Triple doozy!!!

AF made her grand entrance Monday as we tracked Isaac and then I got a very bad stomach virus that kept me sick for 36 hours!
Kids were out of school today and will be out tomorrow as well - joy!
Two very special families were forever changed by the passing of their youngest children before getting a chance to hold them. I hope my offered sacrifices help lighten the weight of this cross, bring holy healing, and restored peace! We love you J and M! Our thoughts are with you!

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Cutting Joseph's hair

Joseph has been needing a haircut for a few months now but he was just not ready for it! He would get very upset at each attempt we made and it just broke my heart! Ever since those darn tubes were placed he wanted nothing to do with haircuts.
Yet it got to the point were we struggling to keep it tidy and presentable! It was in his eyes and he kept pushing them away! The last time we went to the park, he was getting frustrated with it! Despite my desire to not fight his tears we found a great place with these two fantastic ladies and it all worked out, sorta!



These are a few "before" pictures!






He jammed on the way there to his baby..genius video!
We had the whole place to ourselves and he was to busy for scissors so she used very quiet clippers and the job was done, after a few dum-Dums!!
I will admit I was in shock after it was all over, my baby looked completely different, I was actually sad because the drastic difference surprised me! God has a lot to teach me the last three days, life is about so much more than long hair or short hair! I am happy to say that day 3 is so much better, and he is one cute boy!!!


Big boy!!


"let's roll, mama!!!"
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What I am thankful for tonight

I am thankful for a sleeping boy who had a great day today!
I am grateful for a kind husband who always puts me and the kids first!
I am grateful for a mother who chose life for me despite the way I was conceived! All this talk about Akin just makes me sick! I feel like I am the one they are referring to as being "disposable". I truly believe Akin chose the wrong words to respond but he had his heart in the Ruhr place! All of these political bigwigs making judgment makes me wonder who
I really want to lead our country! So needless to say , I am grateful that my heart is still beating at 35 years old and that I have a voice to say every child is a gift!

I am thankful that we found the theology of the body for teens to borrow for the big boys, I pray that they their souls are being prepared to be tie real men God has called them to be! I am doing a novena to St Monica for both of them now!
I am grateful for amazing friends who teach me to love others more and love myself the way God loves me!
There is so much to be thankful for, I have found that my heart is really at peace with where we are at this time!
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Playtime!

We have been enjoying our days together! It has been so fun to just sit and play!

These are a few pictures from out time with St. Joseph this afternoon:
















Then later on we had a duck parade ;))



Some of these ducks he got during his first year and a few came from family at his duck themed birthday party!
He was quite fascinated that he had 'twins'!!! He has two ducks that are sporting a hat and cool sunglasses! Joseph is a big lover of sunglasses!
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20 months picture post!!

 

Occupied!

This child loves to vacuum, I guess we are doing it so often he must have got the impression we love it too!!
This was a $5 find and he adores it! I even got to catch Aly get the bronze while he was occupied!!!












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Roaming the halls!

We were at a local catholic hospital and while keeping him busy in the halls, we found a statue of Jesus! This is what I got when I told him to give Jesus a kiss!


Goodness, he doesn't look like he is 19 mo old here!!


I really want to wax the floor Momma!!!


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Little one, big love!

 

Yesterday we took Joseph to a splash park and boy have we been neglectful for not doing so before!  Shame on us

Joseph had a fabulous time and we got to visit our friend from Idaho and her three precious children!

Of course my memory card was left at home but I was able to capture and few pics and hope to get some from the Courville’s later! 

This little guy is forever teaching me spiritual lessons and today I can completely see how he embraces the gospel in everything he does not because he has heard us preach this to him or anything but because it is just who God has created him to be and what God has called him to do!  He has yet been untouched by the brokenness of our world, to him, the world is loving, kind, and just like his creator.  I firmly believe that as we age we lose this sense of holiness, this innocence of trusting that the stranger we meet in the store, park, or church only loves us the way our God loves us!  When he was little, I would see him gazing off into the lights and I would wonder if the brightness of the light reminded him of the bright purity of his Maker.  I love how joy is complete in him and that he never feels like there is a lack of any need being met.

All of these thoughts came to me while looking at these pictures and remembering the one line in the homily this morning that will forever change my heart and how I approach God.  The priest told us “You need to love the giver, not the gifts!”  He asked us “What miracle are you praying for today?”  Just moments ago I was asking God to somehow bless us with another child if it was for the betterment of all of our souls.  Then, I hear this message.  I don’t know what my reaction would have been if I would have received this message and not have known the joy of being Joseph’s mother!  I am afraid that if my journey to growing our family would not have included Joseph, I would have spiraled into a sadness that I have never known or experienced before in my life.

I have been reflecting a lot of growing our family, I feel like a failure a great deal of the time with my home being cluttered, much less tidy than it was before we had three boys living here, and I question whether or not it would even be wise for us to desire, much less receive  the huge blessing of another soul to love, nurture, and raise.  I feel very inadequate a lot, but I think that comes with the territory of raising two highly animated teenage boys (with significant issues) and a wild goon of a toddler!  In all my reflecting I am finding myself so very grateful that God gave us Joseph when he did, not because we had waited long enough but because that wait was good for us!  The wait helped cement our marriage, our love, our commitment, our faith, our dependence on God alone, our willful surrender.  I often think about what life would look life for us if we did have our first baby, Sam, who would have turned 11 years old this May and wonder if we were able to have had normal fertility, would we have still been adding to our family as our 1oth wedding anniversary approached?  That is why I am thankful, that we were still waiting at 9 + years for our miracle because we could have missed him had we been set in another direction and not waiting for God to change our lives, our vocations, and our faith!

So instead of asking God for a miracle only today, I am proclaiming it as a day to praise God for the many miracles he has already blessed us with! 

God is the giver I choose to love, today & always!  His gifts are amazing, but it is His presence that I depend on!

My Mother’s Day gift . . .

 

The month of May was just nuts for us and it wasn’t until we were on ‘vacation’ that I actually had the mental capacity to talk about what I really wanted most for a gift.  My husband kept referring to traditional gifts but none of them got me excited about celebrating the gift of motherhood like what I really wanted to ask for from him.  Finally I did tell him what I really wanted was a chance to capture some pictures of Joseph and I that I would love to look at for the rest of my journey as his Mama!  I wanted these pictures to capture our relationship, our love, and our goofiness!  I did not just come up with this idea all on my own, I kept seeing ads for these kinds of sessions around mother’s day but we were dealing with Joseph’s ear surgery and he just took lots of time to get fully well!

So when Jessy heard this, he said we need to do it soon!  So when we got home from TN, I got in touch with Cindy, a local photographer, and asked about their old Mother’s Day specials and she gave us a HUGE discount!  So there was no guilt about spending lots of money and we just had a blast chasing this worm around the big park! 

Speaking of saving money, I had bought his shirt in TN on sale at the outlet stores but had nothing to match.  So I had some bonus money on our Sears/K-Mart card and got the shirt I am wearing completely free!  I love ‘free’!

Trying to keep Joseph out of the swamp was no easy feat!

I just adore this picture, I love my husband’s huge, happy grin!  I love how Joseph is eyeing his next adventure!!!

Our happy, silly boy!

This is one of my favorite pictures of just the two of us!  I love how they captured the true beauty of his blue eyes!  Joseph you make this Momma so happy!

Joseph on a boat in the swamp, so many adventures!

Love, love, love!

 

Happy boy!

Showing off his big teeth!

My favorite family picture so far!  He is all boy!  I love how he is holding on to his new find (the big stick)!  This is the only way we were able to keep him contained, so much adventure was calling his name!  I love that we were able to capture these great memories at a place that is already so dear to our hearts.  It was on September 4, 1999 (nearly 13 years ago) that Jessy brought me there to go walking on the trails and asked me to marry him!!!  I always, always knew I made the right choice that day, my heart loves him so much and I am so thankful that God has allowed us to love so much more as we grow in love with this precious boy!