First things first

This was a week of firsts.

Kaylee and Brooke had their first tennis lesson, I took all the kids on a bike ride by myself for the first time in our "new" neighborhood, we hosted our first sleep over and in less exciting news Kaylee was was stung by a bee, hopefully both a first and last.

Other things were repetitive.

The dog ran out of the house twice and was waiting for me in front of the girls school, the baby ended up in my bed at least once, my car alarm went off multiple times in various parking lots, I lost my cell phone for several hours each day, my house only stayed clean for the time that I was cleaning it and the list goes on.

I was much more aware of the new experiences this week than of the normal - or as close to normal things that go on in my life on a daily basis.


I'm not the mom that takes out the camera for every milestone, I only got one page of Kaylee's baby book completed and I'm pretty sure I have yet to order Jacob's hospital pictures. However I am the mom that gets really excited about the first day of school (unlike when I was in school), volunteers to coach my daughters fist soccer team (even though I was less than qualified), and tries way too hard when my kids bring over a new friend to the house for the first time. I'm sure as my memory fades I will wish that I had saved more things, taken more pictures and written more things down but for now I would much rather enjoy the feeling of firsts.

I'm sure we do things for the first time everyday and don't even realize it. Whether its as simple as trying a new food or something bigger like jumping out of an airplane. The feeling of doing something for the first time is a unique blend of fear, excitement, joy and sometimes confusion. When we are so wrapped up in everyday chaos we sometimes miss out on that feeling.

Some firsts are more enjoyable than others (get your mind out of the gutter), some are exciting and others are miserable. We learn what we like. what we will never do again and what makes us happy. New experiences help us grow and figure out who we are. Without firsts every day would be the same as before, life would be predictable and we would never learn from our mistakes. If we all slow down, open our eyes and embrace what new things we encounter our lives may become more fulfilled.