They Grow Up Fast!

craftytam

craftytam

Executive Chef, *Master in the kitchen!*, *Scrapp
My "baby" turned 13 today. My oldest will be 21 in two weeks. The middle is 14.
Where did the time go? Honestly, there are times when I look at them and expect to see a toddler following me around....not some (almost) adult who is as tall or taller than me!

I know this is said often, but if you have little ones, please don't wish that time away. It's so precious. I'm so thankful that I have taken lots of photos over the years. Truthfully, I wish I had taken MORE. Even of the "bad" times when they were crying or in a bad mood or hiding from the camera. That's real life and it is so priceless.

So, what phase of life are you in? Are you a mom of toddlers and pulling your hair out over the challenges of teaching little ones how to do things? Have all of your kids started school and you're enjoying a little bit of down time? Are they teenagers and you're wishing they would "just get over it?!" Or are you an empty-nester? What are your joys/challenges in this stage?

And, are you taking enough photos?!
 
I hear ya!! I was going though lots of emotions last year when my oldest graduated 8th grade....then again during his first days of school. He was with the same group 30ish kids for 9 years, suddenly going to a school with over 300 freshmen. He didn't know anyone really at this new school and all his close friends went to a different high school. It made me sad that he was so nervous and scared for a couple weeks. All is good now though, yay!! I love that he still hugs and kisses me, even in front of his friends!

My middle, aka.. "the girl" is 10---she just mentioned to me she is a decade old! LOL. Need to scrap that! I love that she still wants me to walk her to the assembly area and wait until they walk to the rooms just so I can give her flying kisses as she goes.

My baby..wahhh... he's 7. Today is his First Reconciliation. The next step toward First Communion! He's my baby, I get unlimited hugs and kisses from him! LOVE it!!
 
Oh my gosh - I have this same exact feeling about a dozen times a week. I look at my 6'+ son and think I remember just yesterday *sniffle*. I wish we could do it all over a 1000 times, but even that would never be enough for me! I think that's just part of being mom!

Group hug!!

:grouphugg:
 
I'm a mommy of the 2 most precious little angels. My daughter is 3 and seems to be going on 16. She's already acting like a teenager. She hates waking up in the morning and asks me for 'just a few more minutes' in bed. My son is 2 and is already a little ladies man. He has all the ladies at daycare in love with him, it's so funny, they say he can do no wrong. However if he does get in trouble he just bats his 'baby blues' and the ladies melt and forget the trouble he caused.

I looked back at some 'baby' pics of them the other day and it nearly made me cry. They are getting so big already. I miss holding my little babies. :cryhard

I am not looking forward to them getting older.

I take pictures of my kids as often as I can, but probably not as many as I should.
 
I agree, it just goes so fast! I had two "litters" :). My oldest three are 22, 21, and 19. My younger two just turned 10 and 8. I had the privilege of doing the baby/toddler thing twice. It was so hard and overwhelming, I thought it would never end and now i wonder if that was truly the best time of life, even though I couldn't appreciate it at the time. Looking back though, it's easier to "appreciate" sleepless nights when you get your full 8 hours almost every night now. :P
 
I love reading about all of your children! It sounds like we all experience the same things. :grouphugg:
 
My one and only turns 18 on the 17th and it's got me feeling very nostalgic, and he'll be going off to college next year - oh my!!!

I sure wish I had a digital camera since he was born, I regret having too few photos!!!
 
Lisa said:
My one and only turns 18 on the 17th and it's got me feeling very nostalgic, and he'll be going off to college next year - oh my!!!

I sure wish I had a digital camera since he was born, I regret having too few photos!!!
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I really wish digital cameras had been around when my daughter was young! I have so many pre-digital photos & negatives that need to be scanned. I have paper scrapped through 2002, but everything after that I want to do digital.
 
Your thread brings a tear to my eye. Not in a bad way but in a " I know I am really seeing life " way.

I am 61, and deal daily with : the young and the restless . On my plate is my dad turning 90 and caring for younger grandson at 18 mo. There are family members at all ages inbetween. ......

I must say ive enjoyed watching all grow . Enjoy every step and photo all moments you can.
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Oh, they do grow up so fast. My baby girl is 20 and a member here (Danni). A Junior in college 3.5 hours away from us.

And my baby.... a senior in high school. How did THAT happen?

I took many pictures of them younger, and not as much as they got to be teenagers. Matthew does not like to have any pictures taken - as evidenced by his senior photos in which he did not smile in any of them.

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But, this is who he is. Not an unhappy young man - just not a smiler.
 
hooo, he looks really angry about the photographer... but I know your problem, my son Michael is in the same stage of life: he did photos with his friends and his handy, but if I take my "big cam" he hides *grrrrrr* - - - but from time to time I got it and catch him, sometimes really smiling ;)
 
I am an Empty Nester now for 12 years, going on forever it seems. Daughter Claire and Hubby Jason have given us 3 Grandchildren, Paxton (3), Lennox (2 on Feb 28th), and lil Zoe born just 2 weeks ago, and first Grand daughter. I so wish there would have been digital cameras when my children were little, and although I did take a lot of photos, I know I would have taken more if it would have been as easy as pulling out the phone and getting that shot on a whim. Photos are such a blessing to have, and I usually pull out the photo albums a couple of times a year to make that walk down memory lane. I just wish Hubby enjoyed it more, cuz I think it would be more fun. After the kids were gone, I took up animal rescue, they needed me, and it was a surprise to find out how much I needed them :)
 
Ahhh! :( Babies grow up all too quickly!! And this is why I spend all my "extra" time scrapbooking! I hope they'll cherish these pages as much as I will!

I'm in the pulling my hair out stage! Even though I know it goes by quickly (my older 2 are 8 & 6 and it seems like they grew up in a blink of an eye!) my younger two are 3 & 1 and some days are so hard I feel like they'll never grow up. Its hard to cherish every moment even when I know I should!! thanks for the reminder!! :D
 
Not to mention, you get them developed only to find out the shot you couldn't wait to see is too dark, or blurry, or..., then that shot is lost forever. Film was expensive to buy and could be expensive to process depending on how many pictures, what size you wanted and if you wanted duplicates, so you didn't want to waste the film. You would still have to take more than one of any given shot, because someone most certainly will have their eyes closed, or looking away from the camera, or... As Winnie the Poo would say..."What a bother" :)
 
My boy is only one and a half but already he's grown so much and made so much progress. I love watching him learn new things daily. He's teething at the moment, leading to some crankiness and early mornings and buckets of drool coming out of his mouth, but that is totally compensated by his greatest pleasure of the moment: sitting down on the couch and inviting us to come sit with him one by one. Sort of goes like "mama, sit!" Then "papa, sit!" Then "meow (=cat), sit!" Followed by the biggest blissful smile ever. Ooh, I want to go scrap that one right now, time to get some photos of him sitting and grinning.

Whenever he comes to cuddle up (he's like a teddy bear) or demands to be plunked down in our bed at 5 am in the morning, I really savour the moment, knowing he won't be asking for hugs anymore when he gets older.
 
lynnw said:
I really savour the moment, knowing he won't be asking for hugs anymore when he gets older.
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Lynn, I was going through my boxes of pre-digi (not yet scrapped) photos and found a quote from my son when he was about 3. I was hugging him and he told me he was done. I said, "noooooooo" and he replied, "Let Connor do it" (Connor is his younger brother). This boy is 14 now and is more cuddly now than he was when he was little :) So, there is hope!
 
I enjoyed reading this thread! I can honestly say that I have no regrets about not cuddling, reading, or rocking my babies enough---but boy!!they grow up too fast! I have 2 boys-11 and almost 9 and 2 girls-4 and 19 months, so I'm sorta w/ you Trina;) Somedays I'm exhausted and overwhelmed and then I feel guilty because I look at my boys and they don't need me near as much anymore and I hate that change...I take lots of pictures!!!!-so many it's overwhelming to get them all scrapped because I don't wanna leave anything out;) I do find that I take more pics of the girls as they are younger and I'm home w/ them during the day, then I do the boys right now. The pics I take of them are mostly sports or school related.
 
Just had my oldest start Middle School this year, so I know what you mean. I look back now on the young years and think how many days there were that I "wished" they older so they could just "insert life skill here"

And my youngest is 9, the age my oldest was when we moved to Okinawa, how did 3 1/2 years pass this quickly!?! he was only a first grader when we got here, geesh!
 
I have 3.. my son, Kyle, is 18 and a freshman in college about 2 1/2 hrs from home. I really miss him being around!! My daughters are both teenagers as well, Noelle (Ellie) is 15 and Allison is 13. I will be brutally honest... I enjoy my kids so much more as teenagers than I did when they were little. I loved the baby stage... but I'm just not patient enough for kids ages 2-10 lol! Maybe part if that was because I had my kids when I was quite young... and I hadn't grown up enough myself yet :)
 
Paula, I feel the same. I loved babies (which is why I had so many) and despite the challenges with teens, they are such interesting people! I find the elementary school ages "easy" but boring :).
 
I definitely think I'm a better mom now than I was when my kids were little. I've matured a lot. I think a lot of my nostalgia is feeling like I missed it...I was in a job that required me to work a lot of hours & really caused a lot of emotional stress when they were young. Then I went through a healing period after I quit that job. I feel like by the time I "woke up," they were grown.

So, now I'm looking forward to being an amazing Grandma & spoiling some Grandbabies (in time!!).
 
zenjen said:
Just had my oldest start Middle School this year, so I know what you mean. I look back now on the young years and think how many days there were that I "wished" they older so they could just "insert life skill here"

And my youngest is 9, the age my oldest was when we moved to Okinawa, how did 3 1/2 years pass this quickly!?! he was only a first grader when we got here, geesh!
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It sounds like a great adventure for your kids, Jen, being able to live in another country when they are young. How have they adapted?
 
It was so nice reading everyone's posts! I'm a stay-at-home mom of 3 (all blue-eyed ;) ). My daughter, Avery, is going to be 10 (GASP!) in March, my son Collin is 6, and my youngest, Austin is 3. He is my little heart baby, born with a congenital heart defect, but you would never know it! I've been home with him since he was born. He is definitely a handful and keeps me on my toes; but he is also hilarous! ANd we are STILL potty training...I love being able to be home with him, but I'll be glad to get out of the house and talk to adults during the day in a few years! Both Collin and Avery are really into baseball/softball and that should be starting soon which will mean less scrap time for me.

I take LOTS of pictures and scrap as much as I can. My kids love seeing themselves on Mommy's pages! My daughter sometimes will help with choosing what pictures to scrap with what kits-she'll probably be a digiscapper too!
 
My oldest is turning 10 this summer. He is in the "I'm too old and too cool for kid stuff, I have a really bad attitude and think I know everything, I'm too big to have you walk me to the bus or kiss me in front of my friends and don't walk into the room when I'm taking a shower" stage.

My youngest will be 7 in two weeks...and he is still luckily a big snuggly bear mama's boy!
 
I have 2 - my son is 26 (27 in a few months!) and he is married with 2 young children of his own :) Then I have a 13 year-old daughter (yes, they're 13 years part!) She'll be 14 before long and is in 8th grade this year, which is going by fast. They are both very confident, independent souls, for which I am very grateful. I never really ever felt "sad" about them growing up... maybe I'm missing the sentimental gene - LOL, but they're supposed to grow up and I've thoroughly enjoyed the whole journey. My daughter just made her final decision on which high school to attend next year (she had a choice of about 10 schools). She's decided on the largest one (about 1600 total students, which is huge for this area) and she is so excited and can't wait to get there).

I have tons of photos of my daughter and not so many of my son. He was long before the digital age and it just wasn't as easy to take/print photos. I do have some but they'll all need to be scanned and edited before I can scrap them, which is something I want to tackle "some day."
 
amystoffel said:
My oldest is turning 10 this summer. He is in the "I'm too old and too cool for kid stuff, I have a really bad attitude and think I know everything, I'm too big to have you walk me to the bus or kiss me in front of my friends and don't walk into the room when I'm taking a shower" stage.
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I'm so thankful that my boys will still hug me in public, but they are definitely in the "Don't walk in the room, I'm changing" stage! It's so funny...if my daughter is even near the door they panic! And she says, "I used to change your diapers!!" hehe
 
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