My BABY is TEN!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN!

My dear, sweet little Lo-lo,

Happy Birthday baby girl! I can not believe you are double digits!!! 10 years ago today I had no idea how much my heart had the capacity to love and to nurture and to protect. And I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that God would have blessed my life so much with the sweetest, most loving little girl I have every met. Logan, you make me proud every single day of your life. You inspire me with your kind, giving heart, and you teach me with your patient, forgiving nature....day in and day out, you make me a better person and I am so grateful out of all the mommies in the world, God chose ME to be yours!!!!

Here are some of the things you are doing right now:

*You are the BEST big sister! You always take the time to teach the little ones new words and tricks, and you make time every day to give them tons of hugs and kisses.
*You have proven to be a wonderful, conscientious student. Your teachers have consistently referred to you as the top of your class, a leader, and a great role model.
* You are a FABULOUS dancer! I wish I had some of your moves :) You love hip-hop and are hopefully starting jazz soon!
* You love anything from "American girl" and you are building quite the collection
* You little missy, are a SHOPOHOLIC!!!! You really must get it from Aunt Deda because you know your mommy can not even keep up with you when we shop!
*You can definitely be a girly-girl because you love shoes, accessories, and getting pampered. And yet, you also love to be in sweatshirts and sneakers, with your hair up!
* Your favorite singer is Selena Gomez and your favorite TV show is Wizards of Waverly Place, though  it seems like you barely watch TV anymore! :)
* You are really good at math - sometimes I can hardly believe how quickly you pick up new concepts.
*You are reaching several other milestones (that are just between the two of us), but I just love how you are comfortable enough with me to share all of your questions and thoughts!
* You have already figured out the qualities that you like in your friends, which indicates to me that you are really beginning to know yourself. You are so much more self aware than I ever was at your age!

*Here you are with Kay-Kay, your BFF!

* You've never liked people singing to you!!!

* You have so many people who adore you!

* You are the light of my life, my first born baby, my ANGEL....and I just love you more and more every day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL! Mommy loves you!

Happy Birthday to my Sunshine girl!

Happy Happy Birthday baby Hayden.  I can hardly believe you are TWO years old already! And yet, I can't even remember what life was like without you in it. As everyone knows, I call you my little sunshine, because you truly brighten my days with your smile and laughter and amazing energy. You have such a fun personality and I can just see how much you love life! It is so rewarding to watch and I feel amazingly blessed to be your mommy.


 I remember when you were a little baby, and I used to tell people that you could go from 0-60 with your emotions in about 3 seconds... I had really never seen anything like it. One moment, you would be totally content and the next moment, something would upset you and you would be screaming at the top of your lungs. No warning, no progression - just calm to crazy in the blink of an eye! And now that you're getting bigger, I realize that you are just so full of emotion and energy that its simply uncontainable!  I absolutely LOVE that about you! You make yourself heard no matter what, and you truly wear your emotions on your sleeve (just like mommy!) You have made me so proud with your adaptability in becoming a big sister. Even though you can be pretty tough, you are very gentle with baby Brenna and you show her so much love! And you and Logan have really begun developing a strong bond that I know will never break! Here are some of the things you are doing these days:


* You are talking up a storm! You can pretty much hold an entire conversation with just about anyone!
* You love Dora and everything in her little Explorer world - you often say that you like Isa, and Tico, and Boots. It is the cutest thing!
* You even have a brand new Dora Bed!!!

* You are cautious but not at all fearful. You love trying new things.
* You love anything out doors - running, jumping, going to the park, bouncing on the trampoline. As soon as the sun hits your sweet little face, you brighten up right away!

* You are a daddy's girl all the way - this morning in fact, you told me I was laying on Daddy's pillow and you made me move!! Don't worry - I am not jealous at all. I know it's just a matter of time when you realize I'm the BEST! :) j/k

* You ADORE Logan. Every morning you run into her room and you love dressing up in her clothes!

* You are very sweet and gentle with Brenna, and we are working on your sharing skills with her :)

* You love to sing - your favorites are Twinkle, Twinkle little star, ABC's, Row, Row Row your Boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and If you're Happy and You know it!

* One of your favorite things to say when you want someone to stop doing something is "HEEEEYYYY, Don't do that!" It is so adorable!

* You truly brighten our lives little Hay-Hay, and the past TWO years have been such a blessing with you!!!

Happy Birthday my sweet girl! Mommy loves you BIIIIIIGGGGGG much (as you like to say!)

Sisters

I have been thinking a lot lately about how valuable relationships are. And I really believe that there are few bonds closer than that of sisters. I know this first hand from the frienship that I've built over the years with my own sister. We recently talked about how we are very unconditional with one another. And our relationship really seems effortless. We don't have to think before we speak, or censor our words. We don't even have to talk if silence is what we need. We can laugh together, cry together, drink a bottle of wine together....I feel very blessed to have her in my life, and I do not take for granted how special she is to me, and to my kids.

Of course, witnessing my own girls form that very special bond has been such an amazing experience. There's so much about motherhood that has caught me by surprise, but I'd have to say, the joy that I get just from watching my girls interact with one another has been one of the most pleasant surprises of them all! When I just had Logan, I thought being a mom was tough - and it was. But then when we went from one child to two, I realized how easy I actually had it! And then, we added Brenna to the mix (ha ha) and boy was I in for it! It is not easy raising three kids, and three GIRLS - I'll tell you that much. But, in doing so, I gave my kids the most priceless gift in the world - I gave them SISTERS who have forever changed their lives for the better. I know mine has!!!

Here are just a few snapshots of my girls forming life long bonds with one another....

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James

Happy Valentine's Day!

To celebrate Valentine's day, Todd and I decided to go out on a date last weekend, to avoid all of the holiday crowds. He arranged for us to stay out overnight without the kids, which was so nice! Unfortunately, we weren't able to because the kids were sick. But thankfully, my AMAZING sister (THANKS DEN!) still agreed to come over and babysit so that at least we could have a date night. We went to the BEST place. It's called Gold Class Cinemas. If you've never heard of it before, look it up! Here is a little glimpse:

And here we are enjoying EVERY minute of it

I know it's a really cheesy picture of us (not to mention seriously unflattering) but I forgot my camera so this was the best we could do :)


We just had such a wonderful time and realized how much we had missed spending quality time with each other! It really made me think about how much I love my husband, and how lucky I am to be married to him! I honestly knew from very early on (in fact he would say from WAY too early on), that Todd would make a wonderful husband and father. And the reason I knew this was because he is really unlike any other man I have ever met. He has such an amazing character and because of that (not to mention how cute he is!) I was so drawn to him.


I  am sure he is going to read this, and he'll be a bit embarrassed by it because one of my favorite qualities about him is that he is very humble. He never wants to talk about himself or boast about anything he's accomplished (and he has SO much to boast about!) Recently, he was awarded Top Print Care Specialist with his company and he made it to President's club (which is really hard to do). And instead of bragging about how great he is, he told me that he really believes God has just chosen to bless him. I was so moved when I heard him say that. He is honestly very accomplished, and is one of those people that is just naturally good at whatever he sets his mind to - physically and mentally - and yet, he remains completely humble.


Another quality about my husband that I fell in love with right from the start, is that he is gentle. And by this, I do not mean he is weak in the least. He is just very gentle with his words and gentle with his actions. I can probably count on ONE hand the number of times I have seen him lose his temper, and we have known each other now for 9 years! Living with someone like me, I think that says soooo much. My husband has taught me (though I'm still a work in progress) how to watch my tongue, think before I open my mouth, and fight fair. Where I tend to REACT to situations, my husband RESPONDS. And he does so very thoughtfully and gently almost 100% of the time.

I know I could really go on and on, but I will mention just one more characteristic of my husband that is definitely in the top five - I think fun-loving would be the best way to describe it. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not the most care-free person in the world....not in the least. It's actually hard for me, especially since becoming a mother, to just let loose and have fun. I'm most often worried about something, or feeling anxious, or tired, or just simply lost in my own thoughts. It's not something I'm proud of, but thankfully my husband loves me despite it all. And he is the perfect compliment to me because he is just, well... fun. He's super silly, and he's almost always in a good mood. He's always making us laugh with his jokes and his funny names for things. He can invent a game out of just about anything. And one of the things I love most is that when he listens to music, he sings at the top of his lungs. I remember the first road trip we ever took, and he was just singing and singing, louder and louder, and he said "Come on Carly, sing with me!" and I thought, "Is this guy for real? What is he on, and can I please have some?" haha. It makes me laugh just thinking about it, because back then I didn't know that I had met someone who literally just loves life and can truly see the postive in any situation.


I am so lucky to know that this wonderful person is, and will always be, my Valentine!

I love you Todd!

Cardboard Testimony

I saw this video posted from a fellow blogger, and I had to share! This had me in tears almost immediately and my heart just overflows with compassion for our world....



Isn't it so amazing to see how God's love never fails? If I had a piece of cardboard this would be my Testimony:

Never knew what unconditional love felt like.

Then I found God.