A day in the life...

(BEWARE -- this is a high-volume picture post!!)

I have been feeling a bit sentimental lately. This is a recurring feeling, and something that makes its' way into my mind quite often! I've been having those feelings of wanting to my kids to stop growing up so fast, wanting time to pause right now because I am just so totally head-over-heels in love with the phases they are all in right now. I wish it could stay just as is! Since I know that will never happen and that I'll blink and they will be 20 years older, I have tried to be more conscious of just being in the moment. Taking a few seconds longer to linger in the cuddles that they still so freely give me. Letting a moment of laughter carry itself out until the moment passes, instead of laughing for a second and then hurrying off to get something done. Getting down on the floor and seeing the world from the level my kids are at. Enjoying making pancakes and letting the kids choose what design they want me to make out of the whip cream. Not being so quick to straighten up when Avery pulls out every single piece of tupperware to choose which "hat" she wants to wear. Giving the kids a few more pushes on the swings at the park, because truly, nothing makes them happier! Even the nightly routine of kids NOT going to sleep is so much better when I laugh more at their silly antics! They really are hilarious little people, HILARIOUS! 

Life is sooooo much more enjoyable and happy when I stop and take more time to enjoy the moments instead of being so quick to get to the next thing. It's a lesson I feel like I have to revisit and relearn ALL the time, because I so quickly get back into old habits of hurrying and worrying. When it all boils down, the truth is, nothing in this world brings me greater happiness than these three beautiful gifts I've been given (of course, I also include my fourth gift -- Chris -- but a post on him another time!) and to have the opportunity to spend my days in the presence of their creativity and joy and light is what makes life worth living! Why would anyone in their right mind try and hurry through days like the ones I get to have?! 

So, while I know life will never slow down, that my kids will never stop growing up faster than I want them to, I can choose to live deeply and consciously in the moments I am given with them. I can choose to acknowledge and notice and love even the smallest smiles, laughs, words, faces, hugs that I get to experience with them. I feel like the luckiest lady to have this family I have and I will work hard and constantly evaluate my perspective as often as it takes to not ever take them for granted! Love you, my sweet familia!

 In response to these feelings I have been feeling lately, I have tried to be more conscious of keeping my camera close by and taking pictures of these little moments. To anyone else, they will probably seem boring or pointless. But to me, these are the moments I am talking about! Someday, even in a few months (since that is how quickly life changes), I will be able to look at these pictures and remember what my kids were doing, what an "average" day was like with them. How cute their hair was when they first wake up, how Avery looked sitting in her high chair, how they love to sit outside every day and have lunch on the porch. Trips to the park that never seem to get old for the girls, even if it's the same park we've been to 100 times. I don't get to have these moments forever and that makes me sad. So, I want to hold on to them in this way. So, here is what a day in our lives looks like. Nothing spectacular, but so amazing nonetheless! I treasure how average, yet remarkable these captured moments are and how much emotion they stir in me! I know I will treasure them even more when this time in life has passed and I no longer have three LITTLE girls!

 

Life is so good, sooooo good, with these beautiful girls!