Thursday, May 14, 2015

Happy Mother's day!

Happy belated Mother's day to all of the momma's out there and the daddy's that have to be both mom and dad.  3 years ago, I was a momma to an angel baby that we lost in February 2012.  But, 2 years ago, I got to hold the two people who would change my life in more ways that I could even imagine!  I will forever be thankful that Mike chose ME to be his wife and ME to be the mother of his children.

I spent my first Mother's day with M&M in the hospital.  This was my very first photo with both of them.


Last year we had a yummy brunch and did some shopping. 

This year was a lazy day at home and probably the best yet.



Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Happy Birthday M&M!


Happy 2nd Birthday my sweet little loves!  On Saturday we celebrated their birthday and then this weekend we will have their party! 

I can hardly believe that these itty bitty babies;




are now these busy, wild two year olds!


Watching them transform and grow and learn new things is a highlight of my life. They have changed so much in such a very short period of time.  It's so hard to believe!


Their personalities are in full force.  It's amazing to me how much they are a mini version of Mike and I.  

Michael is starting to look more and more like his daddy every day as he gets older and his face changes.  He has these smirks and facial expressions he makes all the time that are identical to those of Mike.  He is a social butterfly.  He can walk in to a room and immediately wants to get down and play and you can hear him saying "Come on, Come on" to Madison as he leads the way. He is very opinionated and doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do.  I find that giving him a choice empowers him and he is more compliant.  He has mastered his scowl face for those situations in which he doesn't want to do what I want. :)

He has a sweet tooth and goes crazy on the rare occasion he gets a treat.  His favorite meat is chicken but he loves vegetables.  When he is done, he's done.  You know this because he dumps his plate upside down and throws it on the floor, lol.  He loves fruit.  On the rare occasion he is refusing to eat, a spoonful of peanut butter does the trick.  

He loves playing with balls, legos, cars, and reading books.  He loves to clean and always picks up all of his toys before bedtime.  How lucky am I?!  He also looooves being outside and loves the water.  He is a huge fan of the park. 

At his 2 year well child check he weighed 33lbs and was 37" tall.  His head circumference was 52cm.  He is in the 93rd percentile in weight and off the charts in height and his head circumference.  Just like his daddy. 

Madison is just a mini me.  Her pics looks just like me at her age.  She is very cautious.  When she walks in to social situations, she retreats and clings to me.  After a little soothing and encouraging, she normally warms up.  She feels safest around strangers that are older.  I find that she warms up quicker to grandmother-type figures.  When she is comfortable, she is a bull in a china cabinet.  She goes non-stop and has mastered that little girl shriek.

She is a meat eater.  She could eat any meat all the time.  Really, this girl will eat anything.  She loves food.  Much like her momma though, she doesn't really care for sweets. She loves fruit and goes crazy for strawberries. Like her brother, when she is done, she is done, and she dumps her food out or throws it on the floor.  Both of them mimic each other also so if one does it....yep, the other does it too.

She loves all the same things as her brother does- cars, legos, balls, and loooooves books.  Normally, whenever I get home from work, she is standing at the baby gate with a book.  As soon as I climb over, she runs to the couch, pats it, tells me to sit, and expects me to sit down so she can climb in my lap to read a book.  That is usually followed up with "another one" where she proceeds to get more books for me to read before bed time.  One of my favorite parts of every day.

At her 2 year well child check she weighed 37.2lbs, and was 35 1/4lbs.  Her head circumference was 49.2cm.  She was off the chart in weight, 80th percentile for height, and 90th percentile for head circumference.



They make my world go round (and round and round and round!)  They have the ability to make me cry tears of joy and pass out from exhaustion all in a matter of 5 minutes.  I never knew I could possibly love two people as much as I love these two.  I'm so blessed to be their mom!

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Texas Bluebonnets

It's pretty much a Texas necessity to take your children out to the biggest field of bluebonnets and take their pictures in it.  Thanks to rain and our schedule, today was the first time I could get out there with them.  So, I took my 23 month olds out.  I can't believe they're about to be 2!!

If you remember, last year, the amazing Lyndsay of Life in Motion photography took their bluebonnet pictures!  Last year, Michael and Madison didn't want to touch the bluebonnets, much less sit in them:


 This year, they just went for it!  Madison was picking them:


They watched for airplanes:





They were sweet and held hands:
 



And spent the majority of their time running through the field and laughing and smiling:










Be still my heart. <3

Saturday, March 28, 2015

My 6th anniversary



6 years ago, I was waking up around this time, all by myself.  My bridesmaids were scattered throughout my apartment all sound asleep.  It was like Christmas morning and I couldn't sleep from all of the anticipation and excitement of the day.  Today, I should be celebrating my 6th wedding anniversary with the love of my life.  Instead, I woke up alone and the other side of my bed is cold. So many mixed emotions today and leading up to today.  March has just been an incredibly difficult month.  Just when it seem liked life was starting to look up again, I feel like I'm back to the beginning of moving forward again. I miss him often.  Everything would be so different if he was still here.


When you say your wedding vows and you say "til death do us part", you never really think your other half will die while you're still alive.  I sure as hell didn't.  When I made those vows, I thought I was spending the rest of MY life with him, we would have kids, then grandkids, then great grandkids, then die when we are old and fragile and lived an incredibly long life together.  Instead, I only got 4 short months as parents with him.  No grandkids or great grandkids.  No old and fragile days.  I just got to spend the rest of HIS life with him.  And it was just too damn short. 



Michael Edward, I miss you terribly.  I miss your infectious personality and laugh.  I miss the way I could never be mad long because you would find something to make me smile.  I miss the random gifts you would send me at work to let me know you loved me and were thinking about me.  I miss your long arms that could wrap me up and never let me go.  I miss your fun, playful nature.  I miss our weekend adventures where we tried new things.  But most of all, I just miss sharing a life with you and I'm devastated I'm watching M&M grow up before my very own eyes and you aren't here to share in everything with me.  I love you.  Happy Anniversary, honey.


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I can't say that I've always been much of a celebrator of this day other than to wear a traditional green shirt.  Probably my most favorite pic of Mike and I EVER taken was taken on St. Patrick's Day in 2007.  It was a fun, fun night had by all!


It was also amazing to look at pictures of M&M last year and compare them to this year.  It's so hard to believe how fast they grow, and they're 22 months now! 
 I'm so blessed to be their mom!

{March 2014}


{March 2014}

{March 2015}


{March 2015}

On the flip side, for the past 6 years, this day has been bittersweet.  6 years ago, the week before I was to get married, I got the call that my grandpa lost his battle with cancer.  This was a man that supported me in every situation, encouraged me to fight for what I believe in, to work hard in all circumstances, to love with all of my heart, to go for my hopes and dreams against all odds, and was truly my number one fan.  I miss him terribly.  I wish he was here to see where I am in life, would have been here to meet Michael and Madison, to have been here to help me keep my head up when I lost Mike, and to be here now to help me get through some pretty dark days.  Even more so, I wish he was here to make my Grandma smile and laugh in a way only he could.  I can only hope that I find someone that's at least half the man he was to share mine and M&M's life with.


{my 21st birthday, December 2006}

{college graduation May 2008}

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Hope you all had a day filled with love. Happy Valentine's from my littlest Valentine's! 21 months old and really love their teddy bears.


9 months old, last year, 2014

5 years ago

7 years ago

As I spent some of yesterday thinking about Valentine's days in the past and looking for some pictures, I realized that I think I fell in love with Mike on Valentine's day in 2006. We hadn't been dating all that long. I had school, then work, and he worked for his dad.  I was at his apartment practically every single day so after work I would come home to  him.  Only this time, when I walked in the door there were rose petals sprinkled from the door, to the table, and in to the bathroom.  He made a homemade meal that consisted of grilled chicken, frozen broccoli and cheese, and a salad with homemade croutons (yes... homemade!)  Then, in the bathroom was rose petals and candles around the bathtub and wine.  He knew it had been a rough week and the best way I liked to unwind was soaking in a hot bath.  It wasn't that it was Valentine's day that made the day special and memorable.  It was that he went above and beyond to make me feel special.  He shared an apartment with 2 other guys and he still turned his apartment in to a romantic night for two.  A guy who, when I met him, was making canned Hormel meats for dinner at night ended up making a real meal all on his own (with a few hundred calls to his mom, ha!).  Who knew it was a rough week and centered the night around me and things I liked.  It's been so long, maybe I'm wrong, but I think that's the night I fell in love with him.  Life can change in an instant, some for worse, some for much, much better!

Monday, February 9, 2015

My littlest loves

Last month we had photos done with Little Sprouts Photography, the same amazing photographer that did M&M's newborn photos.  We literally have been trying to schedule these pictures for months and it finally occurred.  I love them! 

This is my absolute favorite of the three of us:

 She captured Madison's free spirited, inquisitive, determined, cautious personality so very well:






While at the same time, captured Michael's fun, bubbly, confident, infectious personality:





 
These two light up my life in ways I never knew 
becoming a mother could do.