One of "Those" Weeks

Last week was one of those weeks when it seemed like everything about our day to day schedule seemed a little bit harder than usual. Like I said.... one of "those" weeks.
It all started when Emily was up all Wednesday night with the croup and spent Thursday and Friday coughing and burning up with fever. (And of course because she wasn't feeling well insisted on being held all day every day.) By Sunday things seemed to be a little better. However she still had a runny nose so we made the decision to keep her home so she hopefully wouldn't spread any germs to the other kids in nursery. Little did I know that all the kids would be staying home from church that day. As I was doing Becky and Julianne's hair for church I found head lice!!! YUCK!!!!!!! So I ran to the store and picked up some stuff to treat it before Joe left for church. Now if you have ever dealt with lice you know what the next few days were like for me. If not, I'll tell you!
I had to strip down ALL the beds and wash everything in hot water. I had to wash all the girls toys. Wash all of everyones clothes, and all the blankets, rugs and towels in the house. Vacuum the couch and the floor, and put anything that couldn't be washed into air tight bags. If you add it up it's like 30 loads of laundry in a two day period. Not to mention the stinky solution I had to put on the girls hair and then the painful process of pulling all the bugs and eggs out of the girls hair. You would think that after doing all of the we would be done right? Nope! Tuesday morning I found more bugs and we had to go through the whole process again!
I haven't mentioned yet that during this whole fiasco Emily and Dallin were not doing so well either.
Emily went straight from cold and croup symptoms to the stomach flu and threw up all Sunday night and Monday (which didn't help with the laundry situation). And Dallin woke up Monday with a fever and cough and was sick until Thursday.
At one point during the week when I was up to my ears in laundry, holding 2 crying, sick little kids, and trying to dodge complaints of boredom from the older girls because they couldn't go anywhere or play with anyone until the lice was gone I thought, "I'm not cut out for this job!!!"

I remember my mom saying that just as she would get a little frustrated with the mundane of everyday life...some one would get sick, the car would break down, or something else would happen to throw everything upside down. And she would remember to count her blessings.

So now that we're through all of this and I feel like my head is back above water, I've repented for all the negative "murmuring" I did all week about my job, and I decided to list a few of my favorite things about being a mom.

1. I love stealing kisses from a nursing baby just before they eat.
2. I love that my kids think that I'm the smart one. (My brilliant husband has two degrees and is one of the smartest people I know, but when he tells the kids something they always look at me and ask, "Is that true Mom?")
3. I love having an excuse to watch Disney movies.
4. I love scooping up a baby from the bath in a big fluffy towel and rocking them to sleep.
5. I love being my kids #1 fan.
6. I love have the excuse to dress up and have tea parties.
7. I love being the first one to see first steps, hear first words, and hear about what happened during their day at school.
8. I love watching my kids love each other.
9. I love how being a mother has made me appreciate my own mother so much more.
10. I love how being a mother has taught me so much about how much Heavenly Father loves us.

These are only a few things, obviously there are more, but it's things like this that help me remember why I became a mom in the first place. And of course, it's a big help when it comes to getting through one of "those" weeks.