Nothing makes time go by faster than having little kids in your life. They change so quickly and so profoundly that with each passing milestone I try to tell myself to pause, reflect, and appreciate the chapter that we are leaving and the new chapter upon us. Recent milestones I am reflecting on right now include:

Passing along my collection of maternity clothes to a patient expecting her first child.

Thinking to myself this morning, "I think it's finally time to throw away our nose frida."

My oldest kiddo recently losing her first tooth.

Breastfeeding my toddler for the last time this past weekend.

With all this change, I am taking some moments to thank my body and my mind for her years of service to my children when they were newborns and babies. I have literally either been pregnant or breastfeeding for the past 7 years (!) with about a 3 week pause between weaning my oldest and getting pregnant again. Ending my breastfeeding journey on my own terms, along with passing along the maternity clothes and my oldest turning into a truly BIG kid is all helping me recognize that this chapter of my life of growing and nurturing very small babies is closing, while this next new chapter of our family and my journey as a Mother continues and evolves.

Time will keep flying whether or not we have the awareness to notice these chapters are closing and opening. Every so often, perhaps with the changing of the seasons, make sure to stop, look around, and see who you and your children have blossomed into.