Eternally Thankful

I am so thankful for my job. It allows me the best of both worlds. I get to do something I love and be home with my kids way more than I would if I did anything else. We had the entire week off this week and it was so nice. I like my weeks of being a stay at home mom. They are trying at times. Honestly, they are harder than going to work. It is always good for my soul. Fair warning, this is a sappy post. I have a lot on my mind today.

I am glad was given the gift of being eternally thankful. I am not always thankful for my life. I have hard days. I have really bad moments. Then God always reminds me to stop and look at what I have. We have friends that are going through so much. Today I was reminded of my miscarriage and still 4 years later it hits me in my stomach and brings tears to my eyes. If I know another woman going through that pain I feel it right along with them now. I can go back there in an instant. It is where I got my eternal thankfulness from. I don't think everyone realizes what a gift their children are. I have been given 3 years with a child I never thought would exist. I was given a huge blessing surprise that I now cannot imagine life without. I am honored. I am in awe. I am thankful. I am eternally thankful for each day I get to watch these children grow. Their smiles, their laughter, their joy.....thank you God for each and everyday.

Meet our little Daredevil!

When Kennedy first went a playground she was very cautious. She wanted to hold my hand and slowly explored the experience. When I take Whit I am constantly running! He would dive down the highest slide if I let him. He occasionally goes down head first. :) He has discovered the "LIDE" in our backyard and it brings him great joy. It makes me happy to see a little boy run through my yard. He is such a little daredevil. He doesn't need your hand or someone to catch him. He just need a ride up to the slide because his legs aren't big enough to make it up the steps.

Then and Now

Just for fun...a little blast from the past. :) This is Drew at 19months with Kennedy at 16 months. Whit (19 months) and Lorelei (15 months) Same chair, different babies....the world is turning fast! I love these sweet babies!

19 MONTHS!

I cannot believe that he is this old. He is just growing up too fast! Whit is into EVERYTHING these days. He is wide open. If you need a good work out or just entertainment you can swing by our house. Last night he was running around the house and tripped and fell back into the toy box in Kennedy's room. She was talking about it at lunch today while cracking up at the memory. It was quite funny. It was one of those little boxes for toys and he fit perfectly in it. :) He keeps us entertained. :) Here's a few things Whit is doing these days.

*Talking! He says more words that I can even think to count. He knows everyone's names and says them pretty well. He even knows who belongs to who. Yesterday he was running to the computer saying, "SarahBanks!"
*He has learned who he is. He will point to himself and say Whit. He also recognizes that it is Whit in pictures now rather than just baby!
*When he is tired he becomes a wild man. He starts to run over things and jump off furniture. When this happens we snatch him up, brush his teeth and toss him in the crib. He is out instantly. It is quite funny to see. He goes from 90 mph to asleep. :)
*He loves Kennedy. Last night she was Cinderella and she forced him to be her Prince. He didn't care. He just walked around holding her hand and laughing. Whatever she is doing he is game for.
*He is a professional cup stealer. If you are the owner of a sippy cup, you better watch out. He runs to one he knows is not his and proudly snatches it away from the owner. Then he smiles a devilish grin at you from behind the cup. This is while he is pouring it down his throat. He is bad!
*He can give kisses and show love. He loves a hug or a kiss.
*He can run and climb like crazy! We went to the park today and he was flying down the big slides with no help from me. I was too busy with Kennedy.(helping her go down them) Ha!

To describe his sweetness here are a few pics of Whit and his bestie, Lorelei. Ha ha ha! They have a love-hate relationship. She makes him mad and then sweetly looks at him and in a little girl voice says, "hi." He intentionally does things that make her mad. Someday they are going to love each other. :)

She is so like, "get away from me." :)

Little boys are so different that girls. I am glad we have a balance in this house. He loves his mommy, this little boy. There is nothing sweeter to me than that!

My Happy Place

Welcome to my happy place. This is where I turn when life just gets too crazy. This is what I do when I am sad. This is what makes my heart truly happy. :)

He is mostly smiles all day long. He has been a bit clingy lately to his mommy but that is ok. I have time to hold this sweet baby. He is bad to the bone when it comes to his sister. He intentionally takes thins and laughs about it. He likes to be mischievous. If he knows he shouldn't do it, he does anyway and then smiles at you like this.

He was told to sit down. This is what happens when I said that. Wow. I have my hands full. :)

She loves frills and bows. She loves to dance. She can't catch a ball or run very fast at all. But look closely here....those hands are in a pretty good position for a beginning dancer. Maybe we have found her calling. I love this little girl.

Dance!

What a happy, happy, place I live in. :)

SNOW!

I didn't grow up in the north where it snows all the time. I grew up in Tennessee where we got a few good snows a year. You would hear that it was going to snow and wait with anticipation. I remember so many mornings of waking up and running to my window to see if the yard was in fact covered in snow. If it wasn't, I was sad. If it was, I would run back to my bed or run to my mom to make sure school was canceled for the day. Then we had a fun filled day of riding sleds attached to four wheelers all over Anna's cow pastures. Gosh, the memories. I never had good snow boots or my feet were just extra sensitive because I was always the one begging to go back inside after 3 hours in the snow. Anna and Cindy always made me stay. :)



When I woke up Friday morning the weather man said snow. I cried because we were going out of town. I didn't want my kids to miss snow!!! I got to school and had a room full of excited children. Some of them had never seen snow in their lives. I made my background on my smartboard a snowy scene, decorated my board with snowflakes, and we checked the weather all day! Then......surprise, surprise, it snowed in South Georgia. It actually snowed. It is the first snow in 21 years here. Wow. It makes me happy to think of all of my students running Friday night outside their houses experiencing something they have never seen. :)

All this to say, I never realized how emotional snow was to me. It is the one thing I miss about living here. It was truly, truly, good for my soul. I got to share it with my kids, although they are a bit too young to appreciate it. It was a good moment for me though.

Catching snowflakes!


Fun with Aunt Courtney!

Me and my love in the snow. :)

Jerk and Jerk

The next day.....

He LOVED the snow.

She felt like this about it. :)

This is his CHEESE face. He is yelling it here. :)

She was fine as long as she wasn't standing in it. I will say I was unprepared for the snow. You don't wear jeans in snow. You don't wear jackets that can get wet. You don't wear boots that are only meant to be cute. You wear waterproof things. We don't own warm raincoats. We own little raincoats to only protect against rain. Totally unprepared! :)

SO excited!!!

The Olliff Family: Snow 2010

He kept yelling "NOMAN!"

This is how Whit fixed the nowman. He added horns to his head.

I love this one! SuSu and K and the palm trees. :)

With his Daddy :)

He is a snow angel himself. :)

Daddy and the kids

Playing!

What a good, sweet moment. I'll forever be thankful for this. Sounds silly, but true. :)

Lately....

Life around here has changed a lot in the past few months. I hate to say this out loud but I will anyway. My life has gotten just a little bit easier. :) Here's a few of the recent highlights.

Pajama Party! They LOVE this. Throw a blanket on the floor, add in a little popcorn and a movie and these kiddos are happy. I think Whit is hilarious here. He refused to put his clothes on! :)

I hear, " MOMMY!!" This is what I found. There must be something important under there.
Whit has learned to watch TV. I love when they snuggle. :)

Watching a little Curious George. Then he might check his email on his blackberry.

Kennedy learned to ride her tricycle!! ALL by herself! :) This is a big deal. :)

Busy being a boy!

Always make time to dance. :)

She found one of my old dresses and has been obsessed with it. My mom made me this and I think i wore it when I was like 5!

You look up to your older siblings. You try to be like them. Whit is pushing the limits with that these days. He is way to good at carrying a purse or a baby! hahahaha!

This one is my favorite. He is making such a manly face while holding that purse! Not to mention the super cool onesie and lasagna all over his face. I love these babies.

Kennedy says, "Mommy, we are your babies. We'll always be your babies. " She put it perfectly. And I do so love these babies. :)

A glimpse into life with Whit

This is for those of you who haven't been able to see Whit lately. He has changed SO much! He is beginning to be such a little chatterbox. He uses the word no more than anything. We never hear him say yes! Here he is in action. There are some sweet brother sister moments at the end of it. I love their little relationship. It makes my heart melt. :)

PS. I can only post videos that I take from my 1982 digital camera. Ok, it is not from 1982 but it looks about that old. This is the reason for the darkness. I really want a flip camera.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Mother's Thoughts

I am always writing about my children but today I have a few thoughts I need to get out. Greg is currently deep into playing xbox zone and I am trying to have a serious conversation with him. He is totally not paying attention to me so I will turn to my blog audience instead. :)

Whit is 18 months old now. We are busy planning spring and summer activities and I keep thinking about this summer. When I think about summer, I think about his birthday. Then I realize that my BABY is going to be 2. It is so strange to have an 18 month old and no other baby in the house. I know, I know, that is a weird statement but for me it has been my trip to motherhood. Have a baby, nurse a baby, get pregnant, have another baby, nurse another baby....and here I am at the end of the baby cycle. I've never had an 18 month old that was my youngest. I've never had a 2 year old that was my youngest. 2 sounds so old!! I thought Kennedy was ready for college when she turned 2! Ha! I baby Whit way more than I did her. She just had to step it up and be my little mother junior when he was born and she was sooooo happy to do that. I'm from a family of three siblings. Now, we are spread out over a span of 12 years, but I always in the back of my head wonder how people just have one sibling. I have always loved having both of my brothers. Sometimes you need one for something and then other times you need the other one. You get a spare. :) Am I doing these children a disservice by only having 2 children? That seems so square and boring. If you know me at all you know that I don't like to be normal and boring. My common sense tells me that I have lost my mind thinking about this now. I have an 18 month old for goodness sake! It is not like he is 10! I guess I am feeling like I have to say goodbye to little babies in this house and it breaks my heart. I am truly thankful to be given these two precious gifts. I am the mother who was told she couldn't have babies on her own and I have two. I am blessed. Whit and Kennedy have started snuggling in the mornings and watching a little Curious George together. It warms my heart. It has made my life like 100 time easier to have just a few minutes of peace. They are growing up. Life is getting easier. Yet, I am just a little sad to say goodbye to these baby years. They've been so good. They've been hard and wonderful all at the same time. Who knew being a mom was full of so many thoughts?

So, to my babies, I am thankful for each day that we have together. I don't like the fact that you are growing up but yet somehow I do like it. I hope the two of you always have each other to lean on. Maybe someday....just maybe (your Daddy says no to this) you might have a spare sibling. We are not going to make that decision because I just don't think I can. God will have to decide on that one.

Love,

Mom