Time Marches On...Quickly

I'm sure you've figured out by now that raising Rosebushes can be crazy.  Sometimes with all the crazy things that my kids do I forget to stop and enjoy these moments.  This weekend time seemed to slap me in the face and remind me how quickly it passes.
Not long after Jax turned 18 months he started climbing out of his crib.  I feared that he would break an arm, leg or skull so we converted his crib to the toddler bed.  He's done well in the toddler bed and likes the freedom of not being confined to the crib.  Not long ago my mother surprised us by buying both kids nice, new, beautiful twin beds.  We put off putting Jax in his because we had to buy a mattress and frankly I was just not ready for a big boy bed.  This was the weekend we decided to make the big switch.  I watched as my husband took apart the crib and reminisced about all that crib has held.  The crib first held my sweet Maddie.  I used to stand at the side of that crib and watch my angel sleep in it.  She slept in that crib for a long time until I could no  longer lift her out of it.  Next came Emma.  That poor crib didn't know what hit it.  Emma chewed on the rails. She jumped in it like it was a trampoline. We converted it to a toddler bed for her and the fun continued.  I'm sure along the way it was peed in, pooped it, and puked in too!  Shortly before Jax arrived we kicked Emma out of the warm comfy confines of that bed in order to make room for her baby brother.  We put the rail back on the bed and prepared that old crib for another little Rosebush.  Jaxon arrived and he too laid his sweet head in the same bed that held his sisters.  If we thought Emma was rough on the crib we hadn't seem anything yet. That boy made would push the crib around the room.  Now seeing that crib disassembled seemed to mark the end of an era in the Rosebush family,  the baby era.  There will be no more baby Rosebushes for us.  While part of me is happy to see the baby era go, and I know that I definitely DO NOT want any more children; putting that crib away is just a visual reminder of days gone by.  I'm reminded how quickly the time has passed and how big my "babies" are now.
As if the crib wasn't a big enough remaindered Emma added another on Saturday night.  She said "Mom, my gum hurts behind my loose tooth and it feels weird."  She came over to let me see it and what I saw I was not prepared for.  I've told you all before about the loose tooth and how very sad this makes me.  When I looked at Emma's mouth I noticed a very large permanent tooth coming through her gum behind the row of perfect baby teeth.   WHAT?  I.AM.NOT.READY!   I had just gotten used to the loose tooth now the adult tooth is already coming in!  Time please slow down!
The last reminder had nothing to do with my own kids but the child of an old friend.   I found out through the power of Facebook that a friend from years ago was in town this weekend with her family.  I first met Tonya over a decade ago when we worked together at The Fishery.   I was a college student with a special needs kid just working part time and she had moved here from Georgia.  We were instant friends.  Tonya soon found out she was pregnant and I was by her side to help her prepare.  She had beautiful baby girl and I remember holding that little girl just days after she was born.    Time moved on once again, I moved on from The Fishery and Tonya ended up back in Georgia.   We found each other again via Facebook several years back and have kept in touch ever since.  We managed to work out meeting up at McNeely Lake park yesterday.   It was so awesome to reconnect.   She met my kids and I met hers.  When she introduced me to that baby girl I held so many years ago I was blown away.  That baby was now a beautiful young lady who is nearly as tall as I am.   Wow,  when did that happen?   I guess it has been a long time.   Tonya and I didn't waste time we started catching up on all the places that life has taken us.  We laughed about the good old Fishery days and the people we used know, including the former versions of ourselves.  It was really great to see us both all grown up with husbands and kids.  Hopefully it won't be another decade before we see each other again.  
This entire weekend reminded me that life moves on no matter how much we wish it would slow down.   Sometimes we're lucky enough to get these gentle reminders so we remember to stop and take it all in.   I'm so lucky that I have had 3 wonderful children, an amazing husband,  and have shared some great memories with some awesome people along the way.  It hasn't been am easy journey but we'd never grow if we never had struggles.  So thank God for cribs, teeth, and old friends!