Share Your Story

Today was an extraordinarily ordinary day.  

I was flying solo with Lucia and Annabelle, as Bruno had a work event going on for the entire day.

The day started with smiles, hugs, cereal, cartoons, books, laundry and coffee.  Then it was on to Lucia's gymnastics class.  We were late.  As always.  Lucia had fun, and I had a chance to chat with a fellow mom with a baby Annabelle's age.  

From there, it was lunch and a series of errands.  When all was said and done, we had been out of the house for about 5 hours.  We were all tired.  Annabelle took a nap for all of us by sleeping in her car seat for 2 hours.

We watched Mary Poppins, ate pizza, colored, changed bedding, and I gave the girls a bath.  

It was while preparing for the bath, as I undressed Annabelle to get in, that I had a moment.  Something about her head reminded me of Marco.  She has always reminded me more of him than Lucia does, in terms of looks.  I think it's the hair.  Annabelle's hair is much different than Lucia's, and I think Marco's would have been like Annabelle's. It was then and there that I just had a huge moment of gratefulness for this day.  

It was all very ordinary.  I wiped runny noses countless times, wiped little butts a couple of times, wiped tears, wiped hands, blew raspberries, reheated leftover pizza, brushed hair, walked dogs, washed dishes, lost my temper more times than I would have cared to, etc etc etc.

But at the end of the day, when lifting the onesie off my sweet little 9 month old girl while my big 4.5 year old girl stretched out in the tub eagerly awaiting her little companion, all I saw as I looked back at the last 12 hours was extraordinary.

How extraordinary it was that I got to wake up to 2 snuggly little ones.  How extraordinary that I had the chance to color with Lucia while singing Disney songs with her. How extraordinary that I got to feel the weight of my almost-19 lb Annabelle as she drifted off to sleep in the Ergo carrier for a nap.  Even the stressful parts of the day, where patience was thin and toes were stubbed, were extraordinary.

Aside from the obvious joy and light that Lucia and Annabelle bring to each and every day, I am also so very grateful for the ability to see the extraordinary in the mundane.  Yes, the day was overall fun.  But there were a lot of frustrations.  Mainly little ones, but they add up and have a way of making you feel worn down.  As I sit here on the couch unwinding from the day, I see before me all the chores that have yet to be done, and that won't be done today, and maybe not even tomorrow.  

All of this - the good, the bad, and the ugly - it's all a huge gift.  An extraordinary gift.  And my amazing little Marco has really helped me see that - especially on the tough days.  

Marco - you are a gift, my son.  Your life and death has taught me so much about gratitude and perspective.  I am human, and there are going to be days that are so hard, but you continue to shine your love on our family and help me see the treasure that every moment is.