I feel like I'm emerging from battle.

I had a post half-written in my mind several days ago about how much I love being a parent and how I always felt like I was wandering through life with some kind of void-- something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on-- before Camden came along. It's funny because there were times when I even questioned what kind of parent I would be in my life pre-Camden. Would I be selfless enough? Would I miss my freedom, or lazy weekend mornings where I could sleep until 10 if I felt like it, or the ability to be spontaneous? Would I have enough patience? Would being a mom come naturally to me?

And then I met him a little over two years ago and every silly doubt I ever had about becoming a mom flew out the window the second I saw his tiny, perfect face. Truly, it was that instantaneous. And rather than dwindling over time, that love has only grown. Parenthood, in so many ways, was that evasive missing link in my life. I'm far from a perfect parent, but I've never for a second doubted that I was meant to be Camden's mom.

So, yes-- that was the post written in my mind when I was attempting to fall asleep several nights ago. And then, as if Camden got a preview of what I was planning to write, he woke up the next morning with a wicked case of the stomach flu. It was like he was saying, Oh yeah? Do you love this part of parenthood too?! 

 Holy wow, it was brutal. You might recall that we did have prior experience with the stomach flu around Christmas time-- in fact, Camden threw up on Christmas morning. But this time around was much more difficult. Camden was extremely lethargic, to the point where he wouldn't move from the couch and if I attempted to get him into a sitting position, his head would slump to the side. Dehydration became a major concern and I launched everyone in my family into panic mode. After a call to the on-call nurse at our pediatrician's office, lots of rest, many episodes of Mickey Mouse, force feeding him Pedialyte, and about 3,000 diaper changes-- Camden seems to have emerged on the other side of this nasty virus. I have never been more thankful to see him running around in high gear as I was today. Good health is not something to be taken for granted.

life is good.