I Wonder...

 (Matthew at 3 wks in 2011)

    

This sweet child of mine is my world.  He has a special spirit about him.  I often stroke his hair as he is sleeping and wonder why it took him so long to come to this world and join our family.  

I wonder what he would say if he could talk to us and tell us how it was like in the spirit world to be so close to Heavenly Father.  That veil is still thin and fresh in his mind.

I wonder if he knows just how much he is loved!

I wonder if he knows that I pray for him every single night.

I wonder if he already knows his purpose here on earth (besides bringing us SO much joy).

I wonder if he knows whether or not he will have siblings or be an only child.

I wonder what he will be like as a teenager, missionary, husband, father (I try not to think about it too much because I don't want him to grow up too fast!).

I wonder if he knows that he makes my heart grow bigger and want to explode with so much love.

Motherhood is indeed the hardest job.  I will never forget the journey it took for me to get here.  I look at my son every day and know that he was worth the biggest trial of my faith.

I know there are many women out there who are still on that journey.  Don't give up.  Keep fighting.  Keep believing.  And while Mother's Day is hard to bare, know that you are not alone.  Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us.  Seek comfort in his love.

I hope that all the mother's, future mother's, and mother figures all know that they are loved!

Happy Mother's Day!

Fun Times...

Picnic time in the park after preschool with this little guy!

Burger time with cousin Abbey.

Getting ready for bedtime.

Nap time with daddy!

We all need a little more fun times in our lives!!

A Box of Sunshine

I've met some great bloggers since I started my blogging journey.  Some I've met in real life and some I feel like I've known forever.  These women are all amazing.  I've enjoyed taking a glimpse into their lives and sharing in the good as well as the bad news.  It's a special sisterhood bond.

A few weeks ago, one of my blogging friends (who's expecting twins) was having a hard time dealing with life (and an active toddler).  I wish I was there to give her a big hug and to help out.  I decided she needed some 'sunshine' to cheer her up. 

So, I sent her a Box of Sunshine!

This is what I filled it up with. I wanted it to be fun and included things that her daughter would enjoy as well.  I know how energy draining toddlers can be, but can't imagine being pregnant with twins and having to entertain a toddler!

I hope this little box brought some sunshine to her soul!

On another note.....here's my little sunshine! 

He lights up my life every day!

Painting with Paper Towels

I've always wanted to take one of those painting classes so when I saw a Groupon for one I signed up!

I have never painted on canvas before and was shocked to find out we were going to be painting with paper towels, not paint brushes!

Whaaaat?!

Yep, that's right, we painted 99 % of our pictures with paper towels!

It was SO much fun. 

The instructor was hilarious and served wine  chocolate and pomegranate mini martini's.  Of course, I don't drink so I asked her if she had anything that was non-alcholic, to which she replied no one has ever asked her that!  LOL. 

It was fun to see how different everyone's painting turned out.

A fun girl's night out (after being sick most of the week).

Now I feel like going to buy some canvas, paint, and a roll of paper towels and redo my painting!

A New Record for the Quickest Pet That Ever Lived!

We went to a kids carnival at a local school on Saturday.  It was a very small carnival and we were one of the first ones there.  Matthew played all the games and won a gold fish! 

He was SO excited about his little fish!

We went to the pet store afterwards to get fish food (and a quick stop at the Dollar store to get more bubbles).  It was an hour from the time we left the carnival to to the time we got home.  The little fish seemed fine and when we dumped him out of the bag, he seemed like he was struggling a little bit. 

We watched him closely.

Then the inevitable happened.....

We told Matthew the fish had to go home so he went 'bye, bye'. I'm so glad he's still young to understand it all.  I didn't think his first pet would be such a quick experience!

He saw the fish food on the counter this morning and said 'fish go bye bye'.

I think we may try and get a new gold fish for him.  Let's hope the second one will out live the first one.  :)

**UPDATE - I just found out that there were a lot of other gold fish from the carnival that didn't make it that day because the person who bagged them used tapped water!  Whew, so glad it wasn't negligence on our part!  Rest in peach fishy.)

************

On a happier note....

There's a new cupcake place that opened up close to my parents house.  We stopped in on Saturday to check it out.  In the words of Matthew, 'Yummy tummy!'

Matthew and I tried the bananna peanut butter chocolate. Delish.

And the red velvet was just as good.  'Yummy tummy!'

35

I turned 35 earlier this week (tax day)!

It was a fabulous day. Absolutely fabulous.

 

I started the day off by waking up next to my hubby and little guy in bed.  I knew it was going to be a great day when Matthew randomly lifted my shirt and kissed my belly.   I am NOT pregnant so I don't know what provoked him to do that.  But it was such a tender moment for me.

 

 We took the day off from work to spend the day together as a family.  After breakfast at Cracker Barrell, we headed to the Washington, D.C. Zoo. Matthew had SO much fun seeing all the animals.  We read about all the animals in his books so it was exciting for him to actually see the animals in real life (and make the animal sounds!).

 

Afterwards, we picked up cousin Abbey and went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  I usually don't like when the wait staff at restaurants sing happy birthday to you, but I didn't mind this time because I knew Matthew would enjoy.  We had asked Matthew all week, 'who's birthday is it?' And he would point to himself and say 'Pumpkin's bday' or 'Mavew's bday'.  By the end of the night, I think he finally understood that it was 'mommy's bday'.

 

Yummy coconut cream cheesecake! The best!

 

And this is what I got for my birthday! So much fun! 

I took it for a spend around the neighborhood and found all the hills to avoid!  Flat ground is much more friendlier (for now at least). 

 

This little munchkin loves my bike helmet.  Just look at that cute face!

 

As each birthday year comes and goes, I am eternally grateful for my family, my health, and my faith!

 

Life is good! 

 

 

 

Sunday Morning Sillies

these pics just makes me SO happy.

We took these pics on Sunday morning as we were just playing around with Matthew in bed.

Then we were spiritually fed while watching General Conference. 

Life is good.