Warning: Sappiness below

These days have been filled with the moments I always envisioned before I was a mother.  Punky has begun getting out of her toddler bed and coming into our room when she wakes up every morning.  I've never let her sleep in our bed just for the sake of sleeping there, nor do I let her sleep in the mornings when she comes in.  She very sweetly opens our door and comes to my side of the bed.  She'll look at me with those big, pretty blue eyes and whisper, "I had a good nap!"  It's what I always ask her every afternoon when she wakes up.  I guess she thinks nighttime is a nap, too...and she's right in a sense, it's just a very looooong nap!  :oD

I put her in bed with me and we just lay there, talking in her toddler conversation.  She amazes me with how smart she is sometimes as well as her rationalizing capabilities.  She's my baby girl but I know she's not going to be forever.  She's growing up, much quicker than I ever imagined, and while it makes me sad, I'm happy she's developing into such a sweet girl.  She's been grabbing my legs and saying, "I love you, Mommy," a lot lately and also doing that with Chicken.  I can already tell they're going to be best friends and I hope she'll come to see me as a good mother.

These last few mornings have been so special to me.  There's nothing like waking up to those beautiful blue eyes and her innocent, REAL smile.  There's nothing like feeling those sweet, chubby arms around my neck when she hugs me or smelling her  soft, strawberry scented hair when she lays on my chest or pillow while we talk.  These moments are fleeting, I know.  One morning, I'll wake up and she'll be a teenager and never want to get out of bed.  Some day she'll be walking down the aisle and leaving her childhood behind, having her own children to create memories with.  I want to savor every minute I have with her as this little person and make the most of it because it will be gone before I know it.

Until then, I pray I can let go of the days that I have shamed myself as a mother by letting them watch too much TV to get them out of my hair or not playing with them at all or getting too upset with them because of problems elsewhere in my life.  I want to give them memories that I never had as a child and teach them things to make them stronger adults.  God has given me such a precious gift in my children and these days will not be wasted.