Mother's Day 2013

It is still so surreal that I am Mama to this sweet baby girl! I look at her and see the goodness of our God and the reality of my life verse, Ephesians 3:20! He is truly able to do exceeding abundantly above all I could ever ask or think!

Although we did not go through the painful struggle of infertility as many do, I spent many of my single years longing to be a wife and mama. For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a mom.

I LOVED teaching. The 8 years I spent in the classroom are so precious to me! Teaching struggling readers and children with ADHD, Aspergers, and other challenges was amazing. I was blessed to teach at a wonderful school with co workers (and a supervisor) that were some of my best friends, a principal who was behind his teachers 100% and students who became "mine" (If you teach, you probably understand why I refer to them as mine!) I absolutely loved what I did, but would often daydream of staying at home with my own babies!

I know that most of my desire to be a mama came from watching my own Mama! She always stayed home with us growing up and though she had a successful home business we were her first priority. She packed hundreds of lunches (and brought them to school when they were forgotten on the kitchen counter ;) ) She stayed up late helping with projects and walked around the mall for hours while I searched for the perfect outfit. She was an amazing decorator way before Pinterest or even HGTV became popular. She painted clouds on my baby blue bedroom walls without a blog tutorial to follow and when I tired of them she handpainted a pink and white striped accent wall to match my shabby chic theme! She made our house a home, but even more than that she taught us about Jesus by serving her family so faithfully! She was our church pianist, made the bulletin and taught Sunday School, but made sure we saw Jesus lived out everyday of the week not just on Sunday! She not only taught my sister and me how to sing harmony, but the importance of praising Him with our lives not just with our song!

I don't ever want to take the gift of motherhood and the privilege it is to stay home for granted. My sweet hubby works so hard so that I can be here with Londyn Grace! It is truly my dream job. It has been more challenging, yet more rewarding than I ever imagined! There have been so many days when I've wondered if I'm doing it right. Times when the dishes were piled in the sink, the laundry baskets were overflowing, my itty bitty baby was nursing constantly and I would sit overwhelmed by how much work being a mom is. There is no time clock, no punching in or punching out, but it is an amazing calling that requires all of me at all times. A calling I can only fulfill with the help of the Lord! I'm still very new and inexperienced and have SO much to learn, but I'm so grateful for answered prayers and the blessing of serving Jesus by serving my family! (I know many of you work outside the home, too, so you are pulling double duty! You are AMAZING and I don't know how you find the energy to do it all!)

For my first Mother's Day, Londyn Grace picked out a gorgeous necklace from Zales and the sweetest card! I think she may have had a little help from her Daddy! After church, Daniel took a picture of me and my Lovey Lou! It will be neat to see how much she grows from one Mother's Day to the next. We had dinner at the EuroGrill, a yummy restaurant in town. I ordered barbeque ribs! When we got home, Daddy rocked LG to sleep and skipped his afternoon nap so I could take one! It was wonderful! {Thanks, Babe!}

my heart. my love. my daughter. my londyn grace.

Since Daniel is a pastor, we have a lot of responsibilities at church on Sundays which make traveling for Sunday holidays nearly impossible. It was hard not being with my Mama, but FaceTime is such an awesome invention! We were able to "visit" for a few minutes! I mailed her new Vera Bradley purse and several prints from Londyn Grace's six month shoot earlier in the week so she got her present in time!

We ended the day with our evening service and then Daniel's family arrived for a visit! We were able to give his mom her gift in person and spend time with her on Monday!

It was so special to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a mama to my Little Goose! I am so glad I get to keep her!