Since my last day of school on May 26th, Annabelle and I have been on the go. From lunches with Daddy, to a business meeting, countless errands, to Connecticut, and most recently: to Ohio with Brandon and his family – life has been nonstop. We are still in Ohio today… but will return tonight. We are having an amazing time! But…
I feel like the last 20 days have gone by in a blur. One of my biggest mantras in life is to take every second, every minute, every hour wholeheartedly. To stop and soak in the moments I have with every-one and every-thing I encounter. Some of these moments are not memorable – some of these moments I want to forget – but they are moments that I have here on this Earth and should be cherished no matter what.
Becoming a Mother has been one of my greatest moments in my life thus far. Motherhood is ongoing, fortunately never ending. Sometimes Brandon and I just sit and talk about how Annabelle is our most fantastic accomplishment. We try to memorize her every step and to appreciate the little things she does. From the silly way she touches Brandon’s beard and then asks if Mommy has one too- to the force with which she hugs me at any given moment – her actions and interactions are memories we hope to never forget. Sadly, one can only capture so much in a photo or video, so we must always take mental pictures which we can reflect on some day down the road.
But… its hard to pause, to take a mental picture, when life is flashing so quickly before your eyes. It’s hard to take it all in when you’re running from one thing to the next. It’s time for me to slow it down… to slow everything down.
Thankfully, I am acknowledging that I’ve been careless with my time. I do this quite often – become conscious of the way I’ve ignored what’s around me – and I find that it is easy to reverse what I’ve done. By blogging, talking with family and friends, or even writing in Annabelle’s baby book, I can relive any moments I may have rushed through.
Life is too fleeting to take it for granted.
Mental snapshots are so sweet! My husband and I are constantly reminding ourselves to take them during big events. Two that stick out inparticular… our last dance at our wedding before leaving the venue, and sitting together as a family of 3 in the hospital bed watching a movie on our computer the day after our son was born. Bliss. 🙂