Adam's Awards

Adam's end of the year awards ceremony was last week. I picked the boys up early from Sunshine Corner so that we could all be there. So proud of our Adam Joseph who received 3 awards...honor roll, good behavior, and the 'Wonderful Writer' award.  He did SO well in 2nd grade.  And I didn't realize this until this year what a great writer and story-teller he is.  I'll have to share a couple of his stories on the blog sometime...they always make me laugh.  He is SUCH a funny boy and every Tuesday when I visit his classroom it never fails that one of the kids (usually a girl) tells me how silly Adam is and they sometimes spill the beans on some of his latest antics.  I have loved spending time at his school this year and seeing first-hand what his days are like.  Can't believe I'll be doing that for both Adam and Drew in the fall! 

Of course I made Adam pose with the goods after the assembly.
It's what blogger moms do, right?

 

Yes, those would be stickers completely covering Titus. While I was basking in the proud mommy glow of Adam with his perfect grades and perfect behavior, Titus took about 100 pictures on my phone of the dude's butt in front of us and then covered himself from head to toe in stickers. He was so proud that he refused to put his shirt down afterwards and walked around the school showing off his colorful tum-tum to anyone who crossed our path. I've decided it's simply impossible for me to control all 3 at the same time. Heaven help me when we have 4 little ones in tow!

 

GiGi's Retirement Party

After 36 years of teaching my mom is retiring at the end of this week. We are so ecstatic for her and for her to embark on this next phase of her life.  My mother is the hardest working woman I've ever known.  She worked while raising children, while battling 2 rounds of cancer and treatments, and as a single parent.  For many of those years she actually worked two jobs to help provide for our family.  She is a phenomenal teacher and I don't think I've ever known of a teacher that has been so loved by her students...they flat-out adore her and have for as long as I remember.  Some of her students have become very dear friends and I have no doubt that she has made a lasting, life-long impact on so many of her students through the years.

My mom found last Monday afternoon that her retirement party would be the very next day.  Talk about short notice!  We had RoRo at our house at that time (more on that in another post) and she joined me and the boys for a little road trip to celebrate GiGi.  (Matt was unable to come because of an important meeting at work.)

Alex was able to get off of work early and my mom's 2 best friends were able to come as well.  It was a great reunion and I was so happy that we were able to see her be honored by her principal and fellow teachers (many of whom I had back in the day) while we enjoyed cake and punch. 

So incredibly proud of that mama of mine!

 

My boys were glued to Alex's side the entire time we were there. We went out to dinner at a little pizza place afterwards and Titus was literally hanging from Bub's neck the entire time. He told me over and over, "I don't love you anymore, mom. I only love Big Bub!" He's been calling him daily on his pretend phone begging Big Bub to come to our house.  Those boys were needing a Big Bub fix in a bad way!

Day Worth Celebrating

May 12th was a big day 'round here with Mother's Day coinciding with Titus's 3rd birthday.  It was definitely a special treat to share the day with my baby boy.



We actually did most of my Mother's Day celebrating a day early.  My boys let me sleep in a bit later than normal on Saturday (what a sad state of affairs when 8:00 am is sleeping in!) and then showered me with snuggles and presents in bed.  A new thermos, back massager, flowers, and my very favorite...a China/heart necklace.  Matt and Titus made a donut run that morning to boot.  Couldn't imagine a better start to our day!

Can't forget the homemade goodies either...always so special.

This little card of Adam's had a poem all about his mama.  Love it!

That evening Matt and I had our monthly date night and that was a super treat as well.  We went to a new soul food restaurant, which basically equated to delicious Southern cookin'.  Fried catfish, fried okra, hushpuppies, baked beans, coleslaw.  I was in clogged coronary heaven!

Sunday was really all about Ty.  We had his big party 2 days before, but we definitely wanted him to feel the birthday love on his big day.

My mom met us at church that morning for a really great service...loved having her there with us on Mother's Day!

I tried to get a cute picture of Titus while we were out to lunch, but that went a little something like this...

  .

I went shopping with my mom for a bit that afternoon (for her Mother's Day gift) and then we came home to open birthday presents with Ty.  GiGi had to leave before dinner and since we didn't have small group we played outside, cooked out on the grill and wrapped up the evening with ice-cream brownie sundaes.  (Brownie only for the b-day boy.)

 

 

 My heart is full to bursting with love for this little family God has blessed me with.

I was made to be a wife and mother...plain and simple.  I wish I could go back in time and tell younger AJ to quit sweating all the small stuff and to rejoice over the fact that there was a life waiting for her that would bring me more joy than she ever dreamed possible.  Even on the hard days, this is still the greatest job imaginable.  And my heart can hardly contain the excitement over sharing this life and our love with another child in the next year.
  
But enough with all the mush.   I can't help but laugh every time I read this e-card.  Motherhood sure is grand!

Titus Turns Three!

 

It is hard for me to believe that my baby boy is now a big 3 year old (although he tells everyone we know that he is actually 5).  We have a lot going on in our lives right now and especially when I think about our adoption, I sometimes find myself wishing the days and months would go by more quickly so that our missing family member will be by our sides.  And then it never fails that one of my children will do something incredibly funny or endearing and I am reminded to not take these moments for granted.  There's no place I'd rather be right now than in the middle of the chaos that comes with 3 crazy boys.  And this birthday boy is very often their energetic ringleader!

Oh, Titus can be a mess.  Literally.  He loves to play in the dirt and mud.  He would just as soon dump a bottle of bubbles all over himself than attempt blowing them.  He colors all over his arms and legs with pens and markers on a weekly basis.  He builds tall towers out of anything he can get his hands on, only to demolish them mere seconds later.  (And then quickly moves onto the next thing he can destroy.)  He pours out our body wash and shampoo bottles regularly.  He experiments with my make-up and lotions his entire body and sprinkles baby powder on the dog.  

Titus is loud, boisterous, obsessed with hard rock, farts on command, takes rides on Lily's back, and will dance naked on a table if he thinks it might get a laugh out of someone.  He talks in funny voices and loves making silly faces and has more personality in his pinky toe than some people have in their entire bodies.

Titus is Mr. Independent.  He can dress himself and always knows exactly what he wants to wear and heaven forbid if Matt or I think otherwise.  He is still obsessed with shoes and will NOT go anywhere without them.  (He brings Adam and Drew their shoes most mornings as well.)  He brushes his teeth and washes his hands multiple times a day, all on his own.  He will let us know on a daily basis if he wants his hair flat or spiky and you'd better hope you fix it to his specifications.  He is fully potty-trained and insists on having his pirate seeds (privacy) when he goes #2.  He seems to be the only one in this family that knows how to close a door in the bathroom!

Lest anyone think the worst, I have to share that Titus can also be a total sweetheart.  He gives the best kisses and big bear hugs.  He loves babies and toddlers.  He adores animals and always want to hold, pet, and love on any animal he comes across (from worms to birds to puppies).  He is a snuggle boy and will cuddle on the couch anytime we ask.

Titus wants to do anything his big brothers are doing.  He seems to have natural athletic ability and he absolutely loves baseball, soccer, and especially basketball.  He can dribble a ball better than a lot of elementary school kids I've seen!  Swimming is one of his most favorite things and I'm excited to get him back in the pool regularly as he was already starting to swim independently for short stretches at the end of last summer.

In many ways Titus seems so much older than his brothers were at this age.  And then there are other things that still make him seem like my baby boy.  He's not nearly as verbal as Drew or Adam were at just-turned 3.  He still sleeps in a crib, still watches Dora, Diego and other "baby" shows, and still loves to be rocked to sleep.  I have to admit that I haven't been in any rush to have him "grow up" before he's ready.

You never know what adventures await on any given day with our Ty-Guy.  He reminds me to live life to its fullest.  He embraces each day with big belly laughs and very loud squeals of happiness.  I crawl into bed every night completely and totally worn out from keeping up with this kid, but man alive my heart is as full as it's ever been in my entire life.  I'm blessed beyond my wildest dreams to be raising these 3 boys and I think God daily for bestowing such treasures upon me.

Happy 3rd birthday, Titus Zachary!  You bring so much love and laughter into our lives!

Silly String War

One of the party favors that we included for the guests at Titus's birthday party was a can of silly string. Parents probably hated me a little for that, but I'm betting the kids will love me forever. The next morning our neighbor friends (Brad and Bradley) came over for a silly string war. It was over in less than 10 minutes, but it was some serious fun. I will definitely be stocking up on more silly string for later this summer!

After the silly string war we were hanging out in our neighbors' backyard for a bit. Our backyards are separated by a fence and we could hear Lily whining and crying in our yard since she could hear us on the other side of the fence. A few minutes later Kristina noticed that Lily was well on her way to see us.

That crazy dog! The boys would rub on her face and you could hear her tail hitting the ground 90 to nothin' on the other side. She is such a lover and was quite determined to not be separated from her favorite people. Impossible to be mad about a hole in the ground when you're the recipient of that kind of devotion. :)