happy mothers day

It's fitting, I think, that I'm writing this at 4:30am the morning after mother's day, hoping a certain baby in this house will soon go back to sleep, but I did want to quickly jot down what a great mother's day it's been. 

Jeremy went above and beyond this Mother's day making sure I felt loved and appreciated, and I sure did. He gave me a beautiful framed picture of our family in addition to a wonderful meal and giving me a lot of extra help with the kids. I think mostly, though, I just feel loved that on a daily basis he is such a wonderful partner. He makes being a wife and mother easy and enjoyable and I truly am grateful for that. And grateful for the sacrifices he makes allowing me to be home with the kids all day every day like we both have felt is best.

I'm grateful for the chance to be a mom. Madeline and Luke are the best kids I could ever ask for and I love being their mom. In fact is a privilege to be their mother.

I know there are those, including one of my closest friends, who haven't yet been able to bear children. I've glimpsed the ache she feels and am overwhelmed with happiness when I think about the day she becomes a mom. By whatever means it happens, whether in this life or the next, that is one of the days I'm anticipating most in my existence. I'm grateful for what she has taught me about motherhood.

I'm really grateful for my mom and all she's done. She is one amazing woman. I could go on and on, but I'll just say that I didn't realize how much she really is super woman until I was on the phone with her this week. She had kids home from school for all manner of illness this week. One sister had a stomach bug and was starting to throw up while we were on the phone. Obviously I was fine hanging up and finishing our conversation later, but she just tucked the phone between her shoulder and her ear and said,"Oh it's alright. She's almost done." Hello multi-tasker! Maybe I'll be that good when I have eleven kids too ;) 

Grateful for my mother-in-law for helping make my husband who he is today. Grateful for the future mothers my sisters will be and for my sisters-in-law and all they've taught my about motherhood.

I've been so overwhelmed today by the kind words people have shared about their mothers in church and on social media. Isn't it amazing that a holiday can unite so many people from so many different walks of life? And such a worthy holiday, too. 

Finally, I'll add that we got to Skype with my brother Christian who is on a mission in Argentina and it was such a treat. It's amazing to me to see how much he's grown and changed and what a remarkable man he has become. Hearing he and three other missionaries sing "Called to Serve" in Spanish was a special thing to witness.

So to your mom and my mom, to every mom around the world, whether they have borne a child or not, Happy Mother's Day. What a privilege it is to be a woman.

easter family picture

Walking home from church on Sunday we walked past an middle-aged woman sitting on a bus stop bench. I noticed she was dirty and unkempt. Silently I judged her and complained to myself that she didn't have the curtesy to wait an extra ten seconds before lighting up her cigarette. I mean at least wait until my kids are past you lady!

She didn't wait and I felt her exhale surround my family in a film of smoke. 

But something happened that I didn't anticipate. With that breath she wished us a happy Easter. She told us what a beautiful family we were and how great we looked in our Easter clothes. She made a special effort to greet Madeline on her level and then she suggested that we remember to take a family picture that afternoon.

Time and time again I am reminded of the goodness people. Reminded that we are all children of God. That our Savior suffered for not just me, my family and friends, but for all people. He loves us equally and I would do well to remember that.

Of course we didn't get to that nice family picture... We did manage to take a few pictures together after skyping with family... just incase, you know, you haven't had enough photobooth pictures lately ;) But we pretty much wore what we wore for our family pictures on Luke's blessing day and you can see those here.

The past few weeks have been hard. It's pretty amazing the things life teaches you... I was talking to a friend after a really hard couple of days and she commented on how well I had handled everything. She told me she was proud of me for dealing with this particular situation so well. All I could really say was,"It's amazing how powerful the Atonement is when you allow it to work in your life." And I really do believe that. 

Life is hard, but it is GOOD. Hard things make us stronger when we trust in Him. There isn't much that excites me more than feeling myself grow. Even when it's hard and I don't know how everything will work out, trusting in Him and allowing Him to lead me, it's exhilarating. 

There's been lots of growing lately and I'm sure I have more growing in my future, but I'm grateful for the opportunities I'm given to become better. Grateful for a Heavenly Father who is in control and grateful for Christ who made it all possible.

p.s. my cousin showed me this article explaining the connection of the bunny and eggs to Easter. I figured I should show you after my little rant yesterday. Thanks Alexis :) 

p.p.s. I still think the world should cool it on the Easter presents....

egg hunt

^^Love my guys!^^

 ^^someone found a candy.... No he did NOT eat it^^

 ^^CAUGHT!^^

^^"Maybe if I smile super cute mommy will let me keep it... " 

Close but not quite^^

^^Eggs are apparently pretty boring when they're empty.^^

I kind of struggle with the easter bunny. It almost feels a little creepy to me, a giant bunny coming into peoples houses and leaving eggs? What the? He doesn't feel special or magical to me like Santa. There's definitely something to be said for the spirit of Christmas, but I'm pretty sure the spirit of easter can't be embodied in a giant bunny. You've lost me. And when did the easter bunny start competing with Santa? 

But at the same time I don't want to be that parent... ya know? So we did a little egg hunt in the living room Saturday afternoon. It was simple. Just last years basket and plastic eggs and a handful of jelly beans. It was lucky for Madeline she didn't have to compete with anyone for eggs because she was s.l.o.w. She meandered around, found an egg, walked back over to her basket, dumped the candy on the floor right next to the basket, put them in the basket one by one and discarded the eggs. It was painfully slow. But she seemed to have fun.

I'm not sure what we'll do in coming years. I'm sorry this wasn't meant to be such a downer post... I just wish this holiday was more focused on Christ, because that's why we have it. If I totally brought you down I'm sorry... scroll back up and look at the chubby happy baby up there. Or watch this amazing video about Christ. Grateful for Easter. Grateful for my Savior. Happy Easter.

date with my Valentine

I have to say, this Valentine's Day was pretty great. We enjoyed a lazy morning then spent the day doing some deep cleaning. There's few things I enjoy more than working side by side with Jeremy. It's amazing how hard work brings us closer and makes us feel more united. We're a pretty great team and I love being reminded of it :) Plus what better gift to give each other than a super clean house?!

BUT without doubt the highlight of the day was after we got the kids to bed… We'd been planning this date for months and it finally happened! 

Every time we go out to eat we're almost ALWAYS disappointed. Not that it happens very often, because we're pretty broke and there aren't a ton of babysitters in Baltimore. But when we do go, either the service is horrible, or the food is subpar. It seems like we always leave saying,"We could have made something way better than that." So we finally proved ourselves right. It was DELICIOUS! 

On the menu was Filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus with sparkling white grape juice. It did not disappoint. We spent less than we typically spend at a restaurant but it was like 100 times better than any restaurant food I've ever tasted. 

I have to give credit to my date for the meat. He's a man through and through and boy did he do something great with that steak. I should probably mention that I'm not really a meat girl. I like a good burger now and then but for the most part I steer clear. I finished my whole 8 ounces. Fatty, I know. 

^^….shhhh…^^

^^every party needs a pooper, right? At least he let us eat most of our dinner alone^^

My friend updated her Facebook status yesterday to say,"I love love and I love having a day to celebrate it!"  I couldn't agree more :) To my Valentine, I love you. Thanks for the delicious dinner and wonderful company. I love you to the moon and back. 

love,
Sarah

Merry Christmas 2013

Even if there were supposed to be two kids in the traditional Christmas jammie photos this year (ahem baby boy...) it was still a pretty great Christmas. 

hey december, we like you.

^^Madeline wanted you to know she took this picture of her beloved snow all by herself ;)

We're pretty into taking pictures these days.

Despite the stress the holidays seem to bring and on top of that a busy husband who's trying hard to be prepared for finals week while constantly checking his phone for any sign his wife might be going into labor, it's been a good month so far. We were spoiled with almost a week of beautiful weather in which we didn't have to turn on the heat!!! Quite exciting for poor students :) And then the cold and snow came, but we don't mind too much because it's pretty magical the way Madeline can sit curled up on the window sill, quietly watching the snow fall. 

And of course who doesn't love extra excuses to be baking all the time. I know I'm loving it. Even if it's nearly impossible for me to have a picture with my daughter where we both look good... She's such a ham. 

Thank you December for truly being the "most wonderful time of the year". It's been a great couple of weeks so far and we're really looking forward to what else you have in store :) 39 weeks! Baby boy when are you going to get here?!?!

let it snow!

We were hit with the most unexpected little snowstorm yesterday (I wrote this Monday... oops). Unexpected for me, I should say. It was forecast, I just kind of ignored it/didn't take it seriously. When we got to church Sunday morning there wasn't a flake in the air and after there was a good three inches on the ground. Madeline was pretty uneasy about it driving home from church, but after her nap she wouldn't stop begging to go play in the snow! So her wonderful daddy took her out just before it was completely dark so she could experience the snow. She was so cold but didn't care. The only thing that got her inside was the bribe of a nice cup of hot chocolate.  Just look at those rosy cheeks! It was time to come in :) 

After Madeline went to bed we got to enjoy the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, one of my favorite December traditions. And even though it was a lot different than I was expecting, it was still good and I loved snuggling up with Jeremy and this bump of mine with the glow of the Christmas tree off in the corner. 

Such a wonderful evening. Such a wonderful time of the year.

Madeline's hat is from sprouttops.com. We absolutely love it, and the people who just recently started the company. You should check out their site. My niece is the adorable little girl on the home page.

Also, I have instagram... have I ever mentioned that? I need to get some sort of link or slideshow on the sidebar of the blog, but until then, feel free to follow along! There's a couple pictures of our snow day yesterday plus it'll probably be the first way we let the world know when our little Mr. gets here :) Any day now!

grateful & blessed

Yesterday morning as I was unloading the dishwasher, I looked over and noticed Madeline quietly sitting on the couch with a pile of books around her; sweetly and quietly flipping through the pages of her favorite books. I thought about Jeremy in the next room, always willing to do anything us. I realized in less than a month we'll have another person in the house, another member of our family. Another person to love. And in that moment I was completely overcome with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with. Tears welled up in my eyes and I just stood there in that moment being grateful.

I don't know how He managed to guide my life to where it is today, but I am so thankful that He did. I have a lot to be grateful for. I'm grateful for my little family. Grateful for Jeremy who works so hard, is (almost) always sporting a happy attitude and helps me to be better every single day. I'm grateful for the marriage we've built together and for how far we've come. Grateful for the covenants we've made together and for the opportunity we have to spend eternity together. I'm almost giddy when I think about what an awesome team we are now, after three years and then I think about us in ten years, fifty, a thousand and I'm so humbled by what a blessing marriage is. And eternal marriage in particular. 

I'm grateful for Madeline and her cheerful spirit. Grateful for the light that seems to shine out of her and brighten even the grayest day. I'm grateful for the privilege I've been given to be her mom. 

I'm grateful for the little boy inside of me. This little son of God who's been my constant companion the past eight months. Excited to meet him and to figure out how he fits into our new family of four.

I'm grateful for me. I realize that sounds selfish, and I don't mean it to come off that way, but I'm grateful for who I am. Grateful for the gifts and talents God has given me. Grateful to see how I'm growing and changing. I think back to just a year ago and I'm amazed by how much I've changed. Not in monumental ways, but little things. I probably couldn't even tell you how, but I feel different. I feel better. And I really like it. I'm grateful to be a daughter of God and grateful to be learning more about myself and God's plan for me. 

I'm grateful to be happy. Grateful to be so content with my life and where I am right now. Grateful for where we are as a family, still excited for all the good things to come, but I feel like we're living in the moment, and that makes me happy.

I have a lot to be grateful for, and my list could go on and on, but mostly I'm just grateful for the here and now. Grateful for this beautiful life I've been given and grateful for the people I get to share it with.