Mother's Day

I know it's only half-way over, but this Mother's Day has been pretty great. 

It all started when Matt and Parker woke me up with this:

Can I just say - Best. Gift. Ever.  This was a total surprise and such a perfect gift.  When my friend Sarah lost her daughter Brittyn, I made a frame for her with Brittyn's handprints & footprints, name, and birthdate.  After I was done I told Matt that I don't know why I haven't done something like that for myself.  We were able to get several sets of Graham's handprints and footprints, but we hadn't really done anything with them yet.  One thing that's held me back from doing several things like this, though, is that I don't just want all these special things/tokens of remembrance just for Graham.  I know I have Parker here with me everyday, but I want him to realize that he matters to me just as much as Graham does.  So, this gift definitely covers all of those bases.  I love that it has BOTH of my boys' names and handprints. 

And really, we all know who made this for me.  My sweet hubby, Matt, couldn't be better.  But I'll gush on him soon enough. ;)

They also went and picked out the beads for me, and then made this beautiful necklace:

I'm not in love with this picture of me, but it shows the necklace off well.  My boys are so thoughtful and know that you can never go wrong with red accessories (not pictured: my red shoes!).

We also had a chance to go to The Vantage for Matt to preach this morning.  We go once a month to a local retirement home where we lead worship and then Matt brings a message.  It has been such a sweet time for our family every month and, of course, everyone LOVES Parker and begs him for hugs and kisses every time we go.  We went and bought some carnations yesterday for all the ladies who were present and Parker loved handing them out while telling them, "Happy Mother's Day!"  I meant to take pictures of it, but got distracted by helping him complete his task, but here's a pic of the flowers:

I was telling Parker this morning in the car that he was so special because he is the little boy who actually made me a Momma.  I thanked him for giving me the gift of motherhood.  I am so blessed by both my boys in different ways.  Parker started me on this crazy journey of motherhood and Graham has helped me realize how out-of-control this journey is.  Both of my boys belong first and foremost to God.  I just get a small amount of time with them and hope that I am able to point them towards Christ and help them seek to glorify Him in all they do.