Weekend

I am LOVING my new camera. I captured some great photos at dinner last Friday. Brett, O, Michel and I went to Cafe Adobe and sat out back by the ducks and lake. It was a really relaxing dinner, which is always a treat when you bring your toddler along. I had fun being with Chel. Definitely going to miss her come this August :(

I was in bed most of the weekend with a cold so Daddy and O'Ryan got a lot of time together. Saturday evening they went to Kolt's 3rd birthday party. The Boese's are one of our closests family friends, so I knew the boys would have a blast. If you look closely at the photo below you can see O is doing one of his happy screams.

O'Ryan and Kolt riding on Kolt's birthday present!

I'm short on words this morning as my coffee hasn't kicked in and O is having a fit in the other room. Here we go! Another day :)

More Than A Number

I can't explain how incredibly special and blessed I felt last weekend!! It was my 27th birthday and Mother's Day. Eric was home from OU, my Parrain was in town and I celebrated with some of my best friends! 

Friday:

I kicked off the weekend at PF Changs with my closest girlfriends. Thank you to everyone who came (those who couldn't, I SO missed you!). It was so so special and FUN. Everyone said the sweetest things to me and I received some beautiful gifts. I left feeling so loved. The feeling lasted all weekend. It's a special night I'll always cherish

Saturday:

My boys woke me up with gifts on my birthday!!! Brett is totally awesome and got me a new Canon Powershot camera. I just love it. It's so much easier to carry around than our big Nikon. It takes great pics too. Brett cooked a yummy breakfast (meaning he ran to McD's to get their delicious pancakes!). Then we headed to my mom's for brunch and some pool time. Y'all...one of the BEST things in life is being with family. My family's LOVE and SUPPORT is the ONE thing here on Earth that never changes. They've made me who I am and I'm forever grateful. 

Despite not feeling great due to a bad night's sleep, I had FUN!!!! I'm a summer girl. I've been ready for the sun and pool for a while. I took a new muscle relaxer that day and it KNOCKED me out. In a good way. After my mom's I was able to take a NAP. That's big for me :) 

Before going to dinner, we stopped at my mom's again to see Chel off to prom!!!! Ahhh, she's getting TOO OLD. Just yesterday we were snuggling in bed together and staying up past midnight each night :( Love ya sis. You're beauuuutiful. You don't even need all that makeup and sparkly dress! 

Funny how opposite we look! Chel is dark, beautiful, stunning. Me, I'm light, blonde and mom-looking, lol.

Yes, This is us being us I guess. Lol I don't even remember why we were doing that.

My main MAN.

I like this one.

Later, we continued celebrating with family and some of our good friends, the Lineberger's. Check out the explosion of cuteness that is 3 little blonde boys!!!!

I mean seriously. SOOOOOO ADORABLE. These two boys are major blessings in our lives!! And not to mention super handsome.

Can you see the aboslute JOY in O's face here? Beautiful.

Sunday:

We started Mother's Day with church! Mother's Day at RPC is always fun. They had amazing music and we got our free professional family photo by the lake. 

Then we hosted yet another brunch :) at our house with fam! 

Thank you B for cooking and cleaning so I could rest!

I did this ALL to honor my Momma. She works hard and continues to mother us in a loving, compassionate way even as her kids grow into adults. I am completely blessed to have a Godly, strong mother as an example and a best friend.

Mom...

 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

Prov 31:29

All About O (3 yrs)

Most days he seems "big" to me. But he's still so little.

O'Ryan at 3 years old

* has enjoyed school ALL year - especially his two teachers, Mrs. Judy and Mrs. Tina, and hanging out with "his Avery Bibb"

* loves all of the play dates we have with our play group

* is really into playing hide-and-seek lately, with the dogs! they're pretty good at it too

* always gets in a great mood when Daddy comes home - wants Daddy's full attention all evening

* Daddy and O's favorite things to do together are: getting Shipley's, wrestling, playing basketball, fishing, hide-and-seek, throwing football, being loud and crazy!

* Mommy and O's favorite things to do together are: snuggle with the puppies, neighborhood walks (and we always stop to pet each kitty we see), night frog-hunting, visit the Greatwood ducks, hang out in the backyard blowing bubbles, swimming or drawing with chalk, jammin' to music

* O'Ryan loves praying before meals - he's very literal with his prayers, lol. "God thank you for dis meatball and noodles. Amen!"

* still very much an entertainer - smart as a whip and funny as can be. 

* is really intuitive! this can be difficult though when Mommy isn't feeling well - O'Ryan feels it and either gets sad or acts out :(

* constantly asks to go to the lake and ride on the boat. pretty soon we'll be there every weekend!

* can be stubborn!! does NOT want to be told what to do and will push it until Mom totally freaks

* despite his stubbornness, he's a good kid who does listen most of the time (except this week!)

* continues to have a thing for music and shaking it :)

* loves wearing his cape shirts Maqui made him - runs around "flying" through the house

* shares his Momma's love for animals!!!

* says adult-like things like: "It's too hot out. I need shade and a hat."

* loves church! feels confident, safe and loved there; what a blessing

* is curious about God and Jesus - knows they're special and the most important thing in our lives

* has spent several nights at Maqui and Popo's the past few months - the boy is on CLOUD 9 when he's there!

* at his 3 year check up, O was 80% height, 20% weight (only 27 lbs!) 

We love you my sweet boy! Always be just who you are. Because you are PERFECT.

HILARIOUS. Rockin' out because his ice cream is sooo yumm.

The raspberry shorbet was THAT good.

Still in love.

"I can't believe mom and dad let me have M&M's in my ice cream"

My absolute favorite. He so looks like me as a little one here.

Man, we make cute kids.

And here's O and cute Avery Bibb. I made them pose together at the Mother's Day brunch today. They immediately wrapped arms and smiled!! SO DANG CUTE!

At a Glance VS Reality

Leah would argue that it was a quite relaxing day.

At a glance, our day would seem just fine and dandy.

Brett took O'Ryan to get donuts before dropping him off at preschool. I showered alone at a leisurely pace. One of my very favorite people came over to plan a summer ladies retreat. Great convo, productivity, love was shared.

Later I scooped O up from school and took him to the chiropractor and to run a brief errand. Then we met some friends at stomping grounds to let the kids run crazy as us moms chatted. Before we knew it, it was time to head home for dinner. O and I cuddled up for a movie night on the living room floor, surrounded by our snugly pups.

But.

If you peered a bit closer, you'd see a totally different story come into focus.

...

After tossing and turning all night from sharp back pain, I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6:30am. Several phone calls to doctors later, we realized a trip to the ER was probably necessary for this hurting momma. I could barely move my body without stabbing pain shooting down my back and arms. Did another disc get messed up? Did one herniate? Ah! Called more doctors to get more opinions only to get more answering machines.

Brett took an unhappy camper to school. O wanted to stay with mommy since he knew she was hurting. I slowly showered and did make up all the while looking like stiff, injured 80 year old. Thankfully a friend came over and distracted me with her pleasantness for an hour and a half.

After icing and heating and stretching in weird ways, I was off to get O. Again, he was an unhappy camper because we were headed to the "firecracker" (chiropractor). I bribed for good behavior with a promise of candy. The chiropractor showed me my neck x-rays to remind me just how crazily messed up my neck is. Apparently my neck should be curved like a "c" and it's a complete straight LINE. What?! In. The. Wooorld.

Chrio had no answer.

Next up was Bed Bath & Beyond. 30 minutes later, O'Ryan was sugared-up on a blue raspberry ring pop and ready for stomping grounds. Whew. Finally somewhere I can sit and rela...wait O'Ryan stop stealing Allie's crackers. No, don't push him, he's just a baby! Get out from underneath the table! Gimme that stupid ring pop! Just go play and have fun. No, away from here! Sigh.

Time to go cook dinner. Except I somehooow lost all of my energy to cook. So hey! Lets do a movie night (evening) and ask Daddy to cook when he gets home. Oh wait. I can't hear the movie because my three year old asks questions every 5 seconds. Ugh, now the dogs are stomping all over us with their muddy, stinky paws! Teton drops his slimy tennis ball on my head 10 times so I'll throw it. Forget the movie.

Lets go out to dinner.

Uh oh, it's coming. Can we avoid it? Yes, I think we - oh no, it's too late.

TANTRUM. Full-on red-faced screeching, kicking tantrum. Screw dinner. I lost my appetite. Dodge O'Ryan's punches and kicks as I put him in bed for the night. Who cares if it's 6:30pm. Good night! Try to act normal and have adult convo with Brett as we ignore the wailing. 20 minutes into the tantrum I give in and calm him down. Lets just go make pancakes.

Ah. We all three sit and eat and smile and chat. After nearly dodging two more tantrums O'Ryan is bathed and put into bed. Now?

We pass out.

...

At a Glance VS. Reality = TWO VERY DIFFERENT VIEWS!

Life as a SAHM totally drains me and wears me out. Life living with pain does the same. But I was blessed to be able to even think about doing all I did today! There was a time when all of that would have been unthinkable. I documented this day all in good humor, but every bit is true. I always want to remember just how crazy, wild and hilarious our days were during this season of life :)

Ring pop excitement

Attempt at Movie Night

A Little Story

Here's a little story. 

There was a dark, sad night several months ago I was alone sobbing on my bed all tied up in a knot of pain, confusion, desperation and exhaustion. I was angry God let me feel so much pain for so long. Pain that took me from my family and friends and isolated me. Pain that at times controlled me; defined me. 

Then a small body crawled up beside me and gently rubbed my back. Through the tears I made out my son's sweet face outlined with his angelic blond hair. Through my heavy crying I asked O'Ryan to pray for Mommy. This tiny little boy didn't back down from this scary moment of his Mommy acting so uspset and vulnerable. He put his head on my back and prayed. Prayed the most beautiful, simple, sweet words. 

"God pwease help Mommy. Take away her pain. Make her feel better. She needs you."

What he didn't know was that just before he snuggled up next to me, I was angry with God telling him I was lonely in dealing with this tonight. I needed Him. Where was He?! 

God worked through a sweet boy with a sweet prayer. 

Having endured makes life that much sweeter. 

He does not waste our pain.