Pics of Mother's Day

Our "Family Picture" on Mother's Day - poor Emren looks a bit frightened.

Mama and her miracle babies - 'Lijah and Emren

Mama and her Ethan - our favorite past time...wrestling/tickle monster.


Ethan helping Mommy open her card.

Mommy and Ethan smelling the "Stress Relief" lotion - mmmmmm! Good job Daddy!

Things I Love About Being a Mom

There are many things I love about being a Mom, but here are a few I could think of:

• The kisses and snuggles. (Please boys, don't take this one away from me, no matter how old or cool you get.)
• Getting the children up in the mornings. There's just something about a brand new day and the kids' beautiful faces that makes me smile ear to ear.
• Singing all the songs my mom sung to me.
• Seeing my children discover something new. The world is such a mystery to them and everything is new and exciting and special. Their faces show it too.
• Being the one they come to when they have an owie that needs a kiss. I love to fix things.
• Feeding them. I love to make good, healthy things for them to eat. I feel so happy when I help their bodies grow and help them like to take care of their bodies.
• Going to the park, the library, the store, or on any kind of outing with them. I always have a buddy.
• I don't have to commute to work. After commuting to downtown Seattle everyday, I really love not having to stand/walk in the cold, rain or snow just to get to work with messy hair and makeup after the train and bus rides. I can start work in my pj's if I want to.
• I can play cars, play outside, color, play with playdough, wrestle, sing and dance all "on the clock."

Mother's Day

Well, the babies had a bad night Saturday night and were up about 4 times. If it were one baby, 4 times is yucky. Since there were two, 8 times is just NOT good for anyone. It brought back memories of the old days and those memories are just too fresh to be funny yet. David got up once so that was nice but let's just say it was a rough night.

I got up later than usual, trying to get a few more minutes of rest before everyone needed attention. I wasn't feeling well (to say the least) and was super tired on top of it. The babies did not want to cooperate with me in the "feeding" department and so it took an extra long time to get their tummies full. Then, instead of bathing them the night before like I try to do, I had to give them a bath in the a.m. After everyone was finally ready, I jumped in the shower and tried to get ready to race out the door in less than 30min. I was not feeling peaceful and was really not feeling the "happy to be a mommy" feelings I wanted to be feeling on this special day.

After church, David had to stay to do financial clerk stuff so I took everyone home to get them ready for naps. Ethan was a pretty good sport but the babies were just not happy. They screamed from the time I got them out of the car, through their baby food feeding, diaper changes and outfit changes until they went down for a nap. Once everyone was napping, I was MORE than ready for my Mother's Day nap! David picked up the disaster and was on baby monitor duty while I got my wonderful, peaceful nap. Well, peaceful until Ethan woke me up by a screaming tantrum.

It was just kind of funny...I guess just a typical day in the life of, huh? Why would I expect halos to magically appear on top each of the children's heads and for everything to be perfect just because of a certain day on the calendar.

David was super thoughtful though and got me a very sweet card, a box of dark chocolate truffles (my fav) and some "stress relief" aromatherapy products. He tries really hard to make me feel special and loved...I am so grateful for that. He never puts pressure on me to get such and such done or have this and that a certain way. He knows I'm trying my very hardest (most days) and is completely happy and proud of me for it. I KNOW my children will learn from his example. It makes me happy that they'll know how to treat their wives too. Mommy loves Daddy!

Update on New Foods

Since the squash, the boys have tried apples, sweet potatoes and zucchini. 'Lijah Bear is getting over his dislike of new foods and is doing great at eating now. His new favorite that he gobbled up tonight is the sweet potatoes.

Emren has started to lose interest in his bottle and I was getting worried. I thought it was so weird that he wanted less and less milk but then realized that it was only because he wanted more cereal and food. I guess they are just growing up so fast, I can't keep up with them. I'm so distracted with Ethan's craziness and just the fact of there being two of them that I don't catch things as easily as I did when Ethan was a baby.

The zucchini was not a hit.

I think it was a bitter batch because even I thought it tasted yucky.

Emren is telling me how it is.

I think shortly after this pic, he gagged and then threw up.

Sorry Ems! I won't try it again on you for a while.

Accomplishments

Just this last week, 'Lijah has mastered sitting up all by himself. He occasionally falls, but half-way catches himself. It's so great that he can sit up, see all the toys around him and grab the ones his wants. I love it! He loves it too!

'Lijah Bear loves to smack the toys down on his legs or the floor and make as much noise as possible.

Emren is still working on it. He doesn't have quite as much chub as 'Lijah to hold him up.

Good Job Emren!

A couple of seconds later...Oops!

Oh, so big!

My Emren...he's such a cutie!

I was playing with him the other night before pj's, testing out his standing up skills.

I can't believe he's so big now - big enough to stand so well.

He looked like a buff little dude when I was holding him up this way...

the camera didn't quite capture it the same way.

I love his chub!!!

I love you...

Every night I put Ethan to bed, right before I leave I say to him, "I love you, Daddy loves you, Heavenly Father loves you and Jesus loves you." The other night, he said back to me for the first time, "and Mommy?" I said yes. "and Aye-Aye (which is Ethan in his own language)?" I said yes. "and Brothers?" I said yes and he seemed content with that.

I love that he knows his family and feels very much a part of it. I think he feels loved. That makes me happy.