I've been hearing some new sentences all the time around our house. "Mama, you look so beautiful." "Mama, you're so beautiful." "Mama, what a beautiful dress." "Mama, your hair is so beautiful." And at first, I found myself very surprised by these statements. Mostly because when Adelyn tells me my dress is "so beautiful", I'm wearing a breastmilk stained maternity/nursing robe. Or when she tells me my hair looks "beautiful", I haven't washed it for two days, and I have bed head on top of more bed head, on top of slobber and pureed pears caked in it.
Then I saw this:
I think my children are the most beautiful things I've ever seen on the face of this earth. I could stare at them forever. I know every freckle. Every eyelash. Every streak of blond in Adelyn's hair. Every shade of blue in their eyes. I know every line on Tobin's fingers. They are simply--beautiful.
If I feel that way about my children, how might they feel about me? I love them. I feed them. I laugh with them. I hold them when they cry. I sing to them. I rock them. I am there for them, literally, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, forever. So what if I'm wearing a mint green robe with milk stains? To Adelyn and Tobin, it is the robe that I wear when we cuddle in bed in the mornings. When we're being lazy, and just hanging out together. When we're stretching out our mornings. It was my daily uniform when I first came home from the hospital with them both. So what if I haven't washed my hair in two days? It is the same hair that blows in the wind when we play outside together. It is the same hair that Adelyn brushes. It is the same hair Tobin plays with while he nurses.
There is only one way to answer the question: why does Adelyn think I look beautiful, when I don't think there is any way that I can. The answer is simple: love. Love looks past the outward appearance. Love sees the person. Not the milk-stained robe. Not the dirty hair. Love sees the heart. Love sees the truth. Love sees real beauty.
Thankful for love. Thankful for real beauty. Thankful for Adelyn's words. Thankful for Tobin's smiles. Thankful for this sweet life.
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| Poor Casey was very upset that he couldn't have cupcakes for dinner. :) |
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