I am now the proud Mommy of 4 girls! Knowing that Marly is our last baby has made me more patient than ever and I have been taking every single thing in. I want to remember every last moment of having a newborn baby, because it is such a blessing and a miracle how wonderful they are. She has already outgrown most of her newborn outfits, which is a shame because I didnt even get to put her in all of them. However, in the past I have been able to put them in storage for my next baby girl. It wasn't final and I would get to pull out the super cute outfits again in a few years. Not this time though....I have decided that I am going to put aside all of my favorite outfits and get them made into a quilt someday. It is crazy to me how looking at one little outfit can flood my head and heart with so many emotions. I just don't want to forget how absolutely precious my babies are (or were). Maddie is 7 1/2 and is getting sassy,and I think it helps to remember that she was absolutely precious and sweet just a few short years ago. So hopefully if I can get this quilt of baby clothes made, it will calm me down in the years ahead when my girls are 18, 16, 14, and 11 years old. Im not sure when the teenage years will hit hardest, but I want to hold off on them as long as possible. I love my babies! Josh has reminded me several times that I am very blessed and lucky to have gotten the opportunity to do this 4 times...and don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that God gave me the opportunity to take care of 4 sweet children...however, whether you do it once or 20 times, I think when you know you will never have another baby again, its like saying goodbye to something very dear to your heart.
I have also got to experience the life as a stay at home mom for a few short weeks, which has been wonderful. I got to go on a field trip with Kenzie's class to the Abilene zoo, I get to take my girls to school and tell them I love them and have a good day every morning. Then I get to pick them up and ask them how their day was while its still fresh in their minds. I get to do their hair every morning, and help them pick out clothes (although they have many more opinions on this matter than I prefer), and I get to go to school events that happen to occur during the day or shortly after school. I do ask my kids how their days went when I get home from work, but most of the time I am exhausted or I get in so late, that I dont have much time to do anything but feed them, bathe them, and put them in bed. As a teacher (especially in a different school than my children) I miss anything that happens during the school day, I do not get to help in the planning of parties, or get to eat lunch with my kids at school, or get to go on field trips. Some days it breaks my heart, but then I have to remember that I get to be with 20 of my other kids (students) on their special holidays, field trips, and birthdays.
At least I got to experience a short stint of the benefits of being a stay at home mom, if even for the last 2 months of school. All I can say is that I will be taking it all in, and trying to make each moment of each day as memorable as I possibly can...because they are only babies once.
