My Son, The Clothes Horse....

So, I was doing a little maintenance on Billy's closet this morning (which is funny, because I never thin out my closet), and pulled out all of his 12 month and starting-to-get-too-short 18 month clothes. I tried to add what I pulled out to the 9-12 month tub of clothes in our recently cleaned out (only to be filled up again) guest room closet, only to find I could fit no more. I crammed them into a Central Market bag. My son, the 18 month old, has three tubs and a brown grocery bag full of clothes he's outgrown over the last 18 months. When I say tubs, I'm talking about those tubs with the hinged lids that interlock to close (when there aren't clothes spilling out of them). I have two more of them in the attic with Christmas decorations in them - they're good sized tubs. But my little man has managed to fill up THREE of them. Stuffed to the gills! How can a child this young have so many clothes??? I was looking at the stack this afternoon, and I suddenly began feeling very thankful for all of our friends and family who have so sweetly given us these pieces of clothing. I know we didn't even buy half of what is in those tubs, and that is amazing to me. That little boy is so adored by so many people - that they see things in the store and just grab them up! It is bittersweet to see all the clothes, because it seems like only yesterday he fit into the smallest of them. And I know it will be no time at all before I'm in the same situation as my Best Friend with her almost 7th grader buying new uniforms to compensate for a 2 inch growth spurt! Ahhh...if only I could just slow down time a few seconds each day!

A Sad Day for Mama...

I am writing this blog as my summer is rapidly coming to a close. I "officially" have two more weeks off, but this week I'm enrolled in a staff development course on Life Science. It is a great course, but this morning was very, very sad. Instead of running to greet my boy in his PJs and then slowly starting our morning (either with breakfast or an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), I had to get him dressed and then get ready myself. Now, me and Eric take turns in the morning during the school year - but I wanted to do it this morning. This first of what is about to be 180+ mornings where I've got to rush, rush, rush to get my already rapidly growing boy off to the sitter (whom he LOVES) so I can get off to work. If any of you have seen him lately you'd agree - there's very little baby left in him as he transitions completely into toddlerdom. I just hate that it seems that time moves so quickly! And, don't get me wrong, I love my job, BUT - I spend just about every moment wondering "what is he doing now?", "what is he learning?" "what absolutely amazing thing is he going to show me when I see him this evening?"

I know next summer will be here before I know it....and before that I've got Christmas and Spring Break as little teasers...but some days I wish we could just keep on hanging out at the house, doing our little routines and playing our little games every day. That is why weekends during the school year are so precious. That is why I tend to put everyone else on "ignore" on Saturdays....the only day me, Billy, and even Eric can just have our quiet, family at home time. So I guess this is not only a "highly emotional" post from a mom who is starting to think staying home wouldn't be all bad....but also a bit of an advance apology to everyone - since once school starts I'll either go MIA a lot, or say no more often than I want...to protect the precious few weekend days we have to play while Billy still wants to hang out with his parents ;)

That said - if you're really wanting to see us and you know we're caught up in the constant whirlwind of life...give a call and stop on by. Just know, I very strongly hold to this poem given to my by my mom - "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow, but babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, and dust go to sleep - I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep" -Anonymous (this means, there's clutter, dust, and maybe even (gasp) dishes in the sink...so deal with it! :)

And here's a photo of my rapidly growing boy....I have some video, but all the little toot wants to do is "see" what is recording when I turn it on: