Things I Want to Remember...

During this season my day gets started before I can fully open my eyes, errands are scheduled down to the minute to finish before nap-time meltdowns, I am learning more Disney songs to sing in the car than I thought my brain could ever hold, a favorite morning routine is snuggling on the couch, I have developed a new appreciation for Dr. Seuss books because they are easily memorizable, and $2 for bubbles is the best toy investment I could make...

These are memories I want to keep:

- E1 is fascinated by bugs. She'll ask "momma, this nice bug or mean bug?" Nice ones she'll stoop down to inspect and push along out of the road and into the grass. Mean ones (ones that bite), she frantically waves her arms in the air while running away.

- She got a bug bite on her leg. We talked about it all the time, "momma, leg itchy!". Now every itch, be it on her leg, arm, belly or nose.... it's a bug bite. When I tried to tell her it was just at itch, "no momma, bug bite and a itch".

- Potty training, while it results in a little more laundry (what's a few more shorts anyway?), yields tons of interesting conversations. I didn't think the "birds and the bees" talks would start this young! I keep rehearsing a line from the show 7th Heaven, 'if we talk about it all the time, it'll be less awkward'. Not to that point yet.... but hopefully before puberty strikes :)

- E2 was once nicknamed crinkles because of her love with all toys that crunched and crinkled. We're reconsidering that perhaps we should have chosen 'the lazy susan'; this girls gets on her belly and spins spins spins! She'll go after toys, but mostly she chases E1. E1 is starting to catch on and will try to stay out of sight. It's a workout for both!

- E1 is in a twin bed and loves it. There is a side rail that goes part of the way to prevent any middle-of-the-night-roll-offs, but she is convinced that in order to get out of bed, I must be in the room. (Totally not a bad thing!) Each morning and after nap I will hear "MOMMA!!! I WAKE!!!!!! TIME GET UP?" and as I walk into her room, she'll leaning over the rail waiting for my okay to get out of bed. Sweet girl!

- E2 has learned that going backwards is frustrating when what you want is in front of you. She's working on crawling, but can only go that one direction.... for now.

I love my girls and this season where they are both so young and we spend so much time together. I am not the perfect mom: I miss teachable moments, begrudge reading a book for the 5th time that afternoon, try to will the clock forward to 8pm when it's only 5. But I want this time to matter. I know it's fleeting. I know my job is to cling to the cross and raise these girls to be young women equipped to love the Lord with their whole hearts and live their lives in line with that love. What a blessing that we get to have fun along the way!