My favorite hour of the day

My favorite hour of the day is 7PM-8PM. At 7:00, Pumpkin and I go to her room, along with a cup of milk, a pacifier, her blanky, puppy, kitty, baby, hippo, and lovey. Who knew she would have so many attachments? Anyway, we go into her room to read one or two books with her sitting on my lap in the rocker, during which I steal many a kiss from her cheek or neck. After the stories, I turn out the light, she finishes her milk and pops in her paci, and then she turns around and snuggles up against me with her head heavily laid on my shoulder. It is the sweetest moment of my day. I sit there with her and rock, and usually sing a song or two or pray. And then, when I'm ready, I stand up and lay her down in her crib, but not before I steal one more kiss from her neck.

Once Pumpkin is down, I come back into the living room for our family devotion. We read a short story with a bible verse and then we pray together. It is funny and very sweet to hear Princess's prayers. Then Princess gets ready for bed and has her "movie time". About 20 minutes before bed she gets to watch Barbie or Clifford or whatever our most recent library movie happens to be, and she has a little night snack of craisins, cereal, and a few chocolate chips. I hate to admit that I usually end up picking up the kitchen or something, but sometimes I sit down with Princess and Daddy and watch her movie for a little bit. And then around 8:00, Princess and Daddy head into her room for her bedtime stories. And thus ends my favorite hour of the day.

Usually when I lay down to sleep, or if I wake up in the middle of the night, I think about holding my girls and try to feel the weight of their bodies against mine, or the smell of their hair, or the sound of their laugh. I fear that one day I won't be able to remember what it feels like to hold them or snuggle up with them, so for now I try to soak it in as much as I can.