These Are Days To Remember

I stole that title from my good friend, Kim. She used it to title a post the other day and it got me thinkin' about the words. If you don't know the song, it was a #1 hit for the alternative rock group, 10,000 Maniacs. I listened to it a lot in college, and while I don't agree with all the lyrics, it does take me back to those warm and golden days of yesteryear, remembering nothing but happiness and high hopes for the future. You know what I mean...those days of turning up the music loud, rolling down the windows of your car, letting the hot wind wreak havoc on your hair...just singing as loud as you can and not caring who is listening. No worries...lots of fun to be had and pure excitement as to what each day would bring!

Funny, that's not quite how I would describe this time in my life...but I still believe that These Are Days To Remember. I got choked up the other day at my sister's house, when she showed me a video of my Kate, singing "Jesus Loves Me" when she was 2 1/2 years old. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. Honestly, I couldn't remember her ever sounding like that...her voice was so different...she has grown up so much. It made me sad to think that I had already forgotten. Already forgotten the precious toddler days of my big girl. They seemed to be so slow moving at the time...I didn't think she would ever get old enough to become more independent and I kept wishing it would happen.

I'm getting that wish now...as each day passes, I see my child looking to others to meet her needs. She wants to play with kids her age, not me. I asked her to go walking with me tonight (something she used to eagerly agree to), and for the first time, she seemed genuinely disappointed at the suggestion. She was hoping for something else...someone else. It kind of broke my heart. Don't worry though, I still made her go with me and she eventually warmed up to the walk, and to me. But it made me think that I need to soak in all these special days, special minutes. I need to cherish these early years, they go by so quickly...too quickly.

Speaking of early years, Aaron is smack dab in the middle of 'em. My two year old is sprouting wings and trying to take off...in the opposite direction of his mama! He is a firecracker, but so much fun to be around. Since I seem to have trouble remembering Kate's toddler days, I am going to try and do a better job of documenting any funny things Aaron does/says. My son loves to go places with me. Not because he loves spending time with me, but there is usually a treat waiting for him wherever we go. Therefore, instead of calling out the name of the store we are going to, he always reminds me of what treat he gets there. In this picture, Aaron is sporting his treat, a big smiley face sticker, on his forehead. Whenever we walk through the doors of Wal-mart, I know to expect a little voice demanding "Stick-oor, stick-oor, please Mommy". He already knows which lady usually hands out the stick-oors, and will point to her until I take him over to see her (he is strapped in the cart, FYI, or he would just leave me in the dust). In fact, the other day, we were in the McDonald's area in the front of Walmart and the stick-oor lady was taking her break. He saw her and immediately began asking for his two stick-oors (one for me and one for him). She just smiled and laughed. See? These ARE the days to remember.

(By the way, the other two places he LOVES is Lowes Food Store, "b'loon please Mommy" and Harris Teeter, "coooookie Mommy, MY coooookie".)

And of course, last but not least, here are a few pics from yesterday's Fashion Show Party. Like I said in my previous post, I really think the girls had a LOT of fun. And Aaron couldn't wait to get up on the platform...we had a hard time keeping him OUT of the spotlight. Hee hee. Thanks to Mema and Pop for such a great outfit...Kate loved wearing her cheerleader costume. She really did 'shine' yesterday...inside and out!