parenting is just like the poster...a BEAUTIFUL ride...much like a good roller coaster ride that you tell all your friends to go on with you at six flags, it has wicked ups and downs...it's what makes it interesting, breath-taking...fun!

 

but do you remember life when your kids were small?

I do.

soooo like it was yesterday... :)

the smell of their little heads as you rocked them to sleep after bathtime...sigh.

I SWEAR johnson & johnson put SOMETHING addictive in their shiny yellow bottles . :)

never mind the bonus memory of the necessary "boppy" wrapped around your middle so your arms didn't fall asleep at two in the morning as your head does the weird roll back "I'm awake!" thing.

or the little feet dangling off the potty during potty training time singing twinkle, twinkle little star in their a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. small voices...double sigh.

again, ignore the bonus memory of washing fourteen pairs of underwear previously in the day and the fact that the "treat m&m's" are a distant memory slowly digesting in your stomach. :)

these memories filled my head when these friends asked for a photo session with me,

needless to say I was genuinely excited. :)

yes, he is one of my husband's close friends...and he makes me laugh.  hard.  sarcasm is gift of his.

but he loves God tremendously, his passion is contagious and I LOVE to listen to him preach.

and his wife?  I admire her VERY much.

she creative, a great mommy, a sassy funny conversationlist & fashionista and yeah, she's kinda stunning. :)

but it's the fact that these two are on the young rollercoaster of parenting that had me excited.

yes, their little girls are STUNning!  just like their mommy. :)

they're funny, they're high energy, they have adorable curls, they have crazy gorgeous eyes,

they have funny unique personalities and they simply LOVE their parents.

and these parents LOVE them.

is parenting hard and challenging?

you bet it is.

but for these two, the privilege and joy SO outweighs whatever challenges come in the day to day.

definitely a beautiful ride.

and definitely a privilege to have gotten to join them for an afternoon...

it brought back so many of my own memories.

memories I simply wouldn't trade for the world. :)

 p.s. never take cake away from this sweet little girl.  that is unless you selfishly LOVE her giant alligator tears and "I love you" fingers...I know, I have issues...but she is just too stinking cute! :)