When you think back to what you did last year

Do you remember what you did every day for the entire year?
I don't. If you do, you have one hell of a memory!

Some people don't care to remember every day. Some people are too busy to stop for a minute on a daily basis and take it all in. I was that person. Constantly on the go, never stopping to appreciate the little things in life.

Then I had kids. The birth of my first child changed me almost instantly. I had to slow down. I couldn't just pick up and walk out the door. I had to change her, feed her, change her again, bundle her up, find the diaper bag....you get the idea. I had to stop and think about another little person before myself. And when I did that, I caught the smiles, I could see my daughter watch in amazement as a bird flew by or clap her hands with joy at a dancing penguin on tv. And I started taking pictures. I took hundreds of pictures of Lauren sitting in her bouncy chair. doing nothing at all. just sitting. I caught all the big moments too - when she learned to crawl, her first trip on a plane, her first steps, her first birthday. All of those moments are forever preserved in a digital picture on my computer.

I often look at these pictures and smile. I look at my 3.5 year old and marvel at how much she has changed in 3.5 years. Yes, I know, kids grow and change, I get that. But she was a helpless little being not so long ago, and now, well now she is 3.5 going on 13, testing my patience every chance she gets. And turning into one of the sweetest little girls in the world. :)

With the birth of my son, Nicholas, I haven't had the "time" I did when Lauren was young to take 100's of pictures of him sitting in his bouncy chair. With two there is just less time to sit and stare and marvel and appreciate. He is 9 months old today and I swear just yesterday he was born. Time is flying. And I feel like I missed it because I was just too busy.

So when I heard about Project 365 - take a picture every day of anything that matters for one year - I thought it was a great idea. I could stop and take a picture of all the moments in my life. The giggles, the ouchies, the snow...all of it. My plan is to take these pictures at the end of the year and put them in a book. Yes, that's right, the pictures are going to make it OFF the computer hard drive and into a hard cover book.

And I hope that while I am doing this project, it helps me appreciate the little things that make my life so full. Because there are a lot.