bittersweet.

My mom says babies are babies until they are three. This is very comforting when your little one is not yet three because it gives them plenty of time to be a baby.

It's not so comforting when your baby is almost three.

And it's really not helpful when said baby is your. last. baby.

This weekend Mady traded up her toddler bed for a big girl full bed (my bed when I was a little girl too!)

Add her tiny little toddler bed to "The List":

Good bye itty bitty newborn clothes and impossibly small diapers;
Good bye newborn screams (and sleepless nights).
Good bye newborn smells...and newborn snuggles.
Good bye nursing, good bye bottles;
Good bye baby food and high chairs and booster seats;
Good bye baby spoons and formula dispensers and bibs.
Good bye baby gym, baby bath, jungle ExerSaucer, Graco swing.
Good bye paci's (hello, thumb!).
Good bye infant carrier - and hauling it everywhere we go;
Good bye Pampers (sizes 1, 2 & 3). Good bye changing table.
Good bye double stroller and push along car.
Good bye onesies and cute little hats,
See you later 3-6, 6-12, 12-18, 18-24...and 2T.
Good bye baby pool float.
Good bye crib. Good bye Pack N' Play.
Good bye toddler bed. Good bye crib sheets.

And the here today, just-about-gone tomorrow:
Strollers, sippy cups, board books, and Pull-Ups.

It's hard to believe that in January, we'll be signing her up for preschool next fall (and also a bit laughable if you've carried on a conversation with Mady recently... I keep asking Matt, "Will they let her come if she still can't talk?!")

But with every good bye, there's always a hello. Hello sleeping through the night, hello self-feeding, hello putting shoes on, hello independence.

(Hers and ours.)

That's where the bittersweet comes in. With every item we pack away or pass on, we're also gaining something new, something fresh, something filled with hope, ready to shine in a not-so-distant future.

Because childhoods are fleeting and fast, but that's OK. We only have them in our nest for but a moment, but that moment is beautiful and full and it's enough.

So remember the past. Savor the now. And look brightly towards the future.

Accept the bitter. Embrace the sweet.

It a mama's only choice.

{Favorite Mady Posts}

introducing Madelyn Mae.

dedication letter.

one.

third one's a charm.

baby love.

two & a half.

All photography is the work of Mindy of Mindy Leigh Photography.

Yes, we like her. We like her A LOT.

And they're off!

First Day of School!

A couple of happy, school-aged, all-day, every-day kiddos!

Our morning went off with out a hitch! (Aside from opening Mady's door to find her covered in exploded Pull-Up goo...I totally affirm all of you cloth diapering mamas.)

Further proof that they really are growing up: no grumbles or complaining about my before school picture taking. Just a lot of sweet smiles...

 ...followed by a couple of goofball moments.

And now a new phase of life is upon us: loads of Mommy & Mady time!

P.S. Part of our morning success was due to this new printable - no nagging, just a couple of kids who kept checking into the kitchen to see what was next on the morning checklist {printable credit: Children Inspire Design}.

Change is always bittersweet, but today I'm celebrating new beginnings, fresh challenges, and growing, healthy kiddos!

pigtails!

Big news around here: we have finally put The Mullet to good use. We have discovered that Ella now has enough hair for two tiny pigtails. Mostly I put them in for our own amusement because she's so stinking cute running around with them sticking out. Dylan was confused at first - he wanted to know why Ella had horns. I explained to him that they were called pigtails, and he's settled on referring to them as "Ella's pig horns." Close enough.

Ella's First Mullet Cut

Today was a big first for Ella...her first hair cut. As most of you know, she doesn't have much hair on top but the hair in back is coming in pretty well, thus, The Mullet*. Matt is in love with her little baby hair/fuzz, but I decided it was time for a trim since I had to take Dylan in for a hair cut anyway. For all you fans of The Mullet, don't worry, it's still longer in the back but now it has a little shape to it :). At last, a hair style for Ella.

*Business in the front, Party in the back.

Ella Update

It's official - Ella is walking. She's been taking steps for a few weeks now, but yesterday we noticed that she was walking quite a bit and today she hardly crawled at all. Now that she's got it figured out, she's determined to stick with it and she's getting pretty fast too!

Busy Girl!

Our baby girl is growing up so fast...she took her first step a couple of weeks ago and now she's up to about 10 steps in a row. She still crawls a lot but she's walking places more and more. She has two more teeth now, so she's up to four on top and two on the bottom. She also started drinking cow's milk last week (a little early but I am SO tired of buying formula). I wanted to start her full time on sippy cups when I switched her to milk but she's having nothing to do with it. She'll drink milk and juice from a cup but definitely NOT milk (I'm sure that stubborn streak will come in handy someday!).

She also said her first words this week...on Saturday we were shopping and she kept dropping her toy (on purpose, of course) and I kept picking it up and saying "uh-oh" to her and then she dropped it again and she said "uh-oh"! It's funny because that was Dylan's first word too. I'm guessing Matt and I must say it a lot :). Today we also decided that she is officially saying "Mama." She follows me around the house, pulling on my leg, saying "Mama, Mama." I'm pretty sure Dylan said Dada before he said Mama, so I feel good about this! At dinner tonight, Matt kept trying to get her to say Daddy and she would just look at him and say "Mama!"

Next up -- switching her car seat around. She'll be one in 12 days!

Bad Mom Club

Ella is really crawling all around now, and this morning she "crawled" her way right down the stairs. It was one of those things where we just turned our back for a minute (Matt was still home) and the next thing we knew, we heard a thud. The good news is that we live in a bi-level so it was really only half a flight of stairs, but the bad news is that we have ceramic tile at the bottom. The really good news is that she is perfectly fine. She cried for a couple of minutes and I aplogized to her profusely, and then she was over it.

To my credit, I have never let a child roll off a bed (a common offense in the Bad Mom Club) but apparently I do let them fall down stairs (Dylan has also taken a couple of tumbles, but he was much older). At least it will give them something to talk to their therapists about someday.

And I know, I know...the gate is definitely going up today.

Little Miss Go-Getter

We have a nickname for Ella (one of many)--we call her out little Go-Getter. She has a determined personality which is very different than Dylan's laid back personality when he was this age. Ella's break through this week is that she's officially crawling! She's not to the point of motoring across the room or anything, but she does do a few little crawls before stopping and laying out for whatever she's after. Again, this is crazy to us because Dylan was on the late end of the spectrum (11 months), so we've just never experienced a baby crawling before then! Crawling early, crawling late, it's all fabulous, and it's fun to watch the differences (and similarities) in their little personalities develop.