But did I really?

It's Sunday night and I am procrastinating everything. I just want to sit and watch my baby boy play in the bath tub. He is so adventurous and loves to figure out how things work. He is crawling around and pulling at the bath tub faucet. Oh to be able to see the world for the first time with fresh eyes and an innocent perspective! To look at everything with excitement and wonder!

And then I feel my happy bubble come crashing down.

It's back to work this week. August is here and it's back to school time again. Most parents out there are jazzed up and ready to send those kiddos back to the classroom. And then there are us teachers partly dreading leaving our own kiddos.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE teaching! My heart feels refreshed and and excited to get back into the trenches and work beside my students to create amazing things in our school. I am looking forward to improving the yearbook program and making a great product; I am excited to improve our school culture through the Student Council; I am also looking forward to trying some new techniques in my Spanish classes.

But my first summer with a baby is over. It flew by. Fleeting moments never really had a meaning for me until now. Those fleeting moments are slippery and impossible to grasp. You try your hardest to lengthen them, stretch the sweet memories out and live in them forever. But, it's inevitable that time marches on.

I went into this summer with Bubba with all these blog topics in my mind: being intentional about memory making, creating special moments with your child, sensory activities for babies, working through a summer bucket list. I tried to do it all. And then it was done before I knew it!

I ask myself if I truly enjoyed it. Did I really?

Did I look up from my phone to catch those funny things Bubba learned how to do?
Did I pause my projects often enough to watch him grow?
Did I ignore the chores long enough to cuddle a little longer?
Did I swing him enough?
Did I tickle him enough?
Did we do enough?

And I am absolutely, positively confident in saying YES. This summer was a challenge! I had a crash course in balance and managing a miserably teething baby! There were long, fussy, tear filled days...and sometimes Jaxon cried too.

But amongst those trying moments, I tried so incredibly hard to take a deep breath and remember to enjoy the time. Everyone tells me that the times flies by in the blink of an eye {and I mean everyone} so it is my most sincere mission to live to the fullest in every moment!

On paper, I didn't live up to the expectation. I didn't finish every activity on my summer bucket list. Some things I didn't even get time to attempt at all. I didn't do any sensory activities. The house was a mess, my hair was a mess and the yard wasn't mowed most of the time. Ya, we turned into those neighbors.

But I LOVED that little boy! We stayed in our pajamas and played with every toy in the house. We cuddled on the couch, on the floor, in the grass in the shade, at the park, at the pool, and at the zoo. We traveled. Oh, did we travel! What other baby can say they were in seven different states in their first seven months of life?! We hiked. We blew bubbles. We drew with sidewalk chalk. We took walks. We ate lunch outside. We stared down the street waiting for Daddy to come home. We went on errands. We learned how to crawl and grew five teeth! We took pictures and videos. We ate fruit. We grew veggies in the garden. We went to the lake. We watched clouds float by. We went to the zoo. We went to the park. We went to the mountains. We accomplished huge goals. We learned tough lessons. We saw family. We made new friends.

But more than anything, we spent time together. Bubba and I stayed side by side, laughing and crying. We made a bond that words will never explain. We started a lifelong friendship. I am incredibly grateful for these past two months making memories with my son.

It's all about the time together in this Little Life.