Mother's Day

This week the anticipation of celebrating Mother's Day for the first time (for me) has me on a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I'm thrilled to be a mommy and to celebrate that this year! God has blessed me so much with my precious son. But as I look with excitement at this coming Sunday, I am reminded that so many women are still in that place of yearning. So many women will go to church this Sunday with tears just beneath the surface, hoping no one says anything to them about the day so that the floodgate of tears doesn't open up completely. That was me last year. I almost didn't even want to go to church. I had cried through church the three years prior, and I was determined to be stoic last year. I thought I had it together, and then someone asked if we had heard anything on our adoption and told me that maybe next year I would be a mommy. Next year didn't seem good enough, so I cried through the entire service. The lady sitting next to me was visiting and she must have thought I was a mess. As it turned out, next year is now and I am a mommy. But my heart goes out to the women who are in that unknown desert of longing. So if you think of it this Sunday, please pray for those women you may know who desire so desperately to be mothers.

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." ~Isaiah 61:2-3


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

When the House is too Quiet...

Benjamin's new favorite hang out is the bathroom. There are just so many entertaining things in there. His most recent entertainment being the toilet paper. At first he was content to bang on the side of the tub and the top of the toilet, but now he has moved on to more exciting things like rolling out half a roll of toilet paper. Not only is it entertaining, but it is apparently a delicacy as well. Sometimes he rolls a bunch out and stuffs his mouth full of it. I was telling my mom about this the other day and she asked if I had taken any pictures. Sadly I have not taken any pictures of the mouth full of toilet paper, but here are a few I got yesterday when I caught him in the act of rolling out the roll. :)
Of course, when he saw the flash, he thought he was doing something wonderful and came toward me with a great big grin!

Our Little Fishie

I just love back yard kiddie pools! I have such fond memories of spending hours cooling off in them as a child. So this year I was so excited to get a kiddie pool for Benjamin. We went to Wal-mart to get a plastic kiddie pool and then realized that our car is too small for a pool to fit in. So we proceeded to the inflatable pools. I saw this one and thought it just looked like too much fun! It even came with inflatable toys! As you can see, Benjamin enjoyed it as well. It's a little tricky to keep clean, but I think we will be spending many days cooling off in his little pool.

A Visit from Benjamin's Aunt

My sister Rachel came to visit us in the middle of April and we had so much fun! Since we live so far away, having her here for a week was quite a treat. We took Benjamin shopping, out to lunch, and to the movies. Of course most of that was just us having girl time, but Benjamin enjoyed it too. :)

Date Night

We love our family! We love being a threesome! But we also love being married and having time out together. We have been so blessed to have a gym that offers kids night out twice a month. Finding a regular babsitter is not easy, so this option has been wonderful. This past weekend we enjoyed a picnic and hiking at the park. Then we headed to Marble Slab Creamery for our favorite dessert. Ice Cream! I just love my husband and it was wonderful to have 4 whole hours just with him.

Treasuring the Moments

This morning began a little earlier that I would have liked. Benjamin had the stomach flu last week and although he is fully recovered, he seems to have turned into a picky eater. He will not eat anything with the least bit of texture. So for the past couple of days, we have tried to gradually ease in the textured foods, but he is not interested. Last night was an all out battle. We gave up and put him to bed, knowing that we would be awakened early by our hungry boy. So my little alarm went off at 5:15 this morning. I decided to let him fuss a bit and see if he would go back to sleep. 45 minutes later the fussing turned to loud crying, so I rolled out of bed and went to get him. Still determined that he was going to eat real food, I decided to try the solids again. After fighting with him for another half an hour, I decided he had eaten enough and gave him a bottle, which he scarfed down. As I sat in the chair feeding him and rocking him, I once again wished that he had come with an instruction manual so I would know whether this was a battle to fight. 5 minutes after he had finished his bottle, he completely relaxed in my arms and his eyes began to get heavy. Soon, my precious boy was asleep in my arms. All of the sudden, the past 45 minutes of craziness didn't seem to matter. My baby was sleeping in my arms. Now that he is so active, this is such a rare thing that I just had to sit there and enjoy it. As I stared at his tiny little hands and feet and watched his peaceful little face, I was once again amazed at the precious gift God has given me in allowing me to be Benjamin's mother.

Fun Times

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