The Best

In honor of mother's day, here is a list of some of my favorite things about being a mom.

• Sticky kisses and hugs that don't want to let go.
• "I love you mommy!"
• Homemade cards and artwork made just for me.
• Flower (weed) bouquets.
• Requests for snuggle time.
• When only mommy will do, sorry daddy.
• When my kids answer questions correctly during FHE.
• Repeating something I've taught them.
• Watching them run off to school and then run to me afterwards.
• Holding their hands.
• Experiencing all of the new stages and phases of life.
• Hearing my kids singing.
• Being the one to get Maren out of her crib, her smile is always the biggest then.
• When Maren reaches her arms out for me.
• Hearing my girls squeal "Daddy!" when he comes home from work.
  

Even though some days are rough, I absolutely love being a mom. I love my three lovely girls and think they are the best. I love what Elder Ballard said in a conference talk a few years ago, he said "First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction." I am trying really hard to find the joy in the moments every day. I love my little girls and I am so glad that I can be their mom.

Pan vs. Toe

While I was unloading the dishwasher Sunday night, I had a little mishap. I stacked my crepe pan on top of my frying pan, just like I always do. I opened the drawer under the stove, and just as I rotated the pans to put them down into the drawer...I dropped them both. The crepe pan landed right on my toe and luckily the other one missed me completely. both pans hit the tile and made a horrible noise, and I screamed "ouch!" When it comes to a pan vs. a toe, the pan always wins.

9 Month Checkup

Maren had her 9 month check up today. She is doing great! She weighs 22 lbs. 14 oz. and is 28 1/2 inches long. She is our little butterball!

Maren's Arch Nemesis

The other day Addy put a hat on Ben. Maren took one look at him and burst into tears. We weren't sure what the problem was. Ben took off the hat and she calmed down. A few minutes later he put the hat on again, same reaction. Grandma came over later that evening and Ben had her put on the hat, tears again. I guess Maren has hit the stranger danger stage. Just for good measure, a few nights ago Ben put on the hat again. You guessed it, the same reaction. This time I was able to catch with the camera.

Funny Kids

My children love coleslaw, kind of crazy, but they love it! Last night at dinner they had to have coleslaw because we had some left over from Saturday. Ben had used a spoon and a fork to serve it up. The coleslaw was gone and Sydnee was using the spoon to scoop out the dressing. Addy started to whine and asked for some, Sydnee looked at her and said, "use the fork" Ben and I cracked up. It was quite funny, Addy had to get a spoon so that she could scoop up some dressing, because the fork just wouldn't hold any.

Tulip Festival 2010

Sydnee kept posing and asking me to take her picture

The koi fish pond

Baby Cool

Our froggy friend

Last Monday I took my two little girls and joined my friend Jamie at the tulip festival. I love the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. They are so pretty and just peaceful. Sydnee loved running around with Rylie and Garrett. We wandered around the gardens for a while and then stopped for a picnic lunch. Maren was quite happy to get out of her stroller and be free for a short time. We walked down to the waterfall and the kids ran around for a while and Jamie and I got to talk. It was such a lovely day, I'm glad we went when we did, the rest of the week it snowed. Crazy weather! Thank you Jamie for a wonderful day!