Overnight Guest

We were fortunate enough to have an 11mo.old friend spend the night with us last night.  Having done the "baby thing" four times, I felt pretty confident in my ability to handle this special opportunity.  Can I tell you how awesome my children are???  Of course I can!  It is my blog. :)  They all loved on and played with our little friend.  When he knocked down their lego creations, they would laugh and say..."he's a baby...that's what babies do."  When he kept grabbing the remote and changing the channel, they would laugh and say, "mom, he's changing channels again."  When it was time to do anything for our baby friend, they were all lining up to care for him.  Now, I realize this was a novelty.  If this baby was here every day, they would no doubt start treating him like "real family" and blaming him for everything. :)  But, I have to be honest and say that it gave me hope for the changes that are coming for our family.  This experience highlighted for me the amazing love and acceptance my children have for others.  They've started talking about sneaking into their new brother or sister's room and hiding their toys.  The concept is becoming a reality.  I was up twice in the night.  Once for our friend, and once for one of my boys.  I won't lie.  It made me a little sad to think that my great sleep might be a distant memory soon.  But, is there anything more amazing than meeting the needs of little ones in the middle of the night?  A quick snuggle, a diaper change, a drink of milk...
Today, my house is a mess.  I have dirty dishes, toys are everywhere, beds are not made, and I'm pretty sure I have nothing to make for dinner tonight.  But, this is a house filled with love.  My family is caring and compassionate (and a little whiny sometimes).  The kids look out for each other and new friends that come to stay.  Our home is loud, crazy, wild, messy, filled with laughter, and overrun with laundry.  The ironing almost never gets done and sometimes we eat cereal for dinner. Gas and  Poop are the hot topics around the dinner table (trust me, I've tried to make it stop) and it takes us over an hour to get all of the kids in bed.
BUT...
This is a house filled with love.  And we always have room for one more..........