Currently {13}

Thinking about: What an amazing man I married. Seriously, he's the best. He does so much to provide for our family and supports me staying home with Ted. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the trials of being a mom, that I forget how difficult it must be to be a dad sometimes. Jason leaves for work by 6:45 at the latest, so there are many mornings that he gets up, gets ready and leaves for work without seeing Ted. Until recently Ted would take a late afternoon nap, so that left a very small window for Ted and Jason to play together after work too. I think about that and it makes me so sad. But he does it...not because he loves his job (he likes it, but as all jobs it has its moments); he does it because he loves his family. He has such a great heart as a leader and a servant. He just found out that he cannot take the time off to go to Iowa for my favorite weekend of the summer. I was heartbroken. It's a weekend I look forward to all year and I want to share this tradition with him. My selfless, servant husband told me he wants Ted and I to go anyway. He will stay home and work while Ted and I go spend time with my family and friends in Iowa. Seriously, he's amazing and I am beyond blessed.

Listening to: Ted's sweet little babble talk. I have no idea what he is saying, but sometimes he babbles with so much intensity and expression that I really wish I knew what he was saying. He changes the pitch of his voice and makes these adorable faces as he just babbles away. Sometimes I think he is talking to Charlie, who really could care less what Ted is saying. He says "dada", "goggie", "yeah", but still no "mama". Waiting patiently Ted, waiting patiently...

Watching: Dolly Parton on the Today Show! Love her!

Reading: Remember how awesome I just said my husband is? ^^ Well, he just got even more awesome by buying me this book. Oh, he knows me so well and loves me despite my 90210 obsession.

Thankful for: A wonderful family weekend to celebrate Mother's Day. The weather was beautiful and all I wanted all weekend was to be outside and enjoy it as much as possible because soon...very, very, soon it is going to be ridiculously hot! On Friday we went out for pizza and to an ASU baseball game. On Saturday we took Ted to the Splash Pad and out for cheeseburgers (my current pregnancy craving). On Sunday, we went to Mass, to a delicious Mediterranean restaurant for lunch (mmm, chicken shawarma), and to the zoo. It was a beautiful afternoon to walk around. Best of all, just spending the weekend with my wonderful husband and my sweet Ted. 

I love seeing Jason and Ted interact. When Ted was only a few months old I remember Jason asking me why Ted didn't like him. Naturally, Ted only wanted me because I was nursing and with him all day. Now, Ted's face lights up and he shrieks with joy when he hears Jason come home. I loved capturing these sweet moments at the baseball game the other night.

My heart is so full right now.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed week!

Answer Me This {1} Link Up

I thought this would be fun in honor of Mother's Day. Thanks Dr. Mom and Catholic All Year for the idea and the questions. :)

Are you becoming your mother? 
In some ways I certainly hope so; in others, I hope I can learn from some of her mistakes. My mom is an amazing mother. She and my dad made a lot of sacrifices so she could stay home with us for as long as possible. I am the youngest, so by the time I was born, she was able to stay home for the most part full-time. She was the R.E. director at our church, so I could go with her to work. She also was a substitute teacher and on those days I would go to our neighbor's house. I was never fond of this. I loved being with my mom. In this regard, I feel like I am a lot like my mom. We have made a lot of sacrifices so I can stay home with Ted and I wouldn't trade that for anything. I had the best childhood with my mom always there for me and more than anything, I want to give that to Ted too.

I love my mom so much and I miss her every day. I love when she can visit or I get to go to Iowa and just spend time with her. We can talk about anything, but our conversations mostly center around teaching and Ted now. 

She loves her children unconditionally even though it can be painful (older brother issues I won't get into). I don't fully understand because even though I am a mom, I'm not "there yet" as a mom. It's easy to unconditionally love a one-year old. While I don't know that I would react the same, I understand the desire to do absolutely anything to help your kids. 

She is also an amazing teacher. I have never met a former student of hers who did not say she was their favorite teacher. People remember her fondly...she gives her students "Homefun" instead of homework and "Opportunities" instead of tests. I am honored to follow in her footsteps as a teacher and now a mother. 

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!

Coffee or Tea? 
Coffee! Preferably iced...even in the winter.

What foreign country would you like to visit? 
Hmm...it's a long list. I would be happy going anywhere, but some of my top places I'd like to visit are Ireland, Greece, and New Zealand. Someday...but in the meantime, I have a lot of great memories from trips I've already taken. One of my favorites was going to Europe for three weeks with my bestie - pre-hubbies and pre-kiddos! Some crazy adventures neither of us could ever soon forget.

Do you cry easily?
Yes, definitely...when I am sad, angry, or not wanting to confront someone that I need to. But, most often it's due to reruns of Grey's Anatomy (bawl my eyes out every time George's dad dies or the girl looses her baby from falling in the shower) or any show where Matthew Fox cries. The list continues with sappy, sappy movies. Remember the Titans gets me every time and so does Steel Magnolias. I only have to see the last 20 minutes of Terms of Endearment and I am sobbing on the couch. Sometimes, my husband thinks I am crazy...

How often do you wear heels?
As close to NEVER as possible. I just can't do it. My sister loves heels and I have (finally) learned that any time she tells me a pair of heels is comfy that it is a bold-faced, sister lie. ;-) She's told me this and then taken her heels off only to see her toes blistered and bleeding! I can't do it. This is about as close as I will get...and these boots she let me borrow with the tiniest heel made me want to cut my feet off. I'll leave the heels to my sissy.

Do you play an instrument?
No, but I wish I did. I would love to play the piano. I tried to learn to play the guitar in fifth grade, but I just couldn't handle actually practicing. Oh, if I could only be one of those people who was magically gifted and only had to practice to get better, not to actually learn...

That was fun...happy I found this link-up! Since no blog is really complete without a few pictures of Ted, here he is getting his first (awful) mommy haircut. 

Bye, bye baby mullet.

Currently {12}

Thinking about: Life on a budget. Since I am not teaching full-time, we've had to really look at our spending and budgeting. I must say it is stressful at times and really tries my own personal spending habits, but I am actually grateful for this time in our life. As Dave Ramsay would say, "Live like no one else, so you can one day live like no one else." It's really helped me focus on our needs and to be thankful for the blessings we already have. We don't need lots of "stuff". I love this stage in our life and marriage because we are teaching Ted valuable life lessons about what we truly matters. 

Reading: So I think I know how to get over my recent illiteracy. This book. 1) I'm a long-time, die-hard fan of the Orig. Beverly Hills 90210. 2) I love, love, love the trials and tribulations of the "rough lives" of the rich and famous. Once Jason Priestley gets me out of my non-reading funk, I might have to move on to this one next ;-)

Watching: The last few episodes of this season of Grey's Anatomy. I loved that they brought Dr. Burke back! I was secretly hoping Christina would run off with him, but I like how they did it. 

Also watching Survivor! I love Survivor and I am such a nerd about it that I am even in a Survivor pool...generally I'm a solid 4th place finisher, but this season I'm currently in third place and making my move to the top! What's the prize, you ask? Oh, nothing but my pride and bragging rights to other nerds in the group...yes, yes, I know this makes me nerdier!

Wishing: Wishing, hoping, praying for plane tickets to Iowa to go down! I always go to Iowa in June to visit family and attend a yearly camping weekend with friends. Right now tickets are crazy expensive. I can't imagine missing the camping weekend, so I'm praying for these prices to go down! I am also really excited for Ted to be (hopefully) walking and playing in the green, green Iowa grass.

Thankful for: These squishy, squishy cheeks. I seriously can't even handle how cute they are. When Ted was first born, his cheeks were the first thing the doctor mentioned! They've been so squishy and kissable since the day he was born. 

Positive

When Ted was 4 months old, he started sleeping through the night. That one, miraculous night that I got to sleep more than four hours was life-changing. It also seemed to strip me of my memory of every single night of the previous four months. I was rested, refreshed...and ready for another baby...so I thought. ;-)

When Ted was six months old, my cycle returned and that lingering idea of having another baby became more real and a little more scary. It's easy to say you are ready for another baby, but when reality hits you in the face and it becomes a true possibility, I must say, there was some fear that set in.

Fear for all sorts of reasons. Fear I wasn't ready. Fear that we couldn't afford it. Fear that I couldn't possibly share my love for Ted with another little soul. Even fear that I might not be able to get pregnant. Fear that I couldn't give Ted a brother or sister. (I didn't say any of these fears were rational, but most fears aren't right?) 

But amidst all these fears was the desire to grow our family. To see Ted as a big brother. To give him a little brother or sister. 

Every month that my cycle started again, there was a sigh of relief and sigh of sadness. Relief because it meant one more month with just Ted. Relief because I really wasn't quite ready. Sadness because that creeping feeling of Ted being our only miracle would set it. Sadness because my greatest heart's desire is to have a big family.

Then one month, that feeling... 

That feeling where you just know something is different. 

You know your life is going to change forever. 

And you can't wait...

It's that positive pregnancy test. That faint little line that your eyes just can't possibly believe so you go buy the really expensive test where there will be no question...it either says PREGNANT or NOT PREGNANT. No interpreting is that line blue enough? or pink enough to mean positive?

No more question...

PREGNANT.

Again that swirl of emotions.

Relief because it clearly means I can get pregnant again. Pure joy because we can give Ted the greatest gift...a brother or a sister! 

But still the fear...can I love another little soul the way I love Ted? Am I robbing him of his time as an only child? What am I going to do with an 18 month old and a newborn?!

Then I look at the test again...

PREGNANT.

It's real. It's amazing. Ted is the greatest miracle I have ever witnessed and now I get to do it all over again. 

We are beyond blessed and thankful for this new little soul we get to love.

Baby Soper 2.0 due in October. 

 Can you see the excitement in Ted's face? ;-)

What a good big brother :)