Thankful to be Mom

We've all heard the saying, a picture is worth 1,000 words.  Because I am very wordy, I often have ten times that number!  With that in mind, I wanted to share some of my thoughts upon getting the mother and son pictures back from our family photo shoot.  

I am so very thankful to be a mother! For the last year, I have had the opportunity to be a stay at home mom, and it has been incredible, easily the best and most rewarding job I have ever had though it was not an easy decision or transition.  

I had wanted to be a stay at home mother and we had prayed for that opportunity since the time that our son was born.  However, with his medical challenges, it was necessary for me to continue working for the insurance.  In many ways, my career was a huge blessing because I was able to earn an income, provide insurance for our family, and I also had a large amount of leave so I could be there for doctor appointments, field trips, sick days, and vacation days.  Plus, I was very good at my job (any co-workers reading may feel free to disagree!).  I received promotions, bonuses, and friendships.  I met incredible people who influenced my life and family, and I am forever grateful for those relationships.  

Being good at my job and not being able to have more children, however, was quite emotional.  I started to believe that perhaps I was not a very good mother.  Perhaps I was not meant to stay at home because I would be terrible in that capacity. My heart broke as I continued to work.

Then it happened.  I had to leave my job because David received a job offer that took us closer to family.  We moved back across the country and once we arrived I started applying for jobs.  We had prayed for over 8 years that I would get to stay home, and now I was praying that I would be able to find a job.  I had interviews immediately and as I spoke with prospective employers, difficulties began to arise.  I would have to arrange before and after school care which was not an issue before.  I would not be available to help if our son had problems with his medical condition or to attend school programs and field trips.  As we were praying to be able to find the right opportunities, the reminder came that we had been praying for me to be able to be a stay at home mom.  That was the answer!  I was nervous because of a couple years I had been having those thoughts that I wasn't good enough for such a position.  Would I be able to cut it?  What would I do with all the time that the boy is at school?

Fast forward to one year later.  It has been amazing!  I love being a mom.  I have loved volunteering in the classroom.  I have loved that my relationship with my son has has grown.  I am not perfect, but I never was.  I love being mom and I am so thankful for this opportunity to be at home while my son is young.  I am thankful for my husband who has taken on the stress of providing for us financially.  He is an incredible man, and I am so blessed to be his wife.  

Pictures

We recently had our family pictures taken and I was pretty pleased with the result.  I am not photogenic to put it mildly and to be honest, I don't like that pictures show that I am much bigger in life than I am in my head!  However, I want pictures of me.  I want them with my son and with my husband.  This is in large part because I miss my mom.  My mom destroyed so many pictures of herself and so there are relatively few, and those few are what I have to remind me what my mom looks like.  She died when I was young, and I find that now, after 20+ years, I have to look at pictures to remember.  So, even if I find a picture of myself terribly unflattering, I try to keep it.  Now, I do delete some digital pictures right after they are taken because, well, I do NOT want to be remembered like that.  But, I do want to be remembered.  I want my son to remember that I was with him, that I LOVED being with him.  I want him to see that I loved his father and his father loved me.

Pictures were taken by Lauren at CheapShots Photography.  Thank you Lauren!

Christmas Wishlist 2013

I love watching the wish list change as Samuel grows.  This year for fun we are going to make a picture wish list.  When Samuel sees something he would like to add to the list we snap a picture.  This post will probably change as we go through the next couple weeks but we have had lots of fun so far on our trip to Costco!

Who doesn't want a huge panda bear!

A telescope - David would love this too!

A new bike

A scooter

Darth Tater - Samuel has a Potato Head like this but not a big Darth Vader

Basketball game - he would also like the Foosball table.....I just can't figure out where he thinks we could put these!

Darth Vader

Workbench - Samuel wants to be a builder

Piano

Drum set - the boy loves music!

Jake and the Neverland Pirates tree house - he would also like the ship.  I am glad he still likes this show.  He is growing fast I and now it will be soon that he will outgrow some of these shows and toys.

We took the longest at this display.  He loved all of the cars, trucks, helicopters and it was hard to decide which ones he wanted to include on his wish list.

A globe - he love to look a maps.  I love his face in this picture - it shows that it is hard to hold the whole world LOL!

LeapPad - I don't know if he has ever used one but he sure was excited to take a picture

He loves art so he was also very excited about this set

More tools

More cars

MOSI

Last weeked the Museum of Science and Industry had a family day which means discounted tickets!  We went and had a great part.  Of course, the highlight was the children's area and therefore those are the pictures that we have!

Fireman

Tug of War

Pumping Gas

Driving the delivery truck

Hockey player

Trying to use a wheelchair - it was hard work!  (another sad, blurry picture too)

Halloween

How have I not posted about Halloween?!  I got to go to Samuel's school and help with his Halloween party - it was so much fun.  This year he was a firefighter - I am pretty sure I have posted pictures of his costume before but here is picture of him at the Halloween Party!

Eating a cupcake - well, licking off the frosting at least

Mom & Son Days

School was out on Friday and Monday so I took the day off and Samuel and I got to spend some fun time together.  I really do enjoy my job and the people I work with, but nothing beats spending time with my little guy.  We started the first day by going on a breakfast date to his favorite restaurant, Cracker Barrel.

I know that he likes pancakes, but really I think the main draw for this restaurant is the gift shop :)

First Field Trip: Green Meadows Farm

We continue experiencing firsts and this month was the first field trip.  I loved being a chaperon - I am definitely not meant to be a kindergarten teacher, but I love being the mom of a kindergartner and experiencing some days through their eyes.  Plus, it is always fun to watch the little guy interact with his friends.

On the hay ride

Learning how to catch a chicken - although once in there he refused to touch one!

Closest he got to holding the baby chick - I'm sad that this is so blurry

Petting a goat - clearly goats are not as scary as chickens

Milking a cow - after doing this he exclaimed, "I am NEVER doing that again!"

Riding the pony - the highlight of the trip

At the end of the tour of the farm we exited through a pumpkin patch and everyone got to pick out their own pumpkin.  That night we carved our pumpkins.  Little guy's pumpkin is the front left, my pumpkin is front right, and David's pumpkin (this one we bought at the store because David didn't go on the field trip) is in the back.