Grateful

There are many people in the world today who wonder how it is possible for a mother or parent to love multiple children equally. It would seem that love has its limits. I remember after having Jacob wondering how I could possibly love another child as much as I loved him. Then we had Caleb and I knew at that moment that love truly knows no bounds. Rather than your love being divided between children, it is simply multiplied exponentially. With the birth of each child, your love is increased more than you ever thought possible. I think it gives us just a slight insight to the love our Heavenly Father must feel for each and every one of his children.
With the birth of each baby, I've realized more and more just how quickly and fleeting the time is.Having a newborn baby is one of the most busy times of your life. Your job is literally 24-7. There are days when you're up most of the night caring for your baby, you finally get them to sleep around 7am and then the other kids wake up ready to go and you start to wonder just how you're going to make it through the day. But the time goes by all too quickly- in the blink of an eye that newborn baby is walking, then going to school. It almost doesn't seem fair. These realizations have made me really love and cherish the newborn baby stage, lack of sleep and all. I've loved all the stages we've had so far- baby, toddler, preschooler, and big kids. They all have parts that are hard, but they all have parts that are fun and wonderful. But there is something so incredibly precious and wonderful about a new baby, so fresh from heaven. They bring an incredible spirit and softness into your home. Quite literally, the most precious gift Heavenly Father could ever bless you with.
When I look at this beautiful, precious baby Courtney, my heart is just filled to overflowing with love and gratitude- just as it has with all of our children. I am so incredibly grateful. I cherish these days. I wish I could hold onto them forever. But these babies grow up, as we all have, and it is sweet and wonderful to watch them grow and learn. It's wonderful to see them grow into their own person with their own individual attributes and personalities. I am thankful for them and for everything they teach me. But part of me will always miss and cherish those sweet early days when they were tiny, precious, newborn babies in my arms.
There is a quote by Harold B. Lee that I absolutely love and have in my home. 

"Parents, remember that now is your opportunity. You may feel yourself harassed as you struggle through the days with children, but you are living the happiest and most golden years of your life."  

I love this quote and know it is true. Someday when our children are all grown and gone, when the house is quiet and perfectly clean all the time- we will miss these days. We will miss the noise and craziness, we will miss the messes, the laundry, the fingerprints, the busy schedules and endless practices and homework. On the days when I'm feeling frustrated about how much I haven't accomplished, I look at this quote and it puts my perspective back to where it needs to be. I am so lucky and so grateful to be living in these happiest and most golden years. I love my babies, I love my children. They are my everything. I am so grateful to be a mother.