Remembering Moments

It seems to me like this year is going at warp speed.  And yet, I wonder how this could possibly be when I would swear that some nights (ahem, teething has not been kind to Emma!) just seemed endless.  Strange how that happens. 

This year I find that we have had so many precious moments that I've wanted to hold on to and remember forever.  I've tried to scrapbook many of them because they are so fleeting I'm sure I won't remember them a year from now, but just as many moments that I've captured in a scrapbook layout there are many that I didn't capture.  

Julia has taken to giving me lots of random kisses throughout the day and is often telling Emma that she is the best sister in the whole world.  My heart melts a little more each time either of these happens.  Emma has begun to start approximating words if you are listening for them and then she shines like star afterwards so happy with herself that she finally was able to get out of her mouth what her mind has been so desperately trying to accomplish for so long.  She doesn't do it often or on command, but when she does my heart blows up to 1000% of its size.  

Speaking of moments to remember - Tonight we were playing outside in the tent and Julia was pretending to sleep.  Emma kept "waking up" Julia and each time I told her to say - Wake up, Julia!  This is a common game we play but this time she said it - Waaay ooop oolia.  WOW!

Both girls just love to play and some of the favorite games around here are to build forts or to hide under the covers and have me or Chris look for them.  Then there was the day that Julia, Emma and I decided to play in their room for much of the morning and then lay out a picnic lunch right on their floor.  We shut the door to keep Finnegan out of the room because it's just not that big of a room to have a picnic spread on the floor that our food loving dog could stay away from.  After that lunch we listened to the Imagination Movers on the iPad and had a little dance party and talked about things we liked, disliked, and wanted to do with the rest of the summer.  That was one of my favorite days this year with the girls and I know they felt it was a bit magical, too.  Julia still talks about that day.  

With Emma going to start pre-school in the next month and Julia in her last year of pre-school before she heads off to (GASP!) 5 day a week kindergarten next year I find that I want to hold onto these moments even more.  I'm going to try and journal a bit more here to capture some of the more mundane parts of our life that I know I'll love looking back on when the girls have grown.  My Mom did such a great job of creating special photo albums and keeping mementos for me that I still treasure and I want to be able to do the same for Julia and Emma.

The truth is that making time to capture this information in a central location is not my strong point and I'm so glad to know that my Mom has my back.  She keeps a journal for each of her grandchildren - all milestones, height/weight stats, vaccination dates, photos, funny things they do, etc.  I can't think of a nicer gift that she can give them or us.  

I go to bed tonight thinking of the photos we had taken for Emma's 3rd Birthday portrait.  I can barely see any trace of baby in them - she's growing into a beautiful little girl.   And I know I'll sleep soundly not because there was too little sleep last night (although, come to think of it there was too little!) but because I know we're enjoying life each day and making moments worth remembering.