Then vs. now

When we had kids we were practically kids ourselves. It was a week before my 22nd birthday when our little 3 lb. 5 oz girl was delivered (pulled out of my cut-open abdomen while I lay unconscious on a sterile bed). Needless to say, it was traumatizing (you know, after I woke up). We grew up really fast in the few years that followed as Carter came a short 18 1/2 months after Natalie. Jeff and I scrambled to finish college in a hurry and life was quite the wirlwind back then... but nothing, NOTHING prepared me for what it would be like as a stay at home mom (SAHM).

Life now (as I know it) would appear, from the outside anyway, to be much slower. However, inside my brain, things move at a rate my pen-on-calendar can't even keep up with. We have a first grader, a kindergartner and a 2 year old. Just writing it makes me feel nervous, and then I remember that I'm LIVING it everyday. I'm not babysitting, it's not for a weekend, and I'm not getting paid.

In our house no one has the same library day, homework is never due on the same day, no one ever likes the same food for dinner, and everyone always wants your attention for something different at the same time. However, if they get something different without specifically asking for it a war breaks loose. At the end of everyday, when I'm laying my head on my pillow I often look at my night stand and feel like I should have some sort of medal laying there, just because I actually made it to the end of the day (and amazingly enough, so did the kids!).

My whole life all I've ever wanted was to grow up, get married, have kids and raise them to love Jesus, their family, and others to the best of their ability. I had no idea it would be so crazy, so busy, so manic... or so wonderful.