Enjoying the Small Things

We got back from San Francisco last week and reality and everyday life set in. I knew the post-vacation blues would probably set in, so I took the initiative this time to try and beat them. There were a few things I did. I unpacked the car right away and we took it to the local car wash to vacuum it out. This helps, because the only thing worse than a messy, unpacked house, is a messy, unpacked car added to it! We came home Saturday and by Monday morning I had worked my butt off to unpack all the suitcases, put them away in the attic, made the choice to fold (and put away) the laundry, instead of putting it off, AND I even took the opportunity while my husband was home and the kids were napping to get the grocery shopping done. BAM! I knocked those post vacation blues out of the park! 

I also did something else I hadn't done in awhile. I picked up my (moms really nice) camera and photographed the little things of our morning. Like playing trains with Koa, watching Koa sing to an old Frank Sinatra record that was on and laughing with him, reading Green Eggs and Ham, and Norah waving "bye" with her "purse" (an old lunch bag) on her shoulder. Each photo I snapped, I reviewed later on and smiled remembering each small thing that made me smile.

  

I just turned a new page in my life and I quit my nannying job to go full time with my little business of making jewelry and baby shoes (you can check it out HERE!), but as I had my last week babysitting, I focused hard on my kids and put my phone away more and really just tried to tune into them. Snapping these photos makes me think of how fast they are growing and how I will never get our today again. They will be one day older, one day closer to moving out, or going to college, or going to kindergarten or getting a job or driving. For now though, they are still my babies, and I have a feeling they will always be. Even when they are married.

 

I guess my point is this; everyday I can get so wrapped up in my to-do lists, the hustle and bustle, the what do i have to get done next, but then maybe I am missing out on that snuggle, or that grin, or that "mommy i need you" moment. And I don't want to miss those. I know that like every other mother out there, my plate is full, my life is busy, but I love slowing down and just being with them. Soaking in the moments.

The days are long but the years are short. Ain't that the truth. I know that every moment, every stage and year is a new adventure, but I want to remember those adventures. Soak them in. Not be wrapped up in my latest Pinterest pin or Instagram post. Those things are not wrong, but they are just things. My kids are so much more than things and I am learning. I am learning to take advice of those older and much more experienced than me. 

Oh that little white toothed grin up above melts my heart. Her whispy brown hair pulled into a top knot and all messed up from just waking up from a nap. That. I love that.

That little half smile right there and big beautiful eyes. I love him.

The moment he is so proud of his egg that says "Koa" on it and he asks me to take a picture.

Those little chubby hands that still want to hold mine day in and day out. I love them.

These moments, they are little and they are small but I want to enjoy them and never forget them.

And now I am wiping away tears and remembering when I held them in the hospital for the first time. Those are days I will never get back, but I want to remember. The time goes by so fast, says every mother you ever knew.