""Head them off at the pass?" I hate that cliché!"

Mel Brooks movie quotes aside, I really can't stand clichés-- any of them.  So you'll know that it is with great pain that I admit that they really do "grow up so fast."

Yesterday my baby sister turned 11.  The last time I saw her, my oldest was almost one.  He'll be 4 soon.  Even though I saw her three years ago, she is stuck forever in my head as she was when I moved across the country a little shy of 6 years ago after getting married: my sweet little snuggle bug, who would climb into bed with me in the middle of the night when she was two (and three, and four), and keep me up for an hour with kisses on my cheeks, repeatedly whispering, "I love you, Chelle," every time I was about to fall asleep.  I'd wake up with her soft little hands gently wrapped around my fingers and whisper back, "I love you, Tori."
Her crazy, fuzzy curls (okay, it was more of a tangled nest if we're being honest) are thought of every morning and every afternoon when my own little girl wakes up with the exact same hair.  When she climbs into bed with us at night sometimes, she comes over and gives me the same tiny little kisses, and whispers "I love you, Mama" in that same tiny, tired toddler whisper my sister used to.

The face I think of when I think of my sister and all those sweet whispers and kisses

 Tori's morning hair

 Lila's morning hair

Having a baby in the house again has made me realize just how quickly it all does go by...  I look at this little baby in my arms, snuggled under my chin just like his big brother used to like to be, and then across the room and wonder when Aidan went from this same little size in my arms to the boy sitting at his desk practicing writing his name and "reading" (from memory) books to Lila, whom he affectionately calls his "Baby Girl" more often than not.  And she really was our baby girl not that long ago.  She turned two earlier this month, which made me a tad more emotional than I care to admit.  When, in the last few months, did two years manage to go by?  Or the four years Aidan will soon be able to claim as his? OR the 11 years my baby sister just completed? How does it all go by sooo fast?

It's taken baby #3 for me to really see and appreciate how quickly they can grow and change and go from babies to little people... and then they turn 11, and then I'm sure the next thing you know, they're all grown up, getting married, and having babies of their own.  I've got to stop blinking... I'm going to miss something.

Put down the phone, close the computer, turn off the TV, suck up the frustrating parenting moments, ignore all those (honestly) silly things you think you have to do instead of playing with and getting to know your kids, and just cherish every second of all the amazing that is your child.  Twenty years from now, you're more likely to regret not playing with them more or reading enough silly stories while they cuddled contentedly on your lap than you are to regret putting off doing the dishes for 30 more minutes so you could have the opportunity to make some great memories with your babies  Seriously, you don't want to miss it... they really do grow up too fast.

Me and my baby sister, Tori

A little sister silliness

Tori, me, and Aidan, July 2009