Socially Productive

Today was one of those days I did nothing productive. In the sense of "around the house" productive anyway. If we're talking productively socializing, then I was super ambitious! I called Kate in the morning and asked her to come for coffee, which happened to last until almost three. (I love it that she and I are the same in that we can just sit and talk and figure we've been domestically productive enough lately.) We're a good team, making lunch and sharing kiddo duty, all the while chatting away. I love it so much I can't even stand it. She even does the dishes!
Kim called and asked if she and baby Malayna could stop by, to which I replied, "OF COURSE!" So they got here around 1:30 and hung out until 3:30. Then Ryan and the boys and I got in the car and headed to Mackenzie and Caleb's for dinner and Olivia/Miles playtime. Tomorrow I will post photos of Asher from tonight because he had on a pink outfit of Ellorie's. Not just for baby cross dressing fun, but he spit up so much while we were there, he needed to be changed and we had neglected to bring more clothes. An all-girl household leads to clotheless boys needing to be dressed in pink jammies. The best part was that the sleeper had a little chickadee on it that said, "little chickie."
The other thing I have to mention about tonight was that Miles did the sweetest thing while we were there. Ellorie was lying on the floor and Miles was playing nearby. Mackenzie was sitting in a chair right by him and he looked up at her and said "Miss Kenzie, can I touch your baby?" She said yes and he went over and gently touched her, making sure not to touch her head or face. I don't know how he can be so sweet. But I guess Kate is right, they do hear you when you teach them things. Even if it doesn't seem like it. They learn how to be polite even when they don't know you're watching. It's so cool.
Speaking of Kate and parenting advice, we talked today about this three year old stage I hear is so difficult. I think we've been entering it since about 2 yrs, 3mos, but lately it's gotten a bit worse. Now when I say that, my friends might laugh and roll their eyes because Miles really is a mild-mannered little guy. But when it's just us at home, where he feels safest, he does test the limits like crazy. He's slowly learning that his daddy and I really are going to keep the boundaries, but he sure is trying to see if there are times that we won't. He's learning to say things like "NO, I don't WANT to..." which is making me want to say "YEAH??? WELL, ME EITHER, I QUIT!" But like Katie said, I don't have that luxury cause I'm the mom. Go figure. This is when she said he really does hear me and learn from me even if it doesn't seem like it. So I guess I just have to remember that when he's finishing a time out and I try to talk to him about why he had to take one. I say something like "honey, you had to take a time out because you would not put on your coat like I asked you to, so maybe next time it would be better to obey mommy and then we won't have to do this." Then he says something like, "mommy, the police car man hit the tire and it scratched." As you can see, it can seem as if he's not listening.
As the day ends, (after watching LOST of course) I may not have done anything domestically productive, but it sure still feels like a productive day. My boys love our friends and theirs, and so do we. We spent a lot of time with friends today. I always learn from these women, and I guess that's even a better kind of productive. Besides that, they make me laugh and ease the load I carry. I hope I do the same for them.
P.S. Mackenzie says I should dress Asher in the pink duds and then take him to the mall to get reactions. He really doesn't make a very cute girl. Ashley? No, I'll keep my Asher...