I love being a mom!

As a mom, I sometimes get so caught up in the day to day "stuff" that I forget to enjoy the ride of motherhood. If you're a parent, I'm sure you can relate. Once I do take a step back, I wonder how in the world we got to where we are? Where did the time go and how are my children so grown up? This evening I had such a moment that reminded me to treasure every second.

We have been going and going non-stop around here lately. Jamie has been really busy with work, Leah is very quickly finishing up her first year of preschool, Catie's getting ready for EOG's, Amie's talking up a storm and growing all kinds of new teeth, and we've had extra children in the house for very long days the last few weeks. We've all been a little tired! Today we watched one of Leah's little friends from preschool. The girls played hard and Leah did not get a nap. She was tired! Before dinner she laid down on the couch with me, put her head on my chest and fell asleep. As I lay there feeling her breathe and her body twitch as she drifted into deeper sleep, my body literally ached with sadness. I could not remember the last time one of my children laid their heads on my chest and slept. I could not remember the last time I held one of my children and they were still. When I was the mother of a baby, that was one of my favorite things- a sleeping baby on my chest. I was so sad tonight when it really sank in that I don't have a "baby" anymore. My girls are getting to be so grown up and I have no idea how that happened. So I stayed on the couch with my sleeping girl and held her for as long as I could, just enjoying a moment of peace.

I woke her up when I got up to fix dinner. This is her best attempt at watching Kai Lan!

My sweet little Amie is growing up so fast, too! She is really trying hard to talk up a storm. Some of you know that we're a little worried that she's not talking more or clearly. She is really giving it a good effort to keep up with her sister lately though. Lately, her favorite thing to do is help me make dinner. She'll bring her chair or stool and push it up to the counter and talk me through the cooking. She'll say "Mommy, very hot!" and "Mommy, you stir it?" Then she'll yell to everyone else "dinner's ready!" It's so cute! I love making dinner with my sweet girl! Here's a picture from tonight. (For whatever reason, she wore her swimsuit most of the day?) Every time I took the camera out, she'd get off the chair so I couldn't catch one of her on the chair, but you get the idea.

She looks so innocent!

I love these girls!