They grow up so fast!

You hear that whole "they grow up so fast" thing all the time. And when your kids are little people say it to you all the time. Little old ladies come up to you to peek at your baby and then they leave with that parting advice "enjoy them, they grow up so fast", "enjoy them while they're small, they're gone before you know what happened". I remember being sort of annoyed when people would say this. Especially if I were in the grocery store with a 7 year old a VERY rambunctious 2 year old and an infant. I would kind of be thinking "lady...at this point I'll be GLAD if that's true, I think you've forgotten what it's like to have little kids!".

But actually now when I look at moms with little babies and toddlers I think the exact same thing. I just don't say it because I know it's super obnoxious. And I don't want to be that obnoxious old woman. But moms in their 20s and 30s with little kids have no idea how quickly they'll be a mom in the 40s with no little kids. Like it feels like it was 2 years ago when I had little kids. But that can't be true when my youngest is almost 14. But see you can really never explain this to anyone. You just can't. Because I swear when you have really tiny kids time just seems to meander and sometimes even dragggggg on and on (especially if you're up all night with a fussy baby). But then they start school and before you know it you're worrying about the SAT's and you can't figure out how high school seemed like I looong time when you were a teen, but suddenly, when it's your own child, it seems to go way too fast.

Am I a little melancholy about this? Well, I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I wouldn't trade where I'm at in my life now for a life filled with diaper changes and bottles. I really really would not. And I remember the first family vacation we took when no one was in diapers and there was no stroller involved. That's a good trip! And I have really enjoyed every single stage my kids have been in with a few tiny exceptions (Brennan at age 2, Holden at 13/14, Jordan has been perfect so far...). I really feel like I've made the most of every age they have been. And I hope I can keep figuring out a way to do that - even though they are all getting older, I really hope that I can still make the most of the new stages and ages they'll be. I don't want to be one of those people who always looks wistfully at the past as though they've left their best days behind. Those people are always kind of depressing. But you know, it's hard not to have the teeniest bit of angst when you realize your youngest child is about to start high school and so you only have about 4 more years with any kids in the house.

Anyway...I am taking the two younger kids on a vacation this week and I'm looking forward to spending some time away with them. I am so blessed to really enjoy my kids. They are funny and fun and I really do like being around them.

When my kids were tiny I was pretty limited in what I could do to decorate their rooms. I did a few things, but my budget didn't really allow for anything extravagant or expensive or extensive in scope. I wish I could have had the money back then to do some of the cool things I've seen lately in regards to kids rooms. So many fun ideas out there now.

So as I leave my computer behind for about a week, I leave you with some of my favorite images of kid's and babies rooms. And I leave you with some advice:

Enjoy your kids, whatever stage of life you are in. Tiny or grown ups or in between, they'll always be your babies.

I love all these images I have found lately which creatively explore how to handle a bedroom made for 3 or more children.

Love the gray with the pops of color

That's like a homemade mobile. A great idea. I saw another one this week where they cut out cute paper and did something similar.

genius genius genius idea for cheap and creative minimalist artwork!

I just super much love turquoise with red

I'm not really fooling myself here, I know this is a pricey room. But the color scheme is a good one to steal.

Love the turqoisey blue with the bold yellow.

This is that tricky redish pinkish hue. Some people are calling it guava. Or honeysuckle. But this is a little more red than that. I dig it. Great idea blowing up the photos too.

another genius solution

I just love the colors.

Love the stripes

Same idea as above, except hands instead of feet. I can't get over how easy and cute these are.

That head board is KILLER cool!

I don't usually go in for such soft colors, but I love this nursery.