My Heart is Bursting & Breaking: Watching Cherry Grow Up So Fast

Oh my goodness you guys. I’m sitting here, looking at pictures of our sweet baby Cherry, and I just can’t even believe how fast time is going. Like, how?! It feels like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital, all tiny and squishy, and now she’s already hitting all these milestones and showing so much personality. My heart is seriously bursting with joy and pride watching her, but ngl, it’s also breaking a little bit bc time is just flying by way too fast. :,)

I feel like I say this with every single one of my girls, but it never gets any less true. It’s the hardest part of being a mom, isn’t it? You want them to grow and explore and become their own little people, but you also just want to freeze time and keep them tiny forever. It’s such a weird, beautiful, bittersweet feeling.

The Blur of Babyhood: How Do We Even Keep Up?

I swear, I blink, and another week has gone by. One minute Cherry is just staring up at me, and the next she’s rolling over, then sitting up, then trying to crawl. And don’t even get me started on the giggles. Oh my goodness, her giggles are just pure sunshine. Every time she lets out one of those belly laughs, my whole world just lights up. Tanner and I just look at each other like, “how did we get so lucky?”

With Stella and Ozzy, I remember feeling the same way, but maybe it hits a little different with your third, you know? Like, this is it. This is our last baby. And that makes every single moment feel even more precious, even more fleeting. I find myself just staring at her sometimes, trying to memorize every little detail – the way her tiny fingers curl around mine, the smell of her head after a bath, the little sounds she makes when she’s dreaming. I just want to bottle it all up.

Milestones & Meltdowns: Embracing the Chaos

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, obviously. We still have our fair share of sleepless nights and fussy moments, and let’s be real, sometimes I’m just trying to survive the day hahah. But even in those moments, I try to remind myself that this is all part of it. This is the messy, beautiful, chaotic journey of motherhood. And these tough moments, they’re just as temporary as the easy ones.

I’ve been trying really hard to be more present lately. It’s so easy to get caught up in the to-do list, or scrolling on my phone, or just thinking about what’s next. But I’m really trying to put that stuff aside and just be *here* with my girls. Even if it’s just for five minutes of uninterrupted playtime, or a long snuggle during a feeding. Those are the moments I know I’ll look back on and cherish the most.

Finding Ways to Slow Down (Even Just a Little)

I know we can’t actually stop time (curse my freakin indecisiveness, I’d probably never pick a moment to freeze anyway hahah), but I’ve been trying to find little ways to make it *feel* a little slower. For me, that looks like:

• Lots of pictures and videos: Not just for sharing, but for me to look back on. I love scrolling through my camera roll and seeing how much they’ve changed in such a short amount of time. It’s like a little time capsule.
• Journaling: I’m not super consistent, but when I do write down little anecdotes or funny things the girls say, it’s so special. It helps me remember the small stuff that might otherwise get lost in the blur.
• Dedicated one-on-one time: Even with three girls, I try to make sure each of them gets some special time with just me or Tanner. For Cherry, it’s often during her feedings or just quiet cuddle time in her nursery. For Stella and Ozzy, it might be a special craft or reading an extra book.
• Just being still: This is probably the hardest one for me bc my brain is always going a million miles an hour. But sometimes, I just try to sit on the floor and observe them playing, or hold Cherry and just feel her weight in my arms. No distractions, just being in the moment.

The Bittersweet Symphony of Motherhood

I think what I’m learning, more and more, is that motherhood is this constant push and pull. It’s wanting them to grow and thrive, but also mourning the little versions of them that are disappearing. It’s feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, but also feeling a love so deep it physically hurts. It’s truly the most incredible, challenging, beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.

So, if you’re a mom out there, feeling that same bittersweet ache in your heart as you watch your babies grow, just know you’re not alone. It’s okay to feel all the feels. It’s okay to cry happy tears and sad tears at the same time. It’s all part of this wild, wonderful journey. Let’s just keep trying our best to soak it all in, every single precious second. Bc before we know it, they’ll be all grown up, and we’ll be wondering, “how did that happen so fast?” :,) I love you guys sm!! ❤