and then she was three....

today my youngest is turning three! i just can't believe it. i hope in twenty years i am saying the same thing "where has the time gone?"

i remember gearing up for her arrival not really knowing what to expect. my older two kids were somewhat easy arrivals but lucy's i was nervous about. i had an almost three year old at home and a 15 month old. unless you've ever had that combo you have no idea how hard it is.

the first year was rocky. lucy was collicky but so sweet. i loved her...i hated her. i loved my life...i hated my life. i couldn't imagine my life any different.

lucy is amazing. she is hysterical, beautiful, independant, caring, nudgy and wonderful!

lucy-i love you so much...more than you will ever know. i can't believe you are three today and i can't wait to see what the years bring to us through you! you are a joy to have around and i love you with all of my heart. happy birthday lucy lovey!

put on your easter bonnet

i happen to love easter. it's one of my favorite holidays. not because of the bunnies or the eggs...they seem to be more trouble than they are worth. i love it because of Jesus rising from the dead...how amazing is our God?? i love teaching my kids about Christ dying on the cross and being buried in the tomb. i love getting everyone dressed up and going to church to hear what i know will be an amazing sermon even though i've heard the story a million times before. i love that family gathers on such a special day...and i love how exhausted i am at the end of the day because it means it must have been extra special.

i have a lot of memories of easters past but my favorite ones are the ones we make for ourselves each new year. i love blending traditions from joe's family and traditions from mine...and of course coming up with new ones just for our family.

He is risen. He is risen indeed! happy easter!

mothering

lately i'm wondering if i should've been a mother of four. perhaps we made a hasty decision to be done having kids and perhaps not. sometimes i'm just so content with my three and they are just enough (sometimes more) for me to handle. then there are times that i feel like something is missing...a little craziness. i like a little chaos here and there and i think that's why i've taken on new pets so quickly. a rabbit last summer and now our newest addition...ducklings!

we have had so much fun in the last week with these little ducks. i love hearing my kids laugh at seeing them dive through the bath water and explore things in the yard. today i was brave enough to let them out of their fence just to see what would happen. we played for hours outside and they stayed with us. they would move where we moved and eventually fell asleep in the grass near the sandbox where the kids were playing. how cute!!

we will give the ducks a better home in the near future but for now i am enjoying mothering some babies again!