The most rewarding part of being a mother is seeing my children accomplish their little milestones. My son was diagnosed with autism and hearing him say any word melts my heart. I love to see my children grow and feel all of their love and know that if I don’t have anyone else’s love, I have theirs. Their little random “I love you”s and their random hugs reminds me everyday that I don’t need to be perfect but being 100% present means everything to them.

A memory that I will never forget is seeing my son play with my daughter for the first time. They set up cups on the floor like bowling pins, and threw a ball to knock them over. My son has autism so he never really interacts with other kids. They had the biggest smiles and the loudest laughs. I got on the floor with them and began playing with them also to take advantage of the moment and interact with them. I’m glad I was able to get a video of the moment, I don’t want to forget it.

What I would do with $20,000? I really want to find a home to buy but if that’s not possible then at least rent, because my children and I are living in an apartment that was infested with roaches. I’ve learned how to control the infestation to my best ability, but it’s hard so I really want to get my children into a nice, comfortable, clean home. If I have anything extra after that, I want to take my children on a vacay, even take them on a little shopping spree because they’re always growing!