Making the bed is fun to do

In an effort to make chores seem appealing to Norah, I often have her help me out with day-to-day tasks like sweeping, emptying the dishwasher and making my bed. So far she thinks it's all fun and games, we'll see how long that lasts :) Of course, sleeping on Mommy's bed is much more fun than making it.

Mother's Day

Oh what a beautiful day today! Everything was so perfect, even my primary class (mostly) behaved themselves. I'm grateful for the time I was able to spend with my little family and my extended family (both in person and via technology) and for the wonderful blessing it is to be a mother. Truly, there is nothing better.

My mother, enjoying her Mother's Day spoils

My mommy

The Elder gals

My beautiful parents

Delicious Mother's Day Dessert

Dancing with Grandaddy

Confession, this picture makes me sad. When did my baby get so big?

My perfect princess, the one that made me a mom

So ... she decided she wanted to go swimming ...

Bubbles

I have been trying to savor every last moment with this little girl before the baby comes. As excited as I am for his arrival, I'm going to miss my one-on-one time with her.

Norah

Dear Norah,

I am convinced you are perfect. When your daddy and I decided to add a baby to our lives, we had no idea we would be so blessed. Watching you learn, develop and grow in every way is such a joy. You bring a light into our lives that we never knew could exist. I love the way you call me "Mama" and how you are so delighted to be my best friend and shadow. I love getting ready with you in the morning, and letting you pick out what we're both going to wear for the day. Your smile brightens everything around you, and your funny little personality makes me melt. Pretty soon you are going to be a big sister and I am so excited for you to have a little buddy. I hope you know how much your parents love you!

Love,

Mama

Photos taken at our recent outing to Thanksgiving Point, we love spending time there as a family.

April's Arizona Adventure

On April 14 Jason baptized my niece Carys. We looking into flying down there but at a $600 price tag (YIKES!) we opted to drive. I was 30 weeks pregnant. Norah was newly potty trained. Oh, and she had diarrhea. Yes, we are brave, and we survived! Not only that, but we had an amazing weekend. The weather was perfect and we loved every second of being with Jason's family. I didn't take my camera out much, but here's a few snap-shots of our weekend in AZ.

Our attempt at a family photo ... but really, we couldn't compete with swinging and sliding with cousins. Norah was so not into it.

My wild child, I love her

I call this one "large and in charge" let's just say I put a basketball under my shirt. Oh, no, wait, that's just me. And my baby.

Nursery sneak peek

Baby C's nursery went from zero to nearly finished in the course of two days. Granted, the initial work of de-junking and picking paint colors/theme/etc took forever but once we had the vision, we put the first coat of paint on the ceiling and there was no stopping us. Three coats of ceiling paint, two coats of wall paint and a major Ikea trip later, the nursery is looking pretty dang good. All it's missing is a crib, some wall decor (in the works) and, of course, a baby :)

Norah was a big helping getting all the furniture put together :) Daddy's little helper girl!

Rug: Dwell Studio
Rocker: Ikea
Pillow: Etsy, Ekofabrics
Nightstand: Ikea
Light: Land of Nod
Lamp: Target
Lampshade: Land of Nod