My Cup Runneth Over

Many times as of lately, my heart has been filled with joy and love.

A few days ago when I was at our local Wal-Mart, I was grabbing some half and half while the mother of a little black girl was grabbing some milk. The little girl was probably 3 or 4, and was sitting in the cart. She had little braids, some of which were coming undone so her hair was going every which way. She spotted Lincoln in my cart and said, "Look, mom, a baby!". As I pushed my cart past hers, she looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said in the most sincere and matter of fact tone, "I love him. I wanna kiss him.". I tried to explain that I couldn't take Lincoln out of his car seat cause he was all buckled in and sleeping. She proceeded to try to get out of her cart to make the kiss possible. I felt badly but kissing Lincoln was just gonna be a little too difficult. I apologized as I walked away. She kept saying over and over, "But I wanna kiss him. I wanna kiss him". It melted my heart that this little girl's heart was so filled with love for my sweet little baby. Her mom told me to be careful otherwise her daughter just might take Lincoln home with her if given the chance.

A couple in my ward that Matt home teaches told us, when I asked how their dog adjusted to having a baby around, that their white lab was very protective of their children and would lay next to their crib while they napped. I was hoping that Lucy would adjust well. It has been a little difficult to handle a dog and a baby. I catch her with his binky in her mouth probably daily, but I just sanitize it and give it back to him. Having a dog around does come in handy sometimes. A while back, Lincoln had a big blowout in his swing. There was a big puddle in the seat of the swing, but I was more worried about his cute outfit, so I rushed him away to give him a bath and clean his clothes. I am always in awe of the force with which things explode out of my son's body. It just doesn't seem right that something so small should be subjected or capable of such awful things. Anyway, when I came back to clean the swing, the poop had magically disappeared. Not one speck or any slight discoloration of the material was visible. Hmmm....pretty sure Lucy was on clean-up duty. Kinda gross, but kinda handy. What I really wanted to say about the dog-baby relationship is that the other night when Lincoln started wailing for his 5:00 AM feeding, I flipped the light on in my walk-in closet (where Lincoln's Pack and Play is to conserve space in our apartment) and went to pick him up. As I bent over, Lucy's head popped up right next to my face and scared me to death. She had been sleeping in the 2' space between his crib and the shelves in my closet. I don't know if it's because she likes the "den" feel of the enclosed space or if it's because she's watching out for Lincoln, but I think it's so cute. She's a handful, but she makes me smile.

Last but not least, my favorite thing about being a mom is holding my baby to my chest and rocking him to sleep. His head is so soft and so warm. I continually sniff his baby shampoo scented hair (whatever hair he has) as he drifts off. Even after his breathing pattern changes and his body goes limp I still hold him for another little while, and my heart just fills with love and gratitude for the chance I have been given to be this little boy's mommy. What a gift!

My cup runneth over.