The Blessing of Motherhood

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a mother. I always knew I would love motherhood, and I can remember crying tears of joy and love before I was even pregnant because I loved my future children so much already. 

But nothing, and I mean nothing compares to the real deal. Actually carrying, and delivering, and raising, and cleaning, and taking care of a little person has so far exceeded any thought or notion I thought I had about motherhood. Literally there are times that I realize just how blessed I am to be a mom, and that realization causes my heart to swell so much that it feels like it just might explode.

He's showing me the dirt on his hand. :)

The older Jackson gets (he's 17 months old now), he makes me and Adam laugh more and more. His little personality comes out, and I realize just how much like us he is becoming. There are times when I am in the middle of getting on to him, and I'm down on his level, making him look at me, and telling him "no," and trying to be stern, and his reaction is to  to give me a kiss. It's precious, and sneaky, and smart. And he gets what he wants, because I cave. Thankfully he only tries that tactic every now and then. :)

He's so precious at this age...giving kisses, and hugs, and squeezing my arm, and laying his head on my chest, and giggling when I'm rocking him, and squealing when he sees he's getting a waffle for breakfast, and missing his "daddee" during the day, so much so that he wanders through the house calling his name and checking the bathrooms and the showers, and the closets hoping to find him...and he "helps" us sweep, and wipe up messes, and put away his toys...he picks up every picture in the house and brings it to me so I can tell him who is in the picture...he laughs ALOT, and cries hard when he's disciplined (obviously not all the time)...and he tries to learn new words, but pronounces them all wrong in an adorable kind of way.  He LOVES "belbo" elmo, and won't get up from his nap until he finds  elmo in the crib. He's energetic, and cautious, and affectionate, and into everything, and determined, and silly, and such a joy to me and Adam. 

He teaches us every day more and more about Christ's love for us through our love for him. There's nothing like being apart of creating a new little person, and then getting to watch him grow. 

My heart is full tonight. Hope your heart is full too. 

~Monica

Crafting and DIY Projects

So...I've been crafting and DIY'ing the past several days. I've been bitten by the crafting bug, and I'm pretty sure Pinterest is to blame. Most social media sites are a big huge distraction for me considering nothing productive is achieved, but Pinterest has had the opposite effect on me! For awhile now, I've had a laundry list of to-do projects, that I hadn't started yet. But after seeing lots and lots of inspiring ideas and pictures on Pinerest, I've gotten my crafting on! 


Case in point: 

This necklace I made with an old t-shirt, some glue, felt, a strip of ribbon, and a button. All  supplies I already had, which brought the grand total of this necklace to......


$0.00  :)


Here's a link if you want to make one too:  Coiled Flower Necklace Tutorial

And here's another one I made:

Yup, made from another old yellow tank top I had, and some felt, glue, and a chain I bought at Michael's for $3.00. I LOVE it, and have already made 4 more. Isn't it fun?!

Here's a link to this necklace tutorial: Pom Pom Bib Necklace

But my favorite DIY so far has to be our side table re-do! I've had two side tables that used to be my grandmother's sitting in our guest bedroom. I've wanted to paint these babies forever, and finally we got around to doing so this weekend. 

Here is a before pic:

Not too purty uh? But after some sanding...(thanks babe)

And priming.....

She looked better than ever!

The color is a little less yellow-green, and more pastel green in person, and we LOVE it! We wanted a green table to match our new living room color scheme. Mom bought us new slipcovers (thanks mom!), and we bought new throw pillows (thanks Ross Dress for Less and Target)

These are the pillows we bought at Ross for $5, $9, and $9....

And here is a pic of one of the 2 pillows we bought at Target for $9.99.....

Now for a "before" couch picture..this is the best one I could find. I somehow forgot to get a shot of everything before we ripped off the old slipcovers.

And the brighter, fresher, cleaner AFTER: 

So fun right?! (Now would be a good time to mention that I took these pictures at night, with a cell phone, not so wise uh? AND I forgot to get a picture of the other couch. How did I forget that?!)


My next project is to paint stripes on our white curtains that you can see in the before picture. I've already got some left over paint that was used on our walls...hopefully they will look as good as this...

We will see! I'll post pictures soon!


Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your Labor Day. :)