You don't take care of me...

Yep - those were the exact words out of my son's mouth last night! Can you believe it? I thought this stuff didn't start happening until much, much later in life. Granted, I had been gone for nearly a week because of travel for work. (Had a GREAT time... I love my job! Adult time is so precious, and aside from the fact that I worked a whole bunch of hours, I still got to be me for four days, not me/mama. Plus, I was in Albuquerque, so I got to see Uncle Joe and Aunt Barb.)

I dropped him off on Friday night, and returned late Wednesday, so he didn't see me again until Thursday morning. He stayed with a friend since Mom and Dad had taken a trip to Virginia. The guest bedroom is where he slept, and so Wednesday night, that is where I slept, too. Let me tell you, after having been in a king size bed for four days, switching to a twin size bed with an almost five year old was quite the experience. However - it provided a wonderful morning Thursday. When Matthew woke up, he saw me there, got this great, soft smile on his face, and threw an arm around me. He was glad I was home. The whole day, if it appeared I wasn't going to be right there with him, he would wrap his arms around a leg. This had the affect of shackling me, really. I mean how easy is it to move with 45 extra pounds strapped onto one leg?

Well, apparently the honeymoon of my return is over. Last night, after work, we went shopping. We are going to a birthday party, and needed to get a gift. I had told Matthew before we left about the plans for the night, which included returning to Grandpa and Grandma's for him to sleep. (I had to be at work very early today.) On the way home from shopping, I told Matthew how it was late, we were going to go home, get cleaned up & ready for bed, and then go to Grandpa & Grandma's for him to go night-night. (Don't you just LOVE my kid-speak?) His response... I just want to go to Grandpa and Grandma's, mama. They take care of me. You don't take care of me.

WHAT do you say to that??? I was speechless. But hey, I held it together. No crying here. I hate crying, really makes me mad if I do. So I drove back to my house, gathered up his PJs, drove to Mom and Dad's, got him cleaned up, dressed for bed, and into bed. (Mom & Dad's anniversary was yesterday, so they were still out at dinner when we got back to their house.)

Okay, I have that off my chest now, so I can move on. I haven't done too good at taking pictures lately, and it is about time for us to have the annual pictures taken. Here are a few that have been taken in the past few months or so. Enjoy, and I'll keep you updated as to my status as a Mom! :>