Blissful

The past five days have been utterly blissful for me. To be honest, I really hadn't been looking forward to "starting over" again with the sleep deprived nights, the aching body, and the crying baby etc. but I've actually been loving every minute of it. Part of it, I think, is that I am finally getting to experience "normal" this time around; no NICU, no therapists, no devastating medical bills just average new baby stuff. The other side of my enjoyment is due in part to the fact that this isn't my first time around the block; I know what to expect, I feel confident in the decisions I am making as a parent and I know all of the wonderful experiences headed our way.

As if loving on a new little one isn't enough, I get the privilege of watching Little Man with his baby sister. She is the first thing he asks about when waking and the one person he is genuinely interested in throughout the day. All day long he tells us that she is hungry or wants some milk or a blanket, you name it. He copies me with his stuffed animals when I nurse the baby, swaddle her and even burp her. All throughout the day and night I find him sneaking kisses, stroking her hair and talking/singing to her in this sweet, high-pitched sing-songy voice. Watching him be a big brother brings so much joy to my heart and makes me love him even more.

Most of all, I am grateful for my husband. He has waited on me hand and foot since the day he found out I was pregnant. I was put on bedrest and he didn't miss a beat taking over all of the domestic duties and stepping in as primary parent extraordinaire. He has worked extra shifts, odd jobs and suffered through garage/craigslist/ebay sales to help us prevent charging our hospital bills. He has been sweet, loving, patient and kind as I was pregnant, hormonal, irrational and exhausted. He held my hand when I was shaking with fear in surgery and reassured me and calmed my fears when the NICU team worked on June bug trying to get her to relax and breathe for those first scary minutes. He sets his alarm so he can get up and change the baby before I nurse and insists on cooking our meals, changing dirty diapers and cleaning our apartment all while maintaining a delightfully positive attitude. How on earth did I luck out with this guy??

This doesn't begin to dig into all of the wonderful things that have blessed our lives including an employer that encourages me to put my family first, parents who bend over backwards to help us in any and every way possible, and friends who call and check on us and love on us even though we have been completely out of pocket for the past few months. Life is good and God is incredibly generous.

All I know is that I am one very happy, blessed, mommy.