If I were to list the joys that motherhood brings, the list would be endless.

Andi touches my face and says, ” I miss you, Mommy!” (to think I was with her the whole day!)

Andi stands up from the back seat and touches the shoulder of JA while he was driving and said, “I love you!” (This was just last week. It was the first time she said it on her own without me coaching her.)

We were looking at pictures in my camera, and she saw the picture of Andrew, the baby of my friend Jiji (her youngest of 5 kids!) and she laid her hands on the picture and said, “Bless baby, in Jesus’ name, Amen!”

The other day, Andi was going through her books and then she looked to me and JA and said, “Jesus loves me! “

Andi usually gets confused with the words sorry and excuse me. She usually says sorry when she wants to get in a tight space and I would usually correct her. This morning, she was pushing the chair so she can move freely, and I heard her say, “It’s not sorry… Excuse me!”

We were eating one time and she wanted to have puto (rice cake). I told her we did not have any. She told me, “Ask Lolo, buy puto!” My mother in law said she knows who to ask when she wants to buy something.

We went out of town last Holy Week and I showed her where the mountains were. She said excitingly, “Look Mommy! Clouds touching tall mountain!” (She got the tall mountain from Dora)

The computer plug fell on my foot and I said, “Ouch!” She went to me and asked, “What happened?! Oh no, mommy!” And thought for awhile, then she looked at me, tapped my back and said, “That’s okay.” (I usually tell her that when she falls or she hurts herself. I tell her that it’s okay and I usually kiss her and she says, “No more na ouchie!”)

She was talking and talking one morning and she told me,” Mommy want baby brother.” I am not really sure if she understood what she said this time :-)

I was in the bathroom and Andi was in the bedroom going through some of our books. When I went out of the bathroom, I saw her skimming through our prayer books (as if she could actually read them) and I heard her say over and over again, “Bless Daddy, Bless Mommy, Bless Andi, in Jesus’ name, Amen!”

JA and I were saying our goodnight prayers with her and she got the book Power of the Praying Parent and the Bless your Children Everyday book and started praying for me. These are the books I usually use to pray for her and bless her. (Here’s a picture. Glad we were able to capture the moment.)

She asked me just tonight, Mommy, where’s the rod? I pointed where it was. She got it and gave it to me and said, “Say no, please?! ” I told her that the reason mommy rods her is because mommy loves her and mommy wants her to be blessed by God. She nodded and said, “Okay!”

We usually ask her, What’s your name?, and she replies, “Andi Moran!” What is daddy’s name? She answers, “JA Moran!”. We continue, what’s mommy’s name? She answers, “Anna Moran!” (She got it eventually. For the longest time she answers, Mommy Moran!”) We asked her what Jean’s (our household help) name? She answered with a confused look “…Jean?” We explained that Jean had a different surname.

She loves playing with friends. And she is blessed to have so many! One time I asked her, Is Jazmine your friend? She nodded. She said, “Yes, good friend!”

Andi loves the camera and I honestly think she has the gift of acting and performing. This is one of the funniest that I have seen her and I got to take a video of it while we were eating lunch at home, just this noon.

Plus there’s the countless hugs and kisses that fill up my day… :-)
The list is endless. And really I could go on and on and on. She is just 1year 10months! Imagine the joys she is yet to bring to us!

Truly children are a blessing. They are wonderful gifts from God. And the thing about them is that they actually do not need to do anything to bring us joy. They simply are endless sources of it!

I love being a mom.

Psalm 127:3 Children are a reward from the Lord, they are a gift from Him. (NLT)