When I started this blog, my babies looked like this:
and, now, in the blink of an eye, my babies look like this:
I began blogging (MyJuniorPrince.blogspot.com) a few weeks after Jackson was born. I was in love with my little guy ... I was sleep deprived, overwhelmed, anxious, and sore. I wanted to capture his every movement and sound and smell. I snapped photo after photo after photo. The blank spaces in the Hallmark baby book just didn't seem to offer enough room for my savored memories, yet starting my own baby book seemed much too daunting for my un-crafty self. And so I turned to blogging. Somehow the act of typing some sentences and uploading photos a few times each week gave me the opportunity to create my own version of a baby book. But more than that, blogging made me pause in the moments of chaos and self reflect on who I was as a mother.
I continued Jackson's blog through his first birthday. After taking a few months off, I started another blog (MyTwoUnderTwo.blogspot.com) when Adeline was born. I quickly realized that it was next to impossible to create a blog just about Addie. Forever more, my life was changed ... Jackson's life was changed. And so I blogged about him. And her. And them. And us. Filled with amateur photos and grammatically incorrect sentences, I tried to capture not only our highs and lows, but our day to day life.
A few weeks before Jude was born, I told Adam I wanted to start a blog. I still remember this tone of his voice when he told me that blogging was "soooo like 10 years ago." I wanted to prove him wrong. Actually, I wanted to prove myself wrong. I initially had doubts that I'd be able to muster up the energy - and time - to reflect on lil' Jude's firsts. I was unsure how I'd handle being a mommy of three kids. I challenged myself to keep up with the blog for six months - and then when the six months came and went, my goal become one year.
And now, nearly two years later, I've decided to take a break from this blogging world. My kids are filled with such energy and passion, and I really want to just be. Not behind the camera, but dancing with them in the living room, or crawling with them in the princess castle, or painting with them at the kitchen table. No matter how tight I close my eyes or how much I pray at night, I just cannot make time stand still. My babies are growing way too quickly and it's time that I be in the moment more than ever before.
I can only hope that the 357 posts over the last two years (and nearly 1000 posts over the last six!) will stay alive in my heart just as much as it does on paper. I've just sent this blog to be bound into a book for each of the kids; and someday, they better thank me! I praise God for Jackson and Adeline and Jude … the most amazing and precious Big Brother, Little Brother, and one Spunky Sister.
