Time Flies

Today was a pretty normal day by my current standards. Ben and I wrangled Jocelyn and Molly at Mass, picked Ava up from her sleepover, came home to nap, clean, and have friends over for dinner. There was the usual mayhem, noise, and messes that go along with having a family of five. After all the kids were in bed and (mostly) quiet, I was sitting playing solitaire on my tablet and appreciating the quiet at the end of the day. Then I started thinking: this day 6 years ago was my last day of being not-a-mom. Tomorrow is Ava's birthday, so October 7, 2006 was the last day I was not a mother. (I know I was technically a mom before she was actually born, but I'm not splitting hairs tonight.) I could never have imagined what my life would be like 6 years later. Six years ago I was just trying to figure out how I could survive the unbearable pain of back labor, survive a military health system that didn't want to admit me after we'd driven almost an hour to the hospital, and survive actually birthing this living being. (Little did I know that in the grand scheme of things the birth was the easy part.) It's near impossible to remember my life before - no balancing schedules, packing lunches, planning playdates. When Ben and I could leave the house at the spur of the moment without bringing half the house with us. And yet, while I can't really remember life before motherhood, it's amazing that my oldest daughter turns 6 tomorrow. How has it been six years already? It seems so trite to say, but time really does fly when you're having fun. This adventure of parenthood is so much more work and stress and joy and fun that I could have ever imagined. I sometimes enjoy it more than other times, but tonight I know there's no where else I'd rather be in life than right here, with the most incredible family God could have blessed me with.