Overwhelming

God, I love my kids. There are times when I look at them, think about them, or see pictures of them after they have gone to bed and, I think, "You two overwhelm me with joy".
Not the kind of joy that makes you jump up and down screaming like Ed MacMahon just showed up, rang your doorbell, and handed you a ginormous cardboard check, but the kind that drops your heart down into your stomach and physically overwhelms you.
The kind of joy that makes me wonder how I ever knew joy before those two.
And seeing them laugh together...it takes my breath away.

Tonight, the four of us were in Qdoba for dinner after Charlie's last soccer practice, and somehow the kids got into this role where they would take turns screaming oh ooh oh ooh oh ohh (think Tarzan after a few margaritas) back and forth across the table. And, while Will and I did the etiquettely-correct thing to do, and reminded them that screaming in a restaurant while people were eating was rude, my heart wanted to explode with joy.
They would stop for a minute and then the rebel of the two (if you don't know who that is by now, you've never read a word...) would cut her eyes across the table, stand on the bar of the highchair, and start the whole show over again, both of them cackling at their delinquence.
I never could have imagined how much joy seeing their relationship would bring me.

I really, really, really love those kids.