Can you blame me?

His cuteness....it kills me. 

 I'm such a sucker for this one. 

Pretty sure he's going to get everything he ever asks for!

Mother's Day Weekend

My Mother's Day weekend was wonderful.  I was celebrated by my boys.  They gave me homemade cards, picked me flowers and Saw kept telling me it was my special day.  They are still pretty young so most of this was prompted by their sweet dad, and I'm grateful they have such a great example in him!

They had goodies for me when I picked them up from school on Friday.

My favorite types of gifts, for sure!

flowers they picked for me

the weather was beautiful and we spent most of the weekend playing outside

homemade cards :)

I could not have asked for a better weekend!

Wordless Wednesday {me and my boys on mother's day}

a gift

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" is what I hear most nights at some point between 2am-4am coming over Sawyer's monitor.  Occasionally he'll call for daddy but mostly it's mommy.  And it's not a frantic cry or scream.  It's a calm voice. As I was trudging up the stairs last night (for the 2nd time), it hit me.  He doesn't have any reason to be frantically screaming for me because in his short little life he's learned that if he calls for me, I'll come.  And he's right.  And that will never change.
(and I hope Gra realizes soon it's the same for him too and he doesn't need to yell at me in the middle of the night - a simple mama would do)

Being a mom is by far the hardest thing I've ever done. Most days I feel so inadequate. I raise my voice and lose my patience. I grumble about the messes and tantrums. I say no when I should say yes, I say yes when I should say no. It feels like I've run a marathon after the routine of dinner, baths and bed time every night. And they are not perfect either. They fight with each other and don't always share. They throw tantrums. They don't always obey or eat their vegetables.

  I can already see how different my boys are. Sawyer is smart, cautious, and a tad moody. :) But he's got a tender heart.  Graham is rambunctious, brave, and stubborn.  But he's very giving.  
Alike in that they are both observant, shy and busy!


And I don't have all the answers on how best to mother these boys.  Heck, I don't have most of the answers.  Pretty much just figuring it out as I go.  But I have learned that when all else fails just love them and pray for them.  Because honestly, we could all use a little more love and lot more Jesus.

What a gift it is to love them unconditionally.
What a gift it is to cover them daily in prayer.
What a gift it is to be their mommy!

 

Weekend Getaway || Great Wolf Lodge

So, we headed to Kansas City last weekend for an annual work event I have every year.  If you are interested, you can see the last few years here and here. We stay at an awesome hotel -- Great Wolf Lodge -- that has an indoor water park.  And there is lots of free time so it's always really fun.

The boys loved it this year.  This was really the first year they loved going down the slides.  Mostly, just the kiddie ones.  Although Sawyer did go down a big one with Keith but I'm thinking he didn't love it because he didn't want to do it again.  Ha.  And also, my Dad and Kathy met us there this year so that made it even better.  They were a huge help watching the kids for us during some of the work events and we all loved spending the weekend with them!

Gra looks like a little old man here with his hands resting on his belly.

What they are watching in the previous picture.

Why does he look 10?!?!

Despite his face here, I promised he loved it! 

Yes, that is a bruise between his eyes.  He's a wild one!

It was lots of fun and we are already looking forward to our next visit!

April phone pictures

Well, April came and went....and here we are in May.  Crazy how fast time flies!

1. sweet note my mom left me before our NYC trip 2.  belated birthday celebration for daddy at our fave Mexican restaurant 3. afternoon with our boys 4. girls dinner with some sweet friends

1. walking with BeLLa 2. our sad goodbyes 3. choo choo obsessed 4. we hit a rough patch with the sickies 

1. bubbles 2. favorite time of day 3. because playing on it the right way is no fun 4. petting zoo 5. sweet sleeping angel 6. cuties after bath 7. making cookies and licking the batter 8. my bed buddy when daddy is traveling 

1. who stole my baby 2. with my boys 3. Dr. Graham 4. name train 5. yummy 6. boy in a tree 7. up to no good 8. sewing summer shorts



zoo day

We headed to the zoo Sunday with some friends.  I go way back with these girls and it was so nice to spend some time with them over the weekend (we also squeezed in a girls dinner).  It was a beautiful day and the kiddo's all loved seeing all the animals.

The petting zoo exhibit was by far the boys favorite thing.  I mean, look at Graham's face....that is pure excitement right there!

Gra loves animals and has no fear so it was no surprise that he was loving it.  Saw is usually more cautious but he surprised me and was also loving petting them all.

I posted this pic on Instagram and got lots of comments about how the boys look like twins here. :)

Love this pic!

Gosh, I love these boys!

Such a great day.