my mama...

a lot has happened in the past few days that i am eager to share with you, but it will all have to wait until monday, because today i want to tell you all about someone who is very special to me.


my mama is a wonderful lady. she has worked so much harder than a lot of other people that i know to get where she is today. my mama has made countless sacrifices for her 5 {3 that she birthed, 2 that she gained by marriage} children. i have also seen her basically mother my best friend growing up, & lots of other younger children through her devotion to family & to serving those in need. my relationship with my mama has not always been something to blog about, in fact there were times that it was so rough. like i am talking very tough. but by the grace of God we were able to come out of it & love each other well. my mama is an evidence of Gods grace in my life for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is because i have seen her transformed. i have seen her become a new creation. my mama was unsaved when she found out she was pregnant with me at 25. she went through all of pregnancy as a single mama. she spent somewhere around 36 hours of hard labor trying to birth me {thanks mom! its all because of you that i got to experience that too! well, kind of...} she had me completely natural. {which i applaud her for because i thought i would be able to, but quickly changed my mind.} when i was a little babe my mama started dating my {soon to be} father. {another post on this will come next month...} they fell in love & were 100% committed & devoted to each other, but not ready for marriage. when i was 2 years old my mama had my brother, Gordon. Gordo was born very, very sick. she had to spend days with him in the hospital & hours taking care of him & making sure that he didnt stop breathing. all the while she was working more than full time to provide for our little family. 2 years later she became pregnant with my baby brother. while pregnant with Dylan she was in a car accident that caused her to have to wear a neck brace while taking care of 2 toddlers & working a ton. my mama never complained but she just kept pushing forward. she loved us so deeply & we never felt unloved by her. when i was 3 years old my aunt started to take me to church on sundays with her. i went every single week until i was 5 & then i changed churches & started to go with another one of my aunts. i begged my mama & my dad to come with me & one week they did. they never stopped coming. i had the privilege of watching my mama give her heart to Jesus & become captivated by his love. soon after this our lifestyle changed greatly. my mama & dad got married a year after my baby brother was born. they attended church weekly, my mama was baptized & i feel so blessed to witness the heart change, the life style change & just being apart of this wonderful experience in my mama's life. i am so thankful that Jesus picked her to carry me into this world & to raise me. i am thankful that he saved her so that she could raise me to love him, & to learn along with her. after having a baby of my own i see all the hardwork that she did for me. i see that she woke up countless times, wiped countless tears, changed countless diapers, spent thousands of dollars to clothe & feed me, rocked me, snuggled with me, rejoiced with me the way i rejoice with my own daughter. i love that this is an experience that we get to share now. i could write so much more, but i wont.  i'll leave you with some photographs & 10 things i love about my mama {i had to limit it otherwise you would still be reading this weeks later...}


1. my mama always has a song to sing. i mostly act like it is annoying, but i really do love it. {shhh dont tell...}
2. my mama & i look freakishly like eachother. i used to hate it, but now its something i find very sweet. 
3. she is obsessed with candles. its a good fall back gift. ;) 
4. she has always encouraged me to write, even when i didnt think that i was any good at all.
5. the way she unconditionally loves my husband & my daughter.
6. the fact that she always buys me a coffee, or a treat whenever we go out. 
7. she likes all things vintage & would spend the day at garage sales with me :) 
8. she listens to me talk & talk & talk.... 
9. she has been serving in the childrens ministry at church since she became a Christian.
10. she really, truly loves her entire family. 

happy mothers day mom! i love you!! 

mama in focus.

this week {as i said earlier} was a sick week. so my mama in focus pictures were taken with my cell phone, on the couch, while feeling terrible. {but hey, at least i took some photos!} one of these days i'll actually take some really nice {non cell phone} pictures with miss maggie. 

mama & lady baby

this is how maggie sleeps at night -  all snug in her woombie!

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baby bunny slippers!

 my other exciting news is:: i'll be doing my first giveaway really soon! so stay tuned, because its really lovely! 

happy friday night friends, i am going to get back to celebrating with my family & then getting some sleep before starting work at 4 tomorrow morning! 
xo,
a

saturday.

i feel like i have had zero 'free' time in the past few days. working is a lot more time consuming than i originally thought. i seriously thought that i would be able to work 12-15 hours a week and maintain my 'maternity leave lifestyle'. oh, was i wrong. by the time i get home from work, i am so tired. it takes all of my energy to think of dinner... and then i dont want to cook anything i just want to snuggle with my baby and my husband. ugh. i have i giant basket of clothes to fold and put away and our cupboards are screaming to be restocked, but all i want to do is play with my chubby bundle of goodness. {and she is chubby. like this girl eats like its going out of style. i am certain she gained at least 3 pounds since our last dr visit.} miss maggie has been so sweet to me the past few weeks. just a little snuggle bug. i love it. i wish i could just stop time and hold her in my arms forever. but at the same time i am so excited and so looking forward to seeing who she is going to be. mamahood is so fun. 

tonight nick and i are going on a date with 2 of our really good couple friends. we are really looking forward to a fun night with sweet people. {plus it gives me a reason to get out of my sweatshirt on this dreary seattle 'spring' day} i am not sure yet where we are going, but i know its going to involve yummy food, good company, and fancy drinks. 

next week i am hoping to have more time to share more of my heart with you. i have been working on a few things and i just am so excited to get them out and share them with you! oh, and today i am linking up a day late with mama in focus friday... 

 this photo is of maggie and i dreaming about the day that we can wear our sunglasses... will this seattle rain ever stop?! 

happy weekending friends!
xo,
a

friday!

ahh. its friday. beautiful, lovely, friday. and it is my 2 to last one. boo. going back to work really soon. i wont tell you how many days, because i am trying not to count. this weekend we are getting all dolled up for our photo (until yesterday i was frantically searching for something to wear, but thanks to H&M, i was able to score a really adorable dress for $15! maggie will wear a sweet dress that her 'gg' made for her. i'll post pictures tomorrow!) another really exciting thing about this weekend is that maggie is spending the night away from home while my sweet husband and i go on a date. i think we are going to cheesecake factory, and a movie.. and then going to church without a babe! its going to be so strange! (but a really nice break!) also, my sweet husband has a job interview for a promotion on monday, so this weekend is going to be as low key as possible. please, pray for him and this interview... it would be such a huge blessing to our family if he gets this promotion. like a huge blessing. i am taking a break today from project thirtyone, mostly because i do not have enough quality time to write about the topic.  but i am doing something fun::

i know that i need to get in more photos with margaret. i feel really sad that there are already so few. so i am going to be participating in this fun little project on fridays. casey has a great blog that i have been following for a few months and i love it! anyways, this is super easy and you should join too! this photo was not taken today, so i dont know if that is 'cheating' or not :) , but tomorrow is a day full of pictures, and i will be posting some of those.

happy friday everyone!

xoxo::

a