Breathe them in

My sweet babes snuggled up with their special blankets
on grandma's couch. I just want to eat them up. 

 I don't know if you'll think this is bizarre, but I love to smell my kids. Their hair, their breath, their stinky feet...I love it all. It's my drug. I wish I could capture it and save it for later like a scratch n' sniff sticker. Pictures and movies are great, but no comparison to the warmth of their tiny bodies and hearing the beating of their hearts and their individual sweet smells. Someday their bodies will grow and their glands will begin to produce and their smell will not be as inviting. But it's more than the smell, it's these moments when their bodies seem to be an exact fit in my arms and in my lap and I know it will go by faster that I would like. It's a natural part of growing up and going through the stages of independence until they will become adults and leave. But it doesn't mean that I have to like it. My youngest will be 5 in May and I still love to scoop him up and hold him like an infant..and he loves it, my 9 yr old-not so much. But it reminds me of that sweet book where the mama sneaks into her son's room and rocks him and sings "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." Oh, how that book used to make me cry. But, I hear from my mom and know that your babies are your babies forever and your love for them doesn't stop because they grow. So, for now. For tonight, I will smell their hair, tickle and try to bite their feet and cherish in my heart these moments and pray that maybe God will slow down time for a bit so that I can breathe them all in.