5 years ago...

This is one of the photos waiting for me on Timehop this morning.

Almost every day Timehop makes me feel all kinds of emotions about my girls growing up way. too. fast. But this, have I really been a mom for 5 years? How can that even be possible? 

Being a mom has changed me. It has made my days feel longer and the years feel shorter. It has made me feel more love (and more frustration and more worry) than ever before. 

And in the past 5 years I have changed so much as a mom. From being the mom of a baby, to a toddler, to a preschooler getting oh so close to kindergarten. From waking up to the slightest noise, to (sometimes) needing a little nudge to get up in the middle of the night. From carrying her to holding her hand to watching her run. From encouraging her to crawl and walk to hoping she'll sit still. From holding her to watching her hold her baby sister. From being a mom of one to a mom of three. 

I have loved it. I do love it. I love watching my first grow, and my second and my third. But sometimes it's bittersweet. It's getting more difficult for me to pick up her up every day. She sits by the door waiting for her friends to get home from school so she can go out and play. 

I'll be squeezing her (well, all three of them) extra tight for awhile, trying to keep them little as long as I can.