Christmas Baking

The girls and I have been making some Christmas cookies this morning. Libby Anne's favorite part is eating the dough, the candy toppings and the glitter sprinkles. "It's sooooo good, Mommy!"

Cute of the Day

Libby Anne making cupcakes with Mommy...and Emily Claire being precious

Monticello Trail

Libby Anne's other favorite place to go for "walk with Mommy" (other than the UVA Lawn) is the Monticello Trail.  She likes to "run fast" along the trail, especially on the bridges.  We make stops to look at trees, pick up leaves, run in circles in the grassy areas, and rest on a bench.

Photos taken November 2 2013

Walk on The Lawn

When I have a day off with the girls, I often ask Libby Anne what she would like to do with Mommy.  She generally responds with one of two things- either "shopping with Mommy!" (I am SO in trouble! She loves shopping and she is only 2 years old) or "walk with Mommy!"   As a graduate of UVA, I get very excited when she says she wants to go on a walk "on the Lawn, Mommy!"  

By "walk on the Lawn," Libby Anne really means "run around in circles, have Mommy chase me, run up and down the hills, play in the leaves, look for airplanes as they fly over, play with doggies who may be walking by at any given time, and tell Emily Claire 'be careful Sister' as Mommy pushes the stroller up and down all the hills."  As you can imagine, it isn't a casual stroll down the Lawn as one may think.  But I love every second of it.  Hearing Libby Anne giggle and say "come get you," watching her run as fast as she can, hearing her talk to Emily Claire- those moments make special memories for me.

These pictures are from our adventure on November 10.

I Need Cuddles

I often find myself holding onto Emily Claire with my eyes closed on our dark room, trying desperately to make time stand still. I listen to her little breaths, I caress her fuzzy head, I kiss her sweet face. And sometimes I cry. I unfortunately know how quickly our precious babies grow up.

The other night after I put the girls to bed, I longed for just a few more minutes with Libby Anne. I miss her so much and I feel like our cuddles are limited as she is growing. So I snuck into her room, quietly climbing in her bed next to her. I laid there, stroking her soft, thin hair, whispering to her telling her how much I love her. I held onto her like I would never let go. And I begged her to stop growing up so fast. I prayed that she will always know how much I love her and how special she is.  I just needed a little more time with my sweet little girl.

There is never enough time.

And now, as I sit here holding my precious Emily Claire as she sleeps, I think about how in a blink of an eye she too will be sleeping in a big girl bed, and I won't have these sweet moments holding her and cuddling her every night.

I just need time to slow down. I need more of these moments with my girls. I need more time to show them how much I love them in any way I can.