Caffeine and Small Miracles

It's the time of year to be thankful and I'm going to be honest; today I'm just grateful for Happy Hour at Sonic and that Nathanael has survived for 32 months. Lately I've been feeling the need to wean myself from my soda addiction again. But after a night and a morning like I had today, I'm just grateful that Sonic also has 99 cent soda in the morning! Some time 'round about the middle of the night, Sam awoke screaming for the second night in a row. This always requires me to get up and go console him for however long it takes him to calm down. These midnight wakings NEVER make for a happy mommy. Couple the midnight wakings with a 5:00 wake-up time for Nathanael and you have a recipe for disaster. And this is precisely why my minivan was pulling through the Sonic drive-through at around 9:30 this morning. And since I scored a receipt with a free Rt. 44 coupon attached, I also visited them this afternoon when my soda from the morning had worn off. Don't judge me; some days it's the only thing that makes me happy.
On these hellacious mornings when Nathanael wakes up prior to 6:00, he is a complete monster. I don't understand why he wakes up when he is clearly still so very tired. This morning he whined, he complained, he terrorized. And when we got home from dropping Sam off at school, I found myself on the phone with Robin commiserating with each other about how devilish our children can be, when all of a sudden I heard Nathanael tromping down the stairs saying "ta-da". Any time he says "ta-da" it's like a little intro for whatever terrible thing he has done that he wants to show off. So, he hopped down from the stairs, and came bouncing over to me with a big smile on his face and a metal bracket dangling from his mouth! I told him to spit it out of his mouth immediately, and he let it drop out. Then he started coughing and out came a washer! I asked him if he had already eaten one to which he replied "yep. It didn't hurt." Great! (I don't really believe he did eat one; I think he was referring to the one he partially swallowed and coughed back up.) It is truly a miracle that this child is still with us. And oh how thankful I am that he is, because what would life be like without him?!
I am so thankful I am a mother. And specifically, I am thankful that I get to raise two silly, sweet, mischievous boys.