Mommy, Will You Please?

"Nana, just get out of the kitchen!" I groaned at the family dog. She couldn't help but follow her nose, which inevitably leads her into the kitchen where she is constantly underfoot. I was frantically trying to throw together the crust for some lemon bars, cook chicken for dinner, and talk Reece through the process of putting her shoes away:

1. Pick up the shoes.
2. Walk to the shoe basket (which was about 15 feet away).
3. Put the shoes in the basket.

Simple enough, and yet this resulted in a catastrophic amount of tears, Reece in a puddle on the floor, all while Marley was crying. I escorted Reece up to her bedroom and told her that she needed to lay on her bed until she could calm down. 

I went downstairs and sat down to nurse the baby. Halfway through feeding Marley I realized that I had forgotten to set the timer on the crust for the lemon bars. I hurriedly got up, guessed at how long the crust had been in the oven, and set a timer. 

At this point, I was completely flustered and frazzled. 

Marley finished eating and Reece came downstairs happy and ready to put her shoes away. Hooray! I went back into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. I had to get everything cooked and prepared before 3:00pm because the missionaries were coming over for dinner at 5:00pm and I had piano lessons to teach from 3:00-5:00pm. Meanwhile, Reece had begun playing with her helium Valentine's Day balloon and was my happy, cheerful girl once again.

"Mom, look at this!" Reece said. She took her balloon and hit it against her head and then proceeded to laugh hysterically. This made me laugh, which prompted her to do it again. And she laughed hysterically. I got down on the floor and she hit me with the balloon, which made us both laugh. Can I just say that there is nothing better than laughing with your kids? 

Best. Feeling. Ever.

I gave her a kiss on her head and continued to get dinner ready. A second later I heard a loud pop. I turned to see Reece holding the limp shell of a helium balloon with a look of horror and shock on her face. Her mouth turned in to a frown and I knelt down and gave her a hug. She started to cry and asked me what happened to her balloon. It's amazing how the things that break their hearts, as simple as they may be, break yours as well.

I feebly explained that her balloon popped, and that once a balloon has popped, it can't be fixed. She spent the next couple of minutes begging me to fix her balloon. I got her calmed down and then moved on to making the filling for the lemon bars. 

Just a minute later Reece started to cry over her balloon. Again. I hate to admit that I was getting tired and losing my patience. But then from my sweet, blue-eyed, teary-voiced little girl came the words, "Mommy, will you please hold me?" My mind instantly thought about how quickly she's growing, and how I don't know how much longer she will actually want me to hold her. I put down the whisk and scooped her up. Tears blurred my vision as hers dampened my shirt. I just stood there and held her. 

That was my moment to realize that I need to take every opportunity to hold that sweet girl. To give her a hug. To sit and giggle with her over something as silly as a balloon. To kiss her cheek. In fact, tonight as I was tucking her in, I kissed her cheek and then kissed her forehead. 

She said, "Mommy, you already kissed me!" 

"Well, I wanted to kiss you twice!" I said.

"But why?"

"Because I love you! Goodnight Reecie."

"I love you too, Mommy."

Guys, my heart melted. I came downstairs and snuggled little miss MJ in the rocking chair for a few minutes. I am determined to soak up every minute and every ounce of them while they are still little, and while they still say, "Mommy, will you please hold me?"