A ton of bricks...

is what I feel like I have been smacked with this morning. In the good way! I just read this article by Lysa TerKeurst (who I love by the way!) and it was exactly what I needed to hear. It is about our desire as moms to be "that mom" the one that cooks, crafts, and cleans with ease. But, we weren't all created to be "that mom". Why did I need to read this article this morning? Because I woke up with a renewed promise to myself to try harder to be "that mom" today. Today I was going to be a better mom. I was going to try extra hard. I have really been believing that the reason that I am not "that mom" is that I am just not trying hard enough and just not dedicated enough to being a good mom. But, when I read this article I felt like God spoke to me. Not exactly audibly but I feel like he let me know that he didn't create me to be "that mom".

I have some friends that are "that mom" and I have always been so jealous and felt so inferior. They love to do all sorts of crafts with their kids, bake with them, they have perfectly clean houses and make perfect cupcakes and treats for every occasion. And, oh, how I have tried to be like them. To be a "good mom". See that is the problem. I believed that the definition of being a good mom was crafts and planned activities with corresponding treats. I really believed down in my soul that good moms are the ones that love doing lessons on letters with their two year olds and good moms never let their kids watch more than a half hour of TV a day and good moms of course would NEVER send their kid's to Mom's Day Out for a day because they need to be with them all the time. And I have spent all of this time trying to be a good mom and making myself miserable.

I am in no way saying that there is anything wrong with being "that mom". I truly believe that many women I know truly are "that mom". They are very gifted at doing those things and THEY LOVE DOING THEM. Therefor, they are happy moms.

I have other things I am good at. And I actually enjoy doing those things with my kids. I love going for walks around our neighborhood, I love making up silly stories with Max about every animal under the sun, I love playing Barbies with Sophie, I love when our entire family is running around the house trying to steal Daddy's socks and laughing so hard we are almost in tears.

You see... it hit me this morning that maybe the secret to being a good mom isn't necessarily in "what" you do with your kids, but "how".  What is my attitude toward what I am doing with my kids? Am I being a happy mom for them? Am I finding things that we can both really enjoy to do together? I am not saying that I will never do another craft with my children or bake holiday appropriate treats. But, I want to stop defining my worth as a mom by these things. Because I think good moms are happy moms. And when my kids are all grown up I don't want them to say that their mom always made the most perfect treats or threw the most wonderful theme parties. But that their mom was happy when she was with them.

I have so much more to flush out when it comes to this topic. But, I am so grateful I read this article today. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I feel very happy.

my new plan

is to get really skinny, buy all of these dresses, and then find fancy places to wear them!

Check-out www.modcloth.com if you want to spend some time drooling over some gorgeous and feminine dresses and more. I am in love.

Weekend Recap, Sunday Letters. and more

We had a really good weekend! Yay! Friday night the hubs and I went on a date! <3 I love date nights. We are really trying to go on two dates out a month and I feel like it has been really good for me. As a stay at home mom it is so nice to get out! Saturday we took the kids to Chick Fil A for lunch and to play followed by ab afternoon of watching the snow fall!! And then Saturday night we had friends over for dinner. It was super fun. All of the kids played together wonderfully and we were able to sit and be grown-ups for a little while! Sunday we spent some time hanging out with my parents out at their house. It was a good combination of relaxing and hanging out with friends and family.

Now on to my Sunday letters (late of course! If it weren't for the cute button from Deidre's blog I think I would just call them Monday or Tuesday letters!)




Dear Max,
What can I say? You have been a joy lately. After a life changing conversation with Stephanie and her suggestion of pairing carbs with PROTEIN every time you eat you are like a brand new person. I am starting to think a lot of your fits were due to low blood sugar (I plan to post more on this and some of then new foods and snacks we are eating around here later on this week). I am one happy mama because I have one very happy little boy! I feel a little bad sometimes when I have to force you to eat a piece of cheese or an egg but you are seriously so happy afterwards! You have also been cracking us up lately because you have been begging for a new baby sister. I think it is all about the math. We have two boys so you think we need two girls. I think if we actually gave you a new baby sister you would probably change your mind!

Dear Sophie,
You are spoiled rotten. Your grandma got you a new North Face coat just like hers because you love hers so much and tried to take one from a girl in your Sunday school class! You have not been without your coat since you got it. You even sleep in it. At least you are grateful for what people give you. (Just so you know Mom if you are reading this... I would sleep with a new Coach purse if I ever got one... just kidding... maybe).

Dear Jack,
You seem better from your ear infection but you have been sleeping through the night like a newborn, meaning, not at all! Your Mommy is exhausted!!! I LOVE having extra time with you but let's do it during the day and not at night! Other than that, you are perfect. I love how you are constantly sticking out your tongue these days. It is adorable.

Dear Nick,
I love you. I am proud of you. And I really like the person that you are. :-)


In other news...

• It looks like Jack might be sick again. He is all sorts of congested and has been up a lot in the past few nights
• Obviously, because I have been up the past few nights I am exhausted
• I went to bed at 7 last night
• I can't believe April is almost here
• On Saturday I am throwing a bridal shower for my sister here at my house. I think it is the first shower  I have had at my house since moving. I am super excited. 
• I am starting to think about Sophie getting her first haircut. She has never even had a trim. But, it just feels like something we should do!

I hope everyone is having a great week! 

World Water Day

Yesterday was World Water Day (check out the link to read more). The fact that clean water is not accessible to so many people is something that God often puts on my heart. Every night my little man comes downstairs, stalling of course, and asks for a drink of water. I am able to walk over to my refrigerator and give him some clean filtered water to sit next to his night stand. Honestly, almost every time I hand him his glass of water I think of a mom somewhere who can't do that. A mom who has to walk miles just to get water for her family. Moms that have to dig a hole in order to begin finding water. Moms who aren't able to give their kids baths every night and just for fun. Sometimes it is hard to wrap my mind around how blessed I am when others have so little. But, I am reminded that we are blessed to be a blessing. So, I just wanted to share this link if you missed World Water Day yesterday and want to do something to help. I love World Vision but I know there are lots of great charities out there so if you can consider giving somewhere!
World Vision: Clean Water Fund - Monthly Gift

Perfect Monday

I had the most perfect Monday! It DID NOT start out that way! When I woke up I went downstairs to find an empty coffee pot and soon realized we had no coffee anywhere in the house! AHHH!

Max and Sophie had Mom's Day Out which they were super excited to be at. I had a friend over for a little morning java (I picked up one from Bread Co. on my way to take the kids and then thankfully my friend brought Starbucks! Bless her soul!) and then spent some time out on the deck working on my Bible Study and enjoying the absolutely amazing weather. Then I got to spend all afternoon until pick up time spending one on one time with Jack. It was SO much fun! We played on the floor and took a walk around the neighborhood. It was so great to get to focus all of my energy on him and just watch him play. It really hit me how big he is getting and what a little person he is becoming. 

I picked up my Grandma on the way to pick up the kids from school and we took everyone to the park. The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time. Although, they weren't as crazy running around as usual so I think their Mom's Day Out teachers had worn them out substantially already! Love that!

Max loves showing off his silly faces all the time lately. He is such a boy! (Interesting fact: the word "underwear" has also become hysterical to him. Boys are SO strange!!) 

Sophie wanted to spend almost all of her time being pushed on the swing.  

Sophie wanted to show off her silly face too... 

Jack loves to be outside! Thank goodness since we will be spending a lot of time outside this spring and summer!

I am so thankful for such a wonderful start to the week! Here's hoping the rest of the week can be just as fabulous!

Weekend Recap and Sunday Letters

Wow! What a busy/fun weekend! I was looking at our calendar for the next few months and pretty much every weekend has something on it. Normally I am not a big fan of busy... but when it is all "fun" busy it is easier to deal with!

On Friday night I think we just hung out at home and played with the kids. It had been kind of a stressful week with Nick's job being kind of stressful, an unfortunate money situation coming up, and Nick's car needing to be fixed! So, we were thankful to have a low-key Friday night.

On Saturday Nick took Max and Sophie to the Joy FM Sticker Stop in O'Fallon and Jack and I ran errands. Then we spent the afternoon cleaning and hanging out around the house. Saturday night we went to dinner and to see the St. Louis Symphony with some friends. It was super fun! I felt so fancy getting all dressed up and pretending to be a "real grown-up" for the night. I was planning on having a girl from our church watch the kiddos but then when Jack was sick and my aunt offered to watch the kiddos it made more sense to have her babysit. Plus, she brought my grandma and cousin so there was a three babysitter to three kid ratio. Gotta love that!

This morning we went to church which was great. We hadn't been in a few weeks because of sickies so it was nice to be back. Then I made tacos for lunch (my current favorite food! ha!). This afternoon I had to take my Grandma to get her haircut so Max tagged along and he and I ran to Starbucks and Kohl's. It was so fun to get some one on one time with him. Then tonight we had a "Sprinkle" for my friends Amie and Natalie at Maccaroni Grill. There were about 19 or so of us there and it was so much fun. I LOVE the women at my church!

It was a super fun weekend but now I feel like I need another one to recover! I didn't have much lounge around time! But, we got to have lots of fun with friends and my house is clean so I guess that makes for a pretty successful weekend!

The kiddos have Mom's Day Out tomorrow and we are looking forward to our week!

 

Dear Max,

You have been SO good this week! Now that you are 4 1/2 you have been so enjoyable to be around! It seems like 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 hit you hard but you are so fun these days. You have been doing  a really great job of listening and obeying and you aren't throwing fits all the time! It is just delightful! You are so funny and your Dad and I both love getting as much one on one time with you as possible! I had so much fun getting Starbuck's and walking around Kohl's with you today. You are really a fun little guy to hang out with!

Dear Sophie,

I think this picture shows how you are lately... a mess! As soon as I do your hair and get you ready for the day you mess it up and you constantly have stuff on your face despite the fact that I wash it like 10x a day!! You have major attitude lately and spend a lot of your day whining. Thankfully, you are still super snuggly! You are cracking me up lately with your OBSESSION with make-up. You have a little princess lip gloss that you are constantly putting on. You are such a girly girl and I love that about you!

Dear Jack,

Poor sweet baby with all of your sickness lately! And now you have a cough on top of it! It makes me so sad to see you not feeling well. Thankfully (except in the middle of the night) you are still the same sweet happy baby. You can clap now and you are constantly showing off your new skill. I think we are going to have to move your crib down this week because you have started getting on your hands and knees in there and I think it is just a matter of time before you start sitting up in there! You are growing up so fast!

Dear Nick,

Thank you so much for all of your help this weekend! I am so thankful for your help around the house. I really appreciate you spending time with the big kids and being a fun dad! I had a great time with you Saturday night and it was so nice to be "grown-ups" and get dressed up and go out together! I love you so much!

And I will leave you all with this picture of Sophie and Jack. This picture is a perfect description of their relationship. Soph is just not a Jack fan. I pray one day they will love each other!!!

I hope everyone has a great week! And HAPPY SPRING!!!

Update on Jack and it is FRIDAY!

 I took Jack to the doctor this morning at 9:15 (a special shout out and thank you to my grandma for watching Max and Soph so that I could just take Jack). It turns out that despite being on antibiotics for the past 10 days his ear infection did not go away and actually has gotten worse and turned into a double ear infection! Poor little man! So, we have a new plan of action and hopefully he will be back to 100% in no time! He is still being super sweet and happy today though. Here is a picture of him hanging out while we were eating lunch today...

Since St. Patrick's day was yesterday I decided that it was out with that decor and in with the new... So, thanks to a little help from the Target $1 aisle here is my new Easter display. So Springy! 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous end of the week! I am hoping to get a little housework done here in a minute while all the kids are upstairs sleeping or resting. Happy Friday all!!

Updates of the R's

Life seems to be just flying by lately! Wow! Our littlest man is getting so big. I think he is going to take off crawling any day now. He spends a lot of time rocking back and fourth on his knees. Today though the sweet boy had a super high fever. I was out at my mom's and noticed he was feeling a little hot. We took his temperature under his arm and it was 103.0! I called the doc and she said to keep an eye on him and bring him in tomorrow. Hopefully I can update with good news on my little man feeling all better tomorrow!

The pic below is from the other night before bed Sophie was showing off for the camera. She has so much personality!

This weekend my wonderful hubsy and dad tiled our laundry room. I LOVE it! We painted the walls a soft gray/blue color and hopefully the dark tile will work well with all of the traffic coming in and out of the laundry room.

And these are my 3 boys! I love them! This was from the other night. It was so sweet. Max was jumping around playing and Jack was just cracking up laughing at every thing Max did. Every time I see them playing together I pray that they will have an awesome relationship and be best friends throughout their whole lives. I was so nervous having them close to 4 years apart that they wouldn't really interact much but they really are so sweet to each other and it makes me so happy!

I am hoping for healthy kids this weekend! We have plans to go to the St. Louis Symphony with friends on Saturday which I am really looking forward to. I will update tomorrow after Jacksters doctor's appointment! I hope everyone has a great Friday tomorrow!

all up in each other's business...

I just can't stop laughing at what my husband said the other day! I don't even remember what we were talking about but he chimes in with something like, "they are a lot like your family, you know... all up in each other's business". It cracked me up! I was quick to assure him that my family is not all "up in each other's business" (where did he get that phrase anyway??) and he laughed and told me that it wasn't a bad thing. But, we are just very involved in each other's lives. He assured me that he thought it was a really good thing and he loved that about my family but he said he didn't think it was "the norm". I got to thinking about it and realized maybe he is right. I guess not every family is as involved in each other's lives. But, it is something I have actually come to appreciate and love about my family. We all talk almost everyday and get together every week. Not because we have to. I never wanted to get in a situation with my family where it is like, "we have lunch together every single Sunday whether people like it or not". There is nothing set in stone we just usually choose to get together once a week. I am really thankful for that. There is never any pressure to get together which is nice. Especially having kids who are OBSESSED with their grandparents, great grandma, and aunt and uncle and my extended family I am glad we see them so much. I was e-mailing with my grandma last night and she said, "I wish ALL families took care of each other - we are very lucky." And it is true. So, I guess not all families are "all up in each other's business"... but MOST days I am really thankful mine is.

Sunday Letters

Sorry, I think the only posts I write these days are the Sunday Letters. I promise to update more soon! Life just seems to be busy lately! But, without further ado...

Dear Max,

You have been such a sweet boy this week. Even when you were sick on Saturday :-( We know when you are sick because you just stop everything and lay down. You are NOT a kid that sits still so we always know something is up. You seemed to be feeling better today though! Yay!

Dear Sophie,

You are lucky you are so cute because your tantrums are intense these days! You even did a complete "thow yourself on the floor meltdown" at Kohl's today! Luckily, we were already checking out. Hopefully you get with the program soon! Ha!

Dear Jack,

You are getting SO big!!! Oh, goodness! This week you have started getting up on your knees and rocking back and fourth and you have even gotten one knee forward. You have also started clapping your hands which I think is just one of the most precious things ever!

Dear Nick,

Thank you for your awesome painting and tile work this weekend. I LOVE my new laundry room! I also must appologize for falling asleep during our movie last night! I had a great time picking out new clothes for you today at Kohl's! I am SO proud of you for loosing 30 pounds and couting! You look great Babe! I LOVE you!

Sunday Letters

I am so glad it is Sunday! We are having a very nice low-key one here and I am loving it! We went to church this morning, despite majorly sleeping in! We came home and had a little lunch and right now I am watching a movie with the kiddos (Jack is napping) and Nick is out helping my mom buy a new computer. I already have dinner made so it should be a nice relaxing day.




Dear Max,
Overall, you have been great this week! You have been throwing a lot less fits and have been very sweet most of the time. You are on a major Batman kick right now which is pretty cute. You are really perfecting your bedtime stalling. Last night you had both Daddy and I list out all of your favorite things. You kept saying things like, "what is my favorite food?" "what is my favorite color?" I guess it was a test to see how well we know you! I think we both passed. You also know you can always buy a little more time by reciting your Bible verses. You have Genesis 1:1, Colossians 3:20, Phillipians 4:13, and 1 John 3:11 down solid! Above is a picture of you with your new teranadon, Terry that Grandma and Grandpa bought for you yesterday. Oh! and of course, your Daddy and I were very proud that we got a very good report from your Sunday School teacher! We are so proud of you for doing well at church!

Dear Sophie,
One of my favorite things you have started doing is pretending things our microphones and singing your little heart out into them. Grandma got you a Dora microphone yesterday and I think it will get a lot of use. You remind me SO much of me when I was little. This picture is from this afternoon. You are watching "Barbie's The Princess and the Pauper". You are really starting to love all of those big girl things. It is sweet to watch you getting older.

Dear Jack,
I love this picture of you because it is just so you! You are a very happy baby! However, despite the fact that you are perfect 99% of the time you chose yesterday while your brother and sister were gone for the day to be very high maintenance. And you have also been up in the middle of the night the past three nights. Please don't make this a new habit!! You woke up happy today though and were very sweet at church. You have started doing "the plank" position a lot where you are up on your toes and holding up your body on your arms. I think you will be crawling before we know it!

Dear Nick,
I was so nervous for you to get your wisdom teeth out this week. I was even more nervous when you told me you had never been under anisthesia before! But, you have been great! I know you don't feel 100% but you seem to be doing great! You barely had any swelling and only took your pain meds on the first day. I am looking forward to you feeling all better so you can eat normally again!

Thursday Stream of Conciousness

I am having such a hard time being motivated to get things done lately. I am not sure what my deal is. I just keep sitting here... despite the fact that my table is piled high with laundry that needs to be put away.

I took the kiddos on a quick grocery store run today. Max was totally THAT kid that whines about not being able to get things the whole time. Oh my goodness. I was so frustrated. I don't know what had gotten into him! I know people say to just leave your cart and walk out of the store and I say "bravo" to them! But, I have three kids and we needed groceries!

Nick is getting his wisdom teeth out tomorrow and I am feeling so much anxiety about it. I had a rough recovery after mine so I think I am just anticipating that for him. But, I know it will be so good for him to get them out. They are starting to move his other teeth around which is not good. I am also selfishly not looking forward to not having his help this weekend. Thankfully my mom is taking the big kids for the day on Saturday which will be a HUGE help!

I rearranged my living room again. I know... I rearrange furniture more often than some people change their underwear, but it makes me happy! Except, right now I am not sold on my new arrangement. We will have to see.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Beth Moore: The Hair Brush

If you can watch this video without crying you are a stronger person that I am. I heart Beth Moore big time!