As I think all of you know, my kids are growing up. I’m not sure how quickly you think they are growing from your perspective, just looking at photos, etc. but for me lately, it certainly seems like the Grow-O-Meter is set at “Warp Speed”.
The B Man will be 9 years old very soon. I remember the age of nine really well for myself. It was great because it was before I hit puberty and I still felt like a kid. I used to play Cabbage Patch dolls with my neighbor friend who was about 4 years younger than me and I believe it actually snowed in Austin the year I was nine and I thought that was SO awesome! I am truly excited for him to be this age but also cannot believe I am already here with my first baby. He is my little soccer “star” and he’s also my emotional mirror, which can be a not-so-good things sometimes. But he is smart and imaginative and funny too. I think nine is going to be awesome.
G is starting to read. Slowly but surely and he blows me away with his love for arts and crafts and dancing and well, sometimes he scares the you-know-what out of me with his antics and daring ways. Kindergarten has really helped him blossom and become more of his own little guy, instead of just hanging out in the shadow of his older brother (all though he still loves Legos just as much as him!). I enrolled him in The Little Gym for an after school class and he went for the first time this week and had a great time. I hope it will help him get some of his energy out and maybe he’ll learn to skillfully jump and land on both feet. 😉
And of course K, well, she’s as precocious as they come and just in the last few weeks Tim and I look at each other and say, “Where did the big girl come from?” It truly baffles us. She talks about her little girl friends at school a lot and her “best” friends and oh my gosh the “Girl” stuff in starting already. How does this happen SO young? I guess it is just innate. But man, so soon? She has a definite opinion about clothes and shoes also and she loves to copy G and taunt him too. She and B have a special thing going on, maybe it has to do with being the odd-numbered kids. It’s pretty darn cute whatever it is.
I’m reflecting on all of this partly because I have a couple of things going on in my head right now for how our family is going to grow (no! not by people!) and change mentally, spiritually and even physically.
Much of this starts with me, of course, the matriarch of this little family of 5, the ones I share a nest with. Each of my children are quite different than their siblings, even though they’ve come from the same gene pool. One may (and does) have different needs in one area than the other and this is becoming more apparent as they get older (and I get somewhat wiser).
So I am here wondering – what is next? For me and for them.
Me thinks some changes are brewing, some that I may not even be fully aware of yet. Some decisions need to be made – hard ones and easy ones, but they still need to be made all the same.
And no matter what, the kids just keep on growing and changing. Nothing can stop the passage of time, that’s for sure.
And just like that a new season is upon us again…
p.s. won’t you please like The Miss Elaine-ous Life on Facebook? Thanks! 🙂
It does go fast… my son will be 12 in September and my daughter will be 16 in July! She will be driving soon… I don’t know if I can handle it.
Love your pictures of the blooming trees! I’m afraid it’ll be a while until spring comes to Canada…
9! That’s getting up there! I remember 9 too. I remember playing with my cousins a bunch, riding my bike, and wanting to be a teenager already 🙂 Your children are just gorgeous. And, I have to agree–the girl stuff starts early! How do they pick up on all that they do? It amazes me. xox
My oldest will be 9 this summer. I cannot believe how fast it has gone – time has a way of blurring things, doesn’t it? Your photos are beautiful. Makes me look forward to signs of spring coming our way.
We’ve seen just a few blooms here over the last week. I’m getting antsy to get spring going….nine does seem so old and like he’s rounding an important corner. Sometimes I get really overwhelmed by all the big parenting stuff. So many decisions! So much to do right. So much to do wrong. I bet whatever changes come your way will be just what your sweet family needs.
Life is SO short yet moves so quickly we dare not hold our breath or blink. The last photo is my favorite I think. Your signs of spring and new life stir a bit of envy as we’ve had 20 inches of snow in the last 5 days.
No. I refuse to think of 9. NINE. Dude.
I’m excited for you. Change can be good. Like, really good.
Your pictures are always so awesome. 🙂
I feel like I’m in this constant state of wondering. When they are little you kind of know what to expect, but now- it’s so wide open, you just don’t know. It’s exciting and also terrifying! But alive! 🙂
Steph
It’s amazing how quickly time goes. I never realized just how quickly until I had my son. Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos of your children interspersed with those of flowers. What a fantastic way to show the passage of time. P.S. Your children are gorgeous!
When my niece turned 9 (she’s TEN now!), it was just nuts to me. But Henry is only a year and a half from that. You’re right about warp speed. Goodness. I hope the changes that come to your family are good ones, and I can’t wait to hear about some of them!
*sigh*
Oh, don’t I know it? I feel this so much lately. Maybe it is because of all my boys birthdays right on top of each other right now. My oldest 10! Can’t believe it. Life just keeps on moving along.
Beautiful post. Gorgeous pictures!
We are cosmically linked or something because we are once again writing on the same subject. I hear ya momma. I hear ya.
9 IS a big year. I have a teenager so I feel that pull of only a few more years of high school, but it is killing me that my middle child is almost 9, too. It seems like such a change. I love love love the brothers picture – it made me smile.
they’re growing up so so fast. That happens though, doesn’t it? Love your pictures.. always.
I am currently asking myself ‘what’s next’ and have been for some time. I liked what you said… they change and grown and so must mom. I have been resisting change, I need to embrace it and see what happens.
First, love ALL the pictures. Second, it’s true. It just goes by so fast. My oldest is 11, and it’s crazy how much she’s changed in the last year! My youngest is 2, so I’m trying to really savor every moment with him. (Not that I’m ignoring my girls – ha!)
Wonderful and memorable post. My only one will be 18 this summer and I’m trying to not hold on to tightly to the memories or time she is left at home.
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I love that last picture, it kinda sums it all up. I worry about what life will be like when I reach that point when the kids are getting older. What will I do next, I try not to think about it. Lovely post my friend.
Such gorgeous photos and I’m right there with you, I can feel our home shifting from a baby/toddler house to a big kid place and I’m not quite sure what to do with it yet.
Your children are so adorable!!! And I am so jealous of spring pictures already!
I know exactly what you mean. My oldest will be 13 in April. 13!!! How does that happen?
The only constant in life is the fact that things always change.
Cute kids. Great pictures.
Oh, if we could only unstick that grow-o-meter from warp speed for just a LITTLE while… Mine’s only 2 and it’s already just flying by.
Beautiful pictures, great words – thanks for the smile!
I’m going to try to think of it as ever evolving and changing…maybe then it will help me not have to think about what’s next because it will just sort of happen? Maybe? Possibly? Hopefully?