Missing my babies

With the celebration of Jameson's first birthday, I have been feeling nostalgic.  I am the first to say that I really don't like taking care of infants.  It is hard work!  They cry a lot, they don't sleep well and they are so demanding.  Worst of all, they don't pay you OR appreciate you so you're basically a slave for the first few months of their little lives.  So why do we do it?  Because it gets easier.  And because it's worth it.

It's hard to believe that we are done with the baby stages now with our three.  I think I felt a little differently after the girls celebrated their first birthdays because I knew there would be more kids.  This time, I think we're done and it's a little bit of a difficult pill to swallow.  So I've been looking back over baby pictures and remembering those days.  There isn't too much that is fun about infants and life is down right tough for a little while.  But seeing the pictures reminds me how tiny my children once were.  How they used to actually fit in my arms and snuggle their tiny little bodies against mine.  How they used to fall asleep on my chest and I could listen to them breathe.  How they enjoyed the cuddles and love and never pushed me away.  Is there any smell more captivating than a newborn baby's head?  A new life is so full of potential and so pure and innocent, it's almost overwhelming.  We try to hold onto the innocence for as long as we can, but the kids grow up all too fast.  I knew I wanted my kids to be close in age, but that also means I am done having them all too soon.  I just remind myself that it will be so nice to have them all out of diapers and not have to worry about going back to that and starting all over.  Even though Calli was two-and-a-half when Serena was born she was still in diapers, so I've never had any breaks between kids.

I love my kids, but they are growing up before my very eyes and while it's fun, it also hurts.  Childhood is such a small part of our overall life and it goes by in the blink of an eye.  Calli will be FIVE at the end of this month and beginning her new journey toward getting her education.  It's scary and exciting all at once.  I've had her home with me for the last five years and now it's time to send her off into the world, where someone else will be responsible for her well being for eight hours a day.  Serena and Jameson aren't far behind her.  I just hope I can hang on to their innocence a little bit longer.

So can you tell who each baby is?