Seven Years

As my readers know, I am a fan of  The Pioneer Woman.  Lives in Oklahoma, has 4 kids, blogger, likes to Thunder up - all but the cooking (and the homeschooling), we have a lot in common!  Yesterday, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, posted this post  about an old picture of her 4 kids from 7 years ago, and a new picture of them from this past weekend. Time flies. Like, really, REALLY flies.

While sharing the post with my husband over lunch, we talked about what our family look liked seven years ago. It was just him, and I, and two orange haired 3 year olds. Looked like this:

April 2006 - Britt, Emma (3), Betsey, Lara (3)

And now? Holy cow! 4 KIDS! 2 (almost) 11 year olds, a 6 year old, and a 17 month old. I am in shock that my tiny baby girls will be starting MIDDLE SCHOOL in the fall.  My sweet baby Jake - wise beyong hid years - is a total clown and keeps me on my toes with his wisecracking ways (just like his dad).  And Baby Finn?  Well, I guess I need to stop calling him that, even though he is MY baby and still a peanut, so it's easy to stick with the "baby" part! Time just got up and walked out the door while I wasn’t looking.

April 2013 - Lara (10), Britt, Jake (6), Betsey, Emma (10), Finn (17 mo)

I love how Ree put it:

You know what? I just had a revelation. Rather than do what I normally do when I’m faced with comparison photos such as these—which is cry, wail, weep, freak out, wig out, pass out, sob and stomp my feet over how quickly time is passing and how much my children have grown—I’m going to conduct a healthy exercise and instead smile, appreciate the fact that my children are older, wiser, and more learned now, and cherish the time I have left with them before they leave the house to move on with their adult lives.

Deep breath: In…out.

Ahhh. You know what? I actually feel better! 

An even scarier prospect? 7 years from now… Emma and Lara will be closing in on 17. Jake will be 13, and sweet baby Finn will be 8. WOW! Not to mention, Britt will be 55 and I will be 45. Seems so far away right now, but really, it’s just around the corner.

I love being a mom. I truly think that is my purpose. I just wish I could hold on to the (good) moments a little longer… *sigh* So blessed.