Thoughts from the Heart..

I often have moments of being completely overwhelmed by my blessings. I hold my beautiful child and breathe in her sweet scent, and I just want time to stand still if even for just a few minutes before she squirms away from me to carry on in her own unique toddler way. She speaks and I hear myself. She makes an expression, and I know she gets it from me. She brings so much joy to our lives and even to those of perfect strangers. I can't help but be overwhelmed with the job I've been given to love, nuture, cherish, teach, and raise this wondeful blessing we call Mallory. She is smarter than I ever was or will be, she gets THIS from her dad, and I suppose she looks a little like him too :) She is articulate and knows what she wants. She can recall the smallest details. She has the most infectious laugh and cracks herself up with a giggle that seems to rise from her toes.

Being a parent is exhausting. There isn't one who will tell you otherwise, I'm sure. Soon the exhaustion will hit a new level as I navigate the waters of having 2 children. The lack of sleep, crying, midnight feedings will return as all too familiar things. This time though with a 2 1/2 year old demanding attention, interaction and stimulation from the overjoyed AND exhausted parents. I have no doubt that mommy's little helper will be in full swing and that she will be completely enamored with her new baby sister. She is already practicing with her baby doll, carrying her ever so gently, tucking her into bed, talking to her softly. We'll just have to break the news to her, that her new baby sister can't sleep with her and that we don't feed our new baby sister blueberries...she does love to share! EEK!

I always want my children to know that I am proud of them, that I believe in them, and I pray for them. I will never let an opportunitiy pass to tell them one of these things. I will be supportive and encouraging in all of their endeavors from learning to swim, using the potty, remembering their address, learning their times tables, trying out for a sports team, joining the chess club,  to getting into College or deciding on an alternative to College, dyeing their hair green, traveling the world, to starting their own business, working their way up from the bottom, finding love, losing love, finding love again, moving far away from home, or even bunkin' in with mom and dad until they can figure things out.  God willing, I will always be there for my children.

I use the analogy of my heart growing like that of the Grinch in "How the Grinch stole Christmas" when Mallory was born. Not to say that I had a small shrunken, nearly non functional heart before she was born, but rather to say, I had NO IDEA about the amount of love that would fill my heart. Sounds cheesy I know, but it is true. I'd look at the dog and think, if I love my dog this much, surely I'll love my own flesh and blood more, but how? That sounds awfully cold, but it is what I thought, because I really had no idea of the love that was about to flood my heart, and I really, really loved my dog :) I certainly believe in love at first sight...

Side-story: I have to laugh, because now that I am thinking about Kota (the dog) it was love at first sight for us too! I bypassed multiple cute cuddly puppies to this gigantic full grown dog in crate. I knew at that moment I HAD to have that dog! :) She will always be my first 4 legged baby.

....because as soon as I saw Mallory, I was in love. I felt love like I have never experienced before. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I had two major realizations that I am reminded of daily.
1. You'll never quite grasp how much YOUR parents love you, until you have children of your own.
2. I know how much I love my child, and yet my Heavenly Father loves me MORE!
How 'bout them apples eh?

That's all for now...
I love you Mallory. And baby girl #2...I know it will be love at first sight for us too!