Unexpected Blessings

Today I am grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who loves and watches over my family.

Just a few hours ago, I was driving home from the store with Liam. At the best of times, Liam despises his carseat and this was definitely not the best of times. He was tired, a little hungry, and just plain fussy. (Since I went back to work last Monday, Liam has been increasingly fussy during the day and not sleeping very well at night. I think it's separation anxiety.)

Anyway, he was crying and getting pretty frantic with trying to shove his whole fist in his mouth, but missing and kind of bopping himself in the forehead. It would have been funny if he wasn't crying. He doesn't take a pacifier, so I did the next best thing. I reached back and stuck my finger in his mouth. Now, my arms are not very long so it was a pretty uncomfortable position. It worked for about 4 seconds, then Liam realized nothing to eat came out of the finger and started crying again. I'm not the kind of mom who freaks out if my baby cries a little bit, but he was getting hysterical. So I tried the finger again, not wanting to stop and nurse him when I was, by this time, only 5 minutes from home. Again, it worked for a few seconds. So with my arm going numb and hurting quite a bit, I drove for a few more minutes.

Liam had just started crying again so I rested my arm briefly and then stuck my finger back in his mouth. He cried for a few seconds and then all of a sudden, there was silence. Cue me freaking out. He has a baby proof mirror attached to his carseat so I looked in the rearview mirror to see if something had happened...if he somehow stopped breathing or something...a million things ran through my mind in an instant. What did I see? He was asleep. Totally, completely, sound asleep...after just screaming literally a second before.

I took my finger out of his mouth and finally started paying more attention to the road. I was on a curvy part of the road and it was dark. I put on my brights and immediately applied the brakes because there was a huge buck standing in the middle of my lane. I came to a full stop and the deer slowly walked to the other lane and into the woods. As I rolled the car past the place where the deer had been, I felt a sudden chill and all I could think was, "Thank you!" All this happened not 15 seconds after Liam fell asleep. If he had still been awake...if my arm was still reached back to him and I was distracted, I never would have seen that deer. I am so very thankful that Heavenly Father helped me pay close attention when it mattered most. I can't give words to how grateful I am that He is watching over me and kept Liam and I safe tonight.

I am so thankful for my little Liam.