The Big 3-0

Tuesday, I celebrated my 30th birthday. I was unsure of how I would react to reaching this milestone, but turns out I felt no different Tuesday than I did on Monday. Well, maybe I felt a little wiser :-)

For my birthday, Wesley planned a family trip up to Blue Ridge, GA. During the trip, he arranged for me to spend a half day at a local spa. It was so nice! I was treated to a manicure, pedicure, facial, and massage. For six hours, I was by myself getting pampered. For a tired mom, it was pure heaven!

Other than the spa appointment, we had nothing else planned during our trip. We stayed at a friend’s cabin and just enjoyed the time away. Jackson, Wesley, and Flash spent time exploring the woods while Philip and I caught up on some much needed chill time.

What a wonderful way to begin this new decade of my life - hanging out with my three boys just being a family!!

Happy Birthday to me!

The view from a six year old

This past weekend, Susan, Joshua, Caleb, Rebekah, and Emily came to visit while Wesley was out of town. We had a great time.

Susan, Emily and I enjoyed "sister time" when the kids went to bed. We watched the Proposal, caught up on life, and laughed a lot! The kids also had fun. I loved watching them play together.

Once they left, I got a pleasant surprise. I knew the kids had enjoyed playing with my camera, but I had no idea how many pictures they had taken until I went to download the family shots. I had over 90 pictures - most of which were shot by Joshua and Caleb.

I laughed as I saw what they thought was picture worthy! Here are some of their snapshots…

The owl they made with model clay

The picture of Wesley and me on our side table.

Most of Emily

The toliet

A page from one of their books (look closely, the page is about nose hairs!)

The wall hanging from the hall.

Jackson's chair

Action Shot

Rebekah

Jackson

And the best one in the bunch - Susan and Baby Philip!

Philip's First Visitors

Over the past month, we have had lots of family stop by to meet Philip and see Jackson. Here are some pictures of our visitors. We are looking forward to adding to these pictures when we head to Nashville and Knoxville this Spring!

Mimi came down and stayed with us the first week. She and Philip bonded over the 2:00 am feedings!

Emily and Ryan came down the weekend after Philip was born.

Shannon and Macey dropped by on Valentine's Day.

KD and Grammy came down when Philip was born and then came back to help out for Week 2.

After a week by ourselves, Mimi and PopPop came back down to hang out .

This past weekend, Wesley was out of town so Susan and her family came down to meet Philip. Emily also joined them for the weekend. It was a blast!

Joshua and PhilipCaleb and Philip

Rebekah and Philip

One Month Old

Happy One Month Birthday, Baby Philip!

You are such a blessing to our family and we love you so much.

Here are some pictures of Philip at one month.

Philip has perfected the worried look

My cup runneth over

When Wesley and I were first married we dreamed about our future family. We saw a house full of kids. Once Jackson was born, my vision of the future changed. I no longer saw a house full. I only saw one child – Jackson. The reason – I didn’t think it was fair to bring another child into the world when I knew I wouldn’t be able to love that child like I loved Jackson. I loved Jackson with my entire heart and didn’t see how I could “find” the love in my heart for another child.

I admitted this fear to my mom, and though she understood my feelings, she said “When you have your second child, you don’t share the love already in your heart. Your heart just grows and move love for your second child pours in.”

To be completely honest, I didn’t know if I believed her. My love for Jackson was so great, I didn’t know how my heart could grow to love another child as much. Well, instantly on February 7, my heart grew and grew with love for Philip.

Now, my heart overflows with an indescribable love for my boys. Seeing them together in the hospital was priceless; watching them interact at home has melted my heart; and thinking of the future with a home filled with my boys laughing gives me so much joy.

My mom (as usual) was right – Adding another child into our family just made my heart expand with more love than I ever thought possible. I love Jackson more as I see him in a new light – A big Brother! And my love for Philip is just as strong as I watch him develop into the individual blessing that he is.

My heart truly runneth over with love….

It doesn't get much better than this!

Jackson seeing "Baby Dilip" for the first time.

Jackson made this bear for Philip. He didn't understand why he wouldn't play with it.

Jackson loves holding his brother!

Brothers ready for bed!

Of course, my love isn’t limited to my two children. I am still madly in love with my Wesley. He is a great husband, dad, friend, provider, entertainer, and I am so glad we are on this journey together!

Wesley is in charge of bedtime. He was getting Jackson and Philip ready for prayers when I came in to snap a few pictures. Jackson wanted in on the fun and actually took the above picture - pretty good, huh?!

Can it get more precious than this? I ran out to the store Wednesday night, and when I returned I found all three of my boys in bed. Jackson was holding on to Da-Da's arm and Philip was holding onto Da-Da's shirt. Good thing there can't be too much love in one place!!!

Birthday Playgroup

We headed out today to meet the group at a new playground in town. It was a beautiful day and I was excited to get the boys out.

Unfortunately, when we arrived, both Jackson and Philip were sound asleep. While the rest of the group played, I waited in the parking lot for them to stir. Once they were awake, we joined the group on the fabulous play set. I can tell this is going to be a hot spot this summer.

After we played for awhile, we ventured inside a nearby restaurant for lunch. Katey brought treats with her so we could celebrate my birthday. It was a lot of fun for all!

Dinner at Kate's

Kate called this weekend and invited us over for our first dinner out as a new family of four. I was excited to get out of the house for awhile, and Wesley was excited because he LOVES Kate's cooking.

She made a feast of chicken and dressing with all the fixings. It was delicious. I don't see how she continues to do all she does at 9 months pregnant. I gave up cooking way before 9 months.

Here are some pictures from our night with Ben, Kate, and Sam. Kate didn't realize packing up the leftovers would draw such a crowd.

Philip enjoyed the night out. He is waiting for his buddy Jack to join the group - not too much longer!