for the moments i feel faint

motherhood is sometimes thankless. especially when the kids are in that feedmeholdmechangemecrycrycryspitupiwillonlysleepinyourarms newborn stage. and then again when they're in the nowhynowhynowhynowhy stage. and i'm sure once they're in the i'mateenagerandiclearlyknowmorethanmyparents stage {not looking forward to that, for the record}.

but right now, i'm in the in-between. trust that i hear no more times than i would like every day. but my big kid, my too smart for his own good boy, is turning into a sweet, considerate, loving person. a person who says "thank you" without my prompting. a person who tells me "mom, i just love you" when i don't say it first. who hugs his brother just because, and who is quick to say "i'm sorry" if he hurts someone. who loves to do legos with his parents, share things with his brother, and draw pictures on his magna-doodle and tell us stories about them. he loves to do math problems (adding with carrying! subtraction with borrowing! patterns! multiplication of single digits! seriously, what am i going to do with him??). he loves to tell me about the planets, and how his turtle kai likes to go visit them. he tells me about how big they are, and all about jupiter's red spot, neptune's dark spot, and names of moons.

and my baby, who isn't really so much of a baby anymore but is an almost-three-year-old, he is just full of joy. {well, unless he's tired.} he loves to play with his cars, sending them down ramps and driving them on table-tops. and he'll send anything else down his car ramps that seems like it would be fun - play pizza toppings, trains, coins, etc. he likes to cook in the play kitchen. i love it when i'm in another room, and he comes to find me and ask "what you doing, mama?" he loves loves loves books, and i love to read them to him. he gives me kisses and hugs, and runs to the door to greet me when i come home after being out. he narrates everything he does to me, just in case i can't tell. he snuggles with his mama while we watch sesame street, sing songs at night, and other times he just needs a little love. he sings along with several songs, and i just love listening to his little voice! {especially when he does "wheels on the bus"!}

these boys are truly amazing, and there are days i just want to relive over and over because i don't want them to get any bigger. sometimes these kiddos can be frustrating, but i love that i'm starting to see that all this work isn't so thankless...it's just the kind of thanks that takes a lifetime to fully realize. and that's what i'll remember in the moments i feel faint.

{"for the moments i feel faint" is a song i love by relient k}