Motherhood

There is something about being a mother that changes you. You hold these precious little people in your arms and at some point you realize they are yours. All yours. Heavenly Father has trusted you, an imperfect human being, to take care of one of his beloved children. It's humbling. You feel the protective, unconditional love overtake you and you feel they are perfect. But then life starts to take over. They start to grow and become curious about the world around them. They start to EXPLORE. And exploring, when unsupervised, can turn into hair-pulling experiences.

They get into your make-up...
getting it all over themselves and the carpet.

They do something like this:
Yes, that's all the books emptied from the shelves to the floor. They were piled with love, I'm sure.

When the pictured events occurred, I initially wanted to scream and pull my hair out. Honestly, don't they KNOW they aren't supposed to... But then I heard a little voice—laugh. Just laugh. And I did. I smiled, took a picture, and treasured my two little girls. Motherhood is more than just wiping noses, cleaning, chasing, feeding, etc. It is more than tickling, reading stories, and kissing hurt fingers. Motherhood is laughing: at yourself, at your children, at the world. You have to laugh, or you'll be carted off to the loony bin. Motherhood is love, pure and simple. It changes you for good. It is sacrifice with great rewards. A kiss with a big "You're the best mom ever!" (as said by my 3-year-old the other day) is worth more than a million dollars. Seeing them smile is a daily goal. Now that my baby is starting to smile, I feel like a million dollars.

Becoming a mother has changed me, completely. I wouldn't give it up for the world, even if I do have to clean make-up out of the carpet.