Life is good.

We are happy when, for everything inside us, there is a corresponding something outside us ~ W.B. Yeats

While jamming out in my rockin' grocery getter to Justin Bieber's My World 2.0 today, I glanced back at Lila in the rearview mirror and saw a smiley little girl with windblown hair, whispering "baby, baby, baby ohhh...", eyes staring off into the distance and shoulders swaying. She was me. We were both drinking in the moment, content to just chill out and focus on simple pleasures. AJ swiftly interrupted our shared Biebs bliss with "Mommy, I have to go potty. Right now. It's poo." Sweet.

I'm constantly reminded of how much Lila and AJ are mini-me's of myself and Ang. Yet, moreso, I am seeing that they are ultimately becoming who they are. And it's hilarious and wonderful at the same time. Some examples:

o n   b e h a v i o r . . .
Me: Why were you just so naughty? What were you thinking about?
Lila: I don't know, Mom. Sometimes I am naughty but really happy at the same time.

o n   d r e a m s . . .
AJ: Mommy, when I dream, I dream about you, and I see your hair on a pillow and your arms hugging me.

o n   a p p r e c i a t i o n . . .
Lila: You are a good mommy. You take good care of us. You are probably very, very tired.

o n   m o r t a l i t y . . .
AJ: Maybe Lila can step on this bee and then God can have it. I don't like bees, but God is nice and he will like it. Lila, kill it.

o n   a n i m a l s . . .
Lila: Stella is not a sister. She looks more like a cousin. A fluffy, yellow cousin.

o n   s p i r i t u a l i t y . . .
AJ: If God made everything, and Buddha loves animals, what did Jesus do?
Lila: I think he made cheese.


As a parent, I often find myself at a lack of words and fumbling for the right thing to do. At the same time, I've never been so outspoken and sure of myself until now. I am humbled by my children one moment, a heroine to them the next. Exhilaration and exhaustion accompany me daily, toting along their self-help books and a cooler of Corona... understanding my 5pm desire for cheap therapy and a cold one.

Parenting, to me, is equal parts gut wrenching, heartbreaking, awe-inspiring, breathtaking, tiring, surprising, and freaking amazing. I have never done anything perfectly, according to the standards of most. But, by being a mom to these soulful, silly, wonderful loves, I know without a doubt in My World 2.0 that I am perfectly where I am supposed to be.

H a p p y   T h u r s d a y !