Motherhood...

I read a story recently about a mother of young children. She explained how difficult a particular day had been, when finally everything caught up to her. She put her 1 year old in his high chair then overcome with the emotions of the day she rested her head on the tray and began to cry. Without a noise her son promptly removed the Binky from his mouth and inserted it into hers.

To me, that is motherhood.

Yes, It is hard work being a mother. Probably the hardest thing I have ever done, and yet it is definitely the most rewarding thing I have ever done as well. You put your heart and soul into everyday with these little people. I rejoice when they do new things. I laugh at their silly personalities. I can't count how many times a day I kiss Slater's fat cheeks, and tell them both how much I love them. My heart melts when Mav says "I love lu so much too mommy", or when Slater snuggles in close to my neck and sighs "ooohh". It is amazing to watch your son say his prayers and try to read the scriptures, and get so excited to go to church, and can't wait to "hold the priesthood like Daddy!" I love watching my boys play together and laugh at each other. They are such good friends.

With all that love and wonderful-ness also comes temper tantrums, stinky diapers, potty training, the boys fighting over the same toy, falls, scrapes, ouies, whining, begging, sadness, and seemingly never ending grumpiness. But it seems all that stress can magically dissipate with a giggle, hug, or big smile from either of my sweet boys.

I am so lucky to be a mother. I can not believe I have an almost 4 year old. The time goes so quickly. Maverick is such a good helper, and a truly caring little man. Slater is finally walking everywhere these days and loves doing anything with his big brother. They both bring us so much joy, and so much stress, but we love them so much.

With all that said, we have an announcement to make: Baby #3 will be joining our family in October! We are so excited. Crazy to think of the 3rd child jumping into the mix of things. And in ways I feel too young to have 1 kid, let-a-lone 3! But we are thrilled that our Father in Heaven is trusting us with another of his precious spirits. Pregnancy is not the easiest time of my life. I actually get quite sick and feel like a zombie pretty much all of the time. Brian takes it like a champ. He does all the cooking when he is home, and always makes sure the house (especially the kitchen) is free of bad smells or dirty dishes. He puts up with my random up-chucking, falling asleep anywhere and everywhere, crazy food cravings, and messy house. Thankfully my little people put up with it pretty good too. They have to entertain themselves a lot. I knew the throwing up was a big part of our recent life after seeing Slater go stand by the toilet and make the gaging sound... or when Mav follows me into the bathroom asking in a worried voice "are you going to spit-up again momma?" He is always saying "I'm so sorry you don't feel good mommy". They are sweet boys.

I don't say all this to make y'all feel sorry for me. I say it to let you know that I think it is all totally worth it. All the sickness through pregnancy, the gained weight and stretch marks, the labor and delivery, the sleepless nights when they are first born, the tears, the poop, the tantrums, the potty training, etc.... It is all worth it!!! I love being a mother.

We are so excited to welcome number 3 here in October. According to the Doctor ALL looks well and healthy so far, there is only 1 baby in there, and I am almost 12 weeks along. He did give me medicine for the nausea, but it makes me even more tired. We have already had questions of "so you are probably hoping this one is a girl?" Of course it would be fun to have a girl, but we love our boys! And we are just thrilled to be having another one. We'll be happy with whatever we get.