Bumps, bruises and Rasberries

We have a house full of kids that are completely mobile. Josiah has been pulling himself up on anything he can find, including inside his crib. The first picture was taken about a week ago and it was great to have everyone looking at the camera. What the picture doesn't show is that moments after I snapped a few pics, Josiah lost his grip from the walker and tipped over with a marginal floor impact. He was recovering on his own pretty well until Alexa decided she wanted to get a move on. She made several attempts to push Joe out of her way, using the walker as a bit of a snowplow and then it turned ugly. Alana rolled and bounced her head on the floor and then Alexa decided to join in realizing that if everyone else was in tears she should too.

Last night, I had some trauma of my own. Alana had just finished practicing standing by the coffee table and I sat her down in what I thought was a safe place. Sure enough, as Rebecca and I both watched, each with a baby in our arms, she rolled with increasing accelleration to make full impact with her forehead on the bottom shelf of the coffee table. Of course, the The tears flowed immediately and did not stop for at least 15 minutes.

I watched the rasberry get bigger and bigger during this entire time and my own fear started as I realized that each of them will get hurt at some point. In this entire process of being a parent, I have moments where reality of three kids hits. That heavy reality of providing(food to college), protection (bruises to bullies) and permanent chaos. It is only momentary but it is a reminder that I am in way over my head. Thankfully, these are just moments and don't last long at all and are quickly replaced with the smiles that soon follow.