Motherhood

You know how being away from your loved ones sometimes brings you closer to them? Last week I was away at TLA in Houston for the week while Jerry was the Mama...Although I talked to my babies every night before they went to bed (I have to talk to Ethan about his day, it's our special daily ritual), I longed to see them and hold them and I really missed our special bedtime rituals. I swear that Carson grew an inch or two while I was away and all of the sudden what used to be "his" word for "airplane" suddenly became "airplane", plain and clear. I missed listening to him describe the sky in "his" words. I missed him pointing to each of us and saying our names, "Mama," "Papa,", "Bruba (brother)," and "Jucha (Rusha)." I missed Ethan asking me about my day and about my kids at school. I missed looking at them in their eyes and telling them to have sweet dreams and that I would see them in the morning. I just plain missed them!

Being away from them made me realize how important the simple everyday rituals are to me...how much motherhood really means to me. Sometimes, I take for granted that they are children and will grow up so quickly. I do so by spending too much time working and worrying about getting everything "just so"...it's time to live my life for them and not for work. (Thanks, Kelli...)