sigh.

I'm so exhausted today. I'm exhausted other days, too, and I'm sure I'll be exhausted tomorrow because that's just how it goes when you have a baby who is finally getting a tooth, or teeth, and one who has a ratchety horrible cough that shakes his entire self, and another who has glands so swollen in his neck that the sweet little neck is level with his little ears, and another who has mastered the art of the Snotty Retort.

It's days like these that make a mama nap seem more like a requirement than a luxury. It's days like these when the bar gets lowered right down to the floor, when my expectations fly right out the window and never look back. It's days like these that make me really proud of myself for being able to get five seconds to wash my face, and remembering to change diapers and making mealtime happen.

And it's days like these that seem to never end. I'm not surprised when the baby wakes up for the fourth time after being put to bed again and again and again.

But, it's days like these that are the fleeting ones. The ones that I'll never get back. The days I can hold and cuddle and console and nurse my sweet ones, who are growing bigger and faster and changing right before my eyes.

And so I go, back up the stairs, to wrap my arms around the one who needs me. Because now is my time.