"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will -- to your surprise -- miss them profoundly."
For our girls' birthdays, we got them a balloon filled with helium and tied it to their bed so when they woke up in the morning, they would have a balloon to surprise them.
Here is Izzy having a "sleepover" with her sisters in their big bed the night before her birthday. There was nothing to tie the balloon to, so I tied it to her ankle. She was so happy and surprised the next morning.
"The children...their laughter and their loveliness could clear a cloudy day....like the colours of the rainbow...they're a promise of the future and a blessing for today." -- John Denver
Ben and Sandra
Isabelle
Lily
Chloe
Olivia
"You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experiences."
-Gordon B. Hinckley, 2006