Mother's Day 2016

Happy belated Mother's Day to all of you awesome women and mamas! Women make the world go 'round, right?! I had THE most fabulous Mother's Day this year. My boys spoiled me rotten and made my day very special. After breakfast in bed and receiving the most thoughtful cards and gifts (Dan is teaching these boys well!), we went to church and listened to an amazing sermon. After church we went to a nearby park and enjoyed yummy food while the boys and puppy played. It was perfect! I'm the luckiest mama and wife on the planet, hands down.

We have some big news! It is very big and very recent. So recent that almost nobody knows about it (surprise, Family!). We are putting our house on the market! Everything has happened really quickly, but we feel like this has been in the works (the PLAN) for a while. We want to sell ASAP, so this week we have frantically began cleaning, purging and packing. Today I got a good portion of the kitchen done. Painting and re-carpeting is in our near future.

Our near future seems very uncertain, as we have absolutely no idea what is about to happen in a few different realms. As always, we trust that the plan is in place and we are just living it out! It's exciting (and a little scary)!

Elijah has had a GREAT past few days, both at school and home. He has gotten a few super reports at school lately. So super that his teacher let him sit in her chair all day today! He was very excited about this. I stopped in both boys' classrooms today and it made me so happy to see such happy smiles on both of their sweet little faces.

One thing I've been wanting to write down so I never forget it is how Sammy does a muffled SCREAM when he loves something that he's eating. He says "MMMmmmmm!" as if he's screaming it, except with his mouth closed. It is the cutest thing.

Both boys have been extra snuggly and complimentary lately. I love these precious boys and I'm so grateful that God chose me to be their Mommy!

Have a great rest of your week! Thanks for peeking in.

The BEST Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you amazing mamas! Today was an incredible day for us. My boys let me sleep in and they woke me with breakfast in bed, super thoughtful gifts and handmade cards and a TON of love and hugs. Sammy told me about 100 times today, "Mommy, you're so LOVELY and PRETTY and I love you SOOOO much!" I feel like the luckiest mother on the entire planet. I love my boys!

Sammy had been telling Dan for weeks that he wanted to get me "jewels" for Mother's Day (smart kid). Dan compromised and picked out a really pretty gift-shop ring while he was in DC last week, so that was my "jewel" from Sam (I love it...I will never take it off). He also requested flowers for me. Another wise choice. I think Sammy is going to be a lot like his Daddy and VERY thoughtful in the gift-giving department. Elijah wanted to get me a vase and a cup, which were perfect picks, as well! Dan got me a gift card to a spa...uhh, totally perfect after the past few weeks. I'll hopefully get to use it this week!

I did a lot of thinking about moms today. My mom, my stepmom, my mother-in-law, myself, my sisters and sisters-in-law, my friends, the moms I see at the mall and the park. Moms are amazing! Moms are selfless. Moms have the toughest jobs, but the most rewarding, too. Moms are loved and cherished beyond anything words could ever say. Moms are the most important people. I pray every day that I can be the best possible mother to these two amazing boys God gave to me. Sometimes I lose my cool (uh, daily) and I don't always serve them vegetables. I just pray that they both always know how much I love them. My two prayers that I pray many many times every day (and often in the middle of the night) are: 1. that they walk with Jesus all the days of their lives and 2. that they always know that they are truly loved and accepted by Dan and me.

Thank you for being a part of our lives, no matter how big or small. Praying for blessings for all of you this week!

Happy Mother's Day!

I've found that when you dread most of your week, weekends go ridiculously fast. I cannot believe it is Sunday night already. My boys treated me to a nice Mother's Day, as usual. Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers, including my own mama and my stepmom and my mother-in-law!

I've been saving up some funny recent Elijah sayings:

I heard him counting the other day: ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, ten-ty! :)

Yesterday:
"Wow, Mom, it sure is a nice, warm day out!"
"I agree!"
"You're not 'Guh-ree,' you're MAMA!"
"Oh yes, you are right, Elijah. I'm Mama."

Before dinner, I said a prayer and then asked Elijah what he was thankful for.
"Ummmmmmm.....LEMONS!"
"Ok! Thank you, Jesus, for lemons!"

With the talk of Mother's Day floating around, Elijah said,
"You're Elijah's mom!"
"I AM Elijah's mom! I'm Sammy's mom, too."
"No, you're not Sam's mom. Sam's mom is home sick."
"Hmmmmmm."

Something we've heard a few times recently:
"Daddy, what's on your chest?"
"Ummmm.."
"Daddy, you have hair on your chest?"
"Yes, yes I do, Elijah."
"Oh. Daddy have hair on chest."

And by the way, we have the snuggliest baby on the planet. I always thought Elijah was that baby, but Sammy? SNUGGLY!! I love it. We have been snuggling like crazy all weekend.

Dan is cooking me a Mother's Day meal (the second he's made me today), so I think I'll plop myself on the couch and read through my new cookbook while I take in the smells of dinner. xo

Mama's Day

My boys were extremely good to me for Mother's Day today (as they always are). I woke up to breakfast in bed and Dan gave me a Mother's Day gift that I didn't expect at all. He gave me a new lens for my camera! I can't wait to play with it a bit. I have the best boys in the world. I think I heard "Happy Muver's Day, Mom!" from Elijah about fifty times today and it never got old.

I did make it out to brunch with Dan's family, which was yummy and of course, fun. I considered not going since my contractions are a little bit out of control right now. If I weren't so well-versed in the subject of contractions, I may have considered going to the hospital in the middle of the night last night, or at least calling my doctor. I had contractions every 6-15 minutes or so from the time I went to bed until 4:00 am. And then they just stopped! Hmmmm. It didn't worry me enough to call the doctor, but it did worry me enough to get serious about doing some packing today. Elijah's little suitcase is all ready for him to go to Grandma's house for a few days. It's crazy to think that we could be having a baby any day now!

Have a good week and Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful moms!!!

I'll end with two of my recent favorite Elijah words:
carnival = "caramel"
parrot = "carrot"

Out of Elijah's mouth

We got out Elijah's old play mat that he used to roll around on when he was a baby. We are slowly getting out more and more baby things in preparation for Not-Zooter's arrival. So Elijah has been pretending to be a baby and playing on the play mat, even though he is far too big for it. Today he was laying on it and he said, "Animal pway mat. For baby bru-er. Baby bru-er coming soon!" :) So he really does know that his brother is coming soon! He has been acting like we are speaking in German whenever we talk about his brother, so his acknowledgment of him was a nice surprise.

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When I was putting Elijah to bed last night I said, "I love you, sweetie" and he responded with, "I 'ove you, Mom. Happy Muver's Day, Mom." He and Dan had given me some flowers as an early Mother's Day gift, so he must have had it on the brain. So sooo sweet.

Getting ready

Elijah got a new suitcase! He is ready to pack up some of his things and go to Grandma's house for a few days, whenever the baby decides to arrive. (And could he possibly look any cuter in these pjs?)



Looks like he will be a self-sufficient little traveler the next time we are traveling through an airport.



I'm at the 35-week mark today! There have been times over the past few days when I have wondered, Could this be it?! My contractions get a little crazy in the evenings and they are getting more and more uncomfortable. I have no idea how much longer my body will hold out. Sometimes I feel like it could be a few more weeks and sometimes I think it will be much sooner.



Elijah has had two really good days in a row as far as his behavior goes. There is such a difference in the mood in our house at the end of a good day. We don't have many weekend plans, besides maybe a Mother's Day outing (if my body is behaving) and just trying to keep this baby where he belongs. Have a great Mother's Day weekend, all you awesome mamas!!!!