A Night in the Chair

The week before last, just before I woke up with the flu, Charlie woke up one night around 10:30 pm crying.  I ran up the stairs, since this isn't a common occurrence around here anymore {thankfully}.  Poor girl wasn't feeling well.  She was all stuffed up and congested, so sleeping was really difficult, even though she was exhausted.

So I picked her up out of the crib, and curled her into my lap as I sat in the rocking chair.  I kept her head elevated and she promptly fell asleep in my arms.  I then proceeded to sit there for the next hour and gently rocked her back and forth.  {and yes I took pictures...I know how few and far between these moments are!}

As I rocked, I'd be lying if I said tears weren't slipping down my cheeks.  It has been so long since I got to hold one of my babies while they slept, rocking them in the chair.  I thought about the probably hundreds of hours I have spent sitting in this spot over the past 5 1/2 years.

I first sat here as an expecting mother, rubbing my rounding belly, wondering and dreaming of the child I was carrying and the new role of motherhood.  I had no idea who this little person was, or would become, or how my life was about to change.

I then spent many many hours rocking, shushing, feeding, and calming my new sweet bundle of joy in that chair.  Sometimes while marveling at the wonder of this new life, and sometimes crying and begging for her to go to sleep, just for a little while.

The process then repeated itself again when I was pregnant with Charlie.  More wondering and dreaming, followed by many newborn snuggles in the wee hours.  I cannot count how many times I stared out at this view with a baby in my arms.

Emmy moved out of the nursery a few years and Charlie is constantly on the go, way more little girl than toddler even these days!  So my opportunities to just sit and rock them are few and far between now.  You can bet I soaked up every minute.

It's been amazing to watch each of my girls grow from tiny little babies into young girls with their own personalities and opinions.  But there are moments that make me long for those sweet newborn days, and yes even those sleepless nights!  Since those are long gone I made sure to take advantage of this precious opportunity I was given, and rocked Charlie long after she needed to be that night.  It is true what they say, babies just don't keep.