8

Saturday, Mary Kate spent some time scrolling through old photographs on my desktop. Later that night, I wander into the office and saw that she had left the picture folder open on the screen. It took less than 3 seconds for me to get sucked into a long journey down memory lane.

For starters, I saw this photo…(those big blue eyes, be still my heart)…

And this one…(I adored kissing those chubby cheeks)…

Then this one…(one of my all-time favorites, two little fat Buddha's in over-all's)…

And this one…(always important to capture the fleeting moments when they were actually clean)…

And this one…(wearing the most appropriate Halloween costumes of all time)…

…and there were hundreds more like these.

You know how people always tell you to “enjoy and savor the time when your children are small, because you’ll blink and they’ll be all grown up?” Someone would tell me that at least once a day when my twins were small. Those well-intentioned folk especially felt the need to tell me this on days when my twins were “awful fractious and I was terrible worn out.” (What movie is that line from, everyone?)

I always had the hardest time wrapping my brain around it when people told me these things. Raising the boys took so much out of me. Although there were moments when I would savor that adorable littleness, I would often find myself fantasizing about when they would be more grown up and wouldn’t require so much of me…physically at least. (I think children always require the best of you in every other way, for a life time).

My boys turn eight today, and that future time I used to fantasize about is here. Jonathan and Jeffrey are finally more ‘grown up.’ That littleness is gone away. Now a days, I don’t spend every waking hour trying to keep my head above water when it comes to them. And yesterday, as I looked back on all those hundreds of photographs, I heard the words of those eager advice givers (who had the perspective and experience to know what they were talking about) ringing in my ears.

They were so right!

I miss my little baby boys. So much. And I have a strange feeling that the younger years were probably the easy ones.

Ever since they were born, the twins have provided our life with challenge and growth and so much love. All that rambunctious, uncontained, Curious George-like, energy that came trailing along with them has brought some of my greatest challenges and most pure joys. I can’t imagine my life without my boys.

8 is a milestone year when you’re a Latter-Day Saint. The boys will be baptized in June, and they can hardly wait. They talk about it all the time. As their mama, I really think they have a good sense of what it means to take this step. I think they are ready.

But that’s several week away yet, and today we will party and celebrate, because the boys are 8!

Happy Birthday Jonathan and Jeffrey! I love you!