Park Days

I have THE BEST sister in the whole wide world. Caring, thoughtful, giving, honest, I could go on and on. So, you can imagine how sad I am that we don't get to spend as much time together as we'd like. In lieu of that, my sister and her kiddos came out last week to stay with us over Spring Break. We had so much fun and it was great to spend so much time with them. Of course we had to make a park visit while they were here...the boys had so much fun! So did FeFe. You just wait and see.

Learning Photoshop

Yesssss, I am finally learning Photoshop!

Highlights of my day

• Waking up feeling somewhat rested (even though I didn't get any more sleep than usual, I just found a way to get a leeeetle more sleep, hehe)
• 2 travel mugs of yummy delicious coffee
• A quiet visit to the library, alone
• Staring into my little one's eyes, as he stared right back into mine
• Engaging in a little tickle/wrestling match with my 2 older boys
• Researching the Memphis Roller Derby league online and planning to be at the next bout in April
• Thinking about ways to be creative in my photography
• Listening to my boys play on the drums
• Just now realizing that even though we lose an hour of sleep tonight (BOO), the days will be longer, and that makes me happy

Ahh, life is good!

Jude-isms

With a talking toddler in the house, we really have to watch what we say. He is repeating EVERYTHING, including the exclamations of GOSH and GOH!, oh man!, crap! and everything else. While it is somewhat frustrating, it is kind of fun, too. To see Jude learning what things are, using the actual words and communicating with us, I love it. I love watching him grow into this little person. Even though he is a great talker and communicator, he's still a new talker, so not everything he says is exactly right. And boy, it is darn cute. Here are a few of what I like to call Jude-isms.

Fingers are mingers. (I think this one is my favorite)

Milk is guh-guh-guh.

Mouth is mouse.

Spiderman is ah-man.

Blanket is beekle.

Tree is tuh-reeeee.

Booty is boot-ay. (ok, I taught him that one)

Juice is boose.

Phone is na. -have no idea where this came from

Truck and sock are u-kuck or o-kuck.

Pray is puh-rayyyy.

Volleyball is balleyball.

These are just the ones I can think of. Having a toddler is so fun. Everyday is full of something new, super fun, and/or challenging. I surely love being this boy's mama! And I definitely look forward to watching Ezra grow into his own little person too. What a blessing these boys are!

Jude, with his good friend Addie

Lovelies

Just a few recent photos I've taken. :)

Jude watching his beloved Spiderman.

Sleepy boy!

Aww!
Biiiig yawn.
"I likes to stick my tongue out."

1 month old today!

Blog make-over

I thought it was time to change my layout, since its about Spring time! There is so much more I'd like to do to my blog, but who's got the time?

Update

A few people have asked how we are doing. My answer: It really depends on the day.

Some days are good, like today, and some days...not so much. Today, I am feeling more like myself than I have in awhile, I'm glad to be a mommy and I'm ready to face the challenges before me that will happen during the day. Days like yesterday, well, I just want to run away and say forget this and possibly sleep for a week straight.

Yesterday, my sweet friend called to check on me. I felt like that call was not just a coincidence, but divinely orchestrated. She gave me many words of wisdom and hope, and for that I am grateful. I told her "In my (almost) 28 years, I have to say, this is by far the hardest time in a woman's life...well, my life so far." She agreed. Having a newborn, feeding every 3 hours, fighting exhaustion so heavy your eyes hurt, trying to train a toddler in the midst of that....all the while dealing with hormones and post partum....sometimes it feels too much to handle. But, today, I have hope and courage. I woke up and chose joy this morning and it has made a difference. And of course it helped that Ross took baby duty some last night so I could get a little sleep. What a prince he is!

Just a few thoughts on my mind today:

I have THE BEST husband ever. He has been a tremendous help and great support for me during this hard transition, sometimes being the voice of truth and reason, which is something I desperately need. I am so glad he is the one I will spend my life and grow old with.

I'm wondering why Jude still has a fever. He's had it for 4 days now. Neither of my boys feel well and it's really hard to watch them suffer like that. Ezra has this bad sneeze and cough and it is PITIFUL.

I had some quiet time to myself today and am extremely grateful.

I am also extremely grateful for my friends and family. I've been so blessed recently by those in my life and it helps make the days not so long.

The Biggest Loser is back on tonight!!! I have missed it...stupid Olympics.

I am aching to get out of the house! We're going on 5 days inside now, but with these boys being sick, I really can't get them out to do anything. Boo!

My sweet, sleeping boy! Wish I could sleep this well. :)