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She sat comfortably against the curve of Ursa’s belly, four canine legs wrapped around her waist as we explained that those four legs would soon be three.

She contemplated the news.

Tears burned at the back of my eyes watching my two first borns, daydreaming about life before my heart carried this weight and my stomach this fear-induced knot.

She noticed. She always does.

Mommy, it’s okay. I’m now three. And Ursa will have three legs. You know, three’s a pretty great number.

Three is a pretty great number.

Like that, she had processed what for me has been a heart stopping, gut wrenching, horrifying, drawn out stream of emotion and heart ache.

It burned, that moment of unexpected joy amidst such grief, the friction of those seemingly incongruous emotions slamming into one another.

And so I released those tears, for they were now tears of gratitude. Gratitude for the simplicity and brilliance of a child’s mind.

I must remember to live more like these four. They’re my best chance of survival.

Photos: Courtesy of Ashley Weeks Cart

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This post was entered as part of the The Unexpected contest over at Momalom, courtesy of 3 Sprouts. Because, when I’m feeling this blue, the addition of some outrageously adorable, animal-themed goodies for my girls sure couldn’t hurt. We were gifted the Hippo towel when Sunny was born. It is still very much in bath time rotation. Given that the new house is in desperate need of toy organization, I want one of these in every animal. And this purple cow, because, obviously .