You always hear people say how fast time flies - how quickly their kids have grown up. In the blink of an eye, they go from a newborn not doing much at all, to walking the stage at a prestigious university and heading off into the "real" world. And then they begin to have kids of their own and you become a grandma or grandpa. And with another blink, the whole cycle happens again and you are a great to a beautiful child.

I've heard this time and time again throughout my life, but I never truly experienced it until I became a mommy. I know it sounds pretty funny since I've only been a mom for 11 weeks now, but boy is time flying.

When Ava was first born, she was a beautiful little girl that slept a lot, cried every once in a while, and ate when I told her to. And other than being able to dress up my adorable little doll in bows galore, she didn't do much else.

And we just couldn't wait until the day she began to purposely smile.

Then that day came and she never stopped smiling. She smiles every morning when she sees me standing over her crib, she smiles every time I talk to her or sing to her, she smiles as soon as she sees her daddy every evening after work and she even smiles when I change her diaper. She is one happy baby.

And even after those smiles started, we just couldn't wait until she could hold her head up on her own.

And guess what? She is just about there! I can hold her on my hip and while her head is a little wobbly at times, she is just about there. It's amazing how much more free we feel when we can hold her with one hand rather than two. .

Now that she's reached that milestone, we just cannot wait until she begins to giggle...and that wish list continues...

This beautiful little girl is living each and every day just enjoying her life and yet, we just cannot wait until the next step. We always say that time flies and in the blink of an eye, our kids are all grown up and yet, we continue to look toward those future moments rather than living in the present.

One of my greatest goals as a mom, is to live every single day and every single moment, in the moment. Of course it is exciting to think about Ava's giggles which will come soon (and totally melt my heart) but while thinking of the future and just waiting for the day when she snuggles purposely and talks and heads off to kindergarten, the present is just passing me by. And so, it is my wish and my hope that I can just learn to live each and every moment with her and cherish those little things. Because in the blink of an eye, she is going to be all grown up and walking down the aisle to marry her prince charming. Andin that moment, I will want to go back to the day she first smiled.