When I grow up...

You know I remember always hearing and saying the phrase: "when I grow up ..." Generally, this phrase was followed by some profound statement of future ambition or a declaration of independence.

Haylee and I have been attending Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano for the past several months and recently our daughter has begun taking some classes on Wednesday evenings. There is a nice area there at the church where we sit for a few hours and wait for Allie's classes to finish. These few hours give us some much needed couple time. It is always refreshing to disconnect from 'life' and talk about 'life' if that makes any sense... Anyway tonight was one of those nights where we just had the opportunity to talk about where we are,  have been, and possibly going... when we "grow up."

So funny how we are always forward looking, always planning ahead, and doing everything to make the most out of this precious gift we call life. I always do my best to remember to enjoy the now while being excited about the future. So many times I've struggled even as a parent with wanting my darling child to move on to the next stage that I have forgotten to enjoy the blessed moment we were in today. 

In the past, Allie has been a great sleeper! However, recently, she has decided that going to bed without any hesitation or battle of the wills is a thing of the past! Suddenly, she's not sleeping well and occasionally gets up in the night to announce to her sleeping parents that "my room smells like a chocolate shake" or "I dreamed mommy just got flushed down the toilet - is she okay?"   I finally asked Allie last night: "Allie, Daddy really loves you but you have got to stop waking me up 3 times per night." She says "Okay, Dad", but proceeds to enter our room many times in the night despite my request.  The next morning I asked her about it and she says "I'm sorry Dad, I was trying to be quiet and not wake you up like you asked but I needed to tell mommy something..." Needless to say, I gave up trying to coach her through this time and decided I better find a way to enjoy it because as one of my favorite artist puts it, "It Won't Be Like This for Long." I guess if she is still doing this by age 13 we might have a problem. I'll keep you posted.

By the way, our darling girl has decided that when she grows up, she wants to "BE a Children's Hospital." We'll see....