Sweet Bedtimes

I am so incredibly behind on the blog that I want to give up. Still have to post about Bags and Dustin's visit in July and our Reno reunion the beginning of this month. Because I may or may not ever catch up, I'm going to break the cardinal rule of blogging (always post in chronological order) and post about some sweet bedtimes I've enjoyed with Ever this month.  The below blurbs were written on the day of.

August 11, 2014

Jim's in Mexico this week, so Ever and I are all alone. We had family home evening together tonight and then enjoyed a most affectionate bedtime. For tooth brushing, she sat on her stool and put her arm around me. It made it a little harder to see her teeth, but I loved the half-hug.

When she lay down in bed for her "made-up story," she hugged me to her and said, "I'll keep you safe" over and over again as she squeezed me hard and rubbed my back and arm. "I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe. I'll make you safe." It went on and on. I have no idea what prompted it, other than that sometimes lately she has spoken of a "bad man" who's going to come get us (which really freaks me out).

Then we snuggled while I tried to think of a made-up story. Eventually I began, "Once upon a time, Ever was walking in a forest." She asked, "And Mommy?" And I said, "Sure. And Mommy." I went on to say that they came upon a huge, tall, twisty, twirly tree, and Ever wanted to climb it. When she got to the very top, she could see a rainbow very close to her. She jumped as hard as she could and landed on the rainbow and slid all the way down it. At the bottom, she found a pot of gold, but it was so heavy she couldn't carry it. She took a block in each hand but then realized she didn't know where Mommy was, and it was starting to get dark. At this point in the story, Ever's face just broke, and she cried, "Where is she?" Ever was devastated. She turned on her side and pulled me down and put her arm around me for a half-hug that lasted the rest of the story. I quickly changed what I was going to say and continued, "And just then, Mommy whistled and called, 'Ever, where are you?'"  They were happily reunited in the story and went on to save thousands and thousands of sick children in hospitals with the $5 million they got from the gold. Nonetheless, real-life Ever was still fragile. There was much more hugging before I finally pulled myself away.

Such a sweet thing.

August 23, 2014

Tonight a couple minutes after I put Ever to bed with the regular bedtime routine, she called out that she wanted to give me a big hug. She came out and met me in the hallway. She hugged me and hugged me and said, "I very, very, very love you," and "Sometimes I want you to hold me." She asked for some kisses, too, and wanted me to hold her and take her back to bed, where the hugging continued. After I lay her in bed, she pulled me in and said, "Come here, and I'll keep you safe" and stroked my hair as she hugged me. She may just be a pro at bedtime stalling, but man, it's pretty amazing.