There's Time, and There Isn't Time.

They can't wait to grow up, but for me, their childhood is going in a quick blur.
I have observed a few things as a mother of three. Some things I knew or expected, others you can learn as a mother of one or two. Namely:
*Babies are tiny for a minute bit of time, and Flora's time as wee one is already up. Sigh.
*Time passes differently for different-aged kids. Five-year-old time is very different from newborn time, and sometimes it's hard to make the twain meet.
*Two-year-olds are huge compared to newborns, but they still love and need to be held (at least mine does)
*Lately I can either get good sleep or some time to myself, but not both--except at the cost of the children or Brad.
*Anything with extra steps tends to be postponed, i.e. sharing photographs. (Steps include: pose, click, download, edit, save as, upload, publish.)
We have had a great summer, though it's going fast. Our much-anticipated Utah trip is now behind us, and as always, there was not enough time to do or see everything or everyone we wanted to.
Life moves forward. We left for Utah with a four-year old, two-year-old, and one-month-old, and returned with a five-year-old, two-and-a-half-year-old, and two-month-old. The five-year-old will start school in two weeks, which simultaneously feels insanely close and yet too far away. Being a parent seems full of these paradoxes: when I'm in the trenches of a hard day, time cannot pass fast enough. When I look back on the last five years, it seems ages and blinks at the same time.
I feel like there are so many things I should be doing, and want to be doing. I want to do everything at once, and sometimes it all feels so urgent. Then I think about how quickly Jane's first five years have gone, and that in another five years Flora will be starting school. That may sound like a long time still, but trust me, it goes fast.