Feeling Thankful on Mother's Day

Being a MOM has been the best and hardest thing I have ever done. And becoming a mom was equally as trying and rewarding. It was a long, painful, emotional, physical, spiritually trying time in our life. But it was our journey and I can honestly say I would not trade it. We had to depend on GOD and EACHOTHER to get through it. There were days when I could not do either. I thought God had deserted us and did not have a plan for us to have a family and I was angry. I could not understand why He would plant such a deep desire and longing within me to be a mother, and then not fulfill it. It felt like everywhere I looked women were pregnant and every card that came in the mail was a baby announcement.



Our marriage is stronger because of our journey to parenthood and on the days when I am exhausted and not quite the mother I thought and hoped I would be I never take for granted that I am blessed to be a mother. And now I have three beautiful creations from God that make me laugh, smile, be really silly, and sometimes. . . . yes even yell and lose my patience (usually around 4:00pm each day) and I thank God daily that He is loaning them to us to raise.



I have found that Aaron and I need to depend on God and eachother just as much as parents as we did in the days we longed to be parents. I thought we would have respectful loving obedient children because I was an early childhood teacher and he was in youth ministry. Well. . . . parenting is HARD! They come with a little personality and you do the best you can.



It is difficult to depend on God and eachother amidst the choas and busyness. Finding time, energy and a moment of peace with God and eachother seems like mission impossible. We have to choose each day to prioritize our marriage and faith and it is much easier said than done. Since we have switched to zone defence with three kids we don't win at the end of the day but as we lay in bed at night we thank God for each one of our children and how we became a family. We always joke that some people just conjugate and 9 months later have a baby. . .un-imaginable. . . . . .


I learned first and formost how to be a mom from my mom. Happy Mothers Day Mom!
Here are some of my favorite lessons I have learned from my mom ~


* to be intentional with my kids


* to travel with your family


* to make life FUN!


* to take lots of pictures


* to make time for your marriage every week


* to buy new outfits when life gets hard


* to match Everything. . .I still can't stomach off-white and white together or navy blue and black This is definitely from my mother, who even ensure that the cars match eachother, and the house



* to work hard, play hard, and shop hard


* to sing to your babies


* to put fresh flowers everywhere you can


* to show up at everything your kids are interested in





I could go on and on. . . . my mom is an amazing mom and woman. I am thankful for the many lessons she has taught me and modeled to me.


On this mothers day I am so thankful for each of my kids and how unique they are. I had dark days when I was not sure I would ever get to be a mom, even though I knew this was my greatest calling in life. I have two precious souls in heaven that lived inside me for a short time and can't wait to meet someday. I love my children and am blessed to have such a FUN family.

Since this has become our family journal and Lucia's baby book . . . I want to take some time to journal about each one of my children and what they bring to our family and of course share some pictures.

First our newest addition Lucia Jacinta or as she is now called by the by the boys - "Little Lu." I am so thankful to be given the amazing gift of being Lucia's forever mom. I thank God at least every hour of the day for bringing this little girl into our family. Having a daughter is everything I thought it would be. It is so different from having sons, and I am loving every minute of it!



Here are some of my favorite things about Lucia ~


1. I get asked all the time, "Is she always this happy?"

And my answer is an enthusiastic YES! She is maybe the happiest human alive. She truly smiles all the time. She loves people! She smiled at 4 weeks old within the first 15 minutes we were with her. I have said this many times but God gave me the word JOY everytime I prayed about her. And it is the perfect word to describe Lucia. . .she is filled with JOY. And she has brought so much JOY to our family!

2. She is fiesty and independent. Refusing to be spoon fed at 8 months old. And grabbing her brothers hair like she was born to wrestle with big brothers. She yells now!

3. She is so beautiful. . . . I can't stop taking pictures of this beautiful child.

4. She is determined. . .she knows what she wants and she is going for it. I hope this will serve her well in life . . .please remind me of this during the toddler years.

5. She lights up a room and is so engaging! People are drawn to her. I still call her my baby
Jennifer Lopez. She always has a crowd around her.


Here are LOTS of pictures of my fiesty, energetic, driven, sweet beautiful daughter. . .

Secondly our fiery red head KEAGAN THOMAS~

I adore this little boy even though he fills up my prayer life and Aaron and I spend hours trying to figure out how to parent him. Keagan rocks your world!
Here are some of my favorite things about Keagan ~

1. He has the best one-liners! He never says anything how most humans would say it. . he puts his Keagan spin on everything.

2. He is passionate and driven. I think and pray this will serve him well, but man it is hard to deal with sometimes. At two he would shoot baskets for an hour wanting to make as many as he could in a row.

3. He is so talented. . . and such a quick learner. He loves to learn. Everyday he asks me teach him how to read and asks if we can have learning time.

4. I love those big blue eyes. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have a child with beautiful blue eyes. Thank goodness he is cute b/c sometimes it is what keeps us around.

5. He is charismatic, charming precocious and so fun!!!!! Keagan is either a 10 or a zero. When he is a 10 there is no one more fun to be around. When he is a zero no one is happy.

6. You always know exactly how Keagan is feeling. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

7. Keagan loves his family so much. He is affectionate and always telling us how much he loves us. He now leaves messages on every one's cell phone to tell ask them how their day is going and tell them he loves them. He really does have passion and love seeping out of every pore.

Keagan is two years old here and already had such a funny personality.



He is passionate about basketball and plays all the time. I can't wait to watch this passion in his life.

Keagan has made us so proud as a big brother. He thinks the sun rises and sets upon his sister. He won't let me go get her in the morning or from nap without him.
Keagan the music lover and DANCER!
Teaching mom how to dance.
Is he sixteen??????
Always a goofy face. . .

Our sweet KINKADE TREVOR ~

I am so thankful to be Kinkade's mommy. . . . which is still what he calls me. I wonder how long this will last? I am so proud of who he is and the little boy he is becoming. I love so many things about him ~

1. He is so thoughtful and such a thinker. When he was three years old one night I was leaving the room and he said mom I have three questions for you. . . . Did Jesus come to Spokane, Why can't I see the planets, and why when I pee do my pee bubbles stick together??? Kinkade has always asked such great deep questions.

2. I love how he lights up when other kids are around. He just LOVES his friends. His teacher says that he is the heart of the classroom making sure everyone feels included and keeping tabs on each classmate's feelings. She described him having a Christ-like heart. Everywhere we go he asks if we are going to make any new friends

3. I love that Kinkade does not want to watch any movie with mean guys or too much violence just like his mom.

4. I love that he loves stories. If you tell him a story he will never forget it. He also never forgets the story line of each book we read.

5. I love that he loves sweets and candy as much as his mom. He must ask me 20 times a day if he can have a treat. Whip Cream is Kinkades all time favorite food!!!!!!

6. We were a little concerned that he would not have a competitive spirit in sports, since he does not ever want anyone to lose. So when they play he always wants everyone to be on the same team so no one has to lose. But the first time we saw him on the soccer field. We were blown away by his intensity and fire. After his first goal he put his hand on his hip and walked confidently down the field. It was a Kinkade we had never seen before.

Here are some pictures of our sweet, tender,thoughtful, intense Kinkade:

He loves to FISH!
I love how happy he is here at Murphy Bay. But it makes me sad how old he looks.

Kinkade is an animal lover. This is an all time classic pic of the boys at the San Diego zoo.

I love this picture at Wildhorse Canyon on dress up night.
Kinkade loves the snow. This is his first snowman by himself.
With Uncle Damian all smiles. He adores his Uncle Damian.

His Birthday is the best day of his life with all his friends surrounding him. He greeted each one at the door and said, "Thanks for coming to our birthday

Then he introduced everyone. He loves to introduce his friends.
One of my all time favorite pictures of Kinkade in Hawaii. He is going to be so handsome like his Dad.
I miss this cute scrunchy face smile.
These little smoke balls are the boys favorite part of the Fourth of July. I love their pure delight in this picture as they danced through the smoke.

My all time favorite picture of Kinkade in the Butterfly room. . . one just landed on his finger.

Looking at his first teacher with such sweetness.

Thank you God for these precious gifts. . .I am so blessed.