Baby Steps: Happy birthday, Cooper!

"If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do is to save every day 'til eternity passes away, just to spend them with you."

These lyrics by Jim Croce have been weighing heavily on my mind recently. My baby, my sweet, sweet boy, is turning 4 years old this week. Where has all the time gone?

As I sit here and write this, my eyes fill with tears as I remember the day he was born. After an eternity of labor (or as non-mothers, a.k.a. dads, call it, 13 hours) my beautiful boy was here. Every day since then has been filled with joy, laughter and love.

"If I could make days last forever, if words could make wishes come true, I'd save every day like a treasure and then, again, I would spend them with you."

To most, 4 might not seem like a big deal, but for me it is one step closer to Cooper being an adult. Just yesterday it seemed like he took his first steps, and today he is learning right leg back kicks in Hapkido class. He is no longer a sweet baby, but a bright and independent boy.

"But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do..."

I feel guilty that time is slipping away from me. I wish I could spend every waking moment with Cooper and his sister, but life just gets in the way. Thursday, it's 4. Next week it's kindergarten, then the teen years, and before we know it he will be applying for college.

Motherhood is an amazing blessing, and I am thankful each and every day for my munchkins. Happy 4th birthday, Cooper! Mommy loves you more than you know.

Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Mo., came to Southeast Missouri State University with big dreams of being the next Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer. She never thought that in her 20s, she'd be married with two kids and living in Cape Girardeau. Keep up with Kristen's adventures as a young mom who's still trying to figure out how her own life fits together. Turns out, she's living a dream she never knew she had, and loving every minute of it. Kristen invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.