Proud to Be a Mama

I'm going to claim my glowing post about Caleb as my first thankfulness post since I truly am thankful for him and so very very proud to be his mom. Maybe that's cheating but, eh, you do what you gotta right? :)

That being said, today I am thankful to be a mama (and a birth mama too!). 

I always knew that I wanted kids. When I was younger, I claimed that I wanted a family big enough to rival the Duggards (although they weren't around back then!). A huge house full of little ones scampering about, their laughter echoing throughout the halls. As I got older, I realized that, although that was a very nice dream, it just wasn't practical for me. 

I have been immensely blessed enough to give birth to three precious, beautiful children. Each is special, each unique, but each is immensely loved. Not for who I expected or dreamed that they would be, but for simply who they are.

They're not perfect. But none of us are. They make mistakes. But all of us do.

Each has brought me great joy, as well as great pain, and each has taught me more about what it means to be a mother. Each has taught me more about myself and contributed something which has helped make me who I am today. There just aren't words that can express how very thankful I am that each of them exist.

If babies truly get to choose their mamas in Heaven, I could not have ever been any luckier that these three chose me.

So........

 

Amanda (I stole your picture!)

Caleb

and

Lydia,

I am thankful for each of you. Thank you for choosing me, who is entirely unworthy, to be the vessel through which you entered this world. Thank you for being the lights of my life, and for guiding me when I lose my way. Thank you for showing me the beauty within myself simply by being beautiful reflections of me. Thank you for being such great kids, kids that I am more than proud to call my own. 

I love you.