Mommin' It Up!

February 27, 2015

I Literally Can’t (El)even.

joshua is 11 — Joshua’s last photo as a 10-year-old. We took it last night before bed.

Welp, kids, I have an 11-year-old. An official tween! And I am freaking out JUST A LITTLE BIT. How is this possible? I still feel like I should be 26, and like he should be a baby. I still miss his babyhood, what for me was a good almost three years of carefree parenting.

But my firstborn is 11, and despite my sadness about him growing up SO fast, I am thankful. SO thankful for this kid. He has taught me a lot over the years. He made me a mom, and being his mom makes me a better person every day.

The very first thing he taught me was to be thankful in all things. He taught me perspective at his birth, which was fairly harrowing. Bobby and I still joke that it was both the worst and the best day of our lives. But the truth is, it was the best. Because at the END of the day, we got a perfect baby boy, a gift from God greater than we could ever hope or imagine! And I managed to survive as well. We got a family of three…the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the birth experience is inconsequential. We learned what really matters from that baby boy that day.

Joshua has taught me the joy in little things, he’s taught me patience, he’s taught me about loving others well, and he’s taught me to be concerned about doing the right thing (which I hope I taught him first, ha ha) and not being too hasty in my actions.

He’s not perfect, I know that. Every day Bobby and I try to help him work on the areas of his character he needs to work on (*cough*laziness*cough), but he is perfect for us. We are so proud of him, so blessed to be his parents, and we can’t wait to see what God has for his future, and to enjoy every stage with him as much as we enjoyed his sweet babyhood.

Happy Birthday, Joshua Kenneth! I love you so much!

Joshua 11 — FIrst pic as an 11-year-old!

February 25, 2015

My Boy

This kid.

He is the sweetest thing.

He’s smart and funny and creative and kind and all sorts of other things, but above all – to me, anyway – he is sweet.

Sam is so affectionate. He loves to hug and to be hugged, and if you ask him what his favorite thing to do is, he will say “snuggle.” Building Legos, playing baseball, watching super hero movies… It’s all good. But this kid enjoys nothing more than to be cuddled up on the couch with his mom or dad. Preferably both.

And his love language? It is, well, language. He’s constantly telling us how wonderful we are and how much he loves us. Like out loud and in front of people and everything. Constantly.

He is so sweet.

Sam is almost seven years old. (omg, I’m not sure how to even process that.) While I know that the odds are he will always love us (or, as Mr. Peabody would say, have a deep regard for us), I also know that this intensity will be short-lived.

Even when the moment has passed, I will forever be thankful for my darling baby boy. But I hope it lasts just a little longer.

February 23, 2015February 23, 2015

What. A. Week.

Oh, hi.

Since the inception of this blog in aught-seven, I’ve never gone this long without posting. I mean it’s been a WHOLE WEEK. I am sure you, our loyal stalkers, have noticed.

Umm, right?

We had a rough one around here. Sub-zero temps and snow had my kids out of school ALL WEEK. EVERY DAY. (Jonah went Tuesday. But to make up for that, more extreme cold has his school closed today. And Joshua went to school today but naturally, after 5 days off healthy as a horse, Sophie is home sick.)

And we had my Grandma Brads’ visitation Tuesday and funeral Wednesday in this really awesome weather. And it was good to be with family but it was hard to say goodbye, even knowing that she is so much better off, because I just miss her.

I spoke at her service and cried all the way through it, just like I did at my Grandpa’s funeral 4 years ago.

Gma treasures — I got to choose some of Grandma’s things to wear & remember her by.

And on Valentine’s Day we moved my other Grandma (Emily’s and my shared Grandma) into assisted living because she has Alzheimer’s and it’s so hard even though it’s what is absolutely 100% necessary, it’s hard. So two days after I lose one grandma, I lost another “Grandma’s House”. And I can’t even really elaborate on that yet because it’s too hard.

So that’s what’s up. And everything’s ok with my family and my kids, I’m just kinda sad and overwhelmed right now. But I’ll get back to making fun of Emily and people who name their kids Ya’Hyness as soon as humanly possible. On the regular.