When did this happen?

After the thousands of dollars we spent at the orthodontist for Megan's teeth, they decided to reward us by giving her a gift certificate to go and have a portrait session done.  The photographers were really great, and it was fun watching her have the pictures taken.  But nothing prepared me for what I saw when we got the pictures back. My first baby, my little girl, she is all grown up!  I wonder when I missed this happening.  I feel like I have been there, watching her every step of the way.  I sometimes wish that I could squish my kids back down to babies again.  The days seem to go by so fast that it often seems like a blur.  Today I went visiting teaching.  The message this month was on Understanding the Divine Roles of Women. I laughed at the title because most days I don't feel like my role is anything close to divine.  I really loved the quote in the message by Julie Beck.  In it she says, "The half of our Father's plan that creates life, that nurtures souls, that promotes growth, that influences everything else was given to us.  We can't delegate it.  We can't pass it off to anyone.  It's ours.  We can refuse it, we can deny it, but it's still our part, and we're accountable for it.  There will come a day when we will all remember what we knew before we were born.  We will remember that we fought in a great conflict for this privilege."  I love that last sentence.  That is the piece of the mothering puzzle that I forget most everyday.  I fought for the privilege to be a mother, so I need to do all I can to be the best mother I can be.  When I look at these pictures of my beautiful Megan, I realize that there's no time to lose.  I have to do my best now because they grow up too quickly, and I don't want to look back and realize it's too late.  I love my kids so much, and I'm so grateful that I get to be their mother.