Precious Moments

I was reminded this morning, as I finally packed up Elijah's 3-6 months outfits that he had long since outgrown, that time goes by so quickly.  I have been avoiding packing up this last round of clothes because I kept thinking that they "may" still fit, so no need to rush to put them up.  Then, at MOPS this past Friday Elijah had a little accident so they changed him out of the outfit he came dressed in and into his "backup outfit" that I keep in his little backpack that he takes with him.  Since he hadn't used the "backup outfit" in a good long while, I didn't realize that it was a 6 month outfit.  Let's just say that the little jumpsuit fit pretty snug and the pants were more like capris. :)  And with that, I figured that the time had come to pack up all of the 6 month outfits.  Surprisingly, it seems like 6 month clothes made up the bulk of his closet, so we went from needing to buy more hangers to having an abundance of hangers and space! 

As I sorted through the clothes and begin to lay them out and neatly fold them, I felt a saddness welling up inside of me.  It was a strange, sentimental sadness, really, that I cannot quite explain.  It was the realization that life goes by so quickly and that the moments are fleeting.  It was the realization that he would never again wear those clothes and never again be so small.  It was the realization that time never stops; you can not slow it down, you can not pause it no matter how sweet the moment.  All you can do is savor it, live it.  So today, I savor each moment that I have....  The fun ones filled with sweet giggles as I kiss Elijah on his tickle spot on his neck.  The stinky ones as I change his very dirty diaper, along with his clothes because the mess has somehow found its way out of the diaper.  The distracted ones as I try to finish a blog post and he crawls around at my feet, demanding my attention instead.  And the tender ones when I cuddle with my little boy, who won't be a little baby for long.  Each is precious, each is a gift.

Rationally, I know that this is pure silliness.  I know that my little boy is only 9 months old and will grow into and out of many, many more sets of clothes.  I know that we still have years before he even gets to school, much less grows up and moves out on his own.  I know that I do not want things to stay the same forever.  Life is dynamic.  Life is always changing, growing, and moving.  But I am reminded today that it is so precious.  It is the blink of an eye and we wonder where the years have gone.  I was reminded of a song: "Every day is a gift that we've been given, make the most of the time every minute you're living."  And so it is.  I thank you Lord for today.  I thank you for this moment. 

And as always, a few pictures of my most recent "precious moments" with my little boy:

One of our new favorite dinner spots is the Central Market Cafe.  After church on Saturday night, we will come here and it is fantastic.  The food is always delicious, you order and pay at the counter so it is quick and makes for a fast escape should you need it (aka, kid starting to implode) but is relaxing where you can sit and eat for as long as you like (so it actually feels like a dinner out and not fast food), and they have live music which serves a two fold purpose: 1.  nice atmosphere for dinner, 2.  cover noise for children.  :)  Here, Elijah and Daddy are listening to the music before we head out.

Elijah also loves going to Central Market!  Truth be told, we have gone there for the last two weekends in a row and these trips have probably been our most enjoyable dinner experiences with the little man.  He is getting to the super fun stage where he can eat "real people food."  He is happy and entertained throughout the meal as we give him little bites of our food to try.  In the past few weeks he has tried couscous, salmon, chicken, peas, tortillas, carrots, and all sorts of other delectable fare.

And one last sweet picture, here Eli is eating puff while I get his dinner ready.  This kiddo is truly a "puff-a-holic" and I'm pretty sure he could eat his weight in those little things if we'd let him. :)  Sometimes I think he enjoys the challenge of grabbing them all and putting them in his mouth more than actually eating them.  I have to limit the number he can grab at once so he remembers to stop and chew.  I love his little face in this picture.  You can also see his little curls behind his ear.  His hair is starting to get longer and his curls are most noticeable right after he has had a bath.