embracing the little moments.

Kindergarten registration week has arrived.

Mommas- you know what this means. I am an emotional, weepy, nostalgic, {and excited} mess.

I had planned to go the boy’s new school today to submit the stack of paperwork for official enrollment, but, alas, mother nature isn’t cooperating. I woke this morning feeling particularly nostalgic thinking back on how many adventures my little guys and I have shared over the past four and a half years. To be honest, when the snow day email came through from their pre-school, I was relieved. I needed a day with my boys. {My apologies to everyone else. I know the snow days are starting to get a little ridiculous this year}.

February 2011. I can’t even. These two.

Our family has changed so much in such a short time, it’s hard to wrap my brain around it all sometimes. In less than a year, we have gone from two to four kiddos and from living downtown and walking everywhere (I put miles and miles and miles on our double stroller that now sits sadly in a corner of the barn) to living out in the middle of nowhere and staying home 99% of the time. When it was just the boys and I, we were always on the go. We went to the library, out to lunch (they are the best lunch dates), to friend’s houses, to the movies, shopping or just out for a long walk. Sometimes, I physically ache from the missing of days chasing behind big wheels headed for the park.

December 2012. Snow day fun with little bugs.

That’s not to say that our new normal isn’t wonderful. It is. It’s breathtakingly wonderful. But it’s different. And, today, I’m letting myself grieve what was.

We don’t go out very often these days {typically because Sylvie will have some sort of meltdown and, honestly, it’s exhausting and often not worth the effort}. Yesterday, I decided to be brave and bring all of the littles to the library for the first time in six months. Sylvie did well until it was time to pick out books. Let’s just say: the chaos began. By the time we made it to the car, I was just ready to get home safely tucked away from witnesses to the madness.

I know it’s normal to miss life prior to big changes. And, most days, we are too busy living our life to notice. Yet, monumental events like KINDERGARTEN registration {deep breaths} force the nostalgia to rise abruptly to the surface.

As we move toward yet another big change on the horizon, I’m choosing to embrace the little moments.

As Kara Tippetts eloquently states in her book, The Hardest Peace, “The small moments have become enormous. The fire in the fireplace, the coffee in the mugs, the rib tickles, the learning to apply makeup, the singing out loud and off-key–those are the huge moments. Those are the milestones.”

Oh, how I desire to live with intention in these days. In the small moments as well as the big ones. This morning, as I looked back on old photos and videos, I was struck by how time is often like a vapor with little ones – it moves so very fast. The belly laughter, the snuggles, the chaos, the exhaustion, the reading of the same book for the billionth time, the meltdowns, the fresh-from-the-bath baby scent, the whining, the tattling, the footie PJ’s, the tripping over little people in the kitchen- all of it. These days are the ones I will look back upon wistfully in a few years and I want to purposefully embrace each and every moment.

“What day is it?”
It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day,” said Pooh.” 
― A.A. Milne