The Joys of Being "Mommy"

My favorite things about being a mommy:

1. When my boys, randomly tell me, "Mommy, I love you so much." Or Eli's version, "wuvvv eeewww, Mom-me." Or, when they say anything nice in general - Silas always has something to say such as, "Mommy, you are so nice and sweet.", "Mommy, will you please hold me?", "Mommy, can I please give you a hug and a kiss?" or the best is when he breaks out singing, "You are so beautiful, to me..." He learned this from The Little Rascals - don't worry, I didn't teach him to sing it to me, I promise.

2. When I am at work and walk past the preschool playground, Silas will run over to me with the biggest smile on his face, yelling, "Mommy!!" as if he hadn't seen me for days. Eli does the same thing, every 20 minutes or so when he stops by the office just to say hello and give me a kiss. How could it not make your day when their little faces light up with joy just to see you?

3. When they are sweet and loving to one another. This morning they were getting ready for a bath and I asked Silas if he could help Eli with his clothes. He took off Eli's socks, shoes, pants and shirt, all the while giving him instructions. "Eli, sit down so I can take off your shoes. Okay, now stand up so I can unbutton your pants. We are almost done, Eli." And afterwards Eli said, "Tank-ewww, Siwas." Lately, I have been directing Eli towards Silas if he needs help with something, because it teaches them to work together and watching it is just the sweetest. They are so polite, saying "please" and "thank you" to one another. It makes my heart smile.

4. Every single smile, every single hug, every single kiss - I never could have imagined such love until they were a part of my life. And the crazy thing is it's instantaneous at birth and grows exponentially as they continue to grow.

5. Watching them discover or learn something new, then seeing how proud they are at their accomplishment. As much as I sometimes wish I had a magic pill to give them so they'd stay just the way they are, I have loved every single stage. Though I reminisce on occasion, I could never go back because I love my Silas and Eli just where they're at.

6. At the end of the day, no matter how chaotic it has been, or how long I've been counting the minutes until bed-time, I am always thankful and overflowing with love for them. Even the hardest days are worth it.

7. I love the perspective of being a parent, because it helps me to better comprehend God's love for us, His children. Though we could never fully understand it, to me it's the clearest picture of unconditional love that I know. I am thankful that I have been given this perspective and opportunity to love in this way.

And they're just so dang cute, how could I not love being a mommy to these two sweet little guys? Seriously, Silas is looking way too grown up here - makes me a bit sad! He was really hamming it up for me, posing and such. And Eli was being a stinker, unwilling to cooperate for any photos. He would not smile or say "cheese" - only "no!". Guess he wasn't in the mood. This explains the lack of photos of him.