Asher has been sloooowly cutting one molar at a time since September. After three and a half months of agony, Asher finally has ALL FOUR molars! After such hard work, those four pearly little teeth look like tiny badges of victory to me!
Now Ash is cutting another front, bottom tooth. He’s always experienced a lot of pain with teething, but this little tooth doesn’t seem to hurt him like the molars did.
I still remember when my parents first picked up a copy of the “love languages” book. The idea that everyone shows and feels love in different ways has become a widely known concept. My children are as unique in their “love languages” as they are in every other aspect of their young lives.
Brenna loves to write and receive small notes and letters. Spending time together makes her feel loved as well. And she enjoys snuggling before bedtime or during a book or movie.
Joshua shows and feels love through games and activities. He enjoys spending time with someone he loves, doing something together. He also shows love through tasks and actions.
Madalyn loves hugs and kisses and physical affection. She also loves positive, affectionate words. Gifts mean a lot to her as well.
Braden says “I love you” constantly and loves to hear those three words returned. He enjoys cuddling and hugging also.
Asher is very affectionate. He loves to give hugs and kisses and getting them back in return. Of course, he is very young still so I expect that his “love languages” will develop and expand as he grows.
Asher loves to put things in his mouth. We try to keep small things picked up and I watch him constantly, but he still manages to put quite a few things in his mouth during the day. He doesn’t chew or swallow the things he shoves in his mouth. He just holds them in his cheeks like a little squirrel.
Asher is so accustomed to the phrase “Asher, spit it out” that I can tell him to spit from across the room and he will. It’s amazing how much stuff comes out of his mouth sometimes. I’ve seen him spit out giant bouncy balls or handfuls of buttons or beads. It’s crazy. He’s like a little pinata- you never really know what slobbery surprises are going to come out of him!
Once he spit out several coins one at a time. The coins- about five of them- increased in value each time he spit and we joked that maybe if we turned him upside down and patted his back a few times, he’s spit out a twenty.
The only thing that Asher doesn’t hold in his cheeks are crayons. Nope. He just eats those! He chomps on crayons like they are the greatest snack ever.
Asher was stinky so I asked him to bring me a diaper. He grinned at me and ran off with that cute little bouncy run of his. I watched as he trotted over to a nearby garbage can, fished out two of Jacob’s old diapers, and brought them back to me. He placed a dirty diaper carefully in my hand and smiled at me. He did bring me a diaper… it just wasn’t the kind I wanted!
Asher loves to play catch. Being a year old, he does play a modified version of the traditional game though. Asher brings me a ball (he has many and they are his favorite things, along with cars) and places it in my hands. He grins at me and bounces on his heels, eagerly waiting. I toss the ball across the room and Asher runs after it. Like a puppy playing fetch, Asher scoops up the ball and brings it right back to me so that I can throw it again for him. He never tires of this game and would play endlessly if I let him.
Asher also loves to pretend he’s a gymnast. He’s an observant little boy and he’s watched his siblings tumble around the house constantly (Brenna especially). Before long he was mimicking their movements. Now when we tell Asher, “Do your gymnastics,” he drops his head to the ground and does a little headstand/somersault/sideways roll combination that he came up with himself. He looks so, so pleased with himself afterwards.
Asher still loves to drive cars everywhere, making a darling little car noise as he scoots them around the house. He loves to play “chase” where he chases someone else or someone else chases him. He giggles like crazy and runs as fast as he can. Asher mimics everything around him so a lot of his games involve repeating the words and actions he observes. (His vocabulary, by the way, is growing rapidly. My two favorite words are Mama and Baby.) And, of course, Asher still loves to wrestle with anyone, whether they are willing or not. He just loves to wrestle!
I think my kids really are conspiring against me. Jacob actually slept from 4am to 7am last night! But, rather than sleeping, I was up… first with Braden (who fell out of bed and scared us both half to death) and then with Asher (who was startled awake by Braden’s cries and then refused to go back to sleep for the rest of the night). I do smell a conspiracy. 
Technically Asher has had his first hair cut yesterday. He had a few really long strands of hair that actually went down past his nose. I finally snipped them off- and saved them in a little bag that I labeled with his name and the date. But still, ten strands of hair CANNOT count as a first hair cut! So even though Asher has technically has his first hair cut, officially he still has not!
I took Brenna to gymnastics practice on Wednesday. I still don’t like to leave her there alone so I always stay during practice. We were running late so I dropped her off at the entrance to the rec center and promised to meet her inside after I parked. Brenna jumped out of the car, grinned at me and said, “I love you, Mom,” and then darted off towards the building.
I think I gasped out loud as I watched her go. Her legs suddenly seemed so slender, her hair seemed so long. Everything about her seemed grown up as I watched her run. At seven years old, there is nothing even remotely babyish about Brenna anymore. She lost her baby fat and chubby cheeks long ago. She washes her own hair and brushes her own teeth and ties her own shoes. She knows how to change a diaper and she loves to cook. Even her permanent teeth are finally growing in. She is mature and capable and so grown up.
But wasn’t it just yesterday that she was the infant I cradled? That she was the squalling newborn that kept me up at night? Or the inquisitive toddler that delighted me constantly? The preschooler who wanted to be read to endlessly? Where are the dimpled elbows, the pudgy fingers, and the ringlets that bounced just above her shoulders? Where did that baby go? Where did my baby go?
I remember being a little saddened when Brenna turned two, and three, and four. I was never sad that she was growing up. In fact, she got more fun with each passing year. Instead, I was sad because she was growing up so fast. The years passed so swiftly that it literally took my breathe away. I felt I needed just a little more time with Baby Brenna and Toddler Brenna and Preschooler Brenna, before time managed to transform her once again.
But Brenna turning two or four was nothing compared to watching the changes in her now. A three-year-old is still so young and small, still almost a baby. But like I said before, there is nothing babyish about Brenna any more. Seeing her grow into a child, rapidly approaching her “tween” years and leaving her babyhood far behind her, is amazing. Truly, Brenna is an incredible girl and she gets more fun with each passing year. But, again, these changes are happening so rapidly, as if in a moment, that it hurts my heart a little bit too. Even as I thrill at her growth and development, even as I delight in the incredible girl that she is becoming, even as I enjoy the deeper relationship we now can share, I still find myself teary eyed. I never expected the years to pass so swiftly. Time somehow fooled me into thinking that Brenna would be tiny for a long time. But now here she is, tall and thin and seven years old, and it hurts because it’s happened far too quickly.
Time doesn’t fool me like it used to. I know all too well how fast babies grow. Jacob, so tiny and warm in my arms, will grow up- as cliche as it may be- in the mere blink of an eye. Soon he’ll be the seven-year-old that I adore and marvel at, the one who makes wonder where the last seven years escaped to. And I know that it won’t be long before I look back and wonder where my seven-year-old Brenna disappeared to because now she’s a busy teenager instead.
I miss washing Brenna’s hair for her. I miss dressing her in the morning and rocking her to sleep at night. I miss doing things for her. I miss the way she used to need me. I miss how tiny she used to be. I miss it all. I miss my baby girl. And, yes, I sometimes cry a little because of it.
But I also adore the seven-year-old that Brenna has become. I love talking with her, sharing funny jokes and stories. I love listening to everything that she has to say. I love watching Brenna fill her role of big sister. I love that she reads chapter books and does long math problems. I love watching her in gymnastics, the sport she loves and the one that she is willing to push herself for. I love spending time with her. I love that we are friends and that we enjoy being together. I love that she still loves to snuggle and hold hands and be read to. I love that she constantly uses our secret “I love you” hand squeeze, something my Nana taught me when I was just a little girl myself. I love everything, everything, everything about where Brenna is now. She is delightfully fun. She is beautiful. She is incredible. And, as big as she is now, she is still my baby girl!
I cherish my babies. I cherish my big kids. I cherish every year in between. I vow to rock my babies, tickle my toddlers, sing with my preschoolers, and talk with my elementary schoolers. I can’t keep my children small forever, but I can enjoy every moment with them while I have the chance.
I am so grateful for the sacred privilege of being a mother. I am so grateful for the six precious, beautiful children that Rick and I have been blessed with. I am so thankful for all the incredible joys and even the heartache that motherhood brings. And even though time passes far too swiftly for my liking, I suppose it really is the passing of time that makes life so very precious.
Because life is precious and because my children are miraculous, I am also so very thankful for my knowledge of eternity. I am thankful for the sealing power of the temple. I am thankful for Heavenly Father’s plan for the salvation of His children. I am thankful that life does not end in death. I am striving to raise these children to the Lord and I am so thankful for His help and guidance as I do.
I have been so very blessed!
