"We Can Do It!"

"Mommy, I need you to put Cinderella's dress on."

"In a moment.  I don't have enough hands right now."  At this point I was feeding Jacob a bottle while reading a book to him.

"You need to try.  You're a big girl.  Big girls can do anything!"

Now the pressure was on...  Surprisingly, I was able to hold the bottle under my chin, prop the book on my knee AND put Cinderella's tiny plastic arms through her blue sleeves.  SUPER MOM!!  I was the only one impressed by this act, of course.  It is nice to know that Em has faith in me.  Her words of encouragement have become my mantra lately.

July has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  Jason and I celebrated a wonderful 7th wedding anniversary.  My MRI results are in -- No new lesions!  Then my mom's best friend passed away unexpectedly.  I'm very sad for her family and for my mom.  She was an amazing person and will be terribly missed.  I hosted book club this month.  I LOVE my book club and had a great evening with friends.  Jacob was diagnosed with a mild case of chicken pox the same day.  Deep breaths.  Big girls can do anything.

Thank God for my little girl who reminds me to laugh even during times of stress.  We were waiting in the exam room for Jacob's 3rd appointment this week (awesome) when she said, "Mommy, You need to think about my burp."  Huh? Took me a moment...  Then I recalled our conversation earlier in the week in which I told her she doesn't have to tell me every single time she burps.  "You can just think it.  Don't say it."  Apparently she misunderstood.  I giggled while trying to stop Jacob from wrinkling and shredding what was left of the exam table paper.  Em used the tiny bits to make it snow and then the doctor walked in.  Don't mind us, we're just thinking about burps and making a mess!  Captain Destruction here is hoping you'll just ask us to leave and skip the whole pox check this time.  No??  We tried.

Jacob looks a thousand times better than he did a few days ago.  I got a lot done this weekend and even managed a dance in Old Navy with my favorite little girl to some ridiculous techno song.  The last thing I want to do is make Em think she's wrong.  If anything, I need to remember that she's absolutely right.  Big girls can put on doll dresses while feeding a baby, make it snow in July, cope with a stressful month, and dance in public. The world will not end when my 4 year old announces a burp (again) or when she colors on the wood floors like she did this evening.  I can handle it.  Thank God for washable markers!