Ode to my Children

I was convicted recently that I, as a parent, need to make sure that I share the blessings of parenting.  (Not just the "poop in the hair" or the "she ate a cricket" stories, and good as they are).  A friend recently mentioned that Justin and I have convinced him not to have kids yet, with our night-time tales, and the crazy things that kids do.  (Don't get me wrong, I know he loves my kids, he showed up with an Elmo couch for Annalia one day, just because.)  So, I wanted to share some of the beautiful stories.

• I had a really bad day, where everything I tried to do seemed to fail.  I was sitting down with Annalia, feeling sorry for myself, and I asked her "Can you say, 'Mommy's a failure?"  She looked me straight in the face and said, "No Mommy, I can't say that."  Then she held me as I cried tears of joy.
• Most mornings, Naomi wakes up happy, and when I come in, she is cooing, playing with her hands, and just all together beautiful.  When I walk into her line of vision, her eyes meet mine, they light up and her face breaks out into the biggest smile.  My heart just melts.
• The other day, as I was nursing Naomi, Annalia was, ever so gently, rocking Ernie to sleep.  While holding his head, she used her whole body to gently lay him into Naomi's Moses Basket.  When I said I need to put Naomi to sleep, she calmly informed me that Ernie was sleeping there and Naomi would have to find another place to sleep.  Eventually, she was able  to agree to a co-sleeping arrangement.  She is such a good little mommy.
• For the past couple weeks, everytime Justin comes home, she runs into his arms and says "Mommy AND Daddy are home now!"

I will have to share more later.  I promised the cutie we would play with sidewalk chalk today.