Dreams do come true.

I’m starting a new phase of life.  For 12 years I have been mom to 4 little people.  People that needed my help to dress, eat, sleep, and even go to the bathroom.

Now, all 4 little people are bigger people that don’t need help with those things anymore.  My job as a mom is more emotional now, than it is physical. 

My brain goes in to overdrive when my life and my job changes.  I compare it to a job change or a position change that you go through at work.  When that happens, it always takes time to figure out how to do the new job. 

Along with the change of trying to understand “tweenagers”, and an almost teenager, my baby will soon be going to Kindergarten.  Ahhh!!!  When my kids were little, I thought this day would never come.  It is almost here.  In Utah, Kindergarten is only half day, so I feel that I’m easing in to it. 

What will I do during the day, with all my children in school?

I’m actually not too worried about it. 

I have plenty to do. 

Like figuring out how to parent teenagers.  I might be reading lots of parenting books while my kids are at school.  With all the kids in school, I will now have more classrooms to volunteer in; which will take more of my time as well. I will have time to take lunch to my husband, and share an hour with him in the middle of our day. I hope to be able to serve a little more.  I would also like to spend more time at the Logan Temple; which is an important building in our church. And of course, I will start crossing off some of the projects on my list.  I might even get caught up on some scrapbooking.

I know that I have plenty to keep me busy.  However, my kids are really worried about what I’ll do.  The oldest two kids keep asking me if I’ll go back to work, or will I go back to school?  They are worried that I will be bored.  They are worried that I have dreams that I want to fulfill and accomplish.  I do have dreams.  I do have things that I would love to do.

So, I started thinking about my dreams the other day.  You know what I realized?

I am living my dream.

Jex, you are my dream. I always wanted to be a mom to a cute chubby little baby boy, and then how surprised I was when I was given you as my first born. I am blessed.

Stella, I prayed for you, you are very much my dream. In fact, before I knew I was pregnant with you, I actually had a dream about you. 

Isaac, I always wanted a sweet blue-eyed boy, with a passion for life.  You are also my dream.

Tessa, I dreamed of a little girl that I could doll-up with piggy tails and bows. A little girl that would hold my hand, and had the prettiest smile.  You are my dream.

I dreamed about having 4 kids; 2 boys and 2 girls.  WOW!! That turned out well.

Jonathan, as a young girl, I always dreamed of marrying a handsome man, who loved me more than anything.  I know you do.  You give me so much love everyday.  You have fulfilled one of my greatest dreams. As an added bonus, you are very handsome.

 

All five of you, complete the dreams of the young Andrea.  You make me who I wanted to become; always a wife and a mother.  When I was very much a “tweenager” and teenager myself, I often dreamed of what it would be like to be a wife and a mother.  I never dreamed about being a graphic designer(which is what I would go back to school for), or dreamed about being a photographer.

Having a family is always what I dreamed about.

So.. sweet children who are worried about me.  Thank you for making me think about my dreams.

It helped me realize I am already living them.

 

You are my dreams.

My dreams really have come true.

365

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Jex and his Ipad.  He loves drawing and creating on art apps.  It’s been fun to see how interested he has become in art.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Nice and cozy, and working on my laptop.

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Drawing our new house plans today.  It’s just a rough sketch, but a good jumping off point. …and it only took me all day.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Sunday dinner.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Hello.

Tuesday,  March 3, 2015

Utah Sunsets.  Really.  Beautiful.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Mamma got a new lens, and I must try it out.  It has a Macro feature.  This is up close and personal on one of my vintage cameras.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

I’m still trying out my lens.  It zooms in really tight.  I have never been able to zoom in on the beautiful Logan temple from our house.  I love looking at this sight out our windows. Now with my new lens, you see it how I see it.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Jonathan surprised me with a trip to Houston to see my bestie.  This is my sight out the window of the airplane.  It was nice to have my new lens, so I could zoom in on the bright moon.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Krysta took me out shopping in an old vintage town.  We shopped all the neat antique shops, and ate lunch at a fun little tea shop.

I had bread pudding for dessert. Yummy!!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Somehow I missed taking a picture today.  So I’m sharing all the goodies we picked up on our shopping trip on Monday.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Happy Birthday Krysta!!

Tuesday,  March 10, 2015

Cake for breakfast!

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

I bought these new fun straws in Houston.  I love adding my new finds when I get home from trips.  You have to pick up something fun when you vacation.  It has to be something fun, but small enough that it can fit in your suitcase.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

New Shoes.  It’s warm out and time to start buying sandals.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Jex all ready for his Nerf gun war with friends.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Jex all dressed up in his baseball uniform.  It’s that time of year again.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

I got my chatbooks.  I finally finished editing all of them while I was in Houston.  I enjoyed my Sunday looking through all of them.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Tess was painting the house with water today, and then decided she should blow dry it too!

And one more for today!! I got to take pictures of one of my favorite families.  This is Jonathan’s oldest sister, JoDean.  That cute girl in the pink is Meg, she just left to serve a mission for our church in Mexico.

A gift.

God has given me lots of gifts in my life.

I have five very special people in my life that I consider my greatest gifts.

Each time a child has come in to our home, I have felt a love that I couldn’t comprehend before.

When I had Jex, I was surprised by the amount of love I had for him.

Then, when I was pregnant with Stella, I was so worried that I wouldn’t love Stella as much as I loved Jex.  I mean, “How could I?”

“How could I possibly find more room in my heart to love another child?”

My heart was already overflowing. 

Then, she was born.

They placed her in my arms, and I literally felt my heart grow.

She filled up all the empty spaces in my new larger heart.

Each time a child was born, my heart grew again, and immediately the empty spaces were filled up with love for another child.

I love all my children equally.

However, I love them each for different reasons.

They fill up different places in my heart for different reasons.

Over the next few weeks, I want to touch on the reasons that I love each child.

Today, I’m going to share about Tess.  Included are photos of Tess making cookies for her preschool class, and other fun March moments.  I might even sneak in a few baby and toddler pictures.

Continuing on with speaking about our children being a gift.

I knew before they came that they would be a gift from God.

Just for the reason being that they are God’s children, and he is trusting them to my care.

Another precious little bundle of joy that screams, “I just came from heaven.”

“I was just with God yesterday.”

How can you not receive that gift with open arms.

I did not however, think about how the attributes that our little gift brings to the family, could also be a gift from God; designed specifically to bless me.

Then, a few months ago, in church, a woman shared her feelings about one specific child that came to her home.

She said, “God gives us certain blessings at certain times for certain reasons, (and then she named her daughter), my daughter is one of those blessings.”  She told us, “My daughter, brought with her the peace I needed to get through what was going on in my life during the time of her birth,and many times since, and she has remained the peacemaker in our home.”

It was that moment, that I realized, that was exactly what Tess was for me.

From the moment she came to our family she brought with her a ray of sunshine.

Whenever she is in our home, you can see the ray of sunshine shining down on our house.

At the time she was born, life was hard.  When she was born, I had 4 children under the age of 7.

I lived away from my family.  I didn’t have much help.

Jonathan was very busy as a resident in his 2nd year of residency. 

I don’t want to make it sound like he wasn’t present.  He was very present.  When he was home, he helped.  In fact, there were times that he had been on call all night, and when he got home he stayed up just to be with us and help.

However, with that being said, he did take call.  He worked shifts that were 30+ hours, he had presentations to put together, and mostly worked 80-90(or more) hours a week.

I believe God knew that life would not be easy.

In that moment at church, I realized that God could have very easily sent a child that was fussy, or busy, or cross.  Sometimes kids come like that.  That doesn’t mean we love them any less.  It just changes how we love them.

Tess was never cross, she came always happy, always snuggly, and always content.

Tess slept from 11pm until 7am, on her first night home from the hospital.

See… a gift.

God gave me the gift of a daughter who maintained a sort of sunshine and happiness in our home.  Whenever I was stressed or overwhelmed, a moment of just sitting down to nurse my little one, could change my day or my mood completely.

…and still at the precious age of 5 she maintains her role in our home.

She is capable of changing the mood around completely.

In fact, when I am having a bad day, I find myself looking for her in our home to just sit with or snuggle.  Her happiness has a way of rubbing off on me.

We all call her our little ray of sunshine.

In fact, she happens to be a ray of sunshine to almost all she meets.  I often here neighbors and friends comment on how wonderful she is.  I have friends who completely fall in love with her.  I believe they fall in love with how they feel when they are around her.  They feel happy.

Tessa, finds the good in every situation.

Last year, she had her Kindergarten shots.  When I told her she needed to have some shots, she asked, “How many?” I replied hesitantly, “I think 3?” She smiled and said, “Oh, that’s not that many.”  She then climbed up on my lap, snuggled in, and didn’t even flinch when they poked her three times.  She then hopped down and said, “That wasn’t a big deal.

She finds the good, and she is one tough cookie.

She really is tough.

She is brave.  I am 36 years old, and I don’t dare learn to ski.

She started flying down the mountain on 2 skis at the age of 4.

Her love language is physical touch.  She loves to snuggle. 

She loves to be in my space.  She will put her finger on my nose, or touch my hair, or rub her cheek on my cheek.  Sometimes, I get frustrated that she invades my personal space.  Then, I remember this is how she shows her love.

She always does it with a smile.

This girl came out of my womb dancing.

She has loved music from the moment she was born.

She is a beautiful dancer.  I knew dancing would be her thing from the time she was 2, and it is.

Watching her dance, can bring a smile to anyone’s face.

So… if your having a bad day, come on over.

Let our little ray of sunshine put on a dance recital for you, to Alex Boye of course, because that is her fav. Wouldn’t you know her song of choice is; Happy.

By doing so, I promise you that in seconds your bad day, your worries, your gray clouds and storms will be overshadowed by our little ray of sunshine….

…by my gift from God.

The gift he gave me to find happiness and peace in a time that he knew would be a struggle.

That little gift got me through some of the hardest trenches of motherhood.

Thank you to my Father in Heaven.

Thank you for trusting me with your little ray of sunshine.