To My Niece, Anna Claire...

 Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday, dear Anna Claire...

Happy 2nd Birthday to you!!!

We all love you so very much!!!

1

Happy Birthday 1st Birthday, Anna Claire!!!

We love you bunches!!!

Anna Claire's 1st Birthday

One word can sum up what we did this weekend....

CELEBRATE!!!

While my niece, Anna Claire's official birthday isn't until later this week, her parents threw a party fit for a very special 1 year old.

There were plenty of smiles...

Plenty of purple cupcakes...

Being with those that mean the most...

The girls of the family (My daughter, Jessica, my Mom, Anna Claire, and my sister, Sarah)

(Jessica, and our two boys, Ben and Sam)

And celebrating what a blessing this little girl is...

She's 19

Happy Birthday Jessica...

We love you!

12...

Happy Birthday to our silly, thoughtful, out-going, creative, and so very special son.

We love you!

Celebrating...

Happy 13th Birthday Sam... We love you!

Happy Birthday Jessica...

It seems that all I hear myself saying lately when looking at my daughter is,"Where has the time gone?" 18 years have flown by faster than I can even believe. There were days that I thought would never end, yet now I would take some of those days back in a heartbeat. To have her cuddle in my lap with her Bear-Bear and sucking her thumb, to see her walking around playing dress-up, playing with her baby dolls, and to just hear her sweet little voice.

Days of dressing- up (and she did it well!) are now replaced with trips to the mall to go shopping. The cuddling doesn't happen like it used to but there are still many hugs to be found. The baby dolls, dollhouses, and other toys are all packed up in boxes and hopefully will one day be passed onto a daughter of her own. And that sweet, little voice is now a voice of a young woman who has opinions of her own. A voice that isn't afraid to ask the hard questions in life. A voice that can talk about things that really matter. A voice that will make a difference in the world.





The maturity, confidence, passions, and love for the Lord she has amazes me. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and desires to live life at it's fullest. She is intelligent, compassionate, discerning, and often so wise beyond her years. God really has begun an incredible work in her heart and her life and I look forward to seeing His plan unfold. I have learned so much about who I am as mom through Jessica. Things I know I could have never learned on my own. Through that, I have deeply learned about who God is as my Heavenly Father.


Today I celebrate my daughter's 18th birthday. I celebrate who she is and all that she is becoming.


Happy Birthday and I love you so very much my Jessa girl.

Happy Birthday Mom...

We hope that this is a special day and we pray that this upcoming year is filled with many blessings. We love you !

A Special Day...

Twelve years ago today my life was forever changed. My first son was born. My husband and I knew we were having a son because of a routine ultrasound (the planner in me couldn't wait 4 more months). I remember the technician telling us we were having a boy and instantly feeling a mix of pure excitement and incredible fear. I didn't know how to do the "boy" thing. My husband was thrilled and it really didn't take long for me to welcome the fact I was going to have a son. We began preparing for the arrival of a little brother for our daughter, and our little boy.

After 16 hours of labor we welcomed Samuel into the world. To be honest, it was the most painful and hardest thing I've ever experienced in my whole life. I really didn't think I was going to make it out alive. I don't know if my husband and my sister/photographer thought I was going to make it. I was so worn out that I could barely hold him after he was born.

I will forever remember the first time I was alone with my son. The nurse pushed him into my room in his cart all swaddled in his blanket. She picked him up and brought him to me, put him in my arms, asked if there was anything I needed, and then walked out of the room. It was at that very moment when he was in my arms that I was completely in love with this little baby boy. I took everything about him in. The way he looked, the way he felt, his smell, and the little noises he made. I knew at that moment, alone with my baby that God had given me an incredible and precious gift.

So, here I am 12 years later raising this little man. Like every other mother I find myself saying, "Where has the time gone?" My days with him watching Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers are now replaced with watching Dirty Jobs (do you know how difficult it is getting through an episode with a gag reflex like mine?) and Man vs. Wild. A trip to Target was made complete with a brand new Hot Wheel (that only costed 88 cents) and now he talks about the real car he wants. Hugs and kisses were easily accepted and needed where as now a high-five is what he wants.

We are going to go to the pool tonight to swim and have pizza with some of his best friends. Being with boys this age really is a lot of fun you know. Having a son has brought out something totally different in me as a mom. We will then come back home and have his one and only specific request... chocolate pecan pie.

Today I celebrate my son, who he is and who he is becoming. I'm glad that because of him my life was changed.

In honor of Sam's 12th birthday, here are 12 things I've learned from having a son...

1.) The names of construction equipment and fighter jets (still working on that one, those jets are tricky!)

2.) Boys have an intense need for action and adventure.

3.) I don't always have to be talking, sometimes it's just about sitting side by side.

4.) Boys smell like fresh cut grass and wet dogs.

5.) Mothering a son is a high calling.

6.) Life is good when he is covered in sand or dirt.

7.) In spite of the mistakes I make as a mom, God covers them with grace.

8.) I will never be able to stop the uncontrollable laughter if he hears, smells, does, or says any of the following... booger, fart, or burp.

9.) Always check the toilet seat.

10.) No matter how strongly I felt about not having toy guns in the house it was only a matter of time before one was made out of a stick and Legos.

11.) I am learning that I don't have to do this on my own. I can trust, depend upon, and believe that it is all part of God's plan that I am the best mom for my son. I know that my son has a Father in heaven who loves him more than I ever could.

12.) To celebrate the milestones, no matter how big or small as he journeys the road to manhood.