seven...SEVEN!

June 21, brought me a seven year old. What is it about these firstborns. I swear I was near tears throughout the entire day thinking of this sweet boy being seven years old. What in the heck, how in the heck. I remember that day he was born like it was freaking yesterday. I was so worried about my hair...which I know sounds absolutely ridiculous. I had my 40 week doctor appointment that morning and I had a feeling they would check me and send me right to the hospital. My blood pressure had been high for a few weeks and my due date was up. I just knew they would start me. I had told myself to wake up early and make the effort to straighten my hair. However, when that alarm clock went off that morning, my laziness got the better of me and I ended up just scrunching it. I was so mad at myself. I just pictured me laying in that hospital bed, with a sweet little newborn and crazy, wavy hair. Now thinking back on this it is absolutey ridiculous. I gained over 50 pounds with Carson (by far my biggest pregnancy), I was retaining water like crazy. My ankles weren't even ankles, more like thighs. I was sooooo ugly and sooooo big. So you tell me what rational mind is seriously worried about how their hair looks in that moment. Well the answer is me. And then after 6 short and relatively easy hours of labor, a beautiful, pink faced, black haired, swollen eyed baby was placed in my arms and all thoughts of my hair went right out the window. I was a mom. It was the most defining moment of my life. To experience that kind of love for the first time. June 21, 2005 is etched in my memory. I hold it tightly, snuggled right next to my heart. Along with Novemeber 17, 2008 and January 24, 2011. The days my three little slices of heaven were born. The days I began to fulfill my life calling, the one thing I felt like I was made for, that title of motherhood has never been something I have taken lightly. I have embraced it from those first few moments, with my first sweet boy. He and I started this journey together, more often than not he is my guinea pig. I am learning right along with him, but holy heck do I sure love him. And while I rejoice in the fact that this boy I love so, is here and celebrating another birthday, the mama side of me weeps a little. Cause her sweet babe is no longer a babe....he's a little boy. Complete with scraped knees, dirt under his fingernails, messied hair little boy. Who has completely stolen my heart. And he turned seven yesterday....and we made the most of it.

I know this shows up really well doesn't it...it says happy birthday!!! Trust me.

I slaved away to make my birthday boy a really good breakfast. I opened my freezer, took out a frozen ego waffle, popped in the toaster and tada...breakfast of champions. At least I threw some fruit on the side...that counts for something, right??

Don't worry...he totally loves frozen waffles. Honest to gosh, he can eat a bazillion of them.

Now let me clarify...this is actually part one of his birthday. Part two, doesn't take place til Saturday night. We are planning a big shindig for the boy. Family party, lego themed, complete with a pinata. Here is all my prep work. Thursday was swim day, his choice. The lucky kid is basically getting two parties. Thats ok though, he's totally worth it.

So like I said...we gathered the appropriate supplies for a fun filled day at the Aquatic center. Which is obviously a whole trunk full of crap. My husband does not understand the need I feel to take half of our house with us everytime we go somewhere. Trust me though, I needed every single thing that was in there. And I wasn't sorry....so there you go.

I'm sorry but my one year old is the freaking cutest kid alive, look at that smile. Look at it. He kills me.

Oh my, my...mister GQ!

You think my kids are the only ones with new swim gear...wrong. Mama got some new stuff too, new suit and cover up. Exciting times.

Then we waited for our little friends to show up. Cutest little group of cousins out there...and once again check out my baby's smile. Does he not melt ya??

Then it was off to the pool...

Slappin' sunscrean on those babies. Poor kids, I dump it on them...got protect that sweet skin.

This is a happy face, trust me. He was absolutely loving it. This is the first year that all three of my kids have loved the water. Carson always has, Drake was too small last year to really know but Lincoln in the past has hated it. Not scared really, he just gets cold easily and would spend his whole time shivering and whining. This year was totally different, he was out there with the best of them. Made me super happy. And then this little one couldn't get enough, only problem is he thinks he is one of the big kids. Doesn't appreciate it being held back from anything.

Lunchtime.

Lincoln boy was cold...this was his solution.

Baby naps.

That pretty much wraps up my water pictures. Carson was way too busy and way to far out there for me to get any pics of. And it is too risky having my pricey camera that near water. Had to keep it out of harms way. We had a great time, came home with three exhausted children at the end of the day. I got them all cleaned up when we got home and Lincoln and Drake were out for the night by 8:00. The birthday boy was a different story.

Wanted to include these last 3 pictures of him and tell you the little story that goes along with them. It was a parenting ah-hah moment. Do you guys have those. Little moments along the way that you know you will never forget. You know they will forever stand out in your memory and make you smile. It was so simple yet truly impacted me, and I hope him. It was almost 10:00 that night, I was excersising and Carson was laying on the couch watching Phineas and Ferb. I thought he was almost asleep and all of the sudden he pops up and tells me he is kinda hungry. I started naming him some options of what he could eat. He kept saying no to everything, and then just said "can I just have a waffle" (told ya he loves those). I had about 10 minutes left of my workout so I told him "sure, just a sec". As I was finishing up, I all the sudden got the idea to surprise him with a candle in it. I called Thiago out (like I said, the babes were asleep) and he distracted Carson while I got the waffle ready. Stuck the candle in there, lit it, turned around and Thiago and I belted out a rather loud and obnoxious "Happy Birthday " song. You should have seen his face. The pictures don't do it justice. He was so surprised and was just beaming. Its all he can talk about. He thought our rendtion of the song was hilarious, he just kept saying "you guys just surprised me, I had no idea you were going to do that." It was absolutely priceless. Something as simple as a candle stuck in an ego waffle and look at the impact it had on him. Thiago and I are pretty much the most sentimental parents out there, all of the sudden the two of us our watching our boy and look at each other, and we both have tears in our eyes. Carson asks why we are crying and all his dad can say is "just cause we love you so much". Now I tell ya there are alot of things I mess up on as a mom. For the first three years of Carson's life he had no real bedtime routine and to this day he struggles to stay in his own bed, Lincoln had a bottle for too long and has 3 caps to prove it. I let my kids eat Lunchables, and doughnuts and foods filled with MSG and quite frankly it doesn't really bother me for the most part. However, I am hear to tell you as a mother there is one area that I am passionate about, down right obsessessed to tell you the truth. When my kids enter the 4 walls of our home they will KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are loved. Not just loved...they are cherished, they are adored. They will know that they matter, they they are special. I will pound that into their little brains. They will hopefully carry that security and that warmth and that knowledge with them for the rest of their lives. It will give them the strength and confidence they need to go out into the world and lead happy, successfull lives. That is my biggest prayer and hope as a mother. That I can provide that for them. Even if it is through something as simple as sticking a candle in a waffle and ten'o clock at night and singing as loud and off-key as I can. I hope he always remembers that...I know I will. Happy birthday to my brown-eyed boy. Your mama loves you!