...reason 101 i'm thankful i don't have a 9-5

friday morning i headed to target to pick up a few items for a ladies get together i was having later that evening and as i cruised through the parking lot i noticed an adorable pregnant woman only to realize a half a second later that it was my sister :) i parked my car and and walked to their van where she was unloading her "village" into the shopping cart. hey guys... look who it is...auntie carey! what a wonderful spontaneous encounter in the target parking lot.  kaylan quickly proceeded to show me her bucket of goodies...so many girly things, necklaces, bracelets and of course a tiara hair clip.  it was obvious that she had taken the clip in and out numerous times because her hair was in disarray. jaron stood in the cart with his bright blues shining and of course had a smile that stretched from ear to ear...and teagan with pigtails in full effect looked as if she were already making plans to escape the cart. i scanned this scene in amazement thinking about how my sister had become nothing less than supermom, standing there 7 months pregnant looking completely put together, her kids all fully clothed...all looking ready to participate in one of the great olympic sports of parenthood...shopping in target. 

we parted ways briefly so that i could go get the items i needed, but i quickly made my way to the kids section knowing they were looking for shoes.  kaylan was relieved that i had returned, finding it quite necessary to show me the new, sparkly shoes she had found for her duties as flower girl.  we perused the clearance racks (you ask... how is perusing possible with 3 kids under the age of 3...it's called snacks)  and kaylan followed me...not her mom, knowing she had a better shot at landing another purchase.  in no time flat she found a pair of dora pajamas...it was if they had been calling out to her.  up on her tippy toes she pulled the pair of pink pj's off the rack and promptly came to show me what she had found.  our conversation went something like this...

kaylan: auntie carey...look at these beautiful pj's, they are dora and i love them!

auntie carey: they are cute!

kaylan: can you take the tags off so i can put it on?

auntie carey: well then you would have to buy them and no one said we were going to be them.

kaylan: can we buy them?

auntie carey: no, then we would have to buy something for jaron & teagan too.

kaylan: no you don't.  they would look soooo good on me.

(wow, is she really only 3 1/2?)

this is where i don't say anything...i almost ignore her...trying to stay strong.  believe me i've done my fair share of buying things for me nieces and nephews...honestly it's one of my favorite things to do. 

i will give her some serious props...she knew what she wanted and she did not relent.  she held onto them and continued to walk around the store, making sure not to pout...cause that would surely put an end to the possibility of a pj purchase, but she did keep a melancholy demeanor with hopes that it would be a face i couldn't resist.  and just as i was feeling very confident in my ability to say "no" and resist the "kaylan factor"  she pulled the ultimate heartstring.  out of no where she says, "auntie carey, you have a baby in your belly and it's a girl."  now please read this carefully...at this very second as i'm blogging this story there are no signs that i am pregnant...but because this is a longing in my heart the minute that little tyke spoke those words, whether they were prophetic or not, my heart melted and i knew right then and there she had won the battle.  i was buying her the dora pj's.  my sister came around the corner after hearing kaylan share her little tidbit and told me that she had told her the same thing the other night.  she had told her, "auntie carey has a baby in her belly, and her belly is going to get big like yours and it's a girl and (here's the best part)...her name is purple."  i was sure she was going to suggest the name sparkle...that seems to be her name of choice for everything from her my little ponies to her imaginary chicks.  as you can imagine purple would not be my first name pick...but the crazy part is reagan and i really do like a girl's name that starts with a "P".  so whether this was a little girls desperate attempt at winning over her auntie or were prophetic words that came by way of a 3 year old...my heart was encouraged and kaylan quickly became the proud owner of some new pajamas. 

of course she wanted to come home with me (i feel so blessed that my siblings have allowed their kids to be such a big part of our lives) and because i was just headed home and not at a 9-5 that day i happily said "yes" and before long we were yanking her car seat out of the astro van and throwing it in my car.  she had her bag of goodies, which now included a dora dvd that she found at the checkout (it was only $5.00 seemed like cheap entertainment)  and away we went.  i had one more stop, the grocery store and on our ride there kaylan introduced me to her imaginary chick, named sparkle, who was very tired and was sleeping in her hand.  it's amazing how much a child, let alone multiple children, slow your entire world down. i would have been in and out of the grocery store in about 5 minutes flat, but walking hand in hand with kaylan through the weis parking lot reminded me how important it is to "stop to smell the roses" as they say.  i found the items i needed and while waiting at the deli counter to purchase some colby longhorn cheese that she had picked, kaylan announced that she had to pee.  i've had to pee and time or two while at weis, but of course i had no idea where the bathroom was located because i typically "hold my pee" until i get to my house that's about 100 yards down the road.  but she insisted it was "urgent " (that truly was her word choice) and i figured that finding the bathroom would be way less time consuming the cleaning up a puddle of pee in the deli section.  after "peeing" and admiring the lovely yellow tiles in the bathroom, and the yummy scent of the hand soap we were ready to check out. 

once we got home and took the groceries inside kaylan insisted we walk down to the river to throw a few sticks, which we did...but it didn't last too long because that dora dvd was burning a hole in her bag...it had to be opened and viewed.  but before popping in the dvd she told me she had to go to the bathroom AGAIN.  i said, "again? you just went."  she looked up at me with her brown eyes, as big as saucers, and sighed..."this time it's poop".  so i put her on the "potty" and told her to yell when she was finished.  it didn't take long until i heard her yell, "auntie carey, i'm finished".  it took me back...felt like it was just yesterday that i was yelling for my mom. isn't it crazy to think that at one time someone else wiped your butt for you?  as i approached the bathroom she yells, "it's a long poop, want to see it?"  it was going to be inevitable considering i had to wipe her little bum and while i grabbed some toilet paper she peered in the toilet and with a little giggle she says, "looks like a brown snake".  i lost it.  you can't help but laugh. 

minutes later kaylan was curled up on the couch watching dora, shouting out things like "map" and "buenos dias"...again i had to chuckle at how different the day sounds when there are kids around.  but i loved it.  i was so glad she was here.  i cut up some apples and some of the marbled cheese she requested, pulled up a little chair to my pottery barn coffee table, that they all love because it's low and makes the perfect movie watching perch...and all was perfect in kaylan's world.  there she sat in her dora pajamas, eating her favorite snacks, watching a dvd...totally content and so was i. 

as adults we can get so caught up in the agenda, what's next on the list, or what tomorrow, next month or even  next year holds...but children they live in the here and now.  i was reminded that we can get so locked into tomorrow that we forget about the fullness of today.  i felt grateful. i felt grateful for my life...my day that had taken such a different turn because of my spur-of-the moment meeting in the target parking lot. 

we must never stop contending for the future...but we must be grateful for today. 



...here she is...with a snack in hand, modeling her new pj's before heading home :)





"i bless the LORD every chance i get; my lungs expand with HIS praise. " psalm 34:1 msg