I’ve been going through pictures tonight. My camera card was full, and as I emptied it onto my computer, I began scrolling back through older pictures. Pictures of the past few weeks and months.
I saw one of John and Merritt just before John left and was struck by how little Merritt was then. Two months old… so tiny, especially when I compare that scrunchy-faced infant with the little guy who now eats real food and bear-crawls at lightning speed around the house.
I paused from clicking on pictures and looked ahead, my mind’s eye reaching forward years from now. I realized anew how short these years are with the little ones we’re given. How little time I actually have before they’re grown. In the craziness of our day-to-day here, it is so easy to lose sight of that and suddenly realize that a month has passed and I barely noticed.
They say that’s how it happens… you’re living life, you turn for an instant…
… and that squinty-eyed grin has become only a memory. That fourth tooth will have come in, fallen out, and an adult tooth will sit in it’s place.
It won’t be long before the high chairs will be packed away and they no longer get messy faces when they eat spaghetti.
The toddler who dunks his head in the water when he’s swimming and yet cries when we wash his hair won’t need floaties on his arms anymore or and will wash his own hair.
The baby who didn’t like the cool water of the pool on the first try (yes, he’s in a floatie IN the baby pool, as per his brother’s request) has already changed his mind since this picture was taken. Now kicking and splashing provide endless fun, whether in the cool pool or in the warm bath.
I know they need to experience life… follow the path God has planned for them… grow up to be men who love and serve the God we’ve introduced them to.
I know that babying them and trying to keep them little will only hinder them. I don’t want to be a mother who holds them back from becoming who they are in Christ. I want to encourage them to grow and learn and be. I rejoice in those changes, day after day.
But I also don’t want to forget. There are so many little things that happen every day that are beyond precious. I don’t want those looks, actions, moments to become just a distant, faded memory.
Things like Troy’s love for giving Eskimo kisses…
Or Merritt’s sleepy eyed snuggle time after naps. Or piling into our bed every morning, giggling together while Troy talks about “ships sailing on the ceiling.”
The way Merritt opens his mouth WIDE to grin and how much he loves to “fly” through the air.
“Let’s be silly, Mommy! Okay, Mommy? Be silly!”
Don’t you sometimes (keeping that sometimes in mind, heh) wish there was a camera capturing every moment so we could look back at particular moments anytime we wished to? To keep the present from simply becoming the past and then fading into oblivion?
When I look at these pictures from a few years or even a few months ago, I have a hard time putting into perspective that the children I have right here, today are the same ones in those pictures. I hardly remember what they looked like when they were babies.
Tonight I decided I need to capture more of these moments in pictures.
It’s just speeding by way. too. fast.
heidi62613 says:
So cute and so true. Thank you for the reminder.
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July 31st, 2008 at 1:42 am
Mod Girl says:
So true… the days are long but the years are so short. How can it be that my baby born just yesterday, it seems, will be six tomorrow?!
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July 31st, 2008 at 4:48 am
Carrie at dumptrucksandteacups says:
Yep, it goes way too fast. I don’t want to be a mom that is always looking forward to that next phase, that next season… instead I want to enjoy each moment of today, grab all I can out of it now, I don’t want to look back and regret anything.
Treasure these days…
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July 31st, 2008 at 6:24 am
Kate says:
What darling pictures!!
Written so well. Enjoy each moment to the fullest is the way to live!
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July 31st, 2008 at 7:00 am
Debbie says:
This is a great post and the pictures are the sweetest. You are very wise to stop and see how fast the time goes and realize you need to enjoy each moment.
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:53 am
The Mrs. says:
How does it go by so fast?! one day they are babies the next little boys… and someday big bad Marines! YIKES! I’m not ready for that must hold off time…..
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:45 am
Steve n Vickie says:
Love the pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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July 31st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Tiffany says:
Ash what great pictures of the boys. I have to say wow how they have grown and in that same sentence it makes me sad that I havent been able to see them more. I loved your post!! I feel all those ways about my bruder its crazy! Love you lots!!!
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July 31st, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Anonymous says:
I read your blog everyday but seldom comment, but i wanted to let you know that i think your children are so adorable. Beautiful post.
Chris in iowa
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July 31st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Under Southern Skies says:
Hello! I first read your courtship story (it was interesting!) on YLCF and found your blog from there.
What cute little guys! I love the top photo!
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July 31st, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Carrie at dumptrucksandteacups says:
Okay, I have to tell you that I sometimes come here to read your twitter comments… the one up now makes me laugh. :)
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July 31st, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Megan says:
I hear ya!! Nobody tells you about these parts of mommyhood, right? Well, I guess they TRY but it sounds so cliche that you don’t really understand it until you ARE the mommy and you are experiencing just how quickly they grow, how lightning fast it all goes. And that the absolutly unspeakable joy is sometimes laced with a bit of sentimental sadness– not SADness, but I think you know what I mean– our babies aren’t babies anymore!!! Wasn’t it just yesterday?!?
P.S. I *might* workout at the park tomorrow at 11:30 with that trainer. What are you doing tomorrow? I’m not 100% sure yet– it’s a bad time of day, my boys cried the whole time because they were so sleepy last time– but MAYBE I’ll give it a try.
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July 31st, 2008 at 5:31 pm
BrittLeigh says:
awwwww! your boys are soooo cute!!!!! you have such a beautiful family, ashleigh. and I just want you to know–bein a soon-to-be military wife myself–that you are my hero. I hope I can be like you when I’m in similar shoes.
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Chelsea says:
I love Troy’s smile in the second picture. He looks like he’s sayin’, “Hey man! What’s up?”
I love it! You make cute babies!
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August 1st, 2008 at 11:21 am
Nicole says:
Awwwww. *sniff sniff* So so true. Keep taking those pictures!!!
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August 1st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
The Girls says:
I love the pictures Ash,we MISS you!Love,Laurie
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August 1st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
myra says:
These pictures make me tear up as I read your journaling. Probably because my little guy just had his sixth birthday, and it seems we were just taking these same shots of him. Enjoy every moment.
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August 1st, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Amy says:
I know exactly how you feel. Our baby is now 13 months old! I look back at pictures and it doesn’t even look like him. And the older two – it feels like forever ago since they were babies!
Treasure every moment and get as much on film as possible.
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August 5th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Anonymous says:
Yes Squirt, the time does go by way to fast. Before you know it they are no longer one and two, they are 22. Enjoy each and every moment you have with them, even when they get married and have kids of their own. Love ya, Dad
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August 5th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Elizabeth Channel says:
Such a great story, and such a great reminder. If you don’t mind, I might use this concept for a post myself. My oldest is now 8, and that’s been a hard age to accept because it seems so old…and now he wears the same size shoe that I do.
Have a blessed day!
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August 9th, 2008 at 10:17 am