Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Easter

We stayed in Albany for Easter this year and both families came to celebrate with us!  The Raybons arrived on Thursday and we tried to plan activities around the terrible rain that lasted all weekend!  The church Easter egg hunt was canceled on Saturday, but we still had fun with our family!  

Here are some family pictures after church on Sunday: 






The Easter bunny came:







Hunting for eggs!


Hawkins was a fast egg hunter!


Gates would stop and open each egg to see what candy was inside!



Precious boys!







Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day.  My 4th one being a mother myself.  Ever since I was a little girl all I wanted to do was grow up, get married and be a Mommy.  My dream came true!  I have two precious little blonde haired boys who call me Mommy and I could not be happier.

I knew all along I wanted to stay at home with my babies.  My Mother was home with me and there was no doubt in my mind.  But...no one tells you want being a stay at home mom is like.  I guess like anything else there are pros and cons.   Pros are that we can stay in PJs as long as we like and I never have to wear business suits to work :)  If they are in school I can do whatever I want (workout, shower alone, vacuum alone, you know - the fun stuff.)  Cons are the constant whining, laundry, cooking, laundry, cleaning, laundry and just the neediness of children.  I love them, but they can be annoying around 5pm.    I will admit I take a "rest time" in the middle of the day with my kids.  Gates naps in the afternoon and Hawkins and I watch a TV show and then he goes to his room for about 30 or 45 minutes. I go enjoy the quiet house, and I am not afraid to take a nap if I need to.  This is not possible for working moms.  I really don't know how I could go to work all day and then come home to cook dinner, spend time with my kids and take care of all the household duties.

If the boys are not in school we always have an activity planned.  We go to the pool, riverquarium, library, YMCA or even just the grocery store.  We just have to get out of the house!

The days are long, but man oh man are the years short.  Sometimes I countdown the minutes until bedtime so I can get some peace and quiet, but when I look at how big my boys are getting it tugs at my heart.  I wouldn't change anything b/c I love the big boys they are becoming, but I miss my babies too.

Hawkins seems so big now.  He is almost 4 years old!  I can carry on full conversations with him and he remembers everything.  I swear their little minds are like sponges.  He can dress himself and help me do a lot of things.  In fact, tonight I put both boys in the shower and Hawkins bathed himself and then bathed Gates!  It was awesome.

Gates is still my baby.  He has those big baby cheeks and still loves to be rocked by his Mommy.  He loves the big boys during playtime, but he isn't afraid to want Mommy too.  He still loves blankie and paci and is a pretty good sleeper.  He is not talking much, so communicating is hard and frustrating at times.  He is my sweetie pie though.  I could kiss those cheeks all day long.

I am so blessed this Mother's Day!