Noise

My days generally have lots of noise. Some good and some not-so-good.

Giggles, songs, and cooing - good.

Whining, fighting, and crying - not-so-good.

But no matter what noise the day has brought my way, I get to end it with one of my favorite times of day. Nuggle time.

What's nuggle time, you ask? Well, for a little girl who doesn't say her "s" if it's part of a consonant blend at the beginning of a word, it's snuggle time.

(She once ran up to daddy when he got home at the end of a day to show him her arm and excitedly announced, "I have a tamp on!" Daddy looked at me and we about lost it, but he gently held his daughter and told her he thought her stamp was cool. We shared our giggles later.)

Anyways, I digress...

Nuggle time comes after bath time, after potty and jammies and tooth-brushing, goobie-getting, hair-drying time. After story time, after prayer time, and after Barney's I Love You song time and The Wondrous Cross (sometimes sung at the top of our lungs) song time.

Then comes nuggle time.

I often miss out on nuggle time these days because I have a baby who nurses at this same time, but last night I headed in for nuggle time after I got Megan to bed. I knocked quietly on Sarah's door and asked if I could snuggle her. Those big brown eyes lit up and all the craziness of the day vanished. We snuggled and talked about the favorite part of her day. We played with each other's hair and snuggled for just "one more minute."

Total warm fuzzies.

And don't get me wrong - Josh can snuggle with the best of 'em, too. I enjoyed some quiet moments with him last night, too. I find that's the time that you can really get to the heart of your kids. He'll share with me what's on his heart or ask any unanswered questions. We've had some quite deep theological discussions during his snuggle time. And somehow right after a deep conversation, he'll still ask for "the tucker." So tuck, tuck, tuck...tuck, tuck, tuck...all the way down his legs to his little toes I go. He giggles and I kiss him one more time.

Doesn't get much better than that.

Except for when I get Megan out of bed to nurse her one more time before I head to bed for the night. She loves to be swaddled, just like the other two have, except that she pulls her right arm out of her blanket. So in her sleepy daze, she settles in to nurse and then grabs my finger with her free hand and holds on tight to me.

Bright spots, my friends...bright spots.

I'll take all the not-so-good noise. I'll even praise God for it because it means my kids are filled with life. But I cherish the chances for tender, peaceful quiet with the ones I love most.

Besides, I can rest assured that God-willing, there will be more noise tomorrow.