…the way Noah gets so excited when I pour a bath for him. He makes the awesomest noises and squirms around in my arms until I put him in the water.

…how I have to brush Bella’s alligator’s teeth as bribery before she’ll let me brush hers. She makes me brush his teeth and when I’m done, she makes him watch as I brush hers.

…the way Austin always observes my needs. He notices how I’m feeling and always tries to support me and help me. He’s way ahead of his time. I so love him and his sweet ways. He’s going to be an outstanding man one day.

…when Jeremy compliments me. And he does all the time. He convinces me that I’m pretty, even when I feel frumpy. He knows when I need to get my hair done or when I need some time alone. He works so hard every day and then comes home with open arms to grab a baby, feed them the dinner I prepared, and play with them while I go to the gym. I love the way he compliments my mothering. He knows how important it is to me to be good at it. I wonder if he knows that he’s the beautiful one, inside and out.

…tripping over toys and crunching cheerios between my toes in order to travel from one room to the next.

…dirty fingerprints on the television screen, mirrors, and walls. They make me smile. So much so that I had to do them in paint in a special place that I’ll never have to wipe them off of.

…the way I miss the babies when they go to bed, and the sweetness of Bella cuddling with her books and “babies”.

…the way they smell.

…the sound of Austin and Bella playing together.

…the forts Austin makes Bella all over the house with every blanket he can find. She tears them down as fast as he can put them up. His frustrated patience with her is adorable.

…the way my house smells. And the laundry. The fresh sheets I have time to hang on the clothes line now that I’m not working.

…Bella’s wild hair. Especially when it has jelly in it. I think there’s nothing cuter than a child who looks like she enjoys every bite she eats. By lunchtime she has paint on her clothes, milk on her moustache, food in her hair, and playdough in her pull-ups.

…wearing the look of a mommy. I take my clothes of at the end of the day to take my shower and find cookie crumbs and cheerios in my braziere. I have snot marks on my t-shirt. I usually have something sticky and unknown tangled in my ponytail.

…the way Noah’s eye gets squinchy when he smiles his biggest smile. I have a squinchy eye when I smile too, although it’s the other eye on me!

…and the mooshy, gooshy feeling I get when they smile…