Have you ever stopped to look at your life and sighed and thought, “I’m so blessed”? Well, I’ve been thinking that lately. I love my life. I know it has been filled with bumps along the way, but overall I wouldn’t want anything different. I wouldn’t want less kids or different kids. I wouldn’t want a different husband or parents or in-laws. I wouldn’t want to live in a different location or have a different history. All I can say is … I just love my life! So, let me tell a little of what my wonderful life has held lately!
To see my two oldest girls starting to play together is something that makes my heart glad! It’s not that they didn’t try to play together before, it’s just that Natalie is finally old enough to keep up with her big sister! I got a laugh the other day from Natalie shouting, “No!” at Elyssa. Of course, Elyssa shouted, “No!” back and it was an on-going deal for a few minutes. It was quite funny to see them chasing each other around doing that. In the long run, that isn’t something I want them to get into the habit of doing, but I had to let it go on for a minute or two to just relish the moment of Natalie starting to come into her own. Before long, Natalie will out-weigh Elyssa and will be the one pushing her around!
One thing that I’ve already noticed about Natalie is that she is way more sensitive than Elyssa. It doesn’t take much in the way of discipline for Natalie. You can just look at her seriously and say her name in a very low tone of voice and it makes her bottom lip quiver. Sometimes, I have to stop myself from wanting to smile because it catches me off-guard how sensitive she is. I feel thankful that she is easier to keep in line since her older sister seems to try to push the limits.
This afternoon, Mark and I had to take Natalie to Springhill Hospital to get some blood work done to find out why her tummy stays chronically sick. I was really dreading this event. The only thing that was going to be nice about this outing is that we were actually going to have some alone time with Natalie, which doesn’t happen very often. As much as I hated to admit it, I was right about how awful the lab experience was. I had to hold Natalie in my lap while two technicians held Natalie’s arm. They ended up having to stick both arms with those needles that they twist around in your arm once you are stuck. She was screaming bloody-murder, fighting tooth and nail to get away from all of us. I almost started crying at one point. It was terrible. I blew in her face to keep her cool and tried to calm her with my voice. I don’t think either really worked. The bad part of it all was that they didn’t get the first drop of blood and we have to do this all over again another day this week. Yuck!
After the hospital horror show, we went out to eat on a gift card we had for Red Lobster. It was so nice to be able to eat out and for Natalie to have our undivided attention. This special time seemed to calm Natalie right down after such a traumatic experience at the hospital. After dinner, Natalie and I held hands while we walked in the parking lot back to the car. Right then I felt so thankful for the opportunity to be a mom. Even though being a mom is difficult at times, you are rewarded for your efforts with little moments of sweet affection and love. You somehow know that even though you will have to experience many more difficult things with your children, you will always love them and want to do everything you can for them.
What a wonderful picture of our Father’s love for us. Even though life with us is difficult so many times, He still wants so much for us! He still has an unconditional love for us that we will never understand. I’m so thankful that He gives us children to have some sort of understanding of what He feels for us. What a blessing!
PS – We took a few pictures after coming home from our outing with Natalie. Elyssa is such a goofball! When Mark went to take my picture with my mom, she stood up on the coffee table behind us and put rabbit ears on both me and my mom! What a cute little girl Elyssa is! She certainly makes us laugh! All we kept asking each other is, “Where did she learn to do that???” None of us had taught her that! The things kids pick up is amazing!
Aww, I love that! Not many people would want to walk in our shoes, which is too bad because they don’t know what they are missing out on!
And isn’t bloodwork the pits?!