Belated Birthday (Post)

Of course I cannot believe my little girls are already THREE. But we all know and have been told
my many many other parents about how quickly time flies with children. But... I also know that I never really understood it until it happened to me. I still don't understand how time works. When I was a kid time seemed to drag on and on. It seemed to take forever for my birthday to arrive and the same for Christmas. It seemed like the school day would never end, the weekend would never come, I would never become a teenager, and it took centuries to get my drivers license.

My theory was that with so much change, time seemed to spread out because there were so many turning points, so many milestones. But even as a kid, summers still flew by, as did vacations, and holidays... I guess it made sense: summers, vacations, and holidays were glorious, magical times that just made everything extra special and we didn't want them to end.

But how can one life event feel like it happened so long ago but at the same time feel like it was only yesterday?  It seems so long ago that Lucy and Stella were teeny babies, but not that long ago that they were born. My only conclusion is that, as adults, (especially with kids), we are experiencing these things simultaneously. We are experiencing so much change within our children- so many turning points, so many milestones- that can potentially make time seem longer... but there are also so many precious moments that you want to hang on to, whether its an actual vacation or holiday or just a lazy afternoon (the kind that you may not have appreciated when you were young).

Birthday lunch, poolside
next to their private cabana

As we age, as we grow, we learn to appreciate the simple things, the relatively insignificant things... we learn to appreciate these things as the truly glorious, magical times that make life extra special. These things happen every day, all day. It's those lazy afternoons; its those victories whether its potty training or empathy; its a funny joke, its a funny face; its seeing someone else smile; it's feeling wonder; it's fresh air; it's picking tomatoes; it's real vanilla ice cream with a cherry on top...And we don't want these things to end, because we know now that these are the things that are our life. Our beautiful life.

So it makes sense that maybe life can seem like its flying by at times; but while we may never want our personal precious moments to end... if we can have the ability to find magic in our every day- make our own daily turning points, our own daily milestones. Then maybe that, will provide us with enough change every day to make our lives feel a little longer, and if that doesn't work, at least our lives will be that much better as we take note of our surroundings and dig in to enjoy that ice cream.

Stella eating a dirt pie on her Birthday!!

And on another note, we had a bug-themed party for them this year as they are pretty fascinated by these little creatures (I am trying my best to not freak out when there is a creepy crawly). We had plastic bugs everywhere along with bug catcher nets, make-your-own bug boxes, and grandma came with homemade bug skirts (before she even knew about the bug theme), pretty cool!