You'd think I was pregnant......

and I am NOT. I'm just a puddle this morning.
Katie's full gallery is up at the photographer's website. I got through about 2 pictures before I got teary, with Nicole's choice of music in the background I think that was her goal. :) I think it is just hitting me that Katie is going to be 18 in a few weeks and not long after that she will.be.gone. With the exception of a couple of my children, I think most of them will fly around 18, whether it is to college, work or the military. I've got a few that I think will stay and keep their mom company a little longer. Thank goodness.
For the last 18 years I have brought a new baby home about every 2 years. I prepared for a new baby. I bought clothes, I got the house ready, I imagined this new little person coming into our family, I wondered about the changes he or she would bring, I prayed that he would be OK. I cried...sometimes from happiness, sometimes from fear, sometimes from sheer joy. Now I am doing it all in reverse. Planning what Katie will take away with her to school, rearranging the bedrooms to take advantage of the extra space, wondering what our day-day will be like without her, wondering what her days will be like without us. I still pray that she will be OK and I still cry and won't ever stop doing either. I'm going to be going through this about every 2 years for the next 20. My babies may grow up, they may go to school, they may go fly airplanes, they may ride horses through the Rockies...their mom will still be at home...praying for them and feeling the happiness, fear and sheer joy of being their mother and always loving them, even from afar.