When I was in college I was a big country music fan, and I still really enjoy country songs because they all seem to tell a story. One of my favorites came out a few years ago – “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins.
You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days
Hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this
When we first got married, we had a little one bedroom apartment with the shag carpet. I’d get home from class and prepare crappy simple suppers because at 21, I didn’t know how to cook at all. We prayed before our meals, and dreamed about what it’d be like to own a house, get three dogs (NOT my idea), and have 10 children. Yes. Ten.
Six years later, here we are, proud parents of three children so far [and zero dogs.]:
TT
TT – The Bashful Boy
TT is our oldest, a shy three and a half year old boy who loves race cars, four wheelers, his little sisters and just being outside. He was the only kid who cried on the first day of preschool because he wanted to be home with his mom. 🙂 TT already has an attitude and a good sense of humor. He’s “TT” because when Peach was 14 months old, she started calling him that. His name doesn’t even have a T in it.
Peach
Peach – The Wild Card
Peach, our two year old princess, is our wild card. She gives the most hilarious dirty looks, the biggest smiles, and has been feisty since she was born. She started climbing furniture before she even learned how to walk. We’re going to be in trouble when she’s a teenager. She’s “Peach” because that’s the only princess her dad could think of… thank you Nintendo.
Vanilla
Vanilla – The Mellow Miss
Vanilla, our youngest daughter, is just five months old, but she’s already laid back and sweet. She really gets a kick out of her older brother and sister, and she goes with the flow really well. She’s “Vanilla” because that’s what her brother named her when I was 20 weeks along.
Someday, I’m going to look back on these days – when I had three children under the age of four, and these are going to be the “good ol’ days” – as my mom would say. Although I’m almost sure I won’t miss the tantrums, whining, funky diapers, telling them to “knock it off” 50 times a day, etc… there are some things I KNOW I’ll miss when they’re gone.
- Movies and a picnic with popcorn on the living room floor
- Watching our parents form relationships with each of our kids as individuals
- Solos in the van to the chorus to “Love Will Hold Us Together”
- Their faces and laughter when we blow bubbles outside (what is it with kids and bubbles?)
- When TT asks if I’ll lay down for a nap with him
- Random kisses on the shoulder, leg, or wherever Peach can reach in that moment
- The way Vanilla looks at my eyes and not my mouth to see if I’m smiling
“Children have neither past nor future;
they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.”
Jean de la Bruyere
