Mama's Day

What a sweet day it was!  Justin made it just perfect.. he let me sleep in, which is a BIG deal when you have a baby!  ;)  He brought me fresh flowers and a beautiful card with the perfect encouraging words that I needed to hear.  I didn't have to make any meals or do any clean up, and he sent me out with some girlfriends for an end of the day break.  It was lovely.

Mothering these children is such an amazing privilege.  The days are definitely long and the best I can do most days is to 'carpe a couple kairos moments' each day.  But I know the years are short.  They grow so fast and I'm desperately trying to enjoy something about each stage my children are in - good or bad.  I always wanted, so badly, to be a mother.  And I'm so thankful God has allowed me to live that dream.  It is the hardest, most exhausting, most amazing, most rewarding job I've ever had. These children refine me like no other... it's painful at times but it's so worth it.

So so thankful for the precious gift of motherhood.  And these precious people the Lord saw fit to entrust to me and Justin.    

Note to my Future Self

Dear Self,

When you are old and your children are all grown, please please pleeeease don't forget what it's like to be in the middle of a crowded grocery store check out line with a tantruming toddler.  Whatever you do, do NOT give dirty looks to the mother or pass one bit of judgement on her. And seriously.. don't lecture her or her children for crying out loud!  Do not demand that her two year old look at you while you explain to said two year old that 'you need to use your words to make it in this world, kid.'  Remember the days when YOU were that mother... hands full, exhausted, trying to make it through the morning.  Instead of spreading judgement, disgust, or annoyance, spread love.  Pat that mama on the back and remind her that we've all been there.  Give her a smile. Tell her she's a good mama and she's doing a good job.  Pay for her groceries.  Walk with her to her car and help her unload.  Do something to ease her stress just a little bit.  Your reaction to her situation will either make or break her day.  

Sincerely,

Your old self, who is in the throes of toddlers and tantrums and grocery store nightmares

One of those Days...

My sweet two-year-old has turned into quite the little pistol lately.  She's so spunky and has so much personality and can be oh-so-fun.  But she can also be oh-so-naughty!  Last week I had 'one of those days' with her...

Our friends invited us to swim in their neighborhood pool.  It was the first swim of the summer and the girls were super excited.  I got them in their swimsuits and we headed towards the pool.  As soon as Emma saw the pool, she took off.  No floaty on yet.  No restrain.  Just ran full speed towards the pool and JUMPED in!  Well, Emma doesn't know how to swim so I had to jump in after her and rescue her.  We had a long discussion about never going in the pool without a floaty on after that... goodness, the girl almost gave me a heart attack!

After I recovered from that, we ended up having a fun couple hours of swimming.  When we were done, we went to our friends' house to change back into our clothes before heading home.  As soon as I started taking Emma's swimsuit off, chunks of nasty poop started falling out everywhere.  I realized she had pooped in her swimsuit and she was covered.  It was DISGUSTING.  I had to throw her in my friend's tub and clean up... yuck!

Once we were finally heading home, I decided to make a stop at McDonalds for a treat.  I remembered that their blueberry pomegranate smoothies were just $1 each that day and since I rarely treat them to things like that, I decided to do something special.  I went through the drive thru and got three smoothies.  Claire was thrilled with the treat, recognizing how rare and special it was.  After giving Claire hers, I handed Emma her smoothie.  She instantly CHUCKED it across the van.  Her FULL, PURPLE smoothie was now covering my van.  EMMMMMAA!!!!

Needless to say, by the time Justin got home I was DONE!  And Emma was in bed by about 6:15 that night.  It was one of those days!

Mama's Day 2013

I loved celebrating mamahood with my sweet family on a beautiful day yesterday.  So thankful for these ladies in my life!  I know that motherhood is a privilege and even on the hard days, I'm incredibly thankful that I get to enjoy this amazing gift.


                                                 Discussing how we should pose


                                        Emma's idea - hands on our hips!


                                        These ladies bring me so much joy.

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing women in my life, especially my own mama who taught me so much about selflessly serving and loving!  xoxo

Mother's Day

Despite the fact that both Justin and I were sick on Mother's Day (and the whole weekend!) he still did his best to make it special for me...

Pretty flowers

Coffee and some delicious donuts!  Sour cream chocolate cake doughnut with cream cheese frosting... yes, please!

He also made me this ah-ma-zing little 'choose your own adventure' book.  The book had three little stories in it and I had to choose the one I liked best, open the corresponding flap at the end, and then find out what my gift was.  Seriously, he is THAT creative and cute.  ;)  Anyway, I chose my flap and ended up getting a beautiful Kitchen Aid Mixer.  Soo fun!!!

Since there were no pictures of me and the girls on mother's day because we were sick, we pretended and took some the next weekend.



The beautiful reasons I get to celebrate!

The best we could get of me and the girls...

At least she smiled for this one!

A Day For Mamas

As usual, my hubby did a great job making me feel loved and appreciated on this special day set aside for Mamas! 

My day started with these, my absolute favorite flowers!!

We had the most delicious breakfast in Amana.  If you've never been to the Colony Inn, do yourself a favor and try it.  I can't even begin to describe the delicious-ness.  Claire has been several times before and always devours everything but it was fun to have Emma with us this time.  She was loving everything too!  We were fortunate to have Nana with us!  She stopped through on her way home from a trip with her sister. 



The two little ladies who make me a mama!

After naps, some girlfriends and I were given an afternoon off by our hubbies.  They kept the kiddos and sent us to the most adorable and delicious cafe for some a-ma-zing crepes.  It was so fun to have some time as women, moms, and friends, without the distraction of our lovely children.   :)

Mine had strawberries and Nutella.. yum!

We ended the day by grilling out with some friends in the perfect weather!  Claire and her one of her favorite little buddies, Micah, had so much fun playing and exploring in our backyard (which may or may not have included burying Claire's brand new baby from Nana in the dirt... Don't worry, Nana... after washing her off, Brianna is as good as new :))  Needless to say, the night ended in bathtime for both kiddos.. and the doll! :) 

What a perfect day.  Thanks babe!!  You definitely know how to make this mama feel loved! :)

Mother's Day!

I had the best mother's day! It was absolutely perfect and I enjoyed every part of it. After church (where Claire colored me an 'I Love Mommy' picture!), my parents and sister's family all came over to celebrate. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our lunch outside on the deck. We took the kids to a park, too, which was a fun highlight. My parents brought chicken, my sister brought a cake, and Justin made all of the side dishes to go with the meal. So I didn't have to do a thing! What a lucky girl I am! :)

Claire and Mommy

What a blessing and joy it is to be this girl's mama!

Hugs and kisses for her sister

Our family

Claire with some of her fave boys!!

Mother's Day

I felt so honored to celebrate my first official mother's day this year!! (We did celebrate last year, but it wasn't quite the same, as Claire was in utero!) In the past, this has been a dreaded holiday for me, as I've yearned to be a mother. It's so hard going to church and listening to the pastor talk about mothers when I wanted nothing more than to be a mom. Praise God that we got to celebrate and enjoy this holiday this year.

Justin got up early with Claire and fed her so I could sleep in, then made a yummy breakfast feast. He even got me a beautiful bouquet of tulips, my favorite flower.

The reason I got to celebrate this year... my sweet baby Claire!

Our happy little family

Hanging out on her tummy

After church, lunch, and naps, we headed up to my parents' house to have dinner with them and celebrate with my own mom. Claire was loving hanging out outside with her grampy...

and her grammy...

What a blessing mothers are! I couldn't have asked for a better example of a selfless, loving mother than the one God gave me. She has set the bar high and I hope to be even half the mother to my children that she is to me. Thank you, Mama!!! I love you!!