When did he grow up?

I find myself asking this question more and more these days.  All of a sudden, Noah has gone from a little boy to a big boy.  I don't know when it happened but it did.  He's maturing.  His thought process is getting wiser.  It's crazy!  He's still a little kid but it's not long before he's going to be a big kid for good.  I'm not ready for that one bit. I know it's going to happen but I want to delay it as much as possible.

Here's what I mean.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  I was in the garage ironing my work clothes and he came out to see me.  The Hubs had brought down the Christmas decorations a few days earlier so we could be ready to start decorating on Black Friday.  Noah asked me if we could get our Christmas tree that day when we got home from work.  I told him (for the 300th time) that we can't start any Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving.  It was a rule. He looked at me and said "Well we could buy it today to beat the crowd." He meant it with all sincerity but I couldn't help but snicker.  He was very worried about there being a rush on Christmas trees.  I mean what 5 year old thinks about that?  Very grown up if you ask me.

Fast forward to this weekend.  We were in the car heading to who knows where.  The Hubs said something along the lines of trading in Emmy for some reason.  I think because she was starting to annoy everyone in the car and the Hubs made a "trade in your little sister" reference.  Well Noah piped up with "Yeah.  We can sell her online." Really?  He was proud of himself for that one.

Me, Noah and Froggy...just hanging out!!!!

Last night at their Christmas concert, Noah was such ham up on stage.  They did a song with the 1st graders then joined the 1st-3rd graders and the drama club to sing the songs for the play.  Noah was in the front row and he spotted us.  He kept waving to us when he was done singing.  Would shoot us a thumbs up and even blew us a few kisses.  But the best part of the night.....he would look at me, smile, and wink.  I just melt!

Love this kid!!!!

The moment I realized they're not babies

I think I've lived the past 3 years in complete denial.

I've always known that our family was complete the minute Em was born.  I figured I'd get baby fever down the line but know it was just an itch, not an actual desire or need.  Most of that had to do with pregnancies being so hard for me.  Having a high risk pregnancy can take a toll on you.  But I knew that I had my boy and girl and that we were complete.

Never in a million years did I think time would fly by so quickly.  There I was, holding my sweet baby girl, knowing that she depended on her Momma for every single thing.  And in a blink of an eye, that same baby girl is off to PreK, getting dressed all by herself, and trading in her crib for a big girl bed.  And not like a toddler bed.  A real bed.  With twin size sheets and a bedspread.  The same bedspread that I went head to head with said 3 year old in the middle of Target.  Needless to say, the bedding set she has was the one we compromised on.  Standing in the aisle was definitely the start of this big epiphany that my baby girl isn't a baby anymore.

Her sweet nursery looked like this:

And now there's barely a sign of the baby that used to sleep in this room.  I had to leave up the butterflies because I couldn't part with everything.  Now it's truly a little girl's room:

It hit me, as the Hubs and I were rearranging Em's room, that my kids aren't babies anymore.  I don't know when that happened.  No matter how much I wish them to be little babies, they just aren't.  They're turning into the people they're meant to be. They have personalities, strong ones at that.  They are making a name for themselves in the world. And all I can do is sit back, enjoy the ride, and pray that I'm doing everything I can for them to become great people.  That's a hard moment for any Momma but a proud one.

My kids are my world.  Plain and simple.  And no matter how much they grow up, they'll always be my babies.