Way Too Fast

When I was pregnant with Lil', my Mom had a picture blown up of me with this poem on it:

These Last Few Hours

It is important to me that I spend a part of the next few hours
here alone with you in the darkness.


You and I will never be this close again.
By morning you will be a tiny person all your own.


No longer the kicking, demanding bulge in my body
that I have grown to love so well.


I pray God will safely guide you on your Journey
and, I ask him for strength to help you all I can.


Again, you signal your impatience to be free.

Time to wake your Daddy!

Now here's the thing. I had c-sections with both of you so I knew pretty much exactly when you were coming into the world. So this poem really sits with me because with all the happiness and excitement about you being born there was a sense of sadness knowing that you would be leaving me and becoming a person all on your own. I would have to share you after having you all to myself for 10 months. (Don't let anybody ever try and trick you into thinking a pregnancy lasts 9 months!) And that made me sad because from the time I knew about you, in my eyes you were already growing up too fast.

You've being growing up too fast your whole life and no matter how much I beg you, you don't listen and you keep on going. You're big. You're strong. You have opinions, wants, goals. You're no longer the little twisting bundle in my belly.

There is a part of this poem that is still and will always remain the most poignant for me: "I pray God will safely guide you on your Journey and, I ask him for strength to help you all I can." I know there's nothing I can do to make you stay small. You've already proven that. But please know this. I have prayed for your journey since before you took your first breath. I pray for your journey every day and I know that I always will. You are my babies. My wonderful little creatures. My little bundles that are growing up way too fast.

That Kind of Sticking

Probably one of my all time favorite things in the whole wide world is watching a Friday afternoon on King Street. It's not just me though. I'm pretty sure that everyone else loves it too. You can see it in their faces and smell it in the air.

On any given day King Street is cool but when Friday comes, somehow it gets even better. Especially this time of year when the weather is warmer and the breeze is a little slower and the flops are spanking the sidewalk.

For those of us who have the luck to live here now or to have lived here before, King Street on a Friday sticks with you and that kind of sticking feels good.

Mama Juices

Ooof, I gotta good one today. One of those that makes your heart hiccup or the little fish flutter in your tummy or the lump swell in your throat. One of those that makes me remember how lucky I am to be your Mama.


I love that you still run to me when you get out of school. Even though everyday that mean ole' biddy says "Don't run" in a way that sounds "Meoooow meoooow", you still do it and I don't tell you not to. I don't even look at you funny. You don't even get the squint eye. Cause I like it and it makes me feel good. In fact, it makes my day. You did it again today. On this perfect 80 degree, bright sunshine, warm breezy day. Except this time to make that mean ole' biddy even more mad, I ran to you too. She didn't like that one bit. Well that's what you get you mean ole' jelly bean.


Sure it was a cheezy Folgers commercial. Sure it would embarrass you if you were just 6 months older. But on this day, you didn't care and neither did I. And on this day, you followed it up with an "I missed you today Mama." 


And that's what did it. That's what got all my Mama juices flowin' today.

Big's Basketball Career

Daddy's been at it again. Here's a new video on Big's basketball career....

The Plan

Let's catch up, shall we?

Big, you're big. You read. A lot. There is a small handful of things that you really love. You love your basketball, your sweatband and macaroni and cheese. You hate to do your homework because all you want to do is play outside everyday and for as long as you can. You love your friends and all you want to do in this whole wide world is have fun.

Lil, you're crazy. You're still crazy. There is a big handful of things that you really love. You love your doll Emily, your Barbies and these really dumb itsy bitsy puppies. You also love these weird ducks and you make me make a nest for them every night in your bed.

Then you make Daddy and I pinky swear that we won't touch the ducks and they'll still be there in the morning. You hate bugs but you want to be with your brother so you brave it and you follow him. You love your friends too but you love Big most of all. You're terribly clumsy and you always have lots of bruises on your legs because of that.

You're both growing up so fast. And I try to soak it all in. The noise. The bouncing balls. The messes. The laundry. I want to squeeze every drop out of this time. This precious time. When you still want to sleep with us. When you still want to hug us and be near us. When you still wrestle and say "ewwwwwwww" when people kiss on tv.

It's hard to believe that my reality will ever be anything other than what it is now. Because this reality is the reality that you always think about when you are growing up: Who will I marry? How many kids will I have? Where will we live? Those questions have all been answered for me now but I never could have imagined you would all be so great. I never would have imagined that this was the plan.

The Doing.

Here's what I've been doing. And I'm NOT a fan of doing what I've been doing. What I've been doing is not fun. Because it keeps doing and they keep on doing and so then I keep on doing and the doing goes on and on and on. And I'm tired of doing the doing. But the doing doesn't quit. Oh no, the doing keeps going.

** The following pictures are for blog purposes only and should not be forwarded on to the television series Nanny 911, Nancy Grace or Oprah. They also should not be sent to any magazines that claim to help you organize yourself, help you with laundry or help you get your life together overall. Thank you.