Quiet

Hayden was awake at 5:30 with a little cough. He woke me up and I trudged out of bed into the kids room. I pulled Hayden out of his crib and sat down in the rocker to nurse him back to sleep. He has had a dry cough for a couple months off and on and one of the only things that helps is nursing and DoTerra Breathe essential oils. He promptly stopped coughing and fell back asleep. Me? Wide awake. Normally I try and keep my eyes closed and relax so that I can climb back into bed and fall back asleep quickly. A strategy I have mastered over the last year. I feel deeply bad for mom's who are light sleepers. How do you do it? I'm lucky in that way. Chad is a light sleeper and has a much harder time getting the rest he needs with two young kids.

So, it's 5:45 and I am wide awake so I get dressed and go down stairs. It's eerily quiet and dark, nothing a light and my computer screens can't fix. I power on my computer and log onto my work computer. I think again how lucky I am to work from home. It's very hard sometimes and I often feel pulled in many directions but I can't deny that Heavenly Father has had his hand in organizing my life the last few years and helping me appreciate the hard times with the good.

So I work for an hour and can't help but break for a few minutes of quiet reflection before the sun and the other members of my family rise. I don't get this kind of quiet very often. There is something about the pre-morning darkness that is just a different kind of quiet. One where you can hear and feel the spirit of God a little more, don't you think? The business of the world hasn't set in yet and it's quiet for miles around. It makes me that much more grateful for all that I have.

I feel so blessed to be living in this great country and have had so many of the opportunities I've had. And my greatest blessing, to be a mother. The last few days have been hard, especially with Afton. My patience wearing thin, my head hurting from all of the questions and tantrums. I guess all I needed was a few hours of quiet on my own to regroup and realize how much I love my crazy busy life that is hardly ever quiet.

As the kids get older and older, I have been thinking more and more about the fact that this is going by too quick. I want to slow down time and speed it up all at the same time. I guess that is the beauty of life.

This post turned way more philosophical that I meant it to. More than anything I just wanted to record the thoughts of a young mom who was relishing in the quiet. It's funny how your priorities change as you get older. I used to relish in the loud, blaring music of my youth and now all I want it quiet. I'm sure many of us can relate as the world gets louder and louder each day. Have you had your "quiet" for the day?