I think Johnson & Johnson said it best with their ad campaign about a baby- “Having a baby changes everything”. And no matter how many ways people tell you that, when you are pregnant with your first child, you dont believe it. Now, thats not to say you dont think SOMETHING will change…but everything??? How is that possible?? I know for me, there are some days I cant even put all of it into words. I still remember the birth of both Haylee and Ashleigh so clearly, its like it happened yesterday. They way they looked at me, like they already knew me inside and out, and they could see to the very depths of my soul. And the way I looked at them…I swear it almost hurt to love something so much and so instantly. There is something so perfect about that perfectly soft baby skin, and that delicious baby smell. Its contagious I tell ya!

And I look at them now, and I try to think where the years have gone. Wasn’t haylee just sitting in her baby swing, all swaddled up? Wasn’t Ash crawling through the house? Even Hunter and Cam- babies when Mark and I married, and now, playing sports, and having crushes on girls- and choosing music and headphones over us. I know as I look at them, before I know it, they will be married with children of their own. Oh, I know, there are days I want to kill them for not listening, or talking back, or for painting on my walls. But, I also know that all too soon, my house will be eerie and quiet on the weekends because they are at the mall with friends- no longer BEGGING me to take them to the pool, or to push them on the swing, or to play barbies and wii with them. Maybe thats the thing about parenthood- you dont know what you’ve got till its grown and gone.

Sunday is Mothers day- you know the day that we mom’s get to “relax”, put our feet up, and just be- LOL! Ok, so really, that never happens, once a mom, always a mom! But, I hope for all the moms out there that you take a moment to relish in those babies {even if they now have babies of their own!} and to touch their amazing hair, or kiss their perfect knees, or just remind them, that on the day they were born they changed everything!

Happy Mothers day to all the amazing, strong and FABULOUS mother’s out there!

And because every post is better with pictures, here is Haylee with our most recent baby, BUDDY McDOODLE and his premier on the blog!