Week 20 | May 11th - May 17th.

Sunday - 11th: For four Mother's Days I've had the honor of being called Mama. Oh, there is no greater name on earth. Thank you Jesus for letting me be HER without having earned such a title. I certainly am not worthy of the incredible blessings you pour into my life. Thank you Daniel for the gift of parenting. On our worst day, I'm grateful we have one another to laugh with. You are such a great support to me and I appreciate that you boys let me "rule the roost". Thank you Mama for showing me what true love looks like. Only a mother knows, after all. Thank you Barbara for loving me as another daughter and for raising a sweet man for me to call husband. Thank you Baba for the love that you spill into every crack and crevice of our lives. You are one of my greatest treasures. Thank you Shalley sisters for being mama and friend along side me. Never a dull moment when we are together. Our children are so lucky to have one another. Thank you Hannah and Rebekah for being mama to my boys in my absence. They love you big! Thank you to my own aunts for being mama and friend to me. To all the women a little further down the road...thank you for sharing your stories. Your wisdom and transparency are appreciated. I admire you and hope to be the mentor you are to me to some other girl someday. To all my sister friends...well, you make motherhood survivable. You give me strength and support and allow me to lean into you when needed. You make me laugh and cry and hope. You bring me joy and encouragement. You remind me we are not alone, no matter where we reside. Thank you for holding my hand and hugging my neck and kissing my face! Because of you I feel more comfortable in my mama skin. Parker and Pierce, YOU are all that I live for. You give me purpose. Through all the mess and craziness, I breathe in knowing that you two are the most fulfilling thing I've ever done in my life. Thank you for sticking with me when I have no idea what I'm doing (which is all the time). I never imagined I'd love stinky, sweaty, silly, poo poo obsessed human beings so deeply. I hope you know that no one will ever love you like your Mama does.

Poppy, Ginger, Bubba and Rilee came over for lunch and Pierce was finally able to meet his great grandaddy. I love seeing my 80+ year old grandfather's huge hands holding my sweet little boys. There's just something about generational photos that makes me all teary eyed. We had a great time visiting and eating delicious food before road tripping back to SA. Parker is in love with his belated bday presents -- guns!

Monday - 12th: This morning awoke to the sound of a gun clicking. I shot up in bed and saw that Parker was standing in my room. Today's the only time he's ever gotten out of bed unannounced and scared the living daylights out of me as he crept into my room. We will definitely be discussing proper wake up protocols. The boys and I went to MOPS one final time this semester and headed home to relax the remainder of the day. Storms rolled in this evening so we weren't able to fall asleep without Parker in our bed.


Tuesday - 13th: Parker had school and soccer today. For some reason I thought it'd be the right time to do some insane grocery shopping. Pierce and I spent hours in the store and didn't check out for under $300. We were both hungry by the time we got back to the house. I put away all our groceries and barely made it back to school in time to get Parker. Despite being exhausted from not being at home all day, we did get in a little exercise this afternoon. I have to laugh at Parker's efforts, but really I'm so proud at how well he pays attention to the things that matter in our lives.


Wednesday - 14th: Lazy laundry day at our house today. I love this image of Parker subtly hinting to me that he'd like a snack. Ha! Clever kid.


Thursday - 15th: While big brother was at school, little brother slept the day away. We came home to the sweetest little gift from our UPS man. I love small, thoughtful gestures. Knowing that we'd be celebrating and indulging all weekend, Daniel and I made sure we fit our workout in. It was late. Both boys were asleep and we totally didn't want to. So glad we have one another as a support system though! I hope we can continue to workout together.





Friday - 16th: This is what 31 looks like. Pierce was the first to greet me on my birthday. Poor baby can't stop coughing, choking and gagging. I've suctioned him and there's nothing significant coming out. Hoping he can fall into a deep enough sleep that this doesn't bother him all night. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the weight of my baby on my chest. Even at 2am.

Found my son being adventurous enough to give me a small birthday heart attack. This guy. He's pretty adventurous these days.

Birthday yoga!

The boys were supposed to be napping so that I could pack but one was fussing and the other bumped his head and needed a story. Mom's don't get the day off...not even on her birthday.

There's nothing like turning 31, nursing a new baby and having your husband walk in with a 6pack of your fave beer on your birthday. He even opened it for me.

Melt down on our way to Nav


Saturday - 17th: Woohoo! Crawfish boil day. I've been craving this yumminess. We were able to spend the afternoon at Bubba and Ginger's and enjoy our fave seasonal bugs. So glad we were able to unexpectedly make the trip. It was great to see so many family members and have them meet our sweet Pierce.



This cowboy is the cutest: