I Have Kids

This post is a collection of ideas that have been swimming around in my head for awhile now. I have kids. I do not have babies anymore. Avery, my youngest child, is four years old, the baby days are gone. I had three babies in four years. The baby years were filled with nursing, diapers, crying, colic, jaundice, spit-up, teething, car seats, bottles, binky's, stretch marks and sleep deprivation. They were also filled with smiles, giggles, cute baby clothes, naps, first steps, first words and snuggles. I survived those years and although they were hard at times, they were also very fulfilling. Things are different now with no babies. I do not own a stroller, a high chair, or a crib. I haven't changed diapers in over a year. Now I do homework, have neighbor kids over, go to t-ball games, go on bike rides, listen to my kids read to me, watch dance shows my girls perform for me, collect hundreds of school projects, cards, and pictures, break up fights, make chore charts, and (most often) sleep through the night! These days are hard sometimes too, but also very fulfilling. I took the kids to the pool for the first time this summer and  I noticed something. We kept walking further and further out into the water and my kids could still touch the bottom. Miles and Savanna are big enough to go on the water slide without me. They are growing up right before my eyes!
Sometimes I do miss the baby days. I will feel that tiny urge for a baby when someone close to me announces they are pregnant or just had a baby. I feel it sometimes when I see those darling little baby clothes at the store or when I see baby pictures of my own kids. When I feel that I usually just snag a friend's baby at church and breath in that yummy baby smell, pinch those chubby baby cheeks, and smile at the cute baby giggle. Then I remember that it's hard to do stuff one handed and that this baby could spit-up all over me at any moment. When that adorable baby starts to fuss, I hand her back to momma and sit down, content.
To everything there is a season and my season is being a mom to the most fantastic 8, 5, and 4 year old on the planet. I love having kids.