Little Girl Don't Grow up so Fast

There are days when I look at our girls and it takes my breath away to realize how fast they are growing. Like "don't blink or you'll miss it" fast. I joke with the girls often. It's kind of our thing. I get down on their level, look them in the eyes and I ask them to please stop growing. Their responses are pretty consistent with their personalities. Abby seems to take it as a challenge. She stands up straighter and puts on her best "grown" face determined to skip years and prove to me how adult she already is. Ella will hold my face and look into my eyes while laughing and say, "Mommy, you know I can't do that!"

I know they won't stop growing, so my prayer is that God would continue to teach me how to be present and truly live the fullness of these moments as they happen. Oh how I love them!

It just so happens that this Carrie Underwood song is one of Abby's favorite at the moment. I love watching her sing it at the top of her lungs in the rear view mirror.

"Little Girl Don't Grow Up Too Fast" by Carrie Underwood

Little princess, summer flowers in her hair
Playing Ring Around The Rosie in a picture there
Tiptoeing 'round the house in her mama's shoes
Coloring her lips red in her bedroom

Prom queen wants to be like the magazines
Thinks she found her king, barely seventeen
Too much that the world's wanting you to do
When you're still just a child in your mama's shoes

Little girl, little girl, don't grow up too fast
'Fore you know it, you'll be wishing you could just go back
Don't you know there'll be plenty of time for that
Somewhere down the road?
Yeah, it's all gonna fly in the blink of an eye
You can't slow down this thing called life
So take your time and let it last
Little girl, don't grow up too fast

Sometimes I feel like I'm hanging on by a thread
Climbing ladders trying to get to the next step
Working hard, always wanting something more
Missing how things were simple like it was before

Cause it's hard to know just what to do
When I still feel like a child in my mama's shoes

Little girl, little girl, don't grow up too fast
'Fore you know it, you'll be wishing you could just go back
Don't you know there'll be plenty of time for that
Somewhere down the road?
Yeah, it's all gonna fly in the blink of an eye
You can't slow down this thing called life
So take your time and let it last
Little girl, don't grow up too fast

Sometimes I wish I could just go back and say
"Take your time and let it last, little girl"

Yeah, it's all gonna fly in the blink of an eye
You can't slow down this thing called life
So take your time and let it last
Little girl, don't grow up too fast
Little girl, don't grow up too fast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoBEBTn9fds

 And for those moments when I'm feeling overwhelmed in the chaos and challenges of three little girls under six OR when I just need a good cry...this one brings me right back to reality, fighting to live in this moment and enjoy every minute of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBDN8yWyNYU