Time Flies When You're Having Fun

I like this picture of the kids. As simple as it is, it's one of my absolute favorite pictures of the older ones. It sits on my nightstand so that it's the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before I close my eyes. Brianna looks quite happy to be the leader of this crew. Elizabeth's face captures her innocence. Emily isn't quite sure if NOW is the time to smile or not. And Matthew, totally oblivious to what's going on around him and the fact that he's fallen victim to three older SISTERS!!!! He has no idea what's in store for him in the near future! To me, this picture is the epitome of goodness and wholeness. It is the epoch of youth. It speaks volumes of sibling fun. It's the essence of a summer afternoon. It's childhood captured. It is why I enjoy having a LARGE family!

You're probably thinking..."What the heck is she rambling about?"- sorry, it's late and I'm tired. If it helps you understand bettter, then let me preface all of the above with this...

I was sitting here kind of bored and eventually found myself looking through old pics of the kids. I especially love doing this reminiscing thing with Miguel because I find it hilarious that he has difficulty telling one kid apart from the next. All of them look somewhat similar when their babies. However, I'm a MOM, and moms always knows which of their babies is which. As I'm staring at the baby pictures of each child I can't help but get sad, I find myself pondering time and where the heck it goes. Before you know it, I'll be babysitting my grandchildren. It's so easy to get caught up in the moment especially when you're busy living life, working, and trying to raise kids amidst everything else. It's easy to forget what your priorities are. It's easy to forget precious moments like this...

or this... I don't want to wake up one day and regret not taking the time to enjoy my family, my kids. From the time I was a little girl all I wanted to do was grow up and be a wife and a mommy. Well, here I am living my dream and I have no plans to wake up anytime soon! I want to savor these precious moments. I want to freeze this year and just live it over and over again for a long, long time. If only that was possible. I now know the meaning behind the saying "in the blink of an eye" --

Because in the blink of an eye, this lil guy

Became this

And this lil girl

has become this

Megan is growing like a weed as is her personality. The above picture depicts one of her educational/entertainment stunts this past weekend while attempting a flight of stairs at the cemetery we visited. Babies this age are so much fun. The best part was watching her succeed! She was so proud of herself. She started at the bottom step, then stopped midway, turned around to evaluate her progress, smiled when she realized she got caught by mommy (she knows she's not supposed to be climbing stairs), and then continued forward towards her goal! She breathed a sigh of relief (or perhaps it was weariness) once she hit the top. Ahhh, the sweet smell of success!

Okay, I'm done reminiscing for now. Sorry for the long post!

Sidenote: I wanted to post baby pics of the older three for your comparison, but sadly, I do not own a scanner. I consider their baby pictures prehistoric to date; they are from the pre-digital camera days. Oh, how I wish I had a scanner/printer! Hmmm....... birthday gift..... perhaps??? (Mom... Dad... hubby...anybody???) Just kidding. Okay, seriously, I'm not really kidding. My birthday is coming soon. Just kidding again.