My overflowing cup

So much to be thankful for...

I'm sitting here, while my kids are napping (which is the ONLY time I can blog) thinking about how adorable they are. Last Sunday we got to hear Noah's sweet laugh for the first time. It was so perfect and even better because it was his sister that made him laugh! He loves his sister. He hears her voice and turns his head all around to find her. Gracie adores him too. I love that little man. If I'm not paying attention he has this "coo" that he makes to get my attention. He'll continue that sound until I look down at him then he smiles so big. Man, he's already competing with his sister for attention. But, oh how it melts my heart. Gracie came up to me today while I was cleaning her room and said, "I love you" just out of the blue. How sweet is it when your children are old enough to say "I love you" on their own without prompting. Those 3 little words spoken by my daughter make up for the daily tantrums that turn my house upside down!

As hard as being a stay at home mom is (some days more than others) I feel so incredibly blessed and lucky to be able to be home with my kids everyday. I remember when I had to teach and leave Grace with someone else, it completely broke my heart. And my heart would continue to break daily. I envied the moms that got to be home with their kids and tried so hard to come up with all different kinds of ideas/plans that would let me be home with her. None of them worked. But now, 2 years and a baby later I am home with them. I get to wake up to their sleepy smiling faces and know that I don't have to leave them in a few hours. I don't have to shove them in front of a TV so I can get ready for work. In fact I can wear pj's all day! I don't have to try and manipulate their nap schedule to work around my job. I don't have to worry that someone is not taking care of them how I would. I get to be home with them all day, everyday! I get to kiss them whenever I want!

ALSO....I am so proud of my brilliant and hardworking husband. Levi made SOC (student of the course) at school. This is a really big deal at UTI as all the companies that recruit from there request students that have been awarded SOC. So proud of him and all the time and effort he has put into this. That man is going places! And lucky me, because get to go with him! :)

My cup is overflowing. I love my family so much. I am so truly blessed. God is good!

Hope in Christ

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul
In you, O God, I place my trust
Do not let me be put to shame
Nor let my enemies triumph over me
My hope is in you
Show me your ways
Guide me in Truth
In all my days
My hope is in you
I am, O Lord, filled with your love
You are, O God, my salvation
Guard my life and rescue me
My broken spirit shouts
My mended heart cries out...

Sometimes I let the worries of life and the day to day drudgery get to me. Today as I began to stress about things beyond my control, I found myself singing the song above. I wasn't really thinking much about it, just figured it was the song of the day that randomly got stuck in my head, as one usually does! It wasn't until I sat down, after the kids had gone to bed, that I actually started to think about the words. How perfect for that song to come to mind today. I'd like to think that it was God signing over me all day. And in a very loving way, asking me, "What are you placing your hope in?" Because if my hope is in the things of this world, then I have every reason to worry. But if I place my hope in Christ, what is there to fear? "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles." (Is 40:31) There is something so freeing about giving it all up to God. Letting him take all the burdens and worries and knowing it is out of my hands. He has given me so much and continues to answer all my prayers. He provides and has never left me needed anything.

So, I once again place my hope in Christ and trust in his promises.

hmmm...no creative title

Every single day, in between my moments of craziness, I look at my sweet children and am reminded at how truly blessed I am.

There are also moments when I sit back and think, I could really use a glass of wine right now!

Today is one of those days.

But there is the promise of after naptime. The hope that my rambuncious but adorable 2 year old will wake up and decided that it is not necessary to cry at the sight of a crumb on the floor or the wrong color sippy cup.

My fingers are crossed!

Anyways, here are some pictures from the last few weeks...

AND, Noah is 3 months old today! My sweet niece, Julia is 2 years old today. My beautiful and extremely young mom is ___(I won't say it) years old today. Happy Birthday! Love you all so much!

Last week I decided I had enough of this heat and being stuck indoors so the kids and I went up with my mom and brother to the cabin in Pine. Carolyn and her two girls came up for the day too. It was so much fun. Grace had a blast spending as much time as possible outside and Noah did well, as long as no one tried to hold him but mommy. It's so weird, he would rather be in his bouncer than have someone besides me hold him! Anyways, we spent 5 days at the cabin. Levi met us up there on Satuday and we were all estatic to see him. I felt rejuvinated and refreshed! Think Gracie did too because up until yesterday she has been so happy and has needed very little redirection.

Okay, my OCD daughter is obsessed with lining up and stacking things perfectly straight. When Levi tries to play with her he does things a little more sloppy and Grace gets so upset. She tends to sees things as black and white, no gray in between. Hmmmm, I wonder where she gets that from...

Kambra's (our cousin) cool car. Gracie LOVED this. As they drove around you could hear Gracie's squeals of delight at Kam's crazy driving. Yes, I was a nervous wreck the entire time, but played it off very cool!

My favorite thing to do at the cabin is get up early and sit out on the porch and drink coffee. We are doing just that, with some of mom's sticky coffee cake! Yum.

Levi and Gracie are off to go bug and lizard hunting. (Levi dressed her, by the way) :)

Back at home.... Playing in a box. Seriously why do we even buy our kids toys when they have so much fun with everything that is not meant to be a toy?

Noah is now strong enough and very willing to sit in a bumbo. He loves it and sits there for decent periods of time just playing with his toys. Yes, Noah is sitting in a a pink bumbo. It was Gracie's and is still pretty much brand new. How could I spend money on another one just for the color? The less practical side of me is really worried that I'm causing Noah some type of emotional scarring from the pink bumbo...

Gracie, Julia and Savannah playing hide and seek, more like just hide, in the closet while Gracie hoards the sippy cups. Good thing she has such forgiving friends!

Some picture updates

Family updates:

Noah is 10 weeks old! Last Tuesday at his doctor appointment he weighed 11lbs 15oz. He is very healthy, chubby and loves his milk! So far Noah seems very passionate about 2 things in life: he loves his mommy very much, even after the car incident (if you don't know what I'm talk about read post below) and loves to sleep. Seems to be passionate about the same things his daddy is! :) Levi is determined to make Noah not so attached to me but no such luck yet. Gracie is such a great big sister. She loves her little brother and is always trying to help me with him. When he cries she tries her best to comfort him and searches frantically for his "bobble" (pacifier) to give to him. She is sassy, a little crazy and so dang cute. Levi is still working like crazy and going to school which equals very long days for him and I but I just keep reminding myself it's not forever! "I think I can, I think I can..."

I haven't posted any pictures lately so here are some from the past month.

His smile just melts my heart.

Grace is trying to nurse her baby like mommy. This is what she does whenever I am nursing Noah. Of course she thinks the milk comes out of her belly button.

Grace and Julia have these hilarious swimsuits that have pads in them to help teach them to swim. The are so cute in them with their puffed up chests!

They have their daddy's eyes. Love it!

Thank you Caillou (seriously worst cartoon ever) and Sesame Street for entertaining my kids long enough for me to eat, make coffee and even clean a little!

Taking a Sunday afternoon nap. Aren't my men so cute?!

Anyone have a black hole I can borrow?

What a weekend....

Friday afternoon my in-laws so graciously invited Care and I over so that they could watch the older girls and let us go out for some shopping and Starbucks. Carolyn and I were both excited at the thought of not having to chase our crazy 2 year olds around stores and enthusiastically accepted the invitation. Unfortunately, once we got to Ikea with the younger 2 kids in tow, I got this crazy dizzy spell and felt sick. I was so dizzy and nauseous when we got back that it was making me throw-up. All that night and Saturday I felt horrible. A disturbing thought came to mind, "Am I pregnant?" It seems that my husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were all thinking the same thing. Finally, on Saturday, I went to Target and bought a pregnancy test.

But I was on my way to meet some friends for lunch so I had to hold off on the test. Levi and Gracie were home sleeping so I took Noah with me. We got to the restaurant and I threw my keys in the diaper bag and set the bag on the passenger seat. Then I got out of the car and walked around to get Noah out. The door was locked. (Even as I'm writing this I'm getting all panicky again) I looked through the window at all the doors and ALL of them were locked. Somehow in my moment of dizziness and stress, I had locked all the doors and left the keys in the car. Noah was locked in the car, in the middle of the day, in triple digit weather. I completely lost it. I ran into the restaurant and yelled at the poor hostess to call 911. She just stared at me for a moment not sure what to do. Luckily their manager got on the phone right away. I ran and hysterically told my friend, Megan, what had happened. Meg's friend came out with me and was so sweet to try and calm me down and reassure me that everything would be okay. All I could think about was how hot it was outside and how much my baby needed me. Those few minutes until the firefighters got there were the longest most horrible minutes of my life. When they got there I begged them to break a window. I didn't care how they got him out but I wanted him out NOW! They were wonderful and were able to unlock the door within seconds. No window breaking required. Noah was still sleeping in the car when we got him out and didn't seem fazed by the incident at all but me, I am forever scarred. I felt like an unfit mother. All I wanted to do was hold him and kiss him and.... sink into a black hole. It was incredibly embarrassing to go back into that restaurant after I had just ran in there yelling like a maniac. I am so thankful to how fast the firefighters were able to get the scene and the way they so simply slipped that wonderful tool in the the door and opened it. They didn't make me feel worse than I already did and were very sweet. Thankful for my husband who tried to explain to me how it wasn't my fault (it was) and did his best to make me feel better. Thankful for the girls at lunch that tried so hard to not make me feel like a complete moron. Thankful for the delicious Sprinkle cupcake that helped to make everything better. But most importantly thankful for my sweet son that I haven't been able to set down since the incident.

And, I took the test and I am NOT pregnant. Praise the Lord!

Happy Father's Day to the GREATEST

I know I say it a lot but I really married an amazing man!

He is an extremely wonderful father. In my eyes, he's the greatest! Levi works so hard for his family and is sacrificing so much right now to make sure his kids have the best future. I admire him for his selflessness and his tireless attitude. He has patience when I fail to. He sits back and enjoys them when I'm too busy stressing out. He sings to them when they're crying. He disciplines out of love. He adores our kids and would do anything for them....and I would do anything for him!

Happy Father's Day Levi. Thank you for loving our kids so much and being such a GREAT man.

Thank you to Levi's parents for raising such a wonderful man, just like his father! Happy Father's Day Blake.

Happy Father's Day to my dad. I look up to you so much! Thank you for setting the standard for the kind of man I wanted for my husband. You set the bar high! I love you!

Excuse me, Time, can you just slow down?!

First, some pictures from our family photo shoot in May:
(Does anyone get as frustrated as I do when uploading pics?)

As of yesterday my incredibly sweet mama's boy turned 2 months old. He is already 2 months old! I have been loving every single second of his helpless, cooing baby-ness and I just don't want him to grow up. My daughter is already counting, shape sorting, speaking full sentences and saying the alphabet as good as some of my kindergartners did (maybe even better) and that makes me incredibly proud but a little sad too. So can everything just slow down? Is it weird that I'm already thinking of the next baby? Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't want to get pregnant right now. Just the word "pregnant" makes me shutter and cringe but promising myself that there will be more to come is the only thing that keeps me from bawling every day at the realization that Noah won't stay my tiny "cling-on" forever!

Maybe my hormones are just still a little out of wack....