New Family Motto

In the last few weeks Chris has adopted a new family motto: "We are going to miss this"...it was inspired by this post on a popular mom blog who has four children, four and under. Today after I took Melia to preschool, I was running a few errands and heard a song which rang true with this theme. Your Going to Miss This, by Trace Adkins (click on the song to hear it) I had heard the song before, and even talked about it with Chris, who teared up the first time he heard it.

I am going to miss...

• a little person with cold feet crawling into bed with me at 2:30am and snuggling in close

• hearing Eva's bunny jingle as she is walking down the dark hallway to our room in the middle of the night, because she needs to be snuggled


• the middle of the night snuggles, when someone has a cough


• the way that Parker's head fits in the crux of my neck


• the temper tantrums because they want something and mom is saying no


• the "I love yous" and the "your the bests" that Melia says in her most tender voice


• asking Eva to repeat herself because all the words coming out of her mouth at one time sound like a jumbled mess


• Eva's eye squinting, head turned, cheesy smile


• Packing three young kids up in the middle of winter...getting them all in and out of the car 8 times in two hours to take Melia to preschool


• having pj days in the middle of the week


• swimming in the "hot pool" with the girls on a chilly winter nights


• making Micky mouse pancakes for them on Saturday mornings


• always wondering what Melia is getting into when she is quiet for a little too long (she is always trying to "make" stuff with whatever she can find and a roll of tape)


• seeing Parker's face looking up at me in his crib when I go to get him in the morning now that he can finally roll over


• giving him his passy in the middle of the night...even if it is the 10th time that night

• or when there is glitter and glue from one end of the kitchen to the other

• and most recently when your two year old picks up a piece of rock salt (to melt the snow/ice) off the floor and pops it in her mouth like its candy in front of ten other moms while picking up M from preschool, and then she loudly exclaims, "it good mommy" as it crunches in her teeth

• open mouth kisses from Parker

• seeing two little girls, hearing the creak of the backdoor knowing their dad and hero is home from work, run through the kitchen screaming his name to hug his leg

• listening on the monitor as a dad talks/reads to his girls before bed

• sitting back and watching the girls play together and working out their squabbles all on their own

• watching Eva eagerly wait for Melia to come out of the preschool classroom door and wrap her arms around her, because 2 hours way from the one you look up to is just too long

The list could go on and on...when Chris and I are getting frustrated and or loosing patience with the kids we gently remind each other "we are going to miss this". Living in the moment is hard sometimes, when the chaos is unfolding before me, but taking a step back, thinking about how short this time will be, and taking advantage of every opportunity with them, brings it quickly back into perspective.

There may be dishes in the sink, weeks since the rug was vacuumed, mail piling up, a toothpaste filled sink in the bathroom, and laundry overflowing BUT I am NOT going to miss this.