IHF: Framed Photo Challenge

My entry features some of my closest friends. Love how it turned out.




IHF: "S"

Today, S is for spy! :)

Look who I caught spying on me!! Or S could be for smile.... just LOOK at his! :)

IHF: Pet faces

Maureen, the cat.

IHF: Beautiful B&W

I love black and white photos. They feel special in black and white. With this photo especially... you aren't distracted by color, only the happiness on this beautiful boy's face.

IHF: Furry Faces

Isn't she just precious? :)

IHF: Let Them Be Little

This is one of my favorite pictures of my son. This goofy face captures his personality so much for than a fake smile. He is the ultimate definition of a boy: noise with dirt on it.
Check out iheartfaces.com to see more awesome entries!

Tough love.

Today we toured Kindergarten. And as cliche as it sounds, it seems like only yesterday he started preschool. And just last week he took his first steps. And just a few months ago I held his little baby body in my arms and thought, wow... God must really have a lot of faith in me to have entrusted to me the most precious of all gifts. And now, he's going to Kindergarten.

Being a mom is hard. And I don't just mean physically even though it certainly has it's moments. Becoming a mother changes you. You see the world differently. Every thing with a pointy end becomes a nightmare. Every small object a choking hazard. Every body of water, including the bathtub, a potential drowning accident. We panic over fevers, head bumps, and blood coming out of anywhere. It's not because we are over dramatic or just plain crazy! It's because if anything ever happened to them, we'd don't know what we'd do... how we could handle it.
A mother's heart is always broken. When our children are sick, it breaks our heart. When our children hurt, we hurt. That being said... pregnancy must also permanently damage our tear ducts! All the damn things do is leak!

A mother's needs are second to her child's, and that includes regular bathroom breaks, sleep, and being able to eat a meal without being interrupted. They always come first. Always. After years and years of that, I think that we forget how to be any other way even when they are grown and gone. I am starting to be able sympathize with my own mother these days. When does it get easier to let go? Does it at all? How did she do it? All three of her children are grown now.... How did she let go? I mean, Eli is only going into kindergarten! What about high school? How about college? I'm sure it will be here before I am ready.... I can recall times when I made the comment, "I'll be glad when you outgrow this!" or "I'll be glad when you can wipe your own butt!" and then... they do.

....It's like when they are just learning to walk... and you are holding on to them and you are reluctant to let them go... because if you do it too soon, you know they will fall... but if you keep hanging on and don't ever let go... they'll never learn to walk. I think that can pretty much be true their whole lives... well symbolically anyway. If you keep a hold of them, they don't learn to live... but if you aren't there enough, they fall down. It's a fine line... when do you learn how to walk it? I don't know. But I do know that today, I will enjoy is silly faces. I will listen to his enthusiastic stories. And I will tell him he has to eat his dinner before ice cream, even though it will kill me to see disappointment in his eyes. And when he tells me I am the best mommy in the "uni-berse" I will try to live up to his expectations with everything I am. And when he tells me tells me he loves me, I will remember how special he is and how blessed I am to know him. And I will remember how fast tomorrow will be here.