My Mother's Day...a blessed day

I love being a mother. I just love being a mommy. It is everything I ever dreamed...and more...much, much more. I love all the little details of my life as a mother. I love spending my days at home (and on the go) being with my little boy, experiencing life together. I love watching his little face light up with excitement everyday and hear him say "I love you Moma".

The little things of William....

his sweet voice, just talking away and carrying on conversations

his little mind, just so full of questions

his little face...bright with smiles, full of happiness

his imagination...he loves to pretend and create things

his sweet manners...(Thank you, You're Welcome, Excuse Me, Please, Ma'm, Sir, Oh Dear...)

his voice when he sings and tells me stories and "reads" books

his chubby little tummy

his chubby little hands

his chubby little feet

his blonde hair...(and the curls that come back and flip out)

his love of swimming (swimming underwater independently at 2.5 years)

his love of outdoors, noticing tiny blades of grass and flowers as well as huge trees and clouds

his carefree way he plays on the beach

his face as he listens to me read books to him

his little prayers

everything about him...it's all the little things that make me a mommy...I am truly blessed!

This year for Mother's day we stayed home from church b/c William was fighting a fever virus. We just hung out around the house and enjoyed family time. We painted for a while and played for a while. Philip sent me out to the beach for a little time alone...but I ended calling him and asking him to bring W down so I could play on the beach with him :) We ended the afternoon with a quick trip down to the beach. The day was perfect! I will say it again, I am truly blessed to be a mother.

W's new "big boy" room

The time had come. The time had finally come for my baby to move from his nursery to a "Big Boy" room...and I wasn't ready! Although I knew in my heart it was right and talked non stop about the big move and had fun picking everything out for his new room, I WAS NOT READY TO WATCH MY BABY BOY LEAVE HIS SOFT, SWEET BABY ROOM AND MOVE TO A BIG BOY ROOM! Somehow, I made it through the transition with a smile on my face and excitement in my voice. Somehow, I didn't let W see me cry the tears that streamed down my face. Somehow, the time had come and gone for W to be in his baby room. Somehow, my 1st baby had grownup and was ready to move to his new room with a big bed!

So, we spent time picking out new bedding for W that would "grow" with him. We painted his new room (thanks Philip and Hunter). We ordered new furniture for his new room. We decorated the walls with his artwork and portraits. We made the room ready and perfect. AND. WILLIAM. MOVED. Oh, his excitement! Oh, his joy! He loved every minute of it! He did great his 1st night...Mommy just decided she needed to spend that 1st night with him, you know, just in case...he slept all through the night! Ha~

Anyway, my little angel has moved to his big boy room and yet, he's still my little angel. He is loving his new room! I am so proud of my big boy~

Baby Justiss' Baby Shower (May 1, 2010)

I am so thankful for my wonderful friends and family who took the time to shower me and baby Justiss with such wonderful gifts and to celebrate the upcoming arrival of my sweet baby.

Oh, how blessed I am to be surrounded by such wonderful women! I couldn't help but smile all morning, while enjoying the shower, just knowing all these wonderful women were there with me to share in the excitement of my new baby on the way. I felt so loved and so blessed! When you feel the love others have for your little one, your heart just bursts with pride. I loved every minute of the shower because I could feel the love for my child and know that all my friends were there with love and support for me (and Philp) as we anticipate our new little one. I am so thankful for all who made the shower so wonderful!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Moments of fun in May

May days around here were tons of fun! We kicked off our summer with a blast. We enjoyed every minute of every day and stayed busy busy! I wanted to focus on William and spend time with him doing the things he loves. Making memories with my little boy are priceless. I love spending my days with him, just being a mommy. I love being a mommy. It is the best job in the world. I love the contentment my heart feels with every glimpse of my child. I love the little conversations I have with William. I love his imagination and his outlook on life. He amazes me. He's such a happy child and full of love for life! There is brightness in his eyes and such excitement in his heart :) I love being a mother to William!





Days on the beach provide endless entertainment for us. There is such simple joy being out on the beach, watching William enjoy life. He LOVES being out on the beach. He is calm, yet lively. He is very content to just be outside. He loves his bucket and shovel. He plays right by himself, letting me sit and watch, then quick as a minute, he's grabbing my hand to be up and playing with him. We crash in the waves together and giggle till our hearts burst. We dig tunnels in the sand and build countless sandcastles, only to stomp them down immediately. We take walks together to find seashells, only to throw them into the water and laugh. I always leave the beach relaxed and amazed. I cherish the days I have to be on the beach with my adorable toddler. He's a beach baby for sure, and he knows it! I am thankful for the generosity of the beach and for all it provides. I am blessed to have the endless adventure of the Gulf Coast basically in my backyard. I am so thankful that my child gets to enjoy such great beauty from God. God is so good! His endless beauty is all around us and is there to enjoy. I am so thankful I have the opportunity to experience the blessing of the beach with William!





I have mentioned before my child's love of painting...and my love of his paintings. I will never tire of hearing "mommy, let's paint". I will never find an excuse to postpone my child's imagination. I love to watch him paint till his heart is content. It is rewarding to say the least to have a child who loves creativity and finds joy in painting. Yes, it's messy, but that's part of what childhood is about. I would never squash his spirit by telling him something was too messy (knowing it could easily be wiped right up). I love his face as he paints and hearing him talk about what he's painting. I love when he wants to paint a surprise for someone. I pray my child always has room in his heart for the joy of being a child and the simple things, like painting :)





While I love my days of just Mommy and William, I also love to have playdates with friends. We are blessed with so many friends who add to our life. We enjoyed spending time together with friends during May. We also loved celebrating at a few birthday parties of some of our buddies. It's important to include friends into our lives and to spend time with them, so that's what we do!





Going home to my parents house is always a blessing and an adventure! I was so happy to sneak off to Dothan at the end of the month for a quick trip. I wanted to spend a few days enjoying my parents before the baby was to arrive. This was my last trip up with William before baby, and we got everything out of it we could. We played in the garden with Granddaddy one afternoon. That was exceptionally special! We seldom get time with him while we're up there to visit b/c he's at work most of our time. William was tickled to help "farmer granddaddy" dig up potatoes. He was amazed at finding potatoes in the ground. I loved capturing his face and his voice! I love the opportunity to share this experience with him. I love the happiness he brings to my parents and brothers. There's nothing like it! We also had the chance to watch Uncle Holden play baseball and pitch! Holden did awesome on the mound! William was so proud of Ho-Ho and loved cheering for him at the ballgame! Next on the agenda was attending Holden's end of the year program at school. Let me tell you...when you take a toddler (who loves his uncle) to a school program, expect him to scream and wave at his uncle over the crowd when he sees him on stage :) It was adorable! As we watched the children walk on stage, William was asking for Holden...well, as soon as Holden walked on stage, William screamed "Hey Holden, Sing, Holden, I love you Holden" and smiled the entire program and clapped the loudest! It was priceless! We spent that afternoon watching William and Holden play in the sprinkler as a kick-off of Holden's summer! Grannymart drove around to watch them with us. We all laughed and laughed as William and Holden ran through the sprinkler, just being boys and loving life. A few times, William wanted to water the plants for Maggie, so he'd pick up the sprinkle and proceed to drench her plants. He also had fun trying to get me wet. He chased me around Grannymart's car until I convinced him he could "wash" her car. That was a blast and a great way to end our little visit. Oh, the joys of childhood!




We ended our month celebrating Memorial Day. My parents and little brother came down to spend that Sunday and Monday with us. It was a great weekend with lots of beautiful weather. You can tell from the pictures that William loved being out on the beach with Maggie and Granddaddy and Holden. We all relaxed and had a great time together. I just love family time!

W's new playground!!

Thanks to Philip, Papa and Mimi, William has a new playground!! Boy what a weekend!! They came up the weekend after Philip's birthday to help Philip build the playground for William. It was a huge task!! Every piece had to be individually assembled. It's all hardwood, so extra heavy! William was sooooo excited to be "working" with them on his playground. The cutest thing was the toy drill Papa and Mimi brought William so he could "work". William had to bring his own tool box out back so he'd have everything he needed. He fell in love with his drill and wanted to do just what Daddy and Papa were doing. Mimi was a great leader, taking care of the instructions and gathering the pieces for the guys. I was in charge of refreshments and encouragement and of course, pictures! I got some really good ones of the weekend. I'm so happy Philip and his Dad worked together to build William his own playset. It's certainly a memory to cherish. I can tell you that whenever we move, this playset will go with us!! Ha!!



Before the work weekend began, Papa and Mimi went with us to art class on Friday. William was so excited to have them their with us. He wanted to show them his art and bounced from my lap to theirs as he worked on his project for the day. (I believe this pictures are under the art class post) We also made a stop by the library with them so William could show them his library. He loved showing them the puzzles and books. I love his excitement about life and wanting to share it with everyone.




Papa and Mimi treated us to dinner Saturday night to celebrate Philip's birthday. We called and got a babysitter for William and the 4 of us went to dinner at Philip's choice: FIRE. It is amazing and is now probably our favorite place on 30-A. We all had fantastic meals and split 2 amazing desserts. It was so fun to go out to dinner together and have a date! After dinner, we stopped in Seaside and strolled around enjoying the evening air. It was a great night. We decided to head on home and was surprised to find that W went right to sleep for the babysitter. This is a task, b/c he doesn't go to sleep for anyone but Mommy...but the past few babysitters have been able to tell him it's bedtime and he (apparently) goes right in his room and right to sleep...I think he just likes cuddling w/ Mommy :) It was a jam packed weekend, but well worth it! Thank you Papa and Mimi for helping with the playset and for a great weekend! We loved every minute of it! We are having a blast on the playset!!

***as of now, this is the only video that will upload. I'll keep working on the other videos from his playground weekend!

Days in the Garden

William has discovered he loves to help Mommy in the flower beds (garden to him)! He just loves digging in the dirt and planting the flowers. I think his favorite is the water hose! We spent many afternoons in the spring working in our flowerbeds together. He also had fun helping me with some of my potted plants. His excitement was so catching! He would grab my hand and tell me that we needed to go see the flowers and that they needed water. Can you tell we had fun???

Philip's Birthday (April 2010)

When you have 2 year old and you are celebrating Daddy's birthday...what better than to bake Daddy his own batch of cupcakes...along with his favorite (requested every year) tiramisu?? Well, that's just what William and I did! We had such a great day together baking away! William LOVED baking cupcakes and decorating them just for Daddy! He loved helping me with the homemade tiramisu! He loved helping wrap presents for Daddy. He loved helping Daddy unwrap presents! He loved presenting Daddy with a cupcake! He even fell in love with the taste of tiramisu! I hope Philip enjoyed his birthday as much as we did! You can tell from the pictures that one certain little boy loved every minute of Daddy's birthday!

Happy Birthday Philip! We love you!!