Reminiscing

I wrote this post a few months back, but never published it. Sometimes I have a hard time wondering if anyone cares to read my stuff. But then I thought about what this meant to me & how i feel like it made me a little stronger & a little bit better of a mom! So I thought why not share, just maybe it would touch someone else:) Someone out there might enjoy it! So the other day I was just reminiscing about the past a little bit, & well I started to think that we always get so excited when our sweet babies have a "first"... Their first smile, first laugh, first time they sit up, first time crawling, first step, first word! All those are so fantastic! I remember every one of my kids "first". But I started to think that with every "first", comes a "last". The first time my baby walked, was the last time that they crawled. Wow, I can't remember the last time Lofton crawled. Or the first time they start saying words, is the last time you exchange those sweet joyous coos. First time they sleep through the night is the last time you get those sweet midnight smiles, those special private moments together. The first tooth they get is the last time they can bite down on your chin and share that laugh over it. That first is now a last and that moment is just a memory! All those memories kind of get lots in there. Life moves on and we forget to remember and cherish each moment.. We get so excited about the first, that we forget to celebrate & cherish those ''lasts''! I felt like in some ways we get so excited to see our kids or just things in life hurry up & move to the next level! But why? Whats the rush? For me, when I started thinking about this & really processing this it really made me want to slow down. I know, we say that all the time right? Slowing down time isn't going to happen unfortunately :( But for me this "first" & "last" thing really made me want to cherish even more every minute I get in life, every minute I get with my kids! Im not promised tomorrow so i need to appreciate today & the moments i get today before they are gone! I want to cherish even the not so nice moments! Because for one day we will look back and we will miss those moments. My little boy Houston had some "first" and "last" the other day. He learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. That day he grew up a little bit in front of me! He also learned how to climb the monkey bars. We went to the park him being a little baby only dreaming of wanting to climb them, and we left with him just a little bit taller, a little bit more proud and a last behind us. He had concoured the monkey bars! So for me, even when my kids aren't wanting to take a nap, or they are pushing my buttons or even when they are having milestones in front of my eyes, I am trying to cherish, appreciate, love, embrace all these moments!! Not that I wasn't in the past, but I have a whole new appreciation for it! Taking life minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day!!