the little things

I could never have imagined my heart would be so full by just being a mommy! When I quit work I struggled to be home and found myself always on the go--running errands, spending $ I didn't have, busying myself with tasks that helped me feel "normal" or "useful" or "productive" or "acceptable" (to myself) as a human being. I was telling a friend the other day it took me a good several months of "detox" to unwind and let myself relax to understand it was ok if I didn't accomplish a whole lot in a day. For someone who is performance driven like me, checking those boxes is everything! But now, I can't imagine going back to work and am SO THANKFUL for the gift of staying home with my kids. And it's the littlest things that melt my heart and remind me of this...like today. We went to Publix after I picked B up from school and I decided since N is sitting up, crawling and pulling up to stand, there is no reason why she can't sit in the drive cart with Brayden. So there they sat, side-by-side, each one with their hands on the wheel and I was so proud of my two little sweet peas! Later in the day I asked BB if he needed to pee-pee on the potty (we are desperately trying to potty train!) and he looked at me and smiled and said "no thanks Mommy." I find myself delighting in his ever-advancing speech and vocabulary and at the same time wishing he were further along, yet sad with each new advancement because he leaves behind more of his "baby boy." For the longest time, he has said "ek" for the letter "x" and "double" instead of "double-you" for "w." Well, now he pronounces them both correctly. He's also into asking HOW? "But how?" he says, after nearly EVERTHING!!! And one day he said, "Sorry mom, but it's not my fault." I have NO IDEA where he got that!!" One thing really precious is he asks for a Bible story each night before bed and he has 3 Bibles--a kid's Bible, a VeggieTales Bible and a real Bible that belonged to Chris when he was probably 9 or 10. There is a picture on the front of that one of the little boy who brought Jesus his 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish. One night he saw that picture and asked about it and decided he wanted Chris to read that story, so he did. Now, he's been asking for a story out of the BIBLE each night, not the bible...he emphasizes BIBLE and says it loudly and that's how we know which one :). Thanks Lord for the little things.