Past, Present, and a Glimpse of the Future

I sit here on a quiet summer morning in my humble abode.  Colton is still soundly sleeping (at 7:30 AM!), but I know my minutes of peace are numbered.  The tv is on, but at a very quiet volume.  I try not to move from the couch, but if I do, I am sure to tiptoe to my destination.  At every noise, I hear I hold my breath a bit, hoping that my sweet baby is still asleep.
 Of course, when he does finally wake up, there is a quick moment of frustration, but as soon as I open his door and see his smiling, happy face waiting for me patiently, that moment is over...I, too, am happy to see him!  But unlike the quiet of those first few minutes of the morning, I know the rest of my day will be loud, and busy, and chaotic at times.  I will get Colton up, play with him, he will run across the living room screaming/laughing (his new favorite game), eventually I will make him some breakfast and we will sit down to eat together, and then I will get dressed, he will get dressed, and somehow rush out the door to get to the gym and begin our day's adventures.

Colton fresh from waking up, notice the look of mischief

As I sit here relishing the quiet, it dawns on me how much my mornings have changed.  Being a teacher (well, a former teacher I guess), I have had my summers off for the past 6 years or so.  I remember those first few summers before I had Colton (or any real responsibilities!).  I've never been a good sleep-inner, but I am a good lounger.  I would wake up, lay in bed for awhile watching the "Today Show."  At some point, I would make myself a cup of coffee and bring it back to bed with me for some more tv viewing.  Once we had Chipper, this is about when he would join in my mornings.  When I grew tired of laying in bed, I would get myself ready, hit the gym, and begin my daily tasks.
But then there was last summer...Colton was just a mere 3ish months old.  He had begun sleeping through the night, but only until about 5 or 6 if I got lucky.  I would definitely groan as I went in to retrieve him, feed him his bottle, and then try to lay back in bed with him (he was so tiny and immobile then!).  By the time 8 rolled around, I was ready to get us dressed and hit the gym.
And then I flash forward to visions of next summer...Colton will be a little over 2 years old and our new baby will be about 6ish months old.  I wonder what my mornings will entail.  I can't even begin to imagine it, but I know it will certainly be more of the chaos and noise of my current  mornings rather than the peace and laziness of my early ones.  Of course, sometimes I get a little jealous of my friends who still spend their mornings sleeping in, but I wouldn't change my life for anything in the world.  It's such a small sacrifice to make to be this wonderful human being's mommy.
Plus, then there's those mom friends of mine whose children are already a little grown up.  They're back to sleeping in (some) as the kids pretty much fend for themselves.  They're the same moms at the pool and beach  who get to sit back and watch their kids happily splash away (no chasing theirs up and down the beach!).  I know my day will come too, and that when I does, I will probably long for these days of chaos, but for now, I will just dream of it...and get my baby who is currently letting me know he is wide awake and needs me to get him so he can start a new day!