Mother's Day

On Mother's Day weekend we kicked things off by taking our favorite little lady out to dinner on Saturday...just her and her babies.

We went to Tony's for dinner then walked Main Street and stopped for ice cream.  On our walk to the ice cream shop we stopped to take a quick picture. Which turned into 20 minutes of laughing and trying desperately to get a picture where 1. Mama Rita was actually looking at the camera 2. was smiling. :) 

We laughed SO HARD!

On Mother's Day we woke up and my babies had gone to The Painted Pot and made me a plate with their little hand-prints. I LOVE it!

Eric had worked the night before so he went to bed and the kids and I headed out to Target then stopped at Bread Co. for lunch. 

That night we headed to Will and Paige's house to keep celebrating!

MawMaw and her babies!

We ate pizza and cake, mom opened presents...

and then we all headed outside for some rollerskating and hockey.

Elle skated for approximately 3 minutes then decided shoes were much easier BUT she did want to leave her helmet and elbow/knee pads on.  She had just got them that day at Target and she was in love.

At one point while watching Henry, Will and Eric play hockey we heard Bear say, "Look at me!" and we turned around to see him on top of Nick's truck.

It was a really fun night hanging out outside.

The perfect end to a perfect day!

Mother's Day Weekend

Our Mother's Day Weekend started on Saturday with a trip to the Meadows and the Farmers Market with the Voss family.

As we shopped at the Farmers Market we stopped at a SnoCone truck to get treats for the kids.  In the picture below you can see that Bear immediately spilled his. I'm pretty sure this happened as he attempted his first bite, he tried to drink it like a cup of water.

This little lady loves a good SnoCone. Her and Eric both are addicted.

I love this picture.  I can still see some baby in her little face. 

Ollie was pretty happy about his too.

So Mary ran back to her car to drop off a set of heavy hooks she bought and I sat with the kids while they ate.  Well Henny decided to come sit by Elle and on his way over spilled his entire SnoCone. Then Bear decided to move to sit by Hens and spilled the rest of his.  I gave them each some of Oliver's and Bear spilled it again! :)  I was laughing so hard!

Little miss was by far the last to finish, she is a bit slower than the boys! But no spills from her!

The babies made these cute plants for MawMaw for Mother's Day. After seeing them I want to make some for my house now!

We celebrated with my mom on Saturday since Will was taking her to a Cardinal game on Sunday.  We went to mom and dad's, dad ordered pizza and appetizers for everyone and the kids played...and the dude hung out with mama. 

Each of the kids took their bag with their plant to my mom. 

Shocking...she cried. :)

At the end of the night we wanted a picture of my mom with each kid. Girlfriend was having a little trouble with a natural smile.

I can't look at this picture without laughing!

Look at Beary! I somehow missed Henry's turn on my mom's lap. 

We gave Sissy a minute to collect herself, loosen up and try a smile again. :)

Success!

My baby boy!

Sunday I woke up, Eric cooked breakfast and the kids gave my presents.  

Coffee from Ollie and this masterpiece from Elle. Eric took her to a pottery painting place, it has her little hand prints on it and I LOVE it! Apparently I'm turning into Mama Rita because I cried when I opened it.

It's a chip and dip bowl but I served lunch out of it picnic style while Ollie napped.

My 4th Mother's Day with my bestie. I love her more than words. 

My 2nd Mother's Day with this little ball of cuteness. I will never understand why I was so nervous during my pregnancy with him. What did I ever do without my Oliver Russell.

After Oliver's nap we headed to the park!

Excuse me, why are you so adorable?!

My beautiful girl!

Elle and I climbed to the very top. This park has 2 levels with 2 big slides!

About to go down one of the big slides.

My mom anxiety in a nutshell...

Eric once told me not to go down slides with the kids on my lap because apparently it's a pretty common way for kids to break their legs. Not sure if this was something he learned working at a children's hospital??  Anyway, this popped in my head right as we were about to go down so I held Elle's feet up and we slid at a snail's pace to make sure her legs didn't get caught.

After the park we went to SnoBiz then home to rest then back out to LaChata for dinner.  At dinner Ollie choked on a tortilla chip (terrifying!) and they both decided I should be their drink holder.

A perfect day with my family (minus the choking!). 

Mother's Day

“Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ”
― Elizabeth Stone

I love this quote, it is able to capture just a glimmer of how Elle holds my heart.  She has it with her every day for the rest of my life.  My view on celebrating my own personal mother's day as a mom is that it's a celebration of this sweet girl who made me a mom.  I'm eternally grateful that God placed us together.  Every night as she's falling asleep I look at her and it baffles me that she grew inside me, it baffles me how much I love her, it baffles me that any person can be this happy.

I vividly remember being pregnant and sitting at the island at my parents house and my mom talking about the love a mother has for her children and to be prepared for that crazy amount of love.  I remember saying something along the lines of "I know mom, obviously I'm going to love her so much!".  I didn't know.  I had absolutely no idea until that night she was in my arms...and it just continues to grow everyday.  I finally know how my mom feels about her 3 kids.  I now understand her worries when we would go on trips or are driving, flying, going off to college, sick, etc.  I get it.  She's not a worrier (well, she is a little bit :)...she's a mom....the BEST MOM in the world! 

Eric and Elle spoiled me on Sunday with flowers and a "mom" necklace that I love (and dropped a pretty strong hint for :).  More than anything I wish I could be a fly on the wall and see these two out shopping together.  Considering Elle has a fairly strong opinion on things she likes and dislikes I'm guessing it's pretty comical.

We met the family for brunch at McGurk's on Sunday.  The babies were so excited to give their gifts to MawMaw.  They each picked out an item all by themself to give her.  Elle picked earrings and Henry picked a green scarf that he immediately wanted mom to try on.

Check out those curls!

 

 

Charlie Bear snoozed through brunch...

and Will boozed through brunch! :)

 



 

We are all so so lucky to have Momma Rita.  She not only is good to us 3 kids, she spoils Eric, Nick and Paige too and don't even get me started on Henry, Elle and Charlie. :)  She would do anything for any of us in a heartbeat no questions asked.  She is simply the best.