Today I realized that I am loved and that I am blessed to be able to have children, watch them grow, and stay home mostly full-time to do so. My youngest son Kendrick, who just turned a year old a couple weeks ago, is now growing into his personality and it's such a treat to see. I love this part of child-rearing!  I really do believe the first five years of our babies' lives are the hardest because they are almost 1000% hands/ears/thoughts-ON. So much micromanaging, effort, strength, stress, and speculation goes into their care. From discipline to schooling choices to nutrition to personal energy stamina it's quite the tilt-a-whirl. Sometimes I feel for myself because of the hustle and bustle and energy required and expended and other times I feel grateful, mostly the latter. Especially during nap time. But those little moments-the laughs over shaking our heads "no" over eating pureed bananas, talking about butts inappropriately at the dinner table, heavin...

Oh sh**. It's really time to get up again? Why do I feel like crap? Oh yeah, I got up with my daughter who awakened me with her terrible squeals in the middle of the night because she had to go to the bathroom but seemed to forget how to get up and walk in there. Then proceeded to whine and cry for God knows why even after I led her by the nose pretty much to the toilet and cleaned her up. Then I couldn't go back to sleep. Oh shoot, husband has to work today? Nope, didn't make a lunch. Too tired to make one at night and can't drag myself out of bed to do it in the morning. Good luck fending for yourself, dear! You could take the leftovers from last night, but oh wait! You don't like leftovers. Tough luck.  Oh why dost my body betray me? Too much stress makes my chest tight and it travels up my throat. Dear God, please help me get this under control before I get throat cancer from always carrying my stress there. Researching as many stress-relieving breathing ex...