Thoughtful Thursday

I speak with a lot of moms and I often hear “I can not wait until they ….”  Fill in the blank. I wonder if they are just wishing the time away instead of embracing the beautiful things that are somewhere inside the challenges of the every day. I am someone who has always hated regret and cannot handle guilt, so I promised myself that I would truly try to find the positive and the beautiful throughout each and every stage of Ella and Aidan's growth.

I try to embrace each day. Sometimes I do not even make until lunch, but I start out the day with good intentions. At night I promise myself that I will try to be a better mom the next day and think of something fun each and every day to “attempt”. Sadly, so often what I thought would be fun just did not turn out that way, but I give myself extra points for good intentions.

What I am trying to say is that I take to heart all of the sage expressions moms of older children say:

“They are only this age once, enjoy them!”

“The time goes by so fast, don’t wish this stage away. You will miss it.”

But even with that truly embedded in my heart, there were things over the past three years that I looked forward to.

I waited….

To get pregnant and begin my life as a mom, but the struggle just made me appreciate the gift of children even more.

To be done with morning sickness and lose that lovely shade of green, but was also strangely reassured by the porcelain god and  

thought that being so sick meant my babies were healthy. 

For Ella and Aidan to sleep through the night because I’m a better mom after a decent night sleep.

To see them give feedback in the form of a smile. Not to be confused with gas or projectile vomiting from reflux, which is 

an entirely different kind of feed-back.

To hear them talk, to belly laugh, to sing. I wondered for months even before they were born what their voices would be like.

For them to hold my hand as we walk. Is there anything better than a sweet, tiny hand inside your own?

For them to hold each others’ hands as they walk together. The thought of this melts my heart every time; they are there for each other now and always.

Looking back, each and every one of these things was so worth the wait and awesome to experience. I would not trade any of the challenges in between, since they made each of these Mommy Milestones even more precious.