These are the days

We have had so much fun with Shea this Christmas. He has loved every minute of this holiday season and really gets the fact that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and also that Santa is coming!! He is always making hilarious comments or randomly being extra sweet to me or Zoe Cate. Last night I was sitting on the couch and Shea was playing with our new nativity set when he comes up to me, lay his head in my lap and says "Mommy, I love you so much. I'm so glad you are here.". I scooped him up and just squeezed him tight. I don't ever want to forget these precious moments!

Sweetest Thing!

My sweet Zoe Cate is an absolute doll baby!! While she is definitely a firecracker, she has a sweet, loving side, too. Today we were trying to kill 30 minutes before nap time. We went to the library earlier this week and picked out some new books to read. Shea and I were in the floor reading some books, while Zoe Cate played around us and every now and then sat on my lap to hear the story.* While we were reading, Zoe Cate made her way down the hall to Shea's room and came back carrying one of Shea's trains. She had the BIGGEST grin on her face as she handed it to Shea. Shea and I both thanked her and told her what a sweet girl she was and off she went...back down the hall! We repeated this process until she had brought him 5 of his train cars. IT WAS PRECIOUS! The grin on her face each time she toddled around the corner just melted my heart. As most moms do, I tried to make this a learning experience for them both but especially Shea. He has the tendency to be a little rough with Zoe Cate and doesn't always 'share' like he should. I used this moment to try and impress on his heart that she just REALLY loves her big brother and wanted to make him happy by bringing him some of his favorite toys. Did I get through!? Who knows!! For a brief moment though they were both so pleased with each other and this Momma's heart almost burst from the love I feel for them!! I'm so blessed and so grateful to God that I get to be with these children every day!






*Zoe Cate is not near as in to books as Shea was at her age. However, I read to her every day and while sometimes she'll sit on my lap and interact, I continue to read to her while she roams around where ever we happen to be at the time. I'm not sure what else to do!? I know how important reading is in life and I feel like her at least hearing me read a book she'll pick up on the rhythm of speech? Any educators who might happen on this entry [LEA!! :)] care to chime in??

Ahhhhh, It's 1pm...

It's the MOST wonderful time of the day!!!! 1pm means nap time for the babes and REST time for the Momma!!!

Zoe Cate at 1pm...


Shea at 1pm...


Mommy at 1pm...

I tried to take a pic of the TV but it didn't come out to well. I love 1pm!!!!

Three

Shea is three years old today. Just writing that out seems insane. I cannot believe that he is already three!!! These past three years have flown by. I can remember the first few weeks of his life when I was so overwhelmed with happiness that he was here but also so sad and overwhelmed by what having a newborn entailed!! He was such a sweet, calm baby. He rarely cried or fussed unless he was hungry or tired. Charlie instantly fell in love with him when we brought him home.

I want to remember absolutely everything about Shea at this age. His mannerisms, his sweet sayings, his determination, his inquisitiveness, his joy, his spunk, EVERYTHING! He never ceases to amaze me or Eric with something he has come up with. He has such a loving heart. Now, don't be confused by my choice of words :).... Shea can be rough and tumble with the best of them!! He is DEFINITELY all boy. We've known this for awhile but it was solidified this weekend when we went to Tennessee to see our family [whom Shea has NEVER met]. He took right up with my older cousin David. He and David rode the riding lawn mower for an hour raking up leaves. Shea was in charge of lifting the rope to dump the leaves out by the side of the road. After their hard work was done, David let Shea steer the mower himself up and down the street.
After riding the mower, they took off with their 'walking sticks' to the pond. David told me later that Shea saw a trout and wanted to catch him. David said "But we don't have any fishing poles." David said Shea just looked up at him, held up his stick and said "But we got these!!" HA!! My silly boy! David said he did have a point so he held on to Shea while he stabbed around in the water trying to catch something! He came up empty handed but had a fantastic time.

We had a FULL day. We basically did whatever Shea wanted to do!! For breakfast, Shea had powdered doughnuts on his 'special' plate. Then we headed to the zoo! He wanted to ride the train so we rode [Zoe Cate got a free ride thanks to the nice Conductor!] and they both loved it. The conductor knew it was his birthday so he let him sit up front in the engine but Shea was a little leery of that. Then we had lunch at McDonalds, home for nap, and off to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I asked Shea last night what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he replied "I think I just want a kids meal from Cracker Barrel.". HA! What makes that even funnier is that we rarely eat there in the first place! We had cake and opened presents at the restaurant and he loved his dinosaur his Gigi and Pawpaw got him. We came home and finished off the evening watching Merry Madagascar. When he was going to bed he told Gigi "You can just leave that dinosaur here..." So sweet! We had a fabulous day and are so thankful for the blessing that Shea is in our lives! Here are a few pics from our day....

Enjoying birthday doughnuts

Train ride at the zoo

Nap time with "Chachy" as he calls her


Enjoying the last of the frosting for his cake

Birthday pancakes at Cracker Barrel


Happy Birthday, Shea!

Cool dinosaur
We love you, Shea!! Thank you for brightening our lives with your sweetness! May you always find joy in life. I love these lyrics from the song "My Wish" by Rascall Flatts, it truly says what Eric and I wish for our babies!

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow
And each road leads you where you want to go
And if you're faced with the choice and you have to choose
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you

And if one door opens to another door closed
I hope you keep on walkin' til you find the window
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile
But more than anything, more than anything

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold

Happy Birthday, Shea!!

Praise God...

.....from whom all blessings flow





Praise Him all creatures here below...





Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts....



Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost....



I absolutely love the Doxology. I sing it many times a day to Shea and Zoe Cate. Eric and I are beyond blessed with these precious babies.

Reading Time!

I was reminded today of such a special time Shea and I shared while I was pregnant with Zoe Cate. The further it got in to the summer, the later it was in my pregnancy. I was HUGE and it was SOOOO hot outside!! I was also exhausted from being 8 months pregnant with a 20 month old. Many an afternoon, I would lie on the couch. Shea would bring me book after book and climb up on the couch with me. We'd lay there and read for usually an hour. We would read a book and then he would climb down and go pick out another one to read. I so enjoyed that sweet time with him. He's always loved to read and to see his excitement as he would point things out to me in the book was fabulous. It was so nice to just relax and snuggle my boy. I knew that the coming months would not allow for much 'laying' around so he and I took full advantage and did this practically every day!!!



This is how he and I would spend many of our afternoons [minus Eric as he was at work!!].

When I was a little boy...

Both Shea and Zoe Cate have always talked in a different tone to animals and babies. We noticed when Shea was just starting to babble that when he would babble 'talking' to Charlie or my parents dog, Milo, that he would use a higher pitch voice. Almost as if he was doing 'baby talk'. Zoe Cate has done the same thing. It is so sweet to watch her talk to Charlie and love on her!! I can remember Shea doing the SAME thing when he was a sweet baby.

We have had a bit of a time lately with Shea not wanting Zoe Cate to touch ANY of his toys. ANY OF THEM. Seriously. Shea, you've been around a couple years longer than Zoe Cate. You've had a little more time to acquire 'stuff'!!! Earlier, Zoe Cate got a couple of Shea's trains. He started to protest so I told him to just calm down. "She never plays with anything that long. She won't hurt them!", I said to him. So, he was watching her carefully and she was having a great time. Then he said to her, in that sweet high pitched voice reserved for animals and babies, "You like those trains, Zoe? Those were mine when I was a little boy.". His face was full of such love for her. After how rough and not very kind he's been to her this past week, it was sweet to witness him being loving towards her! I am thinking Shea considers himself a BIG boy and not a little boy....he's right!!