Do our biggest trials, bring the most joy?

Tonight I was playing with Parker who is 2 1/2 years old. He was in a silly mood and kept pretending to eat my eyes and nose and then when I would say " hey! that was my eye!" he would bust up laughing. He has one of those laughs that is full of life and you cant help but laugh just listening to him. We giggled and laughed together for quite a while. When I finally got him tucked in bed, and was helping him say his prayers, I began to reflect. I thought back to when he was born and how far we have come since. 
When Parker was born, it seemed everything that could go wrong did. He almost had to come emergency C-section. His heart rate kept dropping with every contraction. My blood pressure was thru the roof, and to make things worse, the epidural didn't work!! After he was finally born, it seemed he did nothing but eat and cry. I even sent him to the nursery once because I didn't know what to do. 30 minutes later, they brought him back because they said he was starving and wouldn't stop crying. Little did they know, I had been feeding him non stop!! That was just the beginning. I nursed Parker every hour for almost 6 weeks. He had more than doubled his birth weight by the time he was 6 weeks old. He continued to cry and nurse every two hours until he was 16 months old. This was also the time he slept thru the night for the very first time! I didn't last though. To this day, I can probably count on both hands how many times he has slept thru the night. I was so sleep deprived and depressed!!  Parker was by far the most difficult baby ever!!! It has been a trial that has brought me more patients and appreciation for the good moments. 
I look at my happy loving mischievous full of life 2 year old little boy now and all I see and feel is pure love. I don't know if it is possible to love any little boy more than I love him. I love everything about him. He still is stubborn  and has to have everything just a certain way or he throws a major TT (temper tantrum) but when he is done, he will climb on my lap and let me rock him, and my heart overflows with love. Having Parker was one of the biggest trials I have ever faced, and I do believe that that trial has brought me that much more appreciation for all that is good. I don't take advantage of the snuggles, or the laugh's or the 50 million prayers I have to say before he will go to bed every night. I love my life, I love my son, and I love being a mother to my 5 amazing kids!! Life is hard sometimes, but the blessings that Heavenly Father sends us every day if we choose to see them, far outweigh the hard times. 

                                       How can you not love a face like that? :)