The Unexpected...

When I became a mom, I didn’t expect:

To love my boys so much

To love Justin more because of how he loves and cares for our boys

To learn that joy and heartache mingle together in parenthood

To miss my boys so much when I’m away from them

To have to memorize all the different kinds of trucks and tractors or else face correction by my 3-year old

To actually seek out construction zones, railroad crossings, and garbage transfer/recycling stations simply for the delight it brings to my boys

To see siblings love and care for each other from the very beginning

To absolutely love it when my boys laugh and sing

To genuinely appreciate drive-thru pharmacies and drive-thru Starbucks

To consider 7 am “sleeping in”

The laundry. The sheer, unfathomable amount of laundry small people can generate.

To have Baby, Other Pooh, Pooh Bear Blanket, Elmo, and Blankie become family members too

To feel how overwhelming the task of growing these little people into strong men of character would be each day

To learn how quickly people under 3’1’’ can rule your world, schedule, time, thoughts, prayers, life, resources, and habits

To never remember what life was like before February 23, 2007 (what did I do with myself and all of that time?!)

To have my vocabulary, which was once centered on pre-marital therapy, reconciliation, family systems theory, conflict resolution, effective communication, and having the DSM-IV memorized, center instead on poopy, goober, booger, ouchie, bonk-bonk, no-thank-you, time-out, one-more-bite-please, you’re-such-a-good-boy, be-nice-to-your-brother, sit-on-your-bottom, you’re-about-to-have-a consequence, and I-don’t-respond-to-whining

How hard I would laugh when Jacoby started calling us “Honey”

That the perfect evening out with Justin would turn into the perfect evening in: a pan of brownies and Netflix

To have motherhood be the most challenging and rewarding thing I’ve ever done

To love my boys (even the big one) so much