Mothers Day

Ever since I was little when asked who my hero was, I would respond my Mom. She and I always had a close relationship. Even when I was a teenager we would have our arguments and come back in mutual appreciation for each other.


My Mama is a blue eyed, blond haired bombshell! I'll let her picture speak for itself...

Yeah she doesn't look like a Grandma to me either!

What is most amazing about my Mama is that her external beauty is only a fraction of her internal beauty. Unless you met her you wouldn't completely understand, but this is some of why I can say that.

This past Sunday in our Bible Study fellowship we spoke of how our Mom's changed our lives. Since I was one of the last to speak I heard everyone else's comments first... I kept thinking, yep my mom is like that, yep my mom does that. It was really hard to pick one thing that changed my life because everything that I am is because of my Mom. (Ok some bad habits may be from my dad .. hehe)

The one thing I picked is that my mom is the most hospitable person that I know. If you met my mom, you would feel instantly liked, instantly happy and instantly at home. She may just have 3 biological children but she has countless others that call her Mom. She attended events of kids that didn't belong to her. She hosted many parties and stayed up many late nights helping one person or another. My mama can throw together a gala in hours or put together more food for company in minutes.

She is this insanely capable woman. She moved our family 9 times (4 times across oceans) not counting the times from an apartment to house etc. She has managed 3 kids schedules and a husband who traveled throughout our childhood about half of the year. We have had hamsters, rabbits, cats, dogs, fish, turtles and horses. Whew now that I type that I realize even more so what all my mom handled!

My mama is the most beautiful chameleon. She can wear linen and heels and host tea parties in Singapore one month and the next month wear jeans, cowboy boots and a baseball cap and train horses. She adapts to any situation necessary with unassuming grace, elegance and poise.

Now that I'm a mom too, I understand some of what my mom did. I now understand sleepless nights, exhaustion and being mom even when you feel sick. I see how little "me time" my mom had and how incredible it was that she was able to keep our home spotless.

I am so blessed to have Joan as my mom. I didn't just grow up, she raised me. I am so blessed that she helped guide me into marriage and now into motherhood. She's an incredible woman, mom and now grandma.

Thanks Mama for all you are, all you did and all you love me.

5 months

Sophia Grace!
You are now a beautiful 5 months old... You still fit in some 3 months outfits but most are starting to get too small for you. You are long and lean! Hopefully you get your daddy's genes in that department because long and lean does NOT explain your Mama!

You've now had a couple breakdowns before bed time in a row. I'm pretty sure your teeth are really bugging you because this is so unlike you... You're typically a really happy fun baby. It's easy to get you to laugh and smile. Two things that make you smile instantly are when anyone "clucks" their tongue and seeing your dogs. You are so into ANYTHING. You love to grab and hold on to paper, cups, credit cards etc and can sometimes have a fit when we take it away from you!

Trust me, you love your doggies!

You have started to eat baby food... We've given you applesauce, strawberries, bananas, sweet potato and carrots. So far your utmost favorite is strawberries and bananas! Daddy found out that you love ice! It helps when your gums are so sore.

                                                         You are NOT a fan of Oatmeal

We skype with Grandma and Grandpa every couple of days and you're still not quite sure what to think. You've started grabbing for the computer so maybe you think you'll get kisses through the screen?

You had your first story time and you loved it! You were super happy until the very end when you fell asleep on your Mama's shoulder. I can't wait to spend more of these times with you down the road.

The pool is yet to be a hit but I think that's because every time Mama wants to take you it is still a little too cold! I know, I'm mean! Both times, we have a warm bath afterwards...

                                                                  Cutest baby ever!

                                                             Much Happier in warm bath!
Mama can't wait for next month since we get to introduce you to all your Mama's cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents and then have some R&R in Montana! We know you'll win over everyone's hearts...

Love you sweet baby girl,
Mama

yeah I know it's a little blurry- so hard to take a picture with a wiggly babe!

Shut the front door...

After getting married I've gotten even more of a kick of trying to be a domestic goddess and now that pinterest is around I'm even more inspired! Anything that I can do that makes my house look more put together, fun and that isn't expensive to do definitely peaks my interest... One thing that I've been trying to do is decorate for each season throughout the house but this blog is about the FRONT DOOR!

I have a fall wreath, Christmas wreath, Easter/spring wreath and needed something for the in between or summer!

I didn't take pictures of the process only the end result but it was so stinking easy that I should be able to just explain away. 

- Paint the letter that you want to use. I used MDF and it didn't take spray paint well. I put a couple coats of Acrylic paint on afterwards to give it the color. It needs about an hour to be fully dried

- Start with a good base, mine was a straw wreath I bought at Hobby Lobby.

- Wrap that in teal yarn. It takes a little while so be prepared to watch a movie or two.. Having the yarn taught as you wrap it around make it a lot easier... 

- Then take strips of burlap about 2 inches thick and about 12 inches long and tie it once around a corner of the wreath and repeat this 8 times (or as thick as you want).

- Hot glue gun some flowers (mine were discounted and ended up being about 1$ a piece) on top of the burlap

- Take a piece of burlap about 6 in in width and as long as you need and fold the ends in and thread through Letter.  Pull it over the top of the wreath so that the letter hangs and hot glue it in a circle.

- Finish with another piece of burlap tied on top so that you can hang it flush to the door.

Price Breakdown:

Wreath: 4.99

Letter: 2.99$

Yarn: under 4

Paint:  (used a little acrylic I had in my stock)

Burlap: 3.99 a yard, used less than 1/8th, so lets say 50cents ish

Flowers: 3.50

Hot glue: Used less than one stick from home

Approximately 16 $ with leftovers

If you have any questions or need help in clarification please don't hesitate to ask!

HAPPY CRAFTING!

Doing "MOM"

I've learned a lesson already in 4 1/2 months of being a mom that I have been told most don't learn until their child is much older or out of the house... This lesson is taking time out for mom.

Hubby sleeps during the day.. No he's not a slacker or deadbeat- much to the opposite. He works at night so his time for bed is when I'm running around. It makes things quite interesting around here to say the least... One way is that our schedule isn't normal... (What IS normal ANYWAY?) He works 12 hour shifts and will work 3 days one week and 4 the next... Because we have some big goals this year which includes padding up our savings account, starting our retirement fund and doing some big home projects (re-doing master shower, replacing flooring etc) he's also been working an extra day a week for over time. This means for this mama that I get to see my husband for a total of about 1 hour a day for 3-4 days straight. I am on the clock 24/7 without any backup. Often days I don't mind just staying at home but there are definitely moments where I have realized for my own sanity I just need to get out of the house!

Monday I was able to go to Ladies's night out with some gals from my Sunday school group and Hub watched Sophia. By the time I had gotten home, Sophia had been awake for 2 hours and refused to drink from a bottle... Joe admitted to me that he had a whole new appreciation for what I do as a Mama and he no longer wonders what I do all day because just she alone keeps me busy (So grateful that he gets this and gets it early too)!

Today I realized that I hadn't moved my car since Tuesday (AKA I haven't gone anywhere!) which means this Mama desperately needed some interaction. Sophia and I went to a story time and then out to lunch with two other Mama's and some babies. We had a great time and although we were all busy taking care of our little ones we still managed to have some mom time.

I know that without this time I tend to be more exhausted, more easily frustrated, and tend to use my husband as a gal pal instead of the great man that he is! It is well worth its weight in gold because then Sophia gets a happier Mama, one that is able to deal with teething and rearranged schedules and the like.

It also made me realize some more things about my own Mom which I will share more about in a post dedicated to her for mothers day...

I'm off to enjoy clean a little bit but then take out some me time: a glass of wine, a tv show and some time to do my nails!