The Last Tuesday of 2008

I really find it hard to believe that 2008 is winding to a close. Time flies. I wonder if it's a function of having kids - they grow and change so much in a short amount of time, that the years start to fly by as they get bigger. (The first year, however, lasted at least a decade with both of them).

We put away the crib for the first time since August of 2005. Claire is now in a twin bed (set on the floor so she doesn't roll out and smash herself). The "nursery" - which can no longer technically be called a nursery, it's "the kids' room" - looks very, very weird. When we moved the bookshelf to make way for Claire's new bed, BJ said, "This bookshelf has been here MG's entire life."

It was funny, the first night in the new configuration, Mary Grace noticed that the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling (which have also been there her entire life), made an M over where the crib used to be. She was so surprised. BJ and I just laughed, because that M and that G have been there for 3-1/2 years.

3-1/2 years. It's like the last semester of her senior year of being a baby. She's even got senioritis - refusing to do things (like talk like a big girl) that she mastered a year ago. Skipping class, staying up way too late...

And Claire, our little sophomore. Getting cuter every day. Developing a will, a strong personality, a sense of humor...

Is it wrong to think I might want another baby, just because I don't really like the way the house feels without a crib?

2009. Claire will turn 2 in March. Mary Grace will turn 4 in August. Our business will be 6 years old in February. BJ and I will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary (so, we've got a masters' in being married!) in May. (Nice and linear - 2-4-6-8 - I like that. What will we start this year, so that two years from now it'll be 2-4-6-8-10?) It wasn't so long ago that celebrating a monthaversary was about as far as I got with anything (jobs, relationships, etc.) and here we are, several years into everything we're doing. You'd think we'd be used to it, this far in, but sometimes I still think, "Really? Have I been a mother this long? Have we had our business this long? Have I been a wife this long? Where'd the time go??"

BJ says that we're in the prime of our lives, and I feel it too. I feel like these are the years we'll re-live through stories when we're old. These are the posts that I'll come back and read over and over, so that I can remember the "best years." Is that pessimistic, that it may be all downhill from here, or optimistic, that these are the "good old days"? My mom says each decade in her life gets better - her 30s were better than her 20s, her 40s were better than her 30s, and her 50s are the best years yet.

I can't help but think about time, this time of year. I don't want it to go by too quickly, but I'm excited about what the future holds. It's time to reflect, time to appreciate, time to make plans, time to look forward with anticipation.

What are you looking back at, and forward to, as we approach New Years?

To anyone in or near Northwest Indiana - I have a friend looking for a pediatric nephrologist up there for her 10 year old. Recommendations would be helpful. E-mail me.