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Well, the first day of summer vacation has officially come and gone. When I kissed my children goodbye before their last day of school yesterday, I said to them ” goodbye fourth grader” and “goodbye sixth grader” and “goodbye eighth grader.”  Upon their return home, I greeted them “hello fifth grader” and “hello seventh grader” and, most painfully, “hello ninth grader.” A freshman? Can it really be? My heart answers a resounding “NO!” but my mind knows that it’s true. To me, he should still be that funny, sparkling, little boy with a mouthful of tiny baby teeth who thought every, single step he took should involve a Power Ranger kick, chop, and sound effect. The future seemed so comfortably far away back then and now it is arriving quickly, as if the passing of just one day…

As he grows into his inevitable manhood, I know that my daughters are also not far behind. Growing ever more lovely with each passing day, it is clearly visible to me, their transitions from cute little girl to beautiful young woman. Devaney is changing so quickly that it’s hard for anyone to believe she’s just twelve, all while DeeDee tries so hard to keep up with her big sister (much to the irritation of that big sister).

Now, the babies. Standing here with the youngest two (one still yet to be born), I am painfully aware of the speed of this journey. I have learned enough to appreciate every milestone with a true understanding of the temporary nature of their childhoods.

I am honored to be their mother. I am honored to be the wife of their father, with the full knowledge that as our children grow older, we just grow old. Thank You Father for sending me someone to enjoy this with. Thank You for the blessing of seeing this with two sets of eyes, so that we may never miss any of the little things.

I spent today, hold on…another contraction, OK, almost done, and it’s over. Anyway, where was I before I was so rudely interrupted? I guess I’ll have to wait until he’s a few years out of the womb to teach him to wait his turn, huh?

I spent today, along with the help of my amazing mommy and sister, deep cleaning and preparing my room for my new roommate. Yes, he’s short, sleepy, and partially blind, but I still wanted the place to look nice and be comfy for him. I thought I was in labor last night, having my cervix checked yesterday really did a number on me, but the action eventually subsided and I went to sleep. I got up this morning with a renewed determination to finish getting everything ready for his arrival, hence the completion of the bedroom.

At the end of all that hard work, and believe me when I tell you that just getting up and down is hard work for me right now, my husband, who coaches, and my oldest son, who plays, returned home from football practice with a concussion to the head of the younger one. Football can be so dangerous but, man, those two have it running thick through their veins. Back to the point, I then got to spend the last hours of my day sitting in the ER waiting for them to tell me he was OK. We did get a great doctor and after an exam and CT scan, he was released to his very relieved mother who, by the way, had about seven good contractions while there.

I just kept thinking…wrong son…wrong reason…wrong department…right hospital…hmmm, I’ll be back soon.

So, I’m out and about today, gathering the last of the items I will need to pack into my hospital bag, and all of my searching led me to this one question: Is there such a thing as a sexy nursing gown? I mean, dang, I’m not trying to hit the “sexy scale” up toward the level of, say, high class stripper but I certainly don’t want to be way down underneath, say, Grandmother either. Does it have to either button down the front or have front slits that I can pull my boobies out of ? Yes, it does. Does it have to look like I just wrapped myself up in a floral print shower curtain? Well, after today’s frustrating search, that’s a maybe. I ended up surrendering this battle and just bought two, a baby blue one and a light green one, both with little flowers all over them. While my daughters were having fun trying on the smallest of the leftover prom dresses on the rack, pretending to be older that they really are, they were having more fun making me feel like I am older than my thirty-seven years. They kept finding me in the ugly nightgown section and joking that they’d tracked me there by following all the other old ladies, heehee. Heehee my butt, as I looked around and realized they weren’t lying. Ok, so I have become my mother. That’s OK, she’s still lovely, and I can try to make these two tents, uh, I mean nursing gowns, look elegant. Pray for me…