Small Successes

It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that.

1. We booked plane tickets to San Antonio. After looking at tickets for the last few weeks, contemplating the cost, thinking about schedules, and whatever other excuses we were using, we finally bit the bullet and purchased tickets to go visit Matt's family. The trip is long over due - the grandparents need to see John more than every 9 months! (And John's great-grandparents kicked in one free ticket thank to frequent flyer miles)

2. I made banana muffins this week for my sister. She loves homemade baked goods but rarely finds the time or supplies in her college apartment to make them herself.

3. When the morning plans were derailed by an explosive diaper right at naptime, I didn't get flustered. Instead, I thanked God that my husband was home, asked for some assistance, changed the diaper, cleaned the child, and then let my dear spouse put John down for a nap while I showered in peace and washed my fecal covered shirt...

Things I Never Knew...

• I never knew a child’s cry can be music to your ears.
• I never knew my son’s gleeful exclamation when he "caught" the cat the first time would be stuck like cement in my mind.
• I never knew how much more you could love a man who changes diapers and plays peek-a-boo for hours.
• I never knew that my life will seem to have lost value when compared to the value I place on my child’s.
• I never knew you are assumed to be, all mother, all nurturing, all knowing, all understanding, all wise, ... all of a sudden!
• I never knew I could fall in love with my husband all over again for doing things that I once thought of as unromantic.
• I never knew I could sit and stare at a sleeping baby and not notice time passing by.
• I never knew that once I became a mother I would pray for more years, not so that I can accomplish my dreams, but so I can watch my son accomplish his.
• I never knew that a family, which was once complete with only two people, now feels even more complete with three..

Small Successes

It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that.

I just read through many of the other mom's small successes for this week looking for inspiration to hit me (now that I'm thinking about that I feel like it's cheating a little!) While I'm not sure that I found any of my own successes in theirs, it did inspire me to look a little deeper to find my own successes.

1. I took great joy in completing John's 9 month well-child check-up. This is the first well-child visit we've had since we've diagnosed and resolved John's hemolytic anemia. We departed the appointment with no referrals to specialists, no orders for lab work, no visits until his next well-child visit! Yay!

2. When I realized I had double booked myself one day this week, I called and cancelled an appointment that would have been just as easy to skip. It's a courtesy that I sometimes overlook, but I need to remember that others' time is just as valuable as mine.

3. A couple times this week I dropped what I was doing when my husband needed my help. Not that he physically needed me to do anything...but he needed my emotional support and prayers. I gladly offered both and will continue to do so through as he struggles to find God's path in his father's cancer. Prayers are always appreciated...

4. (bonus) John attended his first swim lesson this week. It was tear free - until he bumped his head in the locker room after he was already changed into his street clothes, but we're not counting that because it was after the fact - and he truly seemed to enjoy being around the other AquaTots (even if he displayed this by having an almost obsessive fascination with another child's ear...)

911 Emergency...How Can I Help?

At the ripe, young age of 9 months, John has already been grounded from using the phone. Yesterday he successfully dialed 9-1-1-1 on the house phone. Needless to say, I grab the phone and hung up - then realized what he dialed. Luckily, 911 called us back and inquired about the hangup phone call rather than sending out all the response vehicles. After I apologized profusely on the phone and the operator laughed at the situation all was well. But we still grounded John from the phone....

Small Successes

Faith and Family is hosting a weekly listing of the Small Successes of motherhood because, "the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph." The goal is to post these small successes every Thursday because it is in the small details of our work that the strength and splendor of motherhood is revealed. So in my effort to join and support other moms in celebrating our calling, here are my Small Successes for this past week.

1. I asked for help. After we discovered that John's medical issues were a result of my breastfeeding, we were in need of formula. A great group of fellow mothers stepped up to the call and went digging through ads/mailers providing me with a handful of coupons for the only formula that John can tolerate (Enfamil Premium). Equally successful was the realization that asking for help isn't all that hard...

2. Instead of dealing with the mountain of laundry or emptying (and reloading) the dishwasher, I spent quality time sitting in the front yard with my son. We observed a cement truck and construction crew work across the street, watched a neighbor hitting golf balls in his yard and examined a worm that was at least 12 inches long.

3. After several months of reading other moms' small successes, I finally took the plunge and wrote my own! Why was I waiting?

On the Move!