My babies are nine!

Will and Madison are nine years old today. Amazing. How can nine years go by in the blink of an eye? It's astounding to think about how much life has changed for us since June 3, 1998 at 4:05 pm...and then again at 4:12 pm.

...and then every day since.

I think becoming a parent somehow engages warp-speed in this journey of life. So many things to see. So many things to do. So many things to learn. So many hugs and kisses to exchange.

It's truly been an amazing nine years. Full of laughter, tears, trials, tribulations, belly laughs, major dramas, minor traumas, many diapers, even more baby wipes, and countless precious memories. They have grown into really terrific little people. And it seems like yesterday we were at Babies R Us deciding what model of Diaper Genie we should put on the baby registry.

This post was really fun for me. Looking at these picture makes me want to laugh and cry...all at the same time. Today I vow to stop and smell the roses a little more often, to remember the seemingly mundane little details of daily life, and to "memorize" these little nine-year-olds as often as I can. Because, before I know it...they'll be 16 and wanting to borrow the car keys.

Happy Birthday Will and Madison!

Newborns

One
Two
Three
Four
Five Six
Seven
Eight
Nine

You might notice that all of these pictures are taken while the birthday kids are sitting on the kitchen/dining room table. It's a tradition that my parents started with me. In all the birthday pictures I have, I'm seated on the dining room table - when I was one and when was 21. And all the years in between. It's been a really fun little tradition to follow.