A whole year has come and gone; the boys are one year old. People told me time really flies, and to be truthful, I believed them. I just didn't realize how it would feel! Often over the last year I would catch myself impatiently waiting for the next 'season' in their maturity. The older they get, the more independent they are, the longer they sleep, the less they would cry. I tried to remind myself to try to enjoy their dependency, and the tiny-ness of their clothes and their lack of choice in being cuddled. The other day my friend came by, and she has a 1-month old little boy. He was so tiny! And yet, I couldn't help but think how tiny they were the night they were born, for he was easily twice their newborn size. Weighing in at 5 1/2 and 4 1/2 pounds, nearly 2 months early, they felt like cuddling air. I was so afraid to hurt them because they seemed so delicate. You can see how big the preemie clothes were on them. This was when they were close to a month old too, because they didn't come home for 2 (Caleb) and 3 (Jacob) weeks.
As they play rough with one another in their playard, those days seem very far away. They eat well, they crawl and climb, and it won't be long before they're walking. It's so easy to miss all the subtle changes and the daily blessings of their baby giggles. When we're up in the middle of the night rocking one, or they're devastated that I left the room, I pray I remember how short these days are, and remember to stop, and not get caught up in 'keeping up the house'. It's so easy to have a 'Martha' heart and be so busy trying to get everything 'important' done. Maybe it's because that's easier for people to see. We imagine success as having a kept-up house that smells and looks wonderful. Anything other than that might make us appear as though we've failed. But who can tell the hours spent reading and playing with our children? After all, that is what has the eternal significance. That's what Mary knew. While there is certainly a time for the work, and we don't want to be lazy, finding that balance is important to me. (Because, after all, I have Martha inclinations.) I don't want to have a pristine house only to look at my children in 5, 10 or 20 years and realized I missed the investment of time that really mattered in shaping who they become.
But, I digress. Saturday was their first birthday and we had a family party. They were wonderful! They happily ate their caterpillar cakes...
I made 3, because we have so much family...they were a lot of fun to decorate. I got the cake pan for a great deal at the Williams Sonoma outlet. (Gotta love that place...) The boys also happily sat at their new wooden table set from Gamma and Papa. I was totally impressed! I expected them to just crawl all over it, but they sat in the chairs the whole time we opened presents. Who knew they had it in them?
On to their second year...and all that God has in store for our little family!
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