Time slips away

I love the special time of night when we read stories to the kids, but especially reading to Rose. At bedtime I get impatient and cratchity, probably because I'm excited to have some adult time. And we hurry the kids along to put on pajamas, force them to brush their teeth. 

But I love reading stories with the twinkle lights. It forces me to slow down and snuggle.

 

And I love creeping in to check on the kids when they are asleep. And each night I revel in Rose's beautiful, sweet sleeping face and promise myself that tomorrow I'm not going to forget to REALLY look at her and enjoy her and play with her. And yet, somehow, another day passes by, and I feel like time slips away from me. 

Finn of course still gets plenty of attention because he's the youngest and is still doing cute little-person things for us to ooh and ah about. And we give Rose lots of love and attention too... But lately I feel like she is slipping away and becoming a little girl. She is turning 5 this summer and is so much more independent than she used to be. 

But when I look at her in her bed at night, she is still so tiny. She doesn't even fill up a quarter of the bed. And her arms are little and her hands are little and her face is still smaller than the palm of my hand, her little rosebud lips almost as narrow as her dainty nose. I cannot hang onto those moments long enough. On the one hand, I am hurrying things along so we can get to the next milestone (and hopefully easier, more restful state of parenting), but on the other hand, I am mourning the fact that my children keep growing and time is flying by. While I am so enamored with my baby boy(s), each time I find out I'm pregnant with a boy, I am more and more grateful that God gave me at least ONE girl. She is so precious to me. 

Tonight while we ate peanut butter toast and strawberries for dinner, I asked her what her favorite part of the day was. She said having a cookie and Gatorade and watching a movie. I said my favorite part was going to the park with our family and having lunch afterward at Chick Fil A. She said, Oh yeah! And laughed and said  this whole day was a good day. And it was. We also watched tv together in the morning and did some living room dancing in the evening (she wore her new flamenco dress from Barcelona). 

Tomorrow I will savor it more.

Finding a turtle when we fed the ducks at the pond last night

Playing in her first recital last Saturday

The day she set up a party in her room complete with cut up string on the floor and play food, and invited me straight out of the shower, even picking my party outfit and jewelry

Performing at the Mother's Day luncheon- and doing such a great job!