There are days...

There are days, when my alarm goes off at 6:15am, before I dash out of bed and try to shower and get ready before one of the boys wakes up, when I take a second to remember the time "BC" (Before Children). I remember the Saturday mornings when Miles and I would sleep in until whenever we wanted, have breakfast, and then go back to bed to watch countless hours of Lost, Grey's Anatomy, or whatever our TV show of the moment was. I remember the days when we actually used the term "bored"... when I had so much time to clean my house that it couldn't have gotten any cleaner... when we were both working and had 'seemingly' endless amounts of money to spend on whatever we wanted... when I had the time to sit around and read a book without feeling pressured and rushed because the end of naptime was fast approaching.

I remember when I had more than enough time to work out and spend time with my husband. And I wonder why I didn't take more advantage of that time when I had it. Now, Miles and I find ourselves putting both kids to bed early some nights, just so we can have an hour or two of uninterrupted 'adult' time before we fall into bed in exhaustion.

I remember the times when I had hours to sit on the phone talking to my friends and catching up. Now, it seems hard to find a minute to just drop a quick email to tell my friends that I am still alive and missing them!

I remember being able to sitting down to eat a meal without getting up 16 times for more milk, more ranch, more napkins, more crackers, or to clean up vomit. :0)

I remember having all the time in the world to sit and spend time in God's Word, and feeding my soul as often and for as long as I wanted.

Now it seems, the house is dirtier than it has ever been, time to myself is almost non-existent, time to spend with the Lord is still there but has to be 'scheduled in' or it doesn't get done, and my body is not nearly in the shape that I would like it to be.

And yet, every morning when I look into my babies' faces, see their sweet smiles, wipe their tears, hear their "I love you mommy's", read the same books over and over and over, and chase them around the house for hours on end, I realize that EVERYTHING I remember from those 'before' days mean nothing compared to the joy that I get from my two sweet little blessings. I would not trade one second of my life now, as a mom, for any of those things I 'remember'. I have learned that my children will not remember the "things" we could buy them, the cleanliness of our house, or the gourmet meals that I cooked for them. I pray when they look back, they will remember having parents who loved them, who were there for them, and who were more concerned with creating memories with them than all of the other 'stuff'.