-old doesn't much faze me. I think I will instead be tied in knots of anxiety wondering how the home is being held together in my absence!