Sense of Humor

If there's one thing I'm grateful for, its my sense of humor.  Being able to see the humor in annoying or frustrating situations is what helps keep me happy and sane. (Or happier and more sane. ;))  I was reminded this morning of just how grateful I am for it.

Typically, I don't get up during the night to use the bathroom.  I've reached the point in pregnancy where that is no longer my reality.  I am getting up twice during the night, in addition to making sure I go just before bed and as soon as I wake up in the morning.  I'm generally a light sleeper and I don't go back to sleep super easily, so the middle of the night trips aren't the most fun things ever.  But it is what it is.  

This morning, an hour after my second middle-of-the-night bathroom run, Paige woke up and climbed into bed with Cory and I.  This is generally something that happens somewhere in the early morning hours most every day.  I love the snuggly cuddles of this baby, who isn't really a baby.  Sometimes I complain, but mostly I love that she scoots as close to me as she can.  I love how she throws both her legs over the middle of my body and pops her thumb into her mouth as she falls back asleep.  This morning found her wide awake at 5am and quite chatty.  She wanted water to drink and she wanted to talk.  Finally, around 6:30, I convinced her to fall asleep if I promised to get up and get a bowl of cereal with her as soon as it was light outside.  We both dozed off and I looked forward to one of the few Sunday mornings a year where I get to sleep in.  (Thank you, General Conference!!!)  At 8am, I was startled awake to Paige's excited exclamations, "Mommy, Mommy!!!  Wake up, Mommy!  It's morning time!  See!!  Its light outside!  We can eat cereal now!"  I groggily opened my eyes and stretched and tried to get adjusted to what was going on.  And don't I look over and see that cute little rugrat curled back up under the covers fast asleep?!  

And that was where I started giggling.  What a crazy night!  What a precious, rotten little girl!  What a tired mommy!  But how funny!  And I realized how profoundly grateful I was for a well-developed sense of humor that preserved me from grumpiness.  At least this time. :)

Blog Thoughts

Having a child old enough to dip her toes into the world of social media has brought up some interesting conversations.  We've talked about the kinds of things we generally like to "post" about and what those things say about us and our lives.  Especially in places like Facebook (she doesn't have an account yet) or Instragram (a yes for both of us) and twitter (which I still don't get), you're getting little snippets into someone's life.  It's just a snapshot (in instagram, literally) of a moment in time.  I've posted a cute picture of my kids doing something adorable, completely cropping out the living room covered in toys we haven't cleaned up yet.  Or I've shared a sweet moment we had together, choosing not to share the moment 5 minutes later when two children ended up in tears over a disagreement.  It's not that the moments I do share aren't real.  They are!!!  They are important and precious and funny.  But they aren't the whole picture.

Which brings me to my blog.  Even here, where I have more space to share, I really can't share the whole picture.  And the more I've thought about, the more I really don't want to.  I don't necessarily (why do I spell that word wrong Every. Single. Time?!) want to preserve for the ages the 5 loads of laundry I washed but took two weeks to get folded and put away.  I don't really want to record how I lost my patience with my kids over something silly.   I don't want to post about most of the letdowns, disappointments and failures.   They are a part of life, but chances are I'll remember them (at least a lot of them) without sharing every moment of them online.

What I really want to remember are the sweet little moments that I'm likely to forget.  I want to remember our laughs, our fun times together and even sometimes the lessons we learn from things.  I like to keep it real, but also keep it happy.  Not only are those the things I want to remember for years to come, but it helps me be more grateful and appreciative in the moment as I look for those moments that I want to treasure.

So I don't mind if your posts are picture perfect, because I get it that your life isn't always like that, if you'll remember that we have our share of imperfections, too.  You just probably won't see them all posted here. :)