Somebody's Hero

Prepare for

mushy smooshy

mommy gushing...

(Mom, if you're reading,you might need kleenex!)

Last night, I sat on my pink sheets on my bed in my pink polka dot pajamas with my 7 month old daughter who also happened to be her pink polka dot pajamas. She has just found her voice and she was jabbering up a storm. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much at her as she "chatted" with me. I just enjoyed the moment (or hour and a half rather) and looked into her beautiful blue eyes and held on to her sweet little cheeks and promised her that we would still be sitting together on my bed "chatting" when she was 16.

What I am most afraid of is

if I just blink my eyes once,

that day will be here.

I wish I could stop time.

My baby boy will go to kindergarten this fall. Where did the last 5 years go? My oldest is more than halfway to 21! Man, I thought the plan was her three big brothers were going to protect her from all the icky boys. I used my limited math skills and realized by the time she is 14 (just when she needs the most protection from big bad icky boys!), all of her big protective brothers will have left the nest!!! How can this be? What?!? It simply cannot happen. :(

So now I'm thinking a lot more little bedtime chats need to be happening by then because she'll be on her own. I pray that we will be best friends as well as mother and daughter. (I know that is faux paus in parenting books and I really don't care) My mom and I were always and still are best friends, and I turned out pretty OK I think. I hope she will talk to me. I hope she will share her life with me even though I am her old mother. yeah, I will be kinda old by then. I hope she likes who I am still. I hope she trusts me with her secrets. I hope my boys do too. My two oldest have recently shared secrets with me about certain feelings and I pray so hard that they will continue to... and I promise not to share them on my blog!!! Sorry loyal readers. I remember vividly the day I found my little brother crying in his room because he was about to break up with his girlfriend. How heartbroken he was that he was about tom hurt her. I pray my boys will be so tender hearted. And I hope they will let me in.

Bwaaa! I simply cannot go there,

they will not have girlfriends

or, gasp, a wife who can possibly love them as much as I do?!?

I can't go there.

No.

Not Elli either.

She will be my little babydoll forver.

My tiny princess.

My sweet baby girl.

Right now...

I can see the love in her eyes for me.

Mirrored in my own.

I remember my teenage years and I like to think I still showed my mom how much I loved her. I know I respected her. And Elli, I will forgive you when you roll your eyes at me because I know you got that from me.

I can already tell how she will imitate me and want to grow up to be just like her mommy.

"Oh Elli, strive higher sweetie!"

My greatest wish is that

I leave to her a legacy of faith and trust.

That she sees me cultivating my relationship with Our Father enough to make an impact on my life, on her life, and on all the lives around us. And that she and my boys grow up knowing how much they are loved and always will be. That they seek His face first. That they bring Him glory with their lives. That they trust. That they accept His mercy and grace.

As I type this, my sweet babydoll is snoozing soundly on my chest. Do you ever wonder what babies dream about? Not to sound selfish or anything, but I bet it's me.

Right now...

I am the center of her world.

Oh Lord, make me worthy!

This thought has been running through my head since I heard this song this morning.

Because I am the keeper of the cheerios (and gerber puffs). Giving them all my love truly is my life's ambition. And her smile does let me know that I am somebody's hero.

She's somebody's hero

A hero to her baby with a skinned up knee

A little kiss is all she needs

The keeper of the cheerios

The voice that brings Snow White to life

Bedtime stories every night

And that smile lets her know

She's somebody's hero

oh oh She didn't get a check every week like a nine-to fiver

But she's been a waiter, and a cook and a taxi driver

For twenty years, there at home, until the day her girl was grown

Giving all her love to her was her life's ambition

But now her baby's movin' on, and she'll soon be missin' her

But not today, those are tears of joy runnin' down her face