Grateful

Porter playing in our little pool.

Playing in a sand volleyball pit behind the local library. 

Porter's new kicks.

Tonight I just feel joy and overwhelming gratitude for my family.  I am so blessed to be a mother.  There is a joy that comes from motherhood that nothing else can bring.  I find myself celebrating the little things.  For example, Porter got his first pair of shoes Friday.  You would have thought I was getting a brand new car for how excited I was.  But it was a first.  Watching him toddle out of the store and onto the sidewalk brought me such joy.  Last night was the first night Ainsley went to bed with her big girl pants on (I am talking BIG GIRL, not Pull-Ups) and no accidents!  Today Porter waved for the first time.  Also today Brinnley helped me do the laundry.  She folded her own shirts and shorts meticulously.  I came out of the bedroom this morning from getting ready and the house was silent.  I wandered back to the kids' bedrooms.  The girls' door was shut.  From inside the room I could hear hushed whispers and then little giggles from all three of my children.  Yesterday we played in the pool outside and Brinnley dunked her head under the water for the second time.  (She is preparing for swimming with her Uncle Kirk.)  Porter loves the water and his favorite place to be is on the slide.  He loves the slides at the park as well.  My Jeanie Beanie is a good mommy to all of her babies and animals.  Today she and Brinnley were talking about what they wanted to be when they grow up.  Brinnley said she wants to be a fireman and Ainsley said she wants to be a mommy.  I almost cried right then.

I am so grateful for my children and the joy they bring me in my life.  Every day I am filled with unmeasurable love and gratitude to have a wonderful husband who stands beside me and shares in the joys, the milestones, and the triumphs of parenthood.  We really are living the dream.