So much has changed in seven years. My babies were 4 and 2 years old – literally still babies.
This week, a memory popped up on my timeline reminding me that I started writing this column seven years ago this month. Seven years. So much has changed in seven years.
I mean, my babies were 4 and 2 years old – literally still babies. I was still buying diapers and attempting to wean Reagan off the bink. Last week, a friend at work mentioned an Easter egg hunt she was taking her kiddo to and, while my girls love the egg hunt GG puts on for them, hitting hunts all around town are a thing of the past. They are almost to the age of being “too old” for it. This year, we even had to ask Maylie if she wanted to hide them or find them. Thankfully, she was still a seeker – I am not sure I am ready for that to change yet.
Oh, and bedtime seven years ago – every single night – was a long, drawn-out event that lasted hours. In fact, that may have been my most popular topic in the first couple of years – the dreaded witching hours of attempting to get Miss Reagan to actually go to sleep. She was the ultimate sleep fighter – for years! And while I still tuck her in every night, pray with her and give her kisses, that is all I have to do. Then I just walk out, and she goes to sleep. The ease of it actually almost made me forget all those long, hard nights we had in her first handful of years.
Unlike her sleep habits, one thing that hasn’t changed about my Reagan is her no-fear attitude and love for climbing. Before she was 2, I had to eliminate both the high chair and the crib because she would just climb out of them. Afraid she would hurt herself climbing out of the crib or fall out of a big girl bed, I put a mattress on the floor. At this point, she was only 15 months old, and it was not safe for her to roam the house if she woke up in the middle of the night, so I put a baby gate at her bedroom door. You guys, she was climbing over that in no time as well!
She’s never been one to hold down — that is obvious in her climbing adventures still. No tree is safe ha! She can find a way in any of them and loves to scale them — even barefoot. Another thing that hasn’t changed – my little hillbilly – the girl would live without shoes on if we would let her – from the time she was born until now. If anyone judged my parenting by the bottom of Reagan’s feet at any given point in her life, whew, it would surely be a failure.
And my Maylie – the pickiest eater as a toddler and the pickiest eater now. Hey, she knows what she likes, and she likes what she likes! She literally eats the same things now that she did at 2 years old. Ha! She has surprised me recently and stepped out of her comfort zone with some different meats – burgers and steak are now on her list of foods that are acceptable.
Stringing sentences together before she could walk, Maylie is still a talker and, while she loves dance, she isn’t much for many other sports these days. She remains one of the smartest kids I have ever met – I have never seen someone pick up on things so fast. That is, if she wants to – much like walking as a toddler. She could do it – if and when SHE wanted to.
Seven years of changes with these girls – from babies and toddlers to on the verge of preteen. Ugh. While we have been through all kinds of different times, we still remain in the same house they were brought home from the hospital in — it is just filled a little differently now. In the last couple of years, we went from a family of four, down to us 3 and then up to a family of 9. Plus, they get to see their daddy anytime they want.
Through all the changes – the routines and rules, the learning and lessons, the heartache and healing, the memories and magic – one thing has remained the same: the insurmountable amount of love shared between us.
It has been seven years of sharing our crazy with you all – seven years of me admitting that I don’t always know what I am doing, and that I have messed more than my fair share of times. Seven years of ups, downs and in-between. And seven years that I hope you all have, also, felt all of the love. Thank you for the support these last seven years – I pray God blesses me with many more years and love to share with you all.
Sarah (Pitson) Shrader was born and raised in Lima. She is a Lima Central Catholic and Tiffin University graduate. Sarah is a full-time working mama who enjoys writing about her somewhat crazy, always adventurous life as a mother. She lives in Bath Township with her daughters and writing inspirations, Maylie and Reagan.
