Time Flew

I have spent most of today resting because I have not felt great. Scott, my sweet husband, did many things today to help me feel better, not the least of which was some extra naptime without the boys. But, sensing that I was getting bored, he also hooked up our video camera and I watched some video that we took of Matthew when he was the same age as Ethan. All of us were enthralled by the video. Ethan sat in front of the TV and stared at the "ba-bay" and Matthew couldn't take his eyes away. I was surprised at how much Matthew at that age is like Ethan. Actually, I was shocked! His mannerisms, his words, his sounds, everything was just like Ethan. I don't think they are very similar now, so I guess that's why I was so surprised. Matthew had white, white hair, and Ethan does not, but aside from that... they could have been twins!

I drive Matthew by our first house that he came home to quite a bit. He loves to hear stories about his green room and how he came home from the hospital with a big sign that said "Welcome Home Matthew" compliments of Papa. The video we watched was taken right before we moved, and I had taken the camera and gone through every room and told Matthew what he liked to do there. And the last room visited was his. Matthew was so excited to finally see his green room in some way other than pictures. It was precious to see how he reacted.

While I was watching that video, I could not shake the feeling that I just wanted to hold that baby again! My 4 year old baby was right next to me on the couch, and he would not sit on my lap or let me sit close to him, try as I did. I just kept wondering how my little newborn Matthew, my firstborn, could be 4 and a half years old. Of course, I was blessed with his little "twin" Ethan who is in that precious stage of life when I can get him out of his crib at night like I used to do his brother (they are both very hard sleepers) and rock, cuddle and hold him to my heart's content.

My brother and I used to relentlessly make fun of my Mother for constantly taking the same pictures every year at the holidays and so forth. She always said, "one day, you'll be grown up and all I have to remember is these pictures." Today, I feel like I got a glimpse of what my Mom was saying. So happy to have these precious healthy children... but where did my little babies go?