two.

perfect.
precious.
happy.
two.

loved beyond measure. . .over the moon and back again.

What he says. . .

Oh, my little moo. . . and the things that come out of his mouth.

And. . .here is how it went.

Me:  Moo. . .do you know what love is?

Moo:  Yes,  Mama, it is you.  You are love.

(okay. . .melting heart and eyes fill with tears!  Love that boy.)

He continues. . . “Mama, love is also when I piddle on Kelly’s floor.  Then. . . she gets mad because I missed the toilet.  But then, I cry for a minute, and then she forgives me.  Mama, that is love.”

Yes, my little moo. . . that is love. 

Me:  Moo. . .who do you love?

Moo:  I love ollie, and heho, and dada, and bauer, and you!  And you all love me the best!

Love.

Who am I?

Lent photo challenge no. 1.

I am the mom.

I am a wife.

I am the lover of my bigs, my littles, . .friends, family. . .the list goes on.  You get the idea.

I am the undeserving receiver of forgiveness and grace.

I am filled with faith. 

I feel that, at times, I am a failure of a mother.

Take last night for example.  Valentine’s Eve.  As a teacher and a mother of three boys, one would think that I was elated for all the cute, pink. . . .stuff.  Honestly, I. . .again this year. . .did not have my crap together.  I can’t stand Valentine’s day.  There.  I said it.  As a single mom for 10 years, it was the most dreaded day of the year. . .so I would shower the boy with gifts (matchbox cars.) and hearts (dye cuts from school.) and pizza (frozen) for dinner.  (come on . . .at the time, it was the best I could do.)
I still feel that I should be more excited about this day.  I’m not.

Last minute I print free online cards that we need to color.  (yep, the night before.)

I bake banana bread . . .and lovingly slice it into heart shapes. (mom of the year material, right there.)

I muster every bit of patience to just get through the night knowing that this idea of Valentine’s Day, eve, whatever will never, ever match up to the ‘dream world’ that is in my head.  Bracing myself for the disappointment.  Kinda like photo-shoot-monster-mom who appears for family portraits.  Yes, I am that mom too!

So, who am I?

I am the mom who reads the same book to my littles each and every night and pause to let moo fill in the blanks with the right words.

I am the mom who colors the valentines for the littles beacuse they'd rather play pirates.

I am the mom who loves my boys so darn much that at moments I truly think hat my heart is absolutely going to EXPLODE!  I mean really explode people.  It hurts sometimes.  Pain.

I am the mom who tries to love them the best that I can each and every day.  Not just on Valentine’s day.  I’m over that whole date.

I am the mom who is married to the most AMAZING dad.  I’m not sure I’d be able to breathe if he weren’t here to walk beside me. 

I’m that mom.

And for today, I am going to accept that I am just good enough.

Now, go spread the love people! 

hands and piggies.

There is just something about these little fingers.  They're totally toddler fingers. . .still a little chubby, but starting to look like little boy hands.  Three is amazing, there is so much one can do at three, and Moo does all of it and so much more.  But last night, as he crawled up on my lap. . .his red hair in every which direction, evidence that he had enjoyed a 'good sleep', he snuggled in and folded his hands.

"They're praying hands, Mama."  

Yes, Moo. . .yes, they sure are.  And I love your sweet and perfect little praying hands.

These are the precious hands that wrap around me with a hug as the moo declares it a 

"1. . .2. . .3. . .squeeeeeeeeeze" kind of hug.  Nothing can beat it.

I wonder what these hands are going to do to make a difference in this world.  

Will he heal others?  Will they be helpful to those in need?  Will they fix things?  Where will they go?  

I pray over these little, precious, chubby toddler hands.

And then there are those piggies.  I've got to get the little bug to sit still long enough to capture his chunks.  Oh, those feet. . . his right one, in this picture, trying to get away. . as we just don't have ANY sit in us. . .on the go.  The littlest piggies are getting ready to turn two.  TWO?  Really?  Where in the world does the time go.  I can't believe the little bug is almost two.  It will be here before we know it, then those little sausage fingers and chunk feet will be leaving us.  It's crazy, the baby is turning into sweet little toddler.  

We've also experienced a complete word explosion with the little one.  Love his little voice.  Love his little run. . .love love love the way he squints his eyes when he smiles. . .and the minute I pick up my phone he screams. . ."cheeeeeese!"  love my bug and love his face.

 Moo noticed "Mama, we're all stripes today."  So a picture moment it was!  

thankful for saturday.

thankful for my loves.

xo