Taking the Time to Enjoy Her While I Can

This past weekend we went to my parents house to hang out with them and my aunt and uncle and their two girls.  It was a busy weekend of family projecting, but we had a good time with everyone and I was really glad for the chance to hang out with them before I'm homebound with an infant.  

My mom has a new love for the Mamma Mia! Soundtrack, so we listened to that a couple times over the weekend.  And yes, there was much singing and crazy dancing.  Some by Charissa, some by the adults.  There is a song on the soundtrack called "Slipping Through My Fingers" that the mother sings about her daughter growing up and becoming an adult.  Every time I hear it, I cry (of course I do have a lot of pregnancy hormones rushing through my veins so some of the emotionalism can be attributed to that).   It's such a beautiful song and it does capture a lot of what mothers feel about their children growing up.  

I know that I am a long ways off from having Charissa or Verity leave home, but I know it will pass by so quickly.  Charissa is already almost two, and I have a hard time believing it.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be at home with her everyday and have the time to enjoy her.  And these last few days I've been doing a lot of that.  We've had some extra-special mama-daughter time where I've really tried to be focused on her and love on her.  This is probably compounded by the fact that in 7 short weeks I'll no longer have just one to focus on, and while I'm so excited about Verity, I know I'll miss that one-on-one time.  

Here are the lyrics to the song, but you really need to listen to it to get the full effect.  So watch it on youtube. 

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I'm losing her forever
And without really entering her world
I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when shes gone there's that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I can't deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didn't
And why I just don't know

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers...

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile...