Mother's Day

I'm still riding on my Mother's Day high. It was just a really nice & relaxing weekend and we got alot accomplished at the same time! Sadly I have NO pictures to document our weekend. How horrible is THAT!
Friday - The kids' school had a lil tea party for all the mommies and the kids made me some ADORABLE gifts! I have some pictures of this but they're not uploaded yet. Then that night we met up with my parents, sisters & brother for dinner at a local italian eatery called PLUMBERRY'S. We sat outside near a water fountain so the kids could play and the adults could chat. My sis in law had to work :( so that was a bummer.
Saturday morning we all got up and I made pancakes for breakfast. This has become pretty much a weekend staple since we moved into the house. I love cooking in my nice big kitchen! Not really too crazy about the cleaning up part though hahaha. After breakfast we headed to Lowe's so the kids could participate in a lil clinic they had going on there. It's call a Build & Grow Clinic and it looks like pretty much all the Lowe's have them twice a month. The kids get lil aprons, goggles, and get to use real hammers and nails to make a project all for FREE! It was such a blast. I have pictures of this too but again, they're not uploaded yet. We did some shopping when the class was done and also because they had given "me" a $10 off a $50 purchase in honor of Mother's Day. It is SOOOOO NOT hard to spend $50 at Lowe's! Sheesh! But we got some stuff to revamp Lacie's closet - shelf and rod that Daddy installed at her lil level. I love it! Now she can hang up and get down her own clothes! And she has a lil shelf for shoes. :)
After Lowe's we got lunch and took Lacie & David to their lil dance class -hehehe I can NOT wait to see my husband and daughter dancing together on the big stage! When they were done we headed to Best Buy - we are in desperate need of a new computer :( :) - and Walmart. Then we headed to a new restaurant in town FAMOUS DAVE'S. I guess it's a chain restaurant. We met my inlaws there and they brought me scrapbooking goodies for my gift - how sweet and rockin is that!? The food and atmosphere was WONDERFUL! We will definitely be going back. Since this was an early dinner we were able to go home and just relax instead of dragging ourselves to bed. It was really nice!
Onto Sunday - I went to bed Saturday night with a big smile on my face, almost a Christmas Eve type feeling. We had already met with all the mother's we were going to be able to see that weekend so I knew that we didn't HAVE to go anywhere on Sunday. I was sooooo looking forward to that! Even though I knew there was housework to be done I really did not mind at all. So I woke up Sunday (got to sleep in!) and the kids and David took me to Denny's for the french toast I had been craving. Then we came home and even though the hubs offered to clean the kitchen I went at it. While I was doing that, and the kids were cleaning their rooms, he was able to tackle ALOT of things that have been accumulating on his HoneyDo list - hung our flag outside, revamped lacie's closet, installed the pieces on our front door that were needed for our screen door, and also put together our new patio furniture. All this before NOON! I am so spoiled! The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, napping, and just relaxing together as a family.
Thank you baby and kiddos for a great weekend of spoiling!!! I love you 3 soooo much! You are my world and my dreams come true!

Adventures in Motherhood

First comes PREGNANCY. When you get pregnant you're either thinking "Holy crap what have we done?!" Or "FINALLY! It's actually happening." People for sure treat you differently when you are pregnant. Compliments, kindness, and advice abound! You (and your husband too) will become so intune with all the nuances of your body, more than you probably ever really wanted to! Some women hate being pregnant. Some love it. Some get sick, some don't. Some get huge, some are "all baby". Whatever the case, each pregnancy is an amazing miracle to me that a human being can actually grown inside of another. AMAZING!

BABYDOM is the next exciting stage in this exclusive MommyClub. I think I read somewhere that a baby grows physically and mentally MORE during their first year of life than in any other. I can see how it's true. Being born around 7 pounds and then more than doubling that by age one. Going from sleeping, pooping, & crying to rolling, scooting, crawling, pulling up, walking and maybe even talking in just 12 months. Again AMAZING!

Moving onto TODDLERVILLE. Once your kid is mobile, and vocal, they are like a totally different human being. They see things differently than they did before and they respond to you differently too. They aren't always so willing to come when you call to them, or let you kiss on them as much as you want. They are becoming their own lil person and they have places to go and people to see! Making new "friends" even if they don't want to. Learning how to share and use words to express their feelings. It is really quite hilarious to watch their exploration and you can almost see the wheels turning in their heads as they learn new things about the world around them.

PRESCHOOL TOWN is the stage that I am getting ready to exit. I have had the best time taking my kids to playdates with other mommies that have kids my kids' age. Watching them interact with their teachers and classmates at school. Learning all of their shapes, colors, alphabets, etc. Things being taught to them (for the most part) by someone other than me. Things - communication, friendship, kindness, even meanness - that are being taught to them by someone even other than their teachers - by their peers. I have loved seeing their art projects evolve over the past few years.

BIG KID WORLD - It's been interesting for me to go through these stages of motherhood, and I'm no where near being done traveling. I still have the dreaded teenage years to look forward to! But it's been interesting because my kids are so close together. For the most part, once a stage is done with one it is pretty much done with the other too. Lacie is in kindergarten, she's READING, but because we put her in the private kindergarten class that their preschool offers, I tend to lump her into the preschool town that Colby is still in. But now, we are sending them both to public school this fall. Colby will be in Kindergarten and Lacie will be in first grade. They are becoming BIG KIDS. It almost feels like jr. high. all over again. They've been in the same school with these teachers, these classmates, for the past 2 and a half years. And now they are all being split up to go their separate ways and grow up with new friends and new teachers.

I am trying really hard not to make such a big deal out of it, for their sake, but it really is a BIG DEAL. I just don't want them to be freaked out about it. I want them to be excited. I think maybe because I know what is ahead of them, the wonderful AND the hard times that they will be experiencing. Despite this anxiety, I am really looking forward to this next stage of Motherhood. Being room mom, taking them on trips and places that we couldn't take them when they were younger, reading with them. Just continuing to enjoy their milestones. Though maybe not as marked as crawling or walking, still just as impressive to us as their parents, and biggest cheerleaders.

So to all of you just starting out, or maybe in the middle somewhere, just stop for a moment and watch your child. Just stare at them for a good long while. You will probably not believe me when I tell you how fast it changes. But please believe me when I say that it doesn't get any less wonderful! Enjoy the adventure, wherever it takes you!