Early mornings and warm little bodies . . .

So my dear husband works early.  Like, unearthly early.  Crack of crazy early.  I try to sleep through his morning getting ready rituals, but fail most mornings.  Sometimes, I fall back asleep.  Bliss, oh, bliss.

This morning, not so much.  I woke up.  At 5:07am.  Sleep will find me again.  Nope!  At 5:36am I hear my short legged son, thundering up the stairs as fast as his little legs could carry him.  You would've almost thought the hounds of hell were after him.  Panting at the side of my bed he breathes out, “mommy, can I snuggle you?”  I adjust myself, my pillow, move the blankets aside and snuggle him in.   He's a warm little body, runs pretty hot most times.  So this replacement heat is nice.  He's trying to settle in in.  I can hear his thumb go into his mouth as he gets so close it's hard to tell where I end and he starts.   His hand goes into my hair.  Twisting it and rubbing it and trying to soothe himself back to sleep.   I can hear rattling around with things on my night-stand, but am not completely coherent so I pay it no mind.  I'm waiting to feel him relax and his breathing to even out.  I fall asleep before he does, I think.

And then the the sound.  A screeching sound that very quickly lifts the fog of sleep away.  Why is my alarm going off?  It shouldn't be going off right now.   We have no reason to be awake right now.   It's only 8am, but it's spring break, we can sleep in, and can't get it turned off fast enough.  He slept through it, but Ava did not.  My son, the alarm clock culprit.  I have told him more than once to “PLEASE LEAVE MOMMY'S ALARM CLOCK ALONE!”  We've been late to school because he decided he didn't like my music and turned it off before I heard it to wake me up.

The mornings when we get our leisurely snuggles are the best.  It usually starts with Ryan and his mad dash up the stairs around 6:30am.  Then Ava will wake up around 7:00am and ask for cartoons.  I usually oblige.  Two little warm bodies, one on each side.  Around 7:30am, Ella will wake up and come looking for us and we make room for her too.  I have it so good.

So this morning, as I was waiting for sleep to reclaim Ryan's wiggly, little boy, body, I was thinking how I needed to just absorb it.  It's not going to last.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Not even extra sleep.  And even though I am not operating on all cylinders today, I had the best morning ever.

I am hugging my kids extra tight today.   Horrible, awful things that people do have me shaking my head saying prayers of safety and thanks.

I am so grateful for the snuggly little morning invaders of my bed.