Birthdays, a kids birthday party that turned into an adult stay-up-too-late-and-drink-too-much party, cakes, Christmas, presents, more alcohol consumed, excess food consumed...
And with all this stuff whizzing past, I kept thinking that the world just needs to slow down a little bit. I needed to stop and take a breather, to stop and just inhale all those sweet experiences just a little bit longer. I wanted to take a step back and take a mental home video of all those lovely moments in time, so that I could replay them in my head in the years to come, and enjoy them all over again when I actually had time to. Instead, I feel like I rushed around and missed most of it.
I took photos of course, but they only give you a tiny glimpse of what was happening at the time. And when you are taking photos of your kids opening their Christmas gifts, you also cant HELP them open their Christmas gifts. So I found myself putting the camera down in order to be more present, more in the moment with them - rather than standing back, being separated from it.
But also, when I think back over the last few weeks, I've caught myself thinking "I wish I'd taken a photo of this or that"... because you lose track of what everyone is doing sometimes. On Christmas day, I turned around and someone had dressed Skye in a princess dressup outfit... When did that happen? I completely missed that, busy doing something else.
You cant be everywhere at once, I know that.
Our last couple of weeks in photos:
Hubbys birthday on the 21st. Along with his standard order of Beef Wellington, he requested Snickers Cupcakes... oh...my...god...
And more bokeh...
See? I've learned a new photography word, and I'm throwing it around like there's no tomorrow.
(Bokeh: In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image)
But trust me, this scooter, this much longed for, often-asked-for, long-dreamed-about scooter, was a big hit. Santa, in his wisdom, decided that it didn't need to be assembled before the big day though, so daddy had to spend a large part of the morning putting toys together. Lucky he's handy like that.
My beautiful Christmas princess, with Dutchy the dog. Its like Dorothy and Toto.
Then another birthday was upon us - Skye turned into a big 3 year old. Three. Three. I still cant get over it. How did that happen? And it was like, overnight, magically, she turned into this mature child who said "please" and "thank you", who played carefully, kept her clothes clean, and decided to share with her brother.
Ask her how old she is, and she proudly holds up 3 fingers.
Slow down, time, slow down.
Her first play-doh set. And a little handbag containing 3-year-old-treasure: hair clips, and 5 flavoured lip balms. She has inherited her mama's lip balm addiction, already.
Blowing out 3 candles!
And then it was the last day of the year... so we bundled our little loves in the car and headed to a nearby lake. Husband then decided we should do a complete lap of said lake - all 4km of it! Took us an hour, but it was nice to get outside, get some sun on a scorchingly hot day, and walk off some of the Christmas indulgences.
And the reward at the end was a nice big playground, complete with flying fox. My brave little 3 year old threw herself at it, and had a ball. We pretty much had to drag her off it by the end. Guess which new addition the cubby house will have at home this year?
So, happy new year all. Here's to making 2013 the best it can be. Here's to savouring more of those precious moments, for saying YES to the kids more often. Heres to less "cranky-mama", and more "happy-mama". Here's to stressing less, and loving more.
The new year is upon us, I dont know about you, but I'm planning on making each day count.
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