I blinked

My summer is evaporating before my very eyes. Again, life seems to be slipping away and my kids are growing too quickly. John found all of our VHS tapes of video recordings of the kiddos. He popped one in last night and I watched in disbelief. Anna was just 8 and dancing and singing in a white fairy dress. She also did this hilarious dance with a expandable tunnel thingamabop wrapped around her body...she kept singing the song at the end of Shrek which is funny, but the original song is sooooooo inappropriate! "I like big butts and I can not lie...." (that song!) Abby danced around Anna dressed in a white slip (of Anna's) and she kept trying to hide in Anna's closet. Then, little red man Evan, whose 17 months old toddles his way to the closet and peeks inside to get bonked by Abby sliding the door shut. He fell down and cried for 1.2 seconds then stood up and was on his merry way! The best part of this whole movie was when I was holding Emma who was 2 weeks old and Evan came up to give her a kiss and hug. I had to pry Evan off of this fragile 2 week old baby and then I looked at the camera and said "Emma, some day when you watch this you are going to realize what a miracle it was that you've survived!" Evan was not good at being gentle.....he just loved her soooooooooo much :) ha!!!
Oh...the memories. That movie was taken just 6 years ago. We had just bought our home, Emma had been born and life was glorious. My days used to evaporate with nursing babies, dirty diapers galore, dirty bibs, holding little hands as they tried to walk, gooing and gaaaing, making baby talk, kitchen sink baths...and more. I recall being sooooo tired from getting up throughout the night with babies that I'd question how I would function the next day. My eyes would barely stay open and I'd take baby 2 min. naps as I nursed in the recliner. It seems like I was in survival mode most days. Trips to the grocery store were nightmarish with these 4 kiddos on hand. I had to put Emma in a cuddly carrier on my chest and listen to Evan scream for me to hold him, which I couldn't do. A normal 45 min. shopping trip took me at least 2 hours. I had the super mom mentality and tried to conquer unthinkable things during this time of my life. God sustained me, but boy, would I crash after exhausting myself! Then...Then....Then.....
Emma was just under 1 year old and SURPRISE....I was pregnant AGAIN with little Avry Nay!
By this time, Anna was only 8 1/2, Abby 3 1/2 , Evan 2 1/2 and Emma 1. As I write all of this, I'm a little in disbelief myself. Have you ever looked back at your life and say "Was that really my life....did I really get through that?" That's how I feel. Thank goodness, I'm not speaking of a tragedy, but instead a challenging time of great blessings!
Then I blinked. I slept. I cried. I laughed.
Now, they are 14, 9, 7, 6, 4 and Johnathan is 12! What??? No more diapers, No more baby food, No more of a lot of things. But, this is a new chapter and it is a little surreal. In less than one month, my alarm will go off at 6:15 a.m. The highschool bus will pull up and pick up Anna around 7 a.m. Then, four more kiddos will hop on the bus at 8 a.m. Avry and I will be left for her last year of being home with mommy before school the following year. We'll head into town 3 days a week for 1/2 day preschool.
The Bible says to worry about today because tomorrow has enough worries of its own. So, I'm not at all worried about the future. I know God is control. There will be new bumps in the road and obstacles to overcome.
My prayer today is that I'll live today to its fullest and savor every precious moment that I have with our 6 children. They amaze me.
k