Just a mama thinking about her punkins in a pumpkin patch

Gosh I love the pumpkin patch.  First time I went Zachary was about 20 months old and Lily was less than 2 months old, strapped to me in the little carrier.  I'd like to find the photograph that a friend took of me and my tiny clan back then!

It was a cold and windy day, and little Violet wanted to be snuggled the whole time...

(no babies were harmed* in the taking of this  1 second photo)

*permanently 

 Poppy was a hilarious wild woman, picking up every pumpkin, zooming down the 2 story slide and showing every other toddler how it's done in terms of feeding baby goats.  Oh goodness, she was reminding me so much of this day, and this girl (even wearing the same jacket!)

Pumpkin donuts rounded out our trip.  Admittedly, it was quite a process to get here this year.  There was only one potential day that worked and it still involved picking the kids up early from school, packing soccer practice gear, taking two separate cars, and sticking to a tight schedule.  I suppose it is the season we've entered with our family.  There is always something to miss about the old days, and yet the new things that have come our way are just as gratifying, and I'm sure I will miss them too once they've passed.

The most meaningful work of my life.

Yesterday I sat in the rocker in our nursery and read Violet a little book.  I was feeling all sentimental because it was a book we've had since Zachary was a baby.  I know I have sat in that very chair and read that very book to each one of my babies.

Today I began to organize the nursery dresser by taking out the 0-3 month summer clothes and getting ready for the cold weather that is heading this way.  What?  My baby is 3 months old, and try as I might she will never squeeze into that adorable lemon romper or the pink and orange crab one.  You just always feel like there will be another day, another time to grab a shot of the cute baby in her sweet outfit...but man, it's just so fast.

I realize that in many ways I've escaped a lot of those "life direction" questions.  I always felt solid about where I would go to college, what I would major in, whom (and when!) I would marry.  Perhaps it's finally caught up to me, it's my turn to grapple a bit.  I find myself thinking about what the next 15 years will look like.  Will I be employed again?  When will I start?  What will I do?  Will I teach?  There are so many things I am interested in.  It all feels so fuzzy, and I have no clear cut path right now.

But.

If there is one thing that rings louder and truer, and I feel more sure of, more confident in every single day, it is that these last 8 years have been amazing.  Full of growth, and sacrifice, and freaking hard work :)  And as I see it now, it's maybe the most meaningful work of my life.