Perfect

Nobody's perfect.

No parent is perfect, always giving their child exactly what he or she wants and needs at every second of the day.

We do our best, but personally, I'm not always up for the challenge.

I've recently decided that my two beautiful children are perfect, however, despite their imperfect parents.

Not perfect in a sleeping-through-the-night-at-one-month kind of perfect.  And not perfect like a always-well-behaved toddler kind of way.

They are perfect just the way they are because they are them and because they are mine.

A one-month old isn't meant to sleep through the night.  If mine did, I would probably wonder what was wrong.

A toddler isn't meant to sit still and always color within the lines.  Or even always color on the paper.

They are meant to test the limits.  Every limit.  Every time.  It's infuriating, but it's what they are meant to do.

Having Bennett reminded me how each child is their own little self right from the get-go.

As a parent, you are lucky to get to know this little soul inside and out.

Bennett's velvet soft feet are perfect in their way, but Orelia's dirt-under-the-toenails feet are just as perfect.

Our family has been granted these two little people to share our lives with.

There are highs (sharing a laugh over a spoon placed on the nose) and there are lows (holding a hungry newborn while the firstborn sobs demanding attention), but such is life.

Life is meant to be messy and complicated and hard at times and also beautiful and sweet and simple the other times.

I'm learning to appreciate the perfection that is the imperfection of life.  Getting to wear a spit-up stained shirt and smudged glasses is a badge of honor.  The tears are hard, but being able to comfort your crying child is a beautiful thing.

Our children are lucky to have one another to walk through life with.

Orelia tries her hardest to help with Bennett in any way she can, which often means he's touched a tad roughly, his arm is a bit smushed under her weight, or his beloved pacifier is ripped from his mouth unexpectedly.  Things are already messy between them, and they have years of messiness to look forward to together.

When people ask how things are going with the new baby, I should respond that things are perfect.  Perfectly scraped knees and perfect fast food dinners.   Perfectly tangled hair.  Dirty laundry.  Dusty house.

We are living our lives in our perfectly imperfect family.

(Photos by the wonderful Kristin Dokoza.)