My baby is THREE?!?!

Dearest little man, (Who's name is EVAN, NOT Little Man! :))

I guess you're not my baby anymore... But you were my first baby and will always have that special place in my heart and my memories!

My big THREE year old! How did you grow up so fast?!?! You are so very grown up for three... I love hearing you tell me ALL you know ;) Even though I tell you sometimes that it's time to be quiet now... You are such a smart little man, your brain just soaks up every little thing. I love hearing you learn Bible verses and recite them. I love how you sing (especially when you sing to Olivia when she's crying - LOVE that!). I love hearing you zip through your ABC's and count to who knows what... sometimes it's firty-eighty-two... You are very observant and often know where we are when we go to people's houses or stores without us telling you! You are super social and talk to everyone who looks your direction when we're out and about. The two questions you always ask are: What's your name? and Where's your car? if it's a lady and Where's your truck? if it's a man. Because apparently only ladies drive cars and men MUST drive trucks! You can say anything you wish to and usually do!

In the last year you have become super active and "boyish" I guess :) Pretty sure your energy supply is never ending!!! I'm wondering if you even KNOW how to hold still unless you're sound asleep... You are very determined. You tell me I'm your best best friend! You still love your trains and your cars and anything with wheels :) You like to try to do anything Daddy does. You like to pretend you're cooking like Mama does. Your imagination is becoming more & more active. You like to read books, your current favorite is Goodnight Moon. You have most of it memorized. But the ending you've made your own, instead of "Goodnight noises everywhere", you say, "Goodnight monsters everywhere". Even though we tell you over and over that monsters aren't real!! :)  Your favorite questions are What? and Why? Sometimes it drives me a little crazy :) But I'm glad you're so curious!

I love you little man! More than you will ever know! I can't wait to see what the next year holds and the changes you'll make and the things you'll teach me! (I had no idea who all the Thomas the Train characters were before I met you :))

I love you to the moon and back...
Mama

Motherhood is...

Hearing squeals of giggles and peeking to see what's going on and realizing it's the baby making the big brother laugh.

*Melt my heart*

(She was acting silly, totally on purpose... She would crawl two "steps" then plop flat on her belly, get up and do it all over, again and again, just because she knew she'd get a belly laugh out of him)

Then 5 min later...

Hearing 1000 legos hit the floor while being dumped out of their box and then tossing and spreading of the legos to every corner of the room and then some.

Right before I was going to vacuum and mop the floor. In that room.

*Sigh*

Roll with the punches. Just roll with the punches.





Love them :)

Needing to declutter...

Serenity. This is it.

I feel cluttered. 

It takes 21 days to develop or break a habit?!?! That seems like forever. But I have one. Break it/make a new one... 21 days from now... I want to be successful... It's personal... But it will make me AND my family much happier... 21 days. Hello happier me, hello happier family.

Clutter. In the house. In my mind. On the to-do list.

I want to throw it all out the door.

Start fresh.

Feel like this!

There's a million "Reasons" why I'm feeling this way. Kitchen Renovation would be #1 on the list! My babies are just that, still babies... WAY too many trips this summer...

But really it all boils down to ME... 

How crazy I CHOOSE to let my life become.

Seriously, I feel too busy to let even one more thing fall onto my plate.

That's not good.

Plate. You need to be emptier.

Hello spring cleaning (in July! :) (kind of) of the house, of the mind.

(I'm not going to go crazy with the mop and duster... But STUFF has to go)

Projects. You will wait.

Until you fit onto my plate.

AFTER my babies are kissed, loved on and happy :)

Challenged...

I needed to hear this today...

Your worth and value aren’t found in what you can do.  They aren’t found in how well you can run a committee, organize a retreat or handle a job.  They aren’t found in how well you can sing or direct VBS.  Your value isn’t found in your accomplishments because things never stay accomplished.  Your worth is found in who you are in Christ.  You don’t have to do anything.  Just be.

"In my head" reality vs. "I'm a mom of babies" reality...

I'm a planner.

Not a very good list maker... A planner.

I always see how things are supposed to play out in my head.

Things get interesting sometimes when you throw my "fly by the seat of his pants" uber spontaneous husband and I together :) But I'm getting better. Really. I am.                      Really. Really!!! :)

That was a side note.

On to my point... :)

This morning played out in my head like this:

Get up.

Fix husband's lunch.

See husband off to work.

Baby wakes up. 

Feed baby.

Playtime with 2 year old and baby.

Put baby down for a nap.

Feed 2 year old.

Pay bills.

Clean up misc junk around the living room.

Sweep and mop living room floor.

Hopefully continue on to 2 year old's room with the cleaning.

Baby wakes up.

Feed baby.

Playtime with 2 year old and baby.

Put baby down for a nap.

Feed 2 year old lunch.

Time check: 12:15pm

*AND... eat healthy and "lose weight" worthy today!!*

This is how it really played out:

Get out of bed.

Groggily pack husband's lunch.

Get myself a wonderful cup of coffee.

See husband off to work.

Playtime with 2 year old.

Baby wakes up.

Change baby's diaper - it needs it bad.

Feed baby.

2 year old watches cartoons and whines because his belly hurts. ?

Playtime with 2 year old and smiley baby. :) <3

Naptime for baby.

Change 2 year old's diaper and get him dressed.
Give him something for his belly pains.

Get 2  year old and myself a bowl of cereal.

2 year old still whines about belly hurting.

Pay bills.

Stop paying bills because 2 year old has a dirty diaper.

No more whining. Who knew?? :)

Pay bills again. Why is paying bills so time consuming???
Baby wakes up cranky.

Guess bills will have to be finished later...

Hold baby and try to get her happy again.

Feed baby.

Watch 2 year old pull out every single toy he owns and strategically place them in every nook, cranny, crack, crevace, open surface available in the living room. So much for getting that sweeping and mopping done before the toys are all pulled out...

Baby stops eating - not even half done with the bottle???

Baby poops. Alot. It runs out of diaper. Onto mama. O joy.

Change baby.

Baby is happy and smiling and cooing. :) <3

Playtime on the floor with 2 year old and baby. <3

Baby is sleepy - put her down for a nap.

Get 2 year old lunch.

My lunch ends up being a little leftover KFC crispy chicken and a biscuit and some candy corn. Ok. So mostly candy corn. So much for healthy eating and losing weight today!!

2 year old plays with food instead of eating it. What a mess.

Time check: 1 pm.
Still working on getting 2 year old to eat.

The best part? I'm loving my day:) I love my kids and I love being their mom. :)

Right now...

I want to remember "right now".

Because this moment is perfectly "imperfect".

Coffee - to make up for the sleep lost last night...

Myself and 2 kiddos still in pjs... at 10am... the way it's going it may be noon before that changes...

Morning tv shows playing in the background - an indulgence I try to avoid...

Spending WAY to much time on facebook just now...

I'm SURROUNDED by... broken crayons, trains, train tracks, cars, foam alphabet letters (my little man's favorite new toy - he knows all but 3!! So proud of him:) )

Watching him play with 3 of his tractors - 2 of which his daddy played with as a little boy...

A sleeping baby with a full tummy on a boppy pillow in my lap...

A little boy who wants to hold his "baby 'ister"... if only for about 3 seconds at a time...

Dirty dishes on the end table in the living room from Sunday evening snacking...

Cleaning poopy diapers and baby spit up...

Did I mention TOYS EVERYWHERE????

Little boy snacking on a container of pretzels still left out from ^ "Sunday evening snacking"...

Empty sippy cups strewn about...

Kitchen full of dirty dishes and bottles that need to be washed...

Bathrooms that need to be cleaned...

Beds that need to be made...

Cookies, granola and dinner that need to be made, so I have something to pack for my hubs' lunch this week...

As imperfect as this all sounds to me, it is so perfect I want to record it here so I can look back years from now and remember the sweetness of little children and wish I could go back :)

Yes, I'm sooo happy...

Yes, I love being a mommy...

As ocd as I sometimes am about trying to keep up with the chaos that is, little kids, as yucky as I feel still being in my pjs 4 hours after getting out of bed...

I am so basking in the sweet coziness of it this morning...

I love this moment "right now"...

waiting...

Is it possible that I'm more impatiently waiting on this second baby to arrive than the first time around????

I'm pretty sure it is.

Cause I'm pretty sure I am.

I can't wait for this...

Yep that's right, I'm crazy enough to even be excited about labor (and that epidural) - because that means it's only a matter of hours!!!

But this is what I'm most excited for... That tired but oh so happy and proud looking daddy holding a tiny, fresh newborn :)

Oh such sweetness!!!

Can't stand it!! And this time it will be this tiny one, who is going to be a not so tiny 2 YEARS OLD! and a precious baby sister <3

 

The first bath!!

All that newborn sleepyness!

All cozy in the swing.

Ok, so maybe I'm making it worse by looking at all these newborn pictures of Evan for hours :). But really, I'm so ready.

Ready for her to come.

Ready for life to slow down.

Because a newborn will force that to happen :)

Ready because...

My energy is gone. Gone. Kaput.

Her clothes are all washed, folded and waiting to be worn.

The crib is ready.

Evan is pretty much adjusted to his "big boy" bed.

Ready to snuggle my baby and my big boy.

Ready even for the crazy sleep deprived feeling of exhaustion. (ok, maybe I'm ready for that part the least of all)

Bottom line.

I'm so ready for the next 6 1/2 weeks to be over.

Wow, that still seems so far away...