Where has all the time gone?

Uncle Casey's Off to the Army Party-- October 2006

(Christopher 8, Nathaniel 6, Benjamin 5, Kendrick 3)

We had a great time at the Wichita Mountians. The boys are growing up to fast for me. I was thinking when did I become the mom a 8 year old. That is nuts. I remember when mom would say time will fly when you get out of high school. A friend of mine said it just yesterday. How right they are. It just flies by. I look at Christopher and can remember when they first laid him on my stomach and said "It's a boy!!" I was floored, crying, Allen was crying, his mom was crying, my mom was crying and now he has a personality and opinions. He is huge, loving and strong.

Christopher 4 weeks old

I am truely amazed all the way down to Cheyenne. It seems like just yesterday I walked into that hospital and she was so small 4 lbs 6 oz. at 5 weeks old. I had never seen such a small person up close and then they started calling me mom and I was already in love. Of course my mom and I were crying again. I just couldn't believe how little she was and how alone. Well, now she is a little girl with not as many but some opinions about her day. All of them boggle my mind.

Cheyenne six weeks old

Cheyenne 15 months old

I mean really just sit on the couch with the TV off or on the front porch and stare at them (WOW!!) Did you do it? (WOW!! Right.) Nathaniel has 1000 questions and 2000 answers to everything. All he used to do was cry and nurse. Now he knows all about babies. Just the other day he looks at me and says I know about that baby in there (And points to my womb. ) I said you do inwardly thinking oh no not yet. (He's 6.) He said God has his hands in there, moving the baby in a circle. Only you can't see them because He's God. (I immediately pictured a potter's wheel) He says, "He's turning and turning his hands making arms, legs and eyes and a mouth." I was again floored. Where on earth did he get that? So then before I can speak he looks me square in the eyes and says, "And nobody told me that, I just thought about it and figured it out all by myself." And he said it in a way only Nathaniel could. That's his personality. He thinks about it and knows he's right. (Even if he isn't.)

Nathaniel 5 weeks old

Benjamin and Kendrick are also growing and changing. Kendrick didn't want Allen's help yesterday at the Air Show and talks all the time about all the things he will give us. He has a loving heart. He asks me what kind of motorcycle do you want. I always say how about I just ride yours with you. He is obsessed with not getting big. I teased him and said, "I am going to cry if you don't stop growing up, it breaks my heart." So a few days later we were in bed for naptime (our talk time) and he says I won't grow up because you said not to but can I stop wetting the bed. So I laughed and said yes but nothing else.

Kendrick 3 months old

Benjamin kisses and hugs all day and if you watch him tell a story he is the most animated child I have. His eyes change, his head moves, he wants you to see what he sees just like his daddy. He is also my prankster. And his laugh is contagious. If he is ever behind you and says, "Look a spider is on the wall don't look." I never do the first time anymore, but he can be so convincing that you will eventually look.

Benjamin 2 days old

All of them were once so little and helpless and now while they still need me alittle they have grown and changed and I don't really know when it happened. I am sure people are right when they say, "No, he's not a baby anymore." They are right, but I still can't see it sometimes. Like when my 8 year old wants to play across the street with his 8-9 year old friends. I mean really, am I the only one that gets how far away that is. And how on earth an I suppose to cross that street in the blink of an eye. Yes, I trained him to but what if he doesn't look both ways just once is all it takes. Yes, he knows right from wrong but what if he forgets the voice I put in his head. He is a very smart guy. The other day I let him ride to the corner with a friend and stop and talk with the other boys. They began to play in the street. My son knows better and I watched as he got dutifully on his bike and rode home and promptly said, "Mom, those boys are dangerous they are in the street without their mom." And I said, "Yes, I saw and I also saw what my wonderfully smart boy did, came right home." He smiled knowing he had done well. He is so great. Well I am retitling this Where has all the time gone because Wichita Mountians will have to wait. I got way off track.

Have a super week, sit down and just watch what they do!!!