Running in Circles

I turned 26 this week. I think I'm officially a twenty-something now. 

My friends made great efforts to get us out of the house and to the park to play, out to dinner, and showered me with gifts. Brice splurged on a necklace I've wanted since Christmas and Hazel tried hard to be extra good. Tomorrow is my longest training run (23 miles)and then Brice and I are spending the afternoon together getting massages. So really I've felt special and loved and appreciated all week.

My birthday was great, but all day my mind kept wandering to my own mother. I thought about what March 16th, 1990 must have been for her. I'm pretty sure her labor with me was induced, so she didn't wake up in a rush to get to the hospital. I am the third child in our family, so I tried to think about the love and feelings of overwhelm she must of felt. She already had two kids at home and they say #3 is the hardest because then as parents you're outnumbered. I thought about the contractions and recovery she had to go through. The year of breastfeeding and trying to get her body back into shape. I thought about all the feelings I've had as a mother- wanting time to myself, time to rediscover my passions, the love for our children, the love of the Savior, and the tiring days of having a new baby at home involve. I wondered how many tiems I fought naps when my mom was desperate for me totake one or what was I like when i was teething and potty-training. 

The birth of a baby is the most special day, but it is followed by a lifetime of emotion and effort and I'm just so grateful to have been born into a family that has loved and cared for me- and for parents that made sacrifices and hard choices to welcome babies into their family.