FREEZE!!

(That's what I want to tell time.)

I remember when Anna-Kate was a newborn and I thought life couldn't possibly get any sweeter and that the newborn stage was the best. Then she grew...and I thought the same thing with each stage, for each child. Suddenly, I realized that I have three kids and my oldest is 4 and is a blossoming little lady, so independent. I'm gonna get weepy just writing this, but they just grow up too fast!

For now, I am *the* person in my kids' lives. I can make them smile the quickest. I know how to comfort like no one else can. I treasure this time...and I feel it rushing by me faster than I can truly appreciate it and "drink in" the moments.

I want to remember lunch today, because it was perfect, one of those moments that, as a mother, you sit back and just take a mental picture to remember and look back at on days that aren't so pretty (and, we all know what those days are like!). We were sitting at lunch today (at Moes, where kids' eat free on Sunday!). Jack was in his carseat smiling and cooing, (a miracle in and of itself) and the kids had eaten their lunches with no complaint. "Ain't no Mountain High Enough" was playing and Ryan started dancing, then I did, then Chris and Anna-Kate did. I felt a little goofy and realized we were "those people" who were a little freaky, then I thought that someday, if I were to do that, it might embarrass my kids. That's when I stopped and just watched, to soak in the moment. Anna-Kate reached over and gave me a big hug and kiss and said, "Mama, I want to stay your little girl forever! I only want to get as big as 10, then you just stop feeding me so I won't grow anymore". I obviously laughed, but deep down I wanted to cry. I don't want them to grow up! (I mean, a little independence and self-sufficiency help my life, but when Jack is 4, Anna-Kate will be eight!). Even as a little girl I knew that when I grew up I wanted to be a wife and a mom. That was my "career goal", if you will. Chris said to Anna-Kate, "of course you want to grow up, you can't get married and have babies unless you grow up!" (speaking at her level, you see). She said, "O, well, I just want to stay little and live with my Mommy and be her little girl forever."