A Day to Count my Blessings

Birthdays with Kelly go like this; we run off for half the day and play.

And we giggle and share and cry until we laugh all over again.

My birthday was in September, but Kelly patiently waited for me to have a free day so we could go do our celebrating.

Finally, the day arrived two months later, in November.  

Isn’t that life!

Pedicure, nachos with mango salsa and then Anthropologie.

Sometimes when things are really special and I’m overwhelmed with all the goodness in my life and I feel like I’m the luckiest girl in the world, something whispers inside me to count my blessings.

To look around, use my senses, smell how clean the air smells after rain, how decorations sparkle at Christmas time, how my little princess lights up when she smiles.

Cherish

Remember

Listen

Because I know life can change on a dime 

and if I don’t stop to smell the pine trees maybe the pine trees won’t be there next time I walk this path.

I remember when I held my very first child.  I was told “They grow up so fast.”

When you’re in the thick of it, time doesn’t go by fast at all.  

Time for a shower doesn’t come fast enough.

And there are days when it’s trying, challenging and downright dirty.

Some days, we swim in our underwear, backwards! and that's all right for today.

Because I turn around and look at my kids – literally changing right before my eyes.

Reef said to me last night “Mommy, I was sad when you were on the airplane because I missed you.”

I’ve been home from New York for almost a month, and he’s talking about how much he missed me now.  

I take him in my arms and kiss his soft little head and run my lips across his satin hair until he finally giggles.

Today, Payson asked me if I’d play kickball with him because “you never play with me anymore.”

We run in the grass, chasing after the ball.  Of course, I have the baby in my arms and the dog gets out only to run away and the water’s boiling on the stove for spaghetti dinner, but I played with my boy until he was begging me to stop.

Because I can't keep that boy still for a second

(photos courtesy from younger brother, Mayer)

and when my patience is tested, I need to remember I was once a child too who loved to jump on beds and do front flips (maybe not from the top of beds onto another bed across the room).

Eden wants to play with her dolls and read all day long.

She brings me books, places them in my lap and starts turning the pages. 

  “Momma,” she says, getting my attention to everything she points to with her tiny fingers, exploring and making doggy and kitty sounds, sitting in my lap, only to jump down again to get another book.

And I get that feeling again – that today I am so blessed.

Today I celebrated my mom's birthday

Today I welcome my sister's new little baby, Emma

Today my little children are my prize possessions

Today I appreciate my sweet husband who willingly dressed up as Edward Cullen for Halloween because I asked him too

and for friends who are precious
because the love I feel in my life can hardly fit inside my heart.

And I’m grateful, very grateful.
Linking up to: