The Perks of Being a Mother

A couple of weeks ago, my shoulder started to hurt. I couldn't figure it out. I do stretches every day and I jog and do pilates a few times a week. So why in the world would my shoulder be killing me? And then it struck me, for the past 5 1/2 years, my shoulder has supported the weight of a child. My hip has a permanent indentation of a child.



So I started to think of other ways my life has changed since having babies. I'm a master at doing things with one hand, I can change a diaper in seconds, I have a super-natural ability to know exactly what's going on in the other room. Being a mother is exhausting. But it's the best kind of exhaustion I will ever feel.



I always think it's funny when I take the kids out by myself. People always smile when they see four little heads with faces that look so similar. "Aww, they're so cute!," they'll say. And then they realize how many little faces they're really looking at. A look of shock and confusion comes over them, "Are they ALL yours?" they ask. And when I tell them yes, the response is either, "you must be very busy!" or (my favorite) "how do you do it?!"



A few months ago while we were all out for the day, a woman came up to us and talked about how cute the kids were and told us that she raised four kids who were all close in age just like ours. She told us something that I will always remember: "the days are long, but the years are short" How very, very true! Right now the days seem longer than anything. But soon they will fly by. But I will always cherish the perks of being a mother!

Beautiful artwork Malachi
and Aylah made me for
Mother's Day.


Ezekiel relaxing with Daddy.
The kids watching E.T. for the first time. It's now their favorite movie.

Gabs being Gabs.

Crawling and getting into everything! :)