Sappy? What? Me?

hmmm maybe I'm pmsing, or my husband is rubbing off on me because this is sounding like its going to be a sappy one; well, in my head.

We are home from a crazy 3 week holiday. Maybe one day I'll blog about that... ha. Oooor just post photos... On the drive home I got whapped up side the head with reality. My baby boy is going to be TWO in a month. 2!?!?!!! How on earth? There is no way I can call him a baby anymore when I actually have to say he is 2. Perhaps this is where I should admit that I rarely will even say he is one and a half... I like to say he's one. One year olds are still babies.
So what does admitting I have a 2 year old mean? I have to put on my big girl panties and stop babying him. Which honestly will bring me more peace, I know, but, well, just never mind. So 3 nights ago I decided he needs a bedtime. Uhhh yeah, he didn't have a bedtime. I would wait until he would get all snuggly and want to curl up under my chin and fall asleep cuddling me. sigh. I love snuggling my kids. But all of a sudden I thought that's a little ridiculous for a 2 year old. So now he goes to bed and has to lay there until he falls asleep. It's a rough life.
But here's my sappy part. You know how when you have kids EVERYONE shares how you should do everything because theirwayisthebestway.... I suppose the comments I ended up rebelling against the most were those of the cry it out nature, don't ever rock or nurse your baby to sleep, don't let them be dependent on you for sleep at all. Now, don't get me wrong, this all sounds great and very convenient but after having kids, I found myself to be a great big sap who ended up co-sleeping most of the time... Didn't see that one coming. Anyways there was a point to all this, a great big sappy point...
We STILL sit beside our kids beds until they fall asleep. And you know what? I LOVE it. Looooooove it. We tell stories about our day, we sing lullabies, and then we pray, and then I sit between their beds until they fall asleep. While I sit there in the quiet I find it's the only time I really get to just sit and be thankful for my kids. Almost every night my eyes well up looking at them while they sleep of what precious gifts I have been given. It gives me time to really think about how I can improve as a mother, how important it is to love them fully, how much it means to me that I show them the love of God so that they will grow to love Him. It gives me time to come before the Lord, as a mother, seeking His guidance in raising my kids to know Him. It gives me time to have a reality check on how precious this time is. I hate to think that before I know it, my baby girl is going to be 4... I'm not ready to talk about that yet.
I guess all this rambling was to say I've turned out to be a bit of an attachment parenting parent, and I love the relationship I have with my kids because of it. They'll be all growed up before I know it, and I'm not in any rush to get them to bed faster, because that's just another day gone.