103 Reasons I Love Being a Mom

This is for me to read over on the days I'm not as grateful as I should be . . .

1. That new baby smell! I'd forgotten how wonderfully intoxicating it is
2. Watching Ethan become such a fine young man
3. The way Ethan's hair is has become a little bit curly (although he definitely needs a trim!)
4. Kissing Noah on his little bald head
5. The way Meredith scrunches up against me
6. Noah's excitement when he sees me, even after just a short time away (like at church)
7. Little baby sighs
8. Little baby sizes :)
9. Personal jokes and Simpsons trivia with Ethan
10. Watching Ethan experience books I loved when I was growing up. And watching him read books I haven't read yet (he's 600 pages into the 1200 page unabridged edition of Les Miserables!)
11. Noah's pages and pages of numbers. He sometimes writes letters too, and makes people that have hair sticking out all over like amoebas
12. The way Noah spells some words, like "zoo" so that we can understand what he is saying
13. Watching Ethan play with his little buddy Noah so sweetly
14. Hearing Ethan say how cute Noah is
15. Meredith's big blue eyes
16. Ethan's famous french toast
17. Noah's lists of things to eat, always including chicken and honey nut cheerios
18. Teeny-tiny diapers
19. Buying school supplies
20. Watching sleeping babies and sleeping big boys
21. Experiencing school again, this time through them. I didn't realize how much I'd forgotten (or never learned)
22. Decorating Meredith's room (so much pink!)
23. The fact that Ethan loves classical music
24. The fact that Ethan opted for classical guitar, not electric (whew!)
25. Ethan's laugh
26. Noah's laugh
27. Meredith's little sleeping baby smiles
28. The way the boys look in their cute jeans
29. Ethan's first real suit
30. Noah's penchant for wearing ties - - with everything
31. How soft Meredith's skin is
32. Noah's first words when he saw Meredith, "oh cute!"
33. My always increasing gratitude for my parents
34. The kids' relationship with their cousins
35. The kids' relationship with their grandparents
36. When Noah says, "of course!" when I ask him to do something
37. Anytime Ethan does something nice without being asked
38. Reading Ethan's school essays
39. Ethan's quirky sense of humor
40. Noah's goofiness
41. How great the boys are on airplanes
42. Noah's love of elephants
43. Ethan's love of penguins
44. How much I've learned about elephants and penguins
45. Family traditions, like fresh guacamole
46. Family words and sayings, like "spelunking," meaning eating all the m&ms out of trail mix, or picking the cookie dough chunks out of ice cream
47. Watching Scott play with the boys
48. Seeing how sweet Scott is with Meredith
49. Knowing I couldn't possibly have chosen a more wonderful father for my children
50. Bragging about my kids
51. Reading stories and going to the library
52. Looking forward to all the girly things I'll get to do with Meredith, like dollhouses, painting fingernails, and reading the Laura Ingalls and Anne of Green Gables books
53. Talking to Noah on the phone
54. Meredith's yawns
55. The perfect quiet of the house at 3 a.m. when I'm feeding my baby girl
56. All of Noah's hard-won accomplishments
57. The fact that Noah's Down syndrome has opened so many wonderful doors for me
58. Seeing all the positive reactions to Noah when we travel (we've had some negative responses, but the smiles far outweigh the frowns)
59. How protective Ethan is of Noah
60. How gentle Noah tries to be with Meredith
61. Looking at baby pictures
62. The incredible kindness people showed to us after Noah was born
63. The way people have celebrated Meredith's adoption with us in such a loving way
64. Ethan's testimony of the gospel and enthusiasm about being a member of the church
65. Listening to Noah pray
66. Listening to Noah sing
67. Listening to Ethan play the piano or guitar
68. Learning to use sign language with Noah
69. The truly awesome people I've met because of Noah
70. Being a member of the "parent of a child with Down syndrome" club
71. The fact that Ethan and Noah seem to have forgiven my first fumbling attempts at parenthood
72. The fact that I get another chance to try to get it right
73. The fact that Ethan still isn't too embarrased to be seen with me in public (unless I start singing)
74. Watching Noah try to be brave when he gets an owie by taking a deep breath and showing us his muscles
75. The fact that the kids aren't very picky eaters, a plus for someone like me who doesn't like to cook
76. All the things I've learned about people with special needs
77. All the things I've learned about adoption
78. Going through infertility, because it made me more thankful than ever that I could give birth to my first two children
79. Waiting 9 years for Meredith because I treasure her all the more now that she's finally here
80. Learning to depend more on my Heavenly Father for help in raising the spirits he has entrusted to Scott and me
81. Learning to really, really pray
82. The buff biceps I'm getting from carrying Meredith's carseat around (man that thing is heavy!)
83. Passing along baby boy clothes to my sister and remembering how cute my little guys looked in them
84. Footed pajamas
85. Onesies
86. First haircuts
87. Not having to get Noah's hair cut :)
88. The two-second rule
89. Learning to relax about keeping the house spotlessly clean
90. Sitting and watching TV or reading and not feeling guilty about it because I'm holding a baby
91. Having a good excuse for not breastfeeding Meredith after feeling so guilty about giving on on nursing the boys after 2 weeks/one month
92. The wonderful, amazing birth mother who gave us the most precious gift in the world - - we will love her forever
93. Knowing that we're a forever family
94. Knowing that someday I'll be able to stop changing diapers (please, oh please)
95. Learning to trust my gut when it comes to figuring out what is best for my kids
96. Working together with the most wonderful husband in the world
97. All our crazy memories and adventures, like the time we had to spend the night in the Malad middle school because of a blizzard
98. How fast Noah can run, except it's not so great when I'm chasing him through Wal-mart
99. How even total strangers have helped out when Noah has gotten lost in stores because he has outrun me
100. Jumping to the front of the line at Disneyland
101. Seeing Ethan and Noah become more independent
102. Knowing that Meredith is, for now, completely dependent on me
103. Knowing that nothing in the world is more important or more precious than the job I'm doing raising these three fantastic, wonderful, amazing children

(Note to all my friends who are mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, or teachers - - this was really a wonderful exercise for me, I've been in a great mood thinking up all the things I love about my life, and I could come up with a million more!)