What a day...

Whoa. Today began, sort of at 6 am. Brooke woke up and needed to eat. So I fed her and was back in bed by 6:15 demanding to get my 15 more minutes of sleep before my alarm went off. I might mention too, that I had two visitors in my bed last night as well. Well technically 3. Darin was out of town so my friend Sara spent the night... and Conner and Parker decided midway through the night to come in and make it a party! Thank goodness we got a king size bed recently.

Anyway, back to my 15 minutes of rest... well, my alarm decided that I could have more than 15. Like an hour and 15. Well, that was not part of the plan. You see at 8 am we were to be at the baseball field for Parkers blastball pictures. Followed by a game at 9 and then Conner had a game at noon. Well, since I woke up (still with two sleeping boys next to me) at 7:40 the day got started with a bang. Thankfully we have some great friends who were more than helpful this morning.... and every morning for that matter. Long story though, so I won't even go there right now except to say that we now have a girl living with us. It has been a GREAT experience thus far.

Anyway, Parker and I got moving and my friends met us at the field with Conner and Brooke in time for Parkers game. Sweet boy. We had a great time spending time alone for that hour before his game. We laughed and snuggled and I got to hold him a lot. It was so nice! I can't believe he is old enough to play blast ball! Gosh time flies... I have a lot to say about that later.
So he took his pictures and played his game, we went grocery shopping and then got back to the field just in time for Conner to warm up with his team before his game. Conner played catcher and left field, and let me just say that he is quite the cute little catcher! He's real funny though because he doesn't even try to catch any balls, and in fact if they are coming right to him he will move and let them go by. Thankfully at this age there is a coach behind home to get the balls. I asked Conner today why he doesn't try to catch the balls and he said "cause I don't want them to hit me." So, we'll see how that goes! :)
After Conners game we got to go out to eat at one of our favorite restraunts in the area and then we came home... Even though the afternoon and evening were not really filled with anything, I am just beat now! Parker has been all of his age of 3 lately. Man I love that kid, but man he is a handful at times. He needs a nap still, but if he gets one he won't go to bed until really late, so for the past 4-5 months we have just been skipping nap, putting them down early and dealing with the dreaded dinnertime hours. Well, today he fell asleep. Usually that is a bad thing for the rest of the night, but tonight he is asleep.
Ok, well I feel like that was all kind of hodge podge... but the real reason I was driven to blog tonight is that after all the children were in bed I prayed over each one individually and layed hands on them. I would love to be able to say that I do this every night, but unfortunatly that would be a lie. Tonight however I did get to rock Brooke and pray over her sweet little soul and life. Today I had the SCARE OF A LIFETIME! I was standing in the livingroom... and Brooke was in the bumbo on the counter in the kitchen. This is not uncommon. She loves to be a part of whatever is going on and usually the only danger in putting her in there on the counter is that she will grab ANYTHING within reach, so we just make sure there isn't anything harmful within reach. Well, tonight she decided that she should get out of the bumbo and she did. She rolled right out of it and just about fell off the counter onto the tile floor. ONLY by the Lords divine plan was I able to somehow see what was happening and run over and grab her leg as she was rolling off of the counter. Needless to say I was VERY shaken up over this. My whole body was shaking with fear, but seriously wow! It was so neat to have such a sure feeling that God was with me. God was with Brooke. Thank Him she is ok! NO MORE BUMBO on the counter. Honestly what in the world was I thinking anyway?!
Anyway, back to the prayers... So once I got Brooke into bed I went to the boys room and layed down with Parker and prayed over him. Sweet boy he just snuggled right up to me and put his arm around me. Breathing so sweet and softly. That kid is the BEST snuggler I've EVER met! So thankful for him and his precious heart.
Then I climbed up on the top bunk for some prayer time with Conner. There are not really any words to explain what I felt laying there with him. As a mother of young children I am constantly being told "Enjoy it while you can... they grow up so fast." And I always reply with "I know, I cannot believe that 5 years has already passed since I became a mom." And I really can't believe it. But tonight was different. I actually realized 5 years has passed with my sweet Conner. Once I had finished praying over Parker I just climbed up on the side of the bed and put my hands on Conner and prayed over him (cause I didn't want to climb up there), but by the time I was done praying I thought I should really lay next to him for a little bit at least. Really it was cause I felt guilty that I had snuggled with Brooke and Parker but not really with him. But once I was up there I was laying there and a thought occured to me/ punched me in the face. This is such a short time. Soon he won't want me laying with him. Someday he will be awake long after I go to sleep and I will not be able to sneak in and pray over him. He is growing up and while it is so fun to watch I am so incredibly sad that one day this will all be over. One day I won't be able to spend the time listening to him talking about cars or jellyfish or superheros. Some days it feels like he just goes on and on and on about these things. It is so hard to tune in. But tonight I feel as if God shook me and said WAKE UP! Be as much a part of their lives as you can possibly be. Especially now while they will let me be. I have this wonderful opportunity to stay at home with my children. I hope so much that I will take full advantage of that. I hope that I will know my children. Everything they like and dislike, how they feel about things. I pray that when Conner licks a paint stirrer that has clear coating on it that goes on wood for outside because he thinks its honey (no, this for sure did not happen tonight) that I would know how to comfort him when he is crying. Not because something is hurt, but because he is afraid he's going to get sick. I just hope and pray that I will have open eyes to be what God has called me to be in this season of my life. A mother and a wife. I pray that I would not be caught up in all the things that feel like they matter so much when actually loving my children and husband and Lord is what matters. Cultivating those relationships above all else is what matters.
God please remind me, gently or not, whatever it takes, everyday to be who you want me to be. And please grow me into that person because I KNOW there is no way I am getting there without you.
With that... here are some pictures from the last little while...
Sorry a couple of them are sideways...:(