In her 20s

She's hit the best time of her toddlerhood....

The 20s...

Can you believe Bug is 20 months old?

Doesn't it feel like yesterday when she first came into our lives, blog friends?

Where did the time go?

I'm thoroughly convinced God makes time go by faster when you have kids because as a kid all you wanted was for time to hurry up.

So, God makes time "hurry up" when you want time to slow down.

Because then, it allows us to teach lessons that start with, "Don't try to speed up your growing up. You'll be growing up and grown up before you know it..."

She's in her 20s.

And she is so fun, so challenging, so ridiculous, so funny, so emotional...so much better than I prayed for when I prayed for a kid.

She's the epitome of joy and of life. Her laughter is contagious. It radiates through our home and brightens up every room. She laughs about everything and anything.

There are only a few moments of my day where there's silence. Iz talks - some gibberish - but mostly "real" words.

She sings.

And her songs would put any Grammy artist to shame.

Her tiny voice as she belts out "God our Faaaather," The Barney Song, the original "Elmo, Elmo", etc etc are sounds that make my heart swell with pride.

Craig looks at her and asks her if she'll stay this size forever. Joking, of course. But, sometimes it's almost like a plea. Our way of asking her to be this little human that makes our lives better forever. But, she'll look at us - with sticky hands, Monkey in one arm, barefoot, with her round toddler tummy - and simply say "No." Some may say it's because "No" is the vocabulary of all toddlers but I'm pretty sure she's just putting me and Craig in our place - reminding us - this time is fleeting.

So, we thank God for the story times, thank Him for the tantrums, thank God for the days without silence, and thank God for the moments of silence as we watch her sleep.

So fast.