Take another one...

There is a song that is many years older than me by a wonderful artist by the name of Janis Joplin.  Part of the refrain goes, "take another little piece of my heart now, baby."  

Each day with children is like this.  

Before I had children, I had a ton of professional aspirations, and Joel and I had lots of things we wanted to do.  Vacations to take, goals to accomplish, things to buy, etc.  It took until Gabbie was a few months old, but I realized that all I wanted to do was raise my kid(s) to be happy, well-adjusted, smart, loving, well-rounded, and to have heart.  Easy peasy, right?  

I didn't feel like I was giving up on "my" goals, but they eventually became family goals.  "I" became "we", "mine" became "ours", and our family was changing from 3 people into a unit.

I have been emerging from my long-term "new baby mommy cloud", a little each day, but I still have such a sense of accomplishment when my kids do something new, which is daily these days.  So what, I got a 99% on my first college class since the 90s?  Gabbie went a week with no accidents, can count to 12 and comes up with complex sentences daily.  Who cares that we are accomplishing our (modest) savings goals?  Lilah's troublesome canines came in and the molars are on their way, too.  

Each day, the things these kids do just amazes me.  I don't know that I will ever not be amazed.  One day they will do something so mundane to them, that will be so awesome for me, and they will roll their eyes for my excitement.  My mom called me at work awhile back and I was out servicing some equipment that had broken.  When I called her back, she said she didn't realize that I was trained on how to fix it.  It was such a normal, average part of my job that I never even thought she might think it was cool.  It's so strange to be the mom and the kid at the same time.  

We are endlessly, annoyingly proud.  I am sure others don't love to hear our parent stories all the time, but we don't really care.  We love them so much, and it's so amazing to watch them grow.  It's not easy to put it out there for everyone to see.  There's so much judgment, especially in social media.  Each picture or story makes us vulnerable.  Heck, even this entry makes me vulnerable.  

These children are my (our) absolute best, greatest accomplishments.  They are living, breathing, giggling, dancing, sassing, loving works of art and love.  Every day we come back to these masterpieces, tweak a little here and there, and step back to see how they do in the world.  I give them  a piece of my heart every single day.  

"Just one more huggy, momma."

"Momma!  Lilah is sharing with me!  Good girl, sister!"

"Momma, don't give up.  You can do it."  

Geez, kiddo.  Here's my whole heart.  Take it.  Just please.... Share with your sister and daddy.