Addison's last day of school

I should have posted this before Florida, but I am a little behind. Addison had a great year in kindergarten and we are so blessed that she had such an amazing teacher!!! I have posted some pictures from her last day!

Back to life, Back to Reality

We had an amazing trip to Florida this year! I think it was one of the hardest time to leave, we were all in tears. The kids had so much fun and loved the water. The weather could have been sunny every day, but we still got to do most of the things we wanted to do. Austen was excited to participate in everything Addison could do this year which made it lots of fun for all. My sister Katie and her boyfriend from Italy got to come too this year which was an added bonus for all. Here are a few of the MANY pictures we took.

Mom Whispers

I recently started following this page on facebook thanks to a friend you recommended me checking it out. I am so glad I did. There is a post each day for moms and it is something that any mom can relate to. I love reading every entry and story and by reading them it makes me think okay I am doing this mom thing right. There are times I login to read it and I say "Oh my gosh, that is exactly what I was feeling like today".

Beautiful Mama -

Most of the time, I feel that if I actually had to interview for this Mama job..I would get the “Don’t call us, we will call you” response. In other words, there are some better applicants we want to talk to first.

Thankfully, nature does not work that way.
Sometimes, as in my case, you find out you are to be a mother when it was not even in your plan at the time.
Suddenly, without any training or job experience I am a mother.
Just my child and I learning together.

It is a life altering experience
I would not be who I am today without those unqualified moments
Moments where I was lost and I had no choice but to find my way.
If it were just me, I might have given up
But because I had this child that depended on me, I knew I did not have a choice – I needed to figure out how to be a Mom.

Mama, I think that those unqualified moments are where our true beauty shines.
We feel lost and unqualified inside but yet we choose to keep on going each day.
We choose to do the best that we know how in those moments.
And you know what? That is enough.

Those are the moments that make us qualified to be a Mama.
We are qualified for the job.
Certified in motherhood in those moments where we feel the most lost.
Cause in those moments, we grow and change and show our amazing selves to our child.

You are qualified Mama!
Certified to be the amazing Mama you are!
You meet all the job requirements – just by being you.

Mom Whispers

Simple

This was the quote for the day today from my Mary Engelbreit calendar and I love it! I think it is something we all need to live by and remember! We shouldn't worry about what we don't have, but focus on how much we really do have!

Be Happy with what you have and you will have plenty to be happy about!

Papa

I can not believe it has been now 8 months since we have lost my amazing Papa! Every time I go to my Nana's house now I always have to go in his room, because thankfully it still looks the same as it was he left. He helps to have those happy memories in my head to get me thru the hard times. I have posted this picture a couple of times, it is one of my favorite. It shows him like he really was. He lived to make everyone happy! He did not like sadness. You must be telling some pretty funny jokes up there Papa, you are making every one laugh so hard they are crying. Miss you every day Papa!

Some thoughts by Jen

Being a mom has to be one of the greatest blessings there is, I truly believe that. I remember even before I was married on how I longed for that feeling of being a mother. I was blessed with an amazing mom who was the best mom I could ask for. When we were kids she was always there, I don't remember being young and her not being there. My parents were able to work it out where my dad would go to work and my mom would be home with us. I feel blessed that I have been able to do that too for the most part. I thank Jay for that. I am blessed to have grown up with amazing grandparents as well as Aunts and Uncles that were big parts of my childhood. Life moves so fast and in just a blink your kids grow up.

I look at Addison every day and wonder "How did she get so big?" "What did she just tell me?". She is growing up so fast. Then there is Austen who is 3, but I still see him as my little 5 lb miracle boy, that little boy that when I heard "It's a boy!" I didn't know what in the world I was going to do with a boy. My life before was all pink, bows, and dollies. I am blessed that every day I get to spend one on one time with just him while Addison is at school. My world during the day consists of dinosaurs, Nemo, Cars and Octonauts and I wouldn't change that for the world. Jay and I are so lucky to have the best of both worlds! Even though Jay and I would love to be blessed with another child, we have decided to leave that in the hands of God. I truly believe that God will never give us more than we can handle. I have been trying to really get closer to my faith, especially with having kids. I also believe that being closer to God has helped so much when we all lost the greatest Papa in the world.  I talked to a friend that has gotten into a mom's bible study group and I am hoping I can figure out how to fit that in my schedule.

I thank every day for my wonderful family. Every day may not be the easiest , but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole world. I feel blessed to be able see my children grow and that I don't miss any of the important moments in their life!

Easter 2013

Easter was a lot of fun this year! Austen really got into looking for eggs with Addison and Addison was such a great big sister helping Austen find the eggs. They both were very excited when they found what was in their basket. We went to church which is always nice when we can go as a family and sit together. I am usually downstairs in the nursery with Austen so I miss it all, but since it was Easter the nursery was not open.  We then went to my parents house for Easter dinner and got to see my brother and sister, Nana, and my Aunt Donna and Uncle Stan. The kids had a blast as well. Check out pictures from Easter.