My heart smiled!

Yesterday was Mother's Day, a holiday that has been a source pain for me for the past 5 years. It's a day I honestly dread because it reminds me (as do many other family centered holidays) that yet another year has gone by and we are still childless... it makes me wonder how many more of these I'll see.

Anywho, Nate and Tiff (BIL/SIL) invited us over for dinner after church, which is always yummy and this time was no different! ;) However, the awesome food wasn't the best part, it was what my little nephews did for me. Jackson (5) gave me a card and a bag of treats ( my favorite!) and my heart just melted. See for yourself:

And on the inside...

How cute is that?!?!

This totally made my day and as Jackson would say, "made my heart smile."  =)  I'm so grateful to have such awesome little munchkins to love on and laugh with and such a wonderful family that supports me and uplifts me so much. Thanks Nate & Tiff, you guys are the best! =)

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! Moms, I hope you felt loved and appreciated, for you are doing a great work!!! I hope you got to rest and get pampered, heaven knows you all deserve it! (and not just on Mother's Day)

To my dear companions still on the road to Motherhood, I hope you also felt loved and appreciated for the difference you make in the lives of others, though they may not be your own... and I hope you were able to find some joy and beauty in this day, *hugs!*

And now a special mention... the day before Mother's Day is Birth Mother's Day. It's a day to remember and honor those special women than make the ultimate sacrifice for their little ones, that they might have a better life. Though we do not know her yet, our dreams will come true thanks to one of these brave, and selfless young women. To them I send my love and support for they are the unsung heroes of Mother's Day. Below is a song in their honor.



PS> LDS Family Services is putting our application packet in the mail to us today! We will be up to our eyeballs in paperwork this summer but I am SO excited!!!! =)

My mom the Horcrux vanquisher!

Ok, so the secret's out... my mom is actually Dumbledore's secret agent and she helped him destroy a horcrux he and HarRonMione didn't get around to finding. It was all rather embarrassing for them so JK kept it hush-hush... Voldy Moldy didn't stand a chance! ;)

... Or I can tell the real story, though its nowhere near as exciting. Lets just say malfunctioning gloves and dark brown hair dye were involved... oh, and my head. Whoopsie! My momma is so awesome to make the best of a rather crummy situation... we've tried everything and the dye isn't coming off. Yikes! Any suggestions?

Mr.T's words of wisdom

True dat yo! Love the outfit... :)

Fun with the boys!!!

This weekend was Nate & Tiff's anniversary, so they took a little trip out of town for some R&R and we got to take care of our nephews! It was a blast, although 2 out of 3 were not feeling very well, so that was sad :( We got a crash-course in Parenting 101, complete with staying up late with a sick baby, getting up early with a sick 2 year old (who we then took back to bed with us but would not go back to sleep; instead he used my back & arms as a "road" for his cars/trucks for hours) and potty training woes with the 4 year old!

Our dogs were there too, and while that was a source of stress for me (as they are unaccustomed to little hands and feet, grabbing, pinching, and kicking) I'm happy to report that they behaved themselves very well and no one got bit! Jackson and Brandon were very gentle and I was so impressed by them all! Ben is so cute with the boys, I can't wait for him to become a daddy someday! My favorite part of the weekend were those moments when the boys would make some sweet comment (Jackson praying and thanking Heavenly Father for us and asking Him to bless that "Uncle Ben and Aunt Alex will stay and play a looooong time") or Brandon tackling me to give me a big hug and kiss, and when I fell asleep on the couch with Andrew on my chest. I think that those sweet moments, which I got but just a tiny sampling of, must be what makes parenting so worth the fatigue, blood, sweat, and tears!!! I remember being so tired Friday night (I'd gone to work at 5:30am and then taken care of the kiddos alone most of the afternoon/evening until Ben got there around 8:30ish) but I was laying on the couch with Andrew asleep on my chest, and it was just the best feeling in the world. That's the stuff happiness is made of, for sure! :) Thanks to Nate & Tiff for letting us have a little slice of heaven this weekend!

Anyway, enough of my sentimental gab, here are some pics of my adorable nephews who rock my socks!!!

Jackson and Brandon having fun in the sprinklers!

Andrew, giving me the stink eye for putting him down on the grass! :)

Sirius loves to lick Andrew!!! He didn't seem to mind though.

Who is the cutest baby ever??? Andrew is!!!

Happiness is a baby sleeping soundly on you!

Uncle Ben, Andrew trying to love on Mini, and Brandon.... um, looking kinda confused? (In his defense, he had just woken up from his nap)

Jackson being a ham!

PS> This has nothing do do with this post, but I just had to say.... BOOOOO Kanye West! Not cool dude... NOT cool! That is all.

Heehee...

Ok, I just had to share this because its hilarious. My nephew Brandon has this new thing that he does... its quite comical, please- take a moment and enjoy!

WATCH ME!

So what is he really trying to say? Bubbles! He loves them but just can't quite say the word just yet. Uncle Ben was having a little fun with that yesterday at Nana & Papa's and Brandon was nice enough to give us some footage!

Ahh, kids... gotta love them! :)

As promised!

Here are some pics from my visit to Hilton Head, South Carolina!

I had an awesome time! It was SO good to see my family again, we hadn't all been together since 2005 and I hadn't even seen my parents since April of 2007. I got to meet my newest nephew, Alexander who is almost 2, and catch up with my oldest nephews, Elliot (14) and Douglas (12).

Some highlights:

* Goofing off at the pool with my boys and getting fried to a crisp!
* Spending time with my parents, chitchatting late at night in between them in bed like the old days.
* Teaching Lil Alex how to say "tia" (which means aunt) in Spanish!
* Eating my mom's good old homecooked meals... yuuuum, I miss that so much!
* Going to church with my daddy!
* Feeding, bathing, changing, and singing Lil Alex to sleep.
* Watching movies together.
* Spending hours translating jokes from English to Spanish and vice versa at mealtimes!
* Going to the beach... I miss the ocean!
* Getting stung by a jellyfish! OUCH!
* Taking a boat tour around Hilton Head and it's adjacent islands and the fireworks at the end!
* Watching "Tom the boat sheriff" arrest some dude for drinking and... boating?
* The dolphins! Almost close enough to touch, that was awesome!
* Hearing my brother snore... heehee!
* Playing with Kong, even though he bit me 4 times!
* Staying up talking with Elliot and Douglas (but mostly Elliot since Dougo passed out first) until the wee hours of the morning every night!

Down South

I'm in South Carolina!!! That was the surprise. I flew in yesterday and surprised the crud out of my parents, it was priceless!!! :) We've been on the go ever since and I just wanted to take a moment to update real quickly... I'll be posting pics soon, its so beautiful here and I'm having a blast with all my family. I spent a few hours at the pool today with Elliot(14) & Douglas(12) and I'm excited to report that I'm gonna come home with one heck of a tan!!! WOOT! :) Little Alex (almost 2) is a doll and quite the handful but he's warming up to me and already cries when I leave the room without him... its so cute! Oh and Kong, their dog is just the cutest! Andres has him trained to pick up a ball and tear it to shreds when he's asked, "What do we do to the Boston Red Sox?" HILLARIOUS! Gotta teach Sirius the trick! ;)

Anyway, gotta run. I'll post pics soon!