Happy 1st Birthday, Mason Lucas!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." -Psalm 139:13-14

One year ago, we welcomed our third little man into our lives. It is so hard to believe that we just met him a year ago, it feels like he has been a part of our lives forever. This year has been amazing; fun, busy, exciting, and challenging. I read an article recently that stated going from 2-3 children is the hardest transition a family can go through. As far as I am concerned, that theory is true! While there have been a few tough moments, I would not trade them for anything in the world! 

Enjoy some pictures of Mason's first year, and my letter to him at the bottom! 

Mason Lucas, 7lbs 8oz , born June 6, 2012

I'm sorry, was that birth tiring for you too?! :) 

I absolutely LOVE Miles's face in this picture!!! First time meeting each other! 

First attempt at family picture as a family of 5. Tired much! :) 

Mason, 2 mos old (We caught winks whenever we could this year!)

Mason 3 months old

Typical picture attempt :) 

Mason 4 mos old

Mason 7 months old

Mason 10 months old

Mason @ 1 year old

To my dear Mason on your first birthday,
It is impossible to believe that a whole year has passed since you came into our lives. Your presence in our family is perfect and we all love you so much. You were my hardest birth so far, although I hear that hard is a relative term. :) There is so much I love about you. I love how determined you are. Just last night, while the brothers were playing in the clubhouse, I watched you try for 15 minutes to climb up the slide to get to them. You refused to give up, and it made me so proud watching you. You are determined in other, not-so-fun areas of your life too; you are determined to be my first child to nurse past his first birthday; you are determined NOT to sleep through the night no matter how hard we try; and you are determined to crawl instead of walk, even though I am sure you could walk if you wanted to. That determination will come in handy in life, dear son, so don't ever stop trying!

You hate to be told no. If someone tells you no, you stick out your big pouty lip in a dramatic fashion and proceed to wail uncontrollably and put on quite the production. Unless, however, it is mom telling you NO. Then you laugh and giggle and continue on your merry way.

You make everyone happy with your big dramatic wave and your smile. Even the grumpy old man in line behind us at the grocery store (yes, the one who desperately tried to ignore you but couldn't resist your charms!!). Everyone you see, you call 'Dada'. The dog, me, your big brothers, and even that grumpy old man! But you truly know who your Dada is... your face lights up and you try to leap out of my arms everyday when you see his truck pulling up. Other than Dada, your other favorite word to say is 'That?' Whenever you see something, you ask 'That?' As in, 'What's that?' C-to the UTE =)

And boy, do you like to eat!! I guess you got that trait from Mama. :) You eat anything and everything, and Lord help the person who is feeding you if they leave you with an empty tray momentarily! Your brothers were both timid when presented with their first birthday cakes... somehow I don't think you will have the same reaction!

Your brothers have nick-named you 'Goudee' and I love how much they love you. (And how much you love them!!) You are growing so fast, and you are the first Shiver boy to actually be wearing the size clothes that correspond to your age. Each time I pack away another set of clothes you have outgrown, I can't help but think that perhaps it is the last time one of my babies will wear those clothes (and really, it is time for some pink in our wardrobe!!).

I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming, and I am so very excited to see where God leads you in your next year, and beyond. I love you, sweet Goudee!

Love,
Mom

These Walls

As I was closing Mason's curtains the other night after laying him in his crib, I noticed the holes in his wall where his brother's names had previously hung. First Miles, then Max, and now Mason.

Seeing those holes made me realize how much I love our house. No, we don't have a playroom; no, we live VERY far from everything, no, the area surrounding our neighborhood isn't a good place to be. But our house--it is not just where we eat, sleep, play. It is where we live. It is the first house and only house Miles and I have ever owned; these are the walls we have painted ourselves (yes, almost every single wall by our own bare hands). It is the place we have landscaped, and loved, and labored over. Inside these walls we learned our family would grow; and grow; and grow again. These walls are the walls that have been dented by excited dogs chasing each other; these walls have seen our new babies come home, and then grow up. These walls have seen tears; heard laughter; listened to brothers sharing secrets late into the night. This house, this place, is a home. It is OUR home. After 5 1/2 years... if these walls could talk!!! And while we are anxious to move on....excited about where God will have us live next....anticipating moving closer to our kid's school and shortening our commute, we are content. We love our home, and when the day does come that God provides a new place for us to live and we lock up for the last time, I know these walls will see a few more tears. I am thankful for the holes in these walls. Those holes tell a story. And that story is the story of our family.

The Brother's Room Closet

The year of the closets continues.... :)This closet has been done for about a month, however, my blog post has not been :). If you remember, we already did the pantry and the toy/coat closet. Next on our list was the closet in Miles and Max's room. I meant to get bins once again for the middle cubbies (like I have in the toy closet), but I am actually liking it without the bins now that I have it all put back together. I am very happy with the result and it is making their room so much easier to organize!!! Next we want to tackle our master closet and the linen closet, but I think we will hold off on that probably until fall, as we have a VERY busy summer lined up. :) Enjoy the makeover pics! 

Before: 

After: 

Flexibility

If you asked me last year around July 4th what my definition of Motherhood was, I would have given you one word: survival. It wasn't fun for me. I had three kids under four, I was trying to keep two very active toddlers busy while recovering from childbirth and dealing with a newborn who refused to sleep, and I was battling my own demons deep in the thrones of post-partum depression. That in itself was a struggle that I didn't share with many people; I felt silly, stupid, and out of control. It was, afterall, my third pregnancy and birth; the newborn thing was easy for me, but I still couldn't get it together enough to mange a small trip to the library, much less thinking about packing up and going grocery shopping or spending a morning with friends. Survival. 

Today, almost a year later, while I am still dealing with an almost one year who STILL refuses to sleep,  if you asked me my definition of motherhood, I would say: Flexibility. You see, I am a classic Type A personality. A 'place for everything and everything in its place' kind of gal. I don't handle unforeseen circumstances very well. I don't tend to 'roll with the punches' as some people can. And yet, throughout my four years as a Mom, God has worked on me. In the past, if I didn't know where we were going to eat for family night on Friday night, I would hyper-stress about it. If we DID know where we were going to eat, and two minutes before leaving the house we got a call and our plans changed, I would be frazzled for the rest of the night. As I have had more and more little boys in my home, I have learned to let those things go. God has worked on me since Miles was born to be more laid back. Don't get me wrong.. I still spend almost all my 'free time' organizing, or meal planning, or making lists of some sort; but now, those things aren't what makes my world go 'round, but rather background noise to the more important things like laughing and making cookies with my little men. So here I thought I was doing well in this area. While I know  the importance of tradition, routine, and planning, I thought I had found a balance between those things and flexibility. But lately God is teaching me more about this concept. He is saying 'It is not just about letting those things go.. it is about rolling with the punches and ENJOYING your days. It is about making sure your family is taken care of, but not letting the other things bother you.' For the past few weeks, God has been asking me to let go of even more. Before, if I left a load of laundry in the dryer for even 30 minutes after it beeped at me, the need to fold it would consume me until I did it, even if it meant putting down the Ninja Turtles and folding. In the past, if Great-Grandma wanted to take us to lunch at 12pm for a treat, I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself because the whole time I would be thinking about how the kids were going to get down too late for their naps. And Heaven forbid, if the boys wanted to go to swim at 4:30pm when I had beef defrosting in the microwave but no other dinner prep started, I would have freaked out because we wouldn't eat until 7pm! My new goal for the summer is to roll with things. To be flexible. To hold on to my plans with a loose grip, rather than a tight death-grip. And guess what? I've had laundry in the dryer since 8am and it is now almost 2:30. And now, I don't even WANT to fold it! I had too much fun playing Ninja Turtles! That lunch that we went to with Great-Grandma? The kids took a later nap and everything turned out perfectly. And that late afternoon swim with friends? Some of the best memories so far this summer. And even though we ate late that night, my boys ate every bite we put in front of them! Miles and I think we are going to push dinner back later every night!

So here is to fun, friends, and and a flexible summer enjoying whatever is in store for us!!! And if you see my husband at work with slightly more wrinkled shirts, just smile at him. I must have been having too much fun with the boys to care!!! :)

Family Fun

We've been blessed. We've been busy. We are greatly looking forward to the start of summer! Miles V has his last day of preschool tomorrow (HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!?!?). After that it is on to more relaxed days, no rushing to get somewhere, more time together! So excited! For now, here are some pics of what we've been up to lately!!! 

Mommy Date: 
With Max, at Cracker Barrell, and Menchies (it was his choice this time). Absolutely ADORE this little guy!!!

Fun running errands (Costco, Albertson's, the mall...) 

Fun at the Zoo: 

Daddy took Monday off last week and so we had fun at our new favorite place, Gravity Park. Here are a few pictures from several trips there recently: 

It is harder than I remember it being during my gymnastics days to get out of these things!! 

Mamma can still flip front..... 

....

............and back. Boy was I glad to land on my feet!!! I need to work on my form!

And here I am, snuggling with three of my four favorite guys in the whole world!!! 

Welcome, summer, we are SOOOOOOOOOO glad you are here!!! 

The Clubhouse--Revealed!!!

My apologies for taking so long to post anything. My husband and I have been sitting around eating bon bons and watching TV so I've been really lazy lately. (That was a joke =). Actually, as usual, we have been super busy. Its amazing how many projects you can find to do on a house and yard! Anyway, moving right along.... 

A few years ago when we only had Miles V and Max running around, my husband told me he had a vision to build a playhouse on top of our already existing dog pen for the kids to play in and make their own. Sure honey, ok honey, whatever you want... that was my response. Because at the time I didn't see how we could possibly need more space for the kids to play. Fast forward two years, a daddy who mentioned this to the four year old and then never heard the end of it, approval from our HOA... and viola! The clubhouse was built. My amazingly talented husband, our wonderful friend Chris and the boys' awesome Papa spent three Sundays over the past two months working their butts off to build this clubhouse for the boys. And when you see the picture, you will see why the clubhouse is (appropriately) named our "Mini-Wide." While it may slightly resemble a small version of a single-wide modular home, it is absolutely perfect. The boys literally have the neighbor kids knocking on the door to come visit and play. It is equipped with a ladder to enter, electricity, real windows, and bumpy slide to exit. It is the perfect addition to the beautiful yard that my husband has created for us! 

Personally, I think it has a lot more style than this:

While we were working, Mason got into some mischief in the well of the tree we planted when he was born.. I guess he was hungry :).

Lets be honest. The ladder is really for us grownups. This is the correct way to enter the clubhouse. Even Mason gives it a whirl. Oh, and please don't mind my four year old's sagging pants. He is not trying to make a fashion statement, he is just genuinely trying to fit into his 3T shorts!!!

Inside is pretty basic. A coloring station. An awesome Mickey tent. An old rug (when we replace our house carpet Miles has visions of carpeting the whole clubhouse with our old stuff..). I envision a few bean bag chairs in here, some curtains....

And of course, the most fun way to exit the clubhouse on a hot day. Oh yes, and that slide flips up so the grass underneath can be watered, get sun, and be mowed. Genius I tell you.

The 'year of the closets' was put on hold while the clubhouse was under construction. But Miles and I, being completely unable to relax and NOT have a project to be working on, have another closet next on our list. Photos of that to follow hopefully someday soon!..

And now, back to TV and bon bons. :)

Love,