It's a hard knock life for us!

Sleeping in until 8 a.m., waking up to your mom making you breakfast, watching cartoons, playing outside all day long and my skin was ever so tan (surprising, right?). Riding my bike and scooter around the neighborhood, playing with all my neighborhood friends. Slip n' slides, trampolines, sprinklers. Childhood was the best. Literally, the best. We had no responsibilities, no cares, and yet we still took it for granted. Life wasn't fair when we didn't get the toy that we wanted, or heaven forbid we had to pick up our room. We felt like our parents were the equivalent of Stalin when we had to practice piano for 30 minutes every day. Sometimes I feel like those were the most carefree times of my life, yet when I was living in them I felt like I couldn't wait to grow up so I didn't have to clean my room anymore (Boy was I wrong. Now I'm cleaning a whole house and doing chores for 3 people! Geez!).
A lot of times I see young kids and think "I wish I could go back to that point in time!" and other times I see cute old couples just walking around the park and I think "I can't wait until we get there! Retired, grandchildren, the good life!" I feel like no matter what point we are at in life we will always be wishing for a different time in our lives. Whether it is older, younger, skinnier (when we thought we were fat. YA RIGHT!), richer, funner. The conclusion that I have come to: enjoy every second of your life. We will be wishing for all these times again at some point in our lives. I keep thinking "Oh it will be so fun when Maddox can walk!" But when he get's to that point I will be wishing I had my sweet little snuggly baby that wanted to be held all day and dance around the house all evening!
This whole blog post brings to mind one of my favorite talks called "Of Regrets and Resolutions" by Dieter F Uchtdorf. I'm just pulling out a few of my favorite parts, but if you are ambitious enough to read the whole talk, you can find it here.

"None of us will be on earth very long. We have a number of precious years which, in the eternal perspective, barely amount to the blink of an eye.

When we are young, it seems that we will live forever. We think there is a limitless supply of sunrises waiting just beyond the horizon, and the future looks to us like an unbroken road stretching endlessly before us.

However, the older we get, the more we tend to look back and marvel at how short that road really is. We wonder how the years could have passed so quickly. And we begin to think about the choices we made and the things we have done. In the process, we remember many sweet moments that give warmth to our souls and joy to our hearts. But we also remember the regrets—the things we wish we could go back and change.

So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.

'It’s not a race; it’s a journey. Enjoy the moment.'"

So here's my resolution: Enjoy all the little things in life. I am making a goal to stop and smell the roses, enjoy more time with my family, appreciate my body now (I know I will want it back later), and ultimately realize that every day is one of the best days of my life! 

                 Enjoying my sweet baby at 6 am :) Love his smiles! He brings so much joy into our lives!