God's Wonderful Gift

This was just such a sweet moment, I wanted to put it in a blog entry all by itself... I am so blessed to be a mother, and this is one if the infinite reasons why...

Hollis never cried in his crib at bedtime until recently, so I tried something different tonight... I decided to read a longer book to Hollis to help him get to sleep. I usually read Dr. Seuss books, or Llama Llama Red Pajama, or Goodnight Moon, but I’d finish reading them so quickly and he would still be really fussy as I kissed him goodnight. Now I know babies are just fine to cry themselves to sleep, teaches them self-soothing, but I just couldn’t do it tonight… It had been a busy and challenging week with all the changes to his schedule and daily routine. So I grabbed Winnie-the-Pooh and decided to read the entire first chapter. All 21 pages. It was as though the first part of the story was tailor-made just for Hollis. He was pretty calm and sleepy already, but literally as I finished page 21, as I read the last few sentences, he drifted off to asleep. The timing was something straight out of a movie: You hear the mother’s voice in the background with a close-up shot of the baby’s face, and as I read the last words on the page you see his eyes flutter closed. It overwhelmed me with that loving feeling that I think only a mother understands. I can’t describe it, but many of my blog readers know what I am talking about. Some will discover it in the coming years as they become mothers too. The kind of feeling that makes your eyes well up with tears. The kind that makes you smile for no reason. I feel so blessed every single day. I completely understand why people say “Children are a gift from God” because they really are! A gift, that even when they are driving you crazy you can still kiss their little forehead and look into their eyes and say “I love you will all my heart” and mean every word.

So as I close this blog post, I open up the folder of “My Favorite Mommy Moments” in my brain and store this moment away safely. Along with the moment I first saw you, all the times you cuddle on me like a tree frog, and that first smile you ever flashed. Right next to the memories of you doing “Super Baby” with Daddy and snuggling with your grandparents. I sure hope that folder is really big, because there are so many more wonderful things to experience… and I don’t want to forget a single one.

I love you Hollis. I love you with all my heart.

XOXO,

Mom