Elise eating cereal...

Elise seems to be one of those babies that thinks eating is hilarious! She LOVES to eat, but is still having problems with the swallowing part.:) She has her bottom 2 teeth in now. Her favorite part of eating is spitting it back out, all over her hands and down her neck! I usually make about a 1/4 cup of cereal and she might if I'm lucky actually eat half of that! I guess she'll get it down eventually. For now I'm so glad she finds eating so entertaining!:)

Family Fun!

Well we had no power for around 3 hours last night which gave us a small taste of how our family and friends must have felt in Oklahoma since they went almost 3 days without electricity after a few dozen tornado's hit in the last couple days. We luckily just had very strong winds. So we lit some candles, put our pj's on, and played the game Sorry in the dark. My uncle sent it to Ethan for his birthday and the kids love it! Last night we ate snacks and had great family time with no TV, computer, or video games! I think I might just flip our breakers off every few weeks for a few hours in our home so everyone has to get creative for something fun to do, it was so relaxing... I took this picture of the kids with my flash, you can't even tell it was dark! But I have to admit when the power game back on we were very thankful!!!

Mother's Day...

Mother's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Since I'm a stay-at-home Mommy it is, as my friend put it so well, like our "evaluation time." Or so it seems. It is this time that I always take a look at the past year and remember all the good memories I have made with my kids. Yesterday I got the opportunity to visit with an old friend that I haven't seen since Ethan was a baby. She was in town on business but came for dinner last night. I hadn't thought about my own mom in a while and this friend went through the most difficult time in my life with me when my mom passed away. So when she asked me, "So how are you since your mom died?" I froze for a second. I took a deep breath and I noticed my voice was a little shaky and I couldn't seem to control it and answered very generic, "real good." But she must have noticed and went on, "how long has it been?" It was at this very point that I had all these emotions come out like she found a door in my heart that I usually keep locked up. As anyone who has lost their mother your heart will never fully heal. But being married to my best friend and being blessed with three beautiful children I feel like my mom would be very happy for me. Now I do miss my mom like crazy since she never got the opportunity to hold any of my children but I somehow feel like she knows them. Now God has also blessed me with an incredible friend and we talk every morning if just for a minute while I load the dishwasher, etc. And today for the first time EVER I cried to her like a child that I missed her and wanted her to come visit me. We live 12 hours away. After I got off the phone I realized the last time I cried on the phone like that was with my mom a few weeks before she died. But I still have great memories of her that make me laugh that comfort me. This Mother's Day I am feeling so thankful that I am a stay-at-home Mommy to three wonderful children, for Mario, and for my special friend that God has blessed me with in my life. And I am looking forward to this Mother’s Day to enjoy with my family!:)