Montessori Day 1

Whew... day 1 of Montessori school complete. There were tears, lots of them... but they were mine. Jamon was so mortified. He knew it was coming and suggested he bring Corban to his first day of school today instead of both of us. I of course wouldn't have that. I got up early this morning to make sure all of his "supplies" were ready to go. box of diapers, check, ziplock bags, check, food, check and on and on it went. I wrote his name on his stuff... a temporary solution until I get the cute labels I ordered from www.mable.ca. When he got up I hugged him extra tight and picked out his first day of school outfit. Preppy yet tough was a good first day look. A striped polo that said Rock Hard on the back (It has a skull and crossbones... maybe too much for a 9 month old?) When it was time to go in Jamon carried Corban and I carried all of the goods. Corban of course started crawling right around and loving all of the news toys. I don't even think he knew we left when we walked out the door. It took everything in me not to make a big deal "Bye baby boy, bye bye, mommy loves you and will see you in a bit... don't cry, I'm coming back, byebye." Nope, none of that. I glanced across the room, in my head said bye baby, love you and headed out. I didn't want to make a scene. Corban was happy as could be and I didn't need to be the mom to mess it up. But as soon as the door shut behind me the waterworks began. Jamon drove me around for a bit so I could dry it up before work. Uggghhhh, my little baby is all grown up. I must brag for a moment... When I went to pick him up this afternoon his teachers said he did the best of any baby. He didn't cry and was all smiles the whole time. YESSSS!!!! I'm a proud momma. And then, as if I wasn't happy enough hearing that, when I said "Corban, Mommy's here.", Corban squealed, tossed his toy and crawled with speed like I've never seen over to me. My heart melted. I picked him up and he wrapped his little chubby arms around my neck. Perfection.

Now, i must say, I'm SO thankful for this Montessori School. It's called Casa De Bambini. Here's the link: http://www.casadebambiniofavemaria.com/ It just opened last year and I've heard nothing but rave reviews from my other mommy friends. In our state in life Jamon and I don't have the option of one of us staying home... and that being the case, we couldn't think of a better place for Corban to be. They're teaching him the sign of the cross and everything. Montessori school is Catholic at it's origin and this school in particular follows it to a "T" making sure all aspect of Montessori are taught. Blessing? YES!

Tomorrow we go again... I think this time with no tears from me. :)

Below is CX's first day of school pic. See how excited he is?

Sweet baby reminders

Children have an uncanny ability to remind you about what's important in life.

The past week or so I have been beyond stressed with a project at work. This is good and bad. Good because I have an innate need to make sure everything is perfection. Bad because nothing will be perfection. Good, because even though it won't go perfectly... it'll come close. :) Anyway, yesterday I was at my peak of frustration/ exhaustion/ stress. I brought all of those emotions home from work with me. I was late coming home from work so Corban was late getting the rest of his lunch and his nap was thrown off kilter. To top it off his mom was a wreck. Stressed, stressed stressed. Corban decided yesterday after I came home that no nap was in order, in fact no moment away from me would do. He needed to be touching me at all times.  This skyrocketed my stress level as all I could think about was how much I needed him to take a nap so I could finish my work. Finally, I surrendered. A moment of clarity brought about the realization that I didn't need to worry so much about work. The important "things" in life were right in front of me. Corban was stubbornly reminding me that HE was the important part of my life, not work. HE needed my attention, not work, and HE will be here everyday needing my attention... again, not work. Got it kiddo. I surrendered and we rocked. We read stories, we went to the chapel to say "Hi" to Jesus and we rocked some more.  Thank you sweet baby boy for reminding me about what's important.

Today when I went in to work everything was fine. Everything got done and all is well. When I came home from work on time, Corban was happy, he ate and now he's sleeping. Whew. Lesson learned.

"Jesus" *smile*

I seriously love my life.

It's Sunday morning, 9am. I just laid Corban down for a quick nap before Mass. Jamon is recruiting in Boston and I'm sitting here on the couch with some of my favorite tunes on in the background. The only thing that would be better is if Jamon was here. :)

This is bound to be a bit random but I just need to share... Lately I've been pondering my walk with God... like does striving to be a good wife and mom count enough to get me into heaven? Should I be thinking about getting to heaven every day? Does a "Good morning Jesus, we love you" with Corban count as my morning prayer? In all my thinking and praying I've decided that it takes more. I'm pretty complacent. Like I said before, I seriously love my life. However, I know God calls us to more, to be active. My first priority should be HIM, then my husband and baby boy. I'm feeling pretty convicted on the order of my priorities. What can I do? daily Mass doesn't work cause I'm working. (Jamon and Corban go daily though. I love those guys!) there is a perpetual adoration chapel across the street, literally a stones throw from my office... I should be in there more. At least to say "Hi" to our Lord. Spiritual reading... don't a lot of the saints talk about spiritual reading? Is there spiritual reading for wives and moms? I want something good, something that will really challenge me to live my life with a stronger purpose of getting to heaven. Sometimes I get a little concerned about praying for specific things... lately I had been praying for charity and patience... never again. ;) Jesus is just giving me opportunity after opportunity to practice it. Enough please. Anyway... say a prayer and throw any advice out there for me. I love Jesus, but I've got to get more on top of my walk with Him. My husband and son certainly deserve a Godly wife and mom. I've got to get on it.

Anyway... ready for a cute lil Corban moment? So every morning when Corban gets up we chat for little bit, and then when I pick him up we walk to the crucifix above his bed, touch the feet of Jesus and say "Good morning Jesus, we love you. Thank you for a good night." We've been doing this for a while. Now when I pick Corban up out of bed he looks directly at the cross and reaches for it. We also have a crucifix in our living room and if I ask him, "Where's Jesus?" he'll scan the room, find Jesus and smile. It warms my heart so much. I tear up just about every day.

Here are a couple of pics we've taken recently.

The first one is of the three of us at the "Firecracker 5K" we ran on the 4th of July. Corban's (And mine) first 5K. the kiddo slept through over half of the race. I told him it was okay... he was just good and loose. :) We finished in like 28 minutes... the guys could have left me in the dust, but thankfully Jamon hung back with me so we could run (jog) as a fam. It was a great time. The second pic is of Corban eating a lime. This was a huge letdown. We gave him a lime, camcorder ready for the "Hilarious" expression he was bound to make. Nope, nothing. he LOVED the lime. I think it's his new favorite fruit.

Good morning Corban

Good morning baby boy,

I don't know if you know it, but getting you up in the morning is the best part of my day. I get up and get ready for work before you even start squirming. I eat my breakfast and lay out my clothes and then I wait. I wait until I hear your precious little voice over the monitor. When I'm pretty sure you're done stretching and having your morning quite time I slowly open the door to your room. This is when my heart smiles. I can always count on you to be looking at the door waiting for me. You smile and get so excited. I'm excited too buddy. I kneel by your bed and we talk for a little bit. Your squeals and smiles make me giddy. Sometimes if daddy is home when you wake up, he'll come in there with me. I think it's his favorite part of the day too! When you and I are done playing I pick you up out of bed and you give me a big ole squeeze around my neck. One of these days you'll know that's a hug. You're a good hugger buddy. After our morning hug the day goes on. You get all clean and fresh, we may play with your toys, or eat breakfast right away... it changes everyday. The one constant I have is your smiling face in the morning. I go to bed excited, knowing that in the morning I get to experience your beautiful, pure joy and love again. I love you Corban, my sweet baby boy.

Love,
Mommy

God-Babies

While we were on our trip to Texas we we're so blessed to see all three of our God-Children. Jamon and I consider ourselves extremely blessed to have these three precious angels and their families in our lives. We pray for each of them every single day. We definitely do not get to see them nearly enough so these visits were such a treat.

First is Hayley Anne - also known as Lunkins. She's the youngest and feistiest of my nieces. She is so funny, such an entertainer and so full of energy and life. She is so quick to give hugs and kisses.  I love my lunkins. My brother Jake is her God-Father, but Jamon claims her anyway. :)

 

Next is Tate Russell, also fondly called Tater-tot or All State Tate. He is Russ and Amber's little boy. Jamon and Russ were both assistant coaches at Texas State together. Tate is an absolute hoot. His energy is out of control. Amber told me this past weekend that he was eating bacon and steak at 8 months. He is a big boy with a big heart. I'm crazy about this kiddo.

Our newest God-Son is Canon Dominic. We have a very special bond with the Blackwells. Chris and Stef (Canon's parents) are Corban's God-Parents. This past weekend was the first time we got to meet Canon and it was love at first sight. He is so precious and perfect. Corban and Canon are only 6 months apart so I can hardly wait for our family vacations together. Those boys should know now that they will be friends for life.

Jamon and I are so honored and humbled and feel very blessed to have these three little souls co-entrusted to us. We take our job very seriously and pray incessantly for our God-babies. Their families are incredible and we love each of them so much.