Why blog? I don't even have a facebook account...it feels like it makes life so public. But then--blogging is kind of like a diary, isn't it? It makes me feel a little like Doogie Houser at the end of the day--collecting my thoughts and putting them down. I don't want to blog because I want my life to be public (though I don't mind wearing my heart on my sleeve, most of the time) or because I'm a narcissist, but because these days of our young family are so precious I don't want to lose them to a faulty memory. This time, this stage, these moments truly are 'a time to keep', and blogging is simply the most convenient way to keep them and share them.

I really didn't think I'd ever start a blog...but now that Mac has stopped calling firetrucks "fire knuckles" (he now calls them firetrucks, and I'm so sad!), I realize I'll forget that he ever did that if I don't write it down. So, the blog begins. Welcome.

Monday, November 23, 2009

I'll Love You Forever

Our neighbor came by with a baby gift for Arden, and, as many thoughtful folks have done, brought Mac a gift as well. (This is so kind! But funny too because Mac seems to think that the baby gifts are all for him anyway. He's become quite attached to a particular pink blanket.)

The gift that our neighbor brought for Mac is the book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.
It's Mac's new favorite. (I'm glad he has a new favorite--Brad and I were both about ready to shoot ourselves if we had to read the Bison Book--his old favorite--again.)

I know this book--I think we may have had it growing up. It's sweet. I knew it was sweet. But what I wasn't prepared for was much more powerful it is to read as a mother. I've read it to Mac (at his request) several times a day since Saturday, and have yet to make it through without crying or getting teary. It's a beautifully written reminder of the transcendence of a mother's love over time and circumstance.

I've needed that reminder these past few days. As is the case with many newborns, Arden is cranky (to say the least...maybe I should say that Arden is a full-blown basket-case) in the early evenings. Combine that with a cranky (to say the least...maybe I should say that Mac is a picky, impossible-to-please crazy-man) toddler and a husband with an unconventional job (read: gone often in the evenings)...ugh--I need the reminder.

The mother in the book says the same: "This kid is driving me crazy!" (Mac always repeats that part.) But still--she loves him forever. The same is true for me..."I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as you're living, my baby you'll be."

And in the quiet of the evening, typing my thoughts on this screen, I think maybe I exaggerated about these kiddos being a basket-case and crazy-man. They're really not so bad. There are moments in these weeks since Arden's birth when I think I might have a head full of gray hair by the time I'm 31--but those thoughts are outnumbered by the moments where I'm overwhelmed by the power of the love I feel for my husband and children. I honestly have everything I ever wanted within 20 feet of where I'm sitting right now. A fitting reminder this week of Thanksgiving.
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