Memorial Weekend {Lake Style}

For the love of a long weekend spent at the lake.

Family and friends.

Water. Sunscreen. Hammocks. Bonfires. Endless food, and of course...laughter.

Pretty sure we said 1000 times in 3 days "this is the life."

Early mornings watching the sun come up over the lake with coffee in hand. Girl talk. Swinging in the hammock.

Leyton was everyone's alarm clock.

(no he is not really drinking an energy drink, it's empty)

This year is totally different at the lake with Ley. He loves the water. He is a lot easier to keep occupied, however, he requires a whole lot more eyes on him. I jumped in twice to save him. He thinks he can walk on water. Promise. 

If he's not trying to drown in the pool, he's peeing somewhere. Potty training is going well, obviously. 

After a weekend like that, think we will head back for another...right now. Lake bound.

Mother's Day

End of the day exhaustion has set in, but I'm going to force a post out. 

Mother's Day started shortly after 5am. Can't say I even complained about it. Rain fell, it was still dark out, and we snuggled on the couch with coffee. Both of us, because Leyton "really wuvs coffee."
In the stillness of those moments, I am reminded of how blessed I am. How in love I am. I'm a momma. That's still crazy to me sometimes. 

The kitchen was full of flowers, chocolate, balloons, and cards. Leyton ran around saying "happy mudders day," as if he knew what he was talking about. He didn't cry for the first time going into the nursery today, which is kind of a big deal. Happy Mother's Day to me. However, he did run away from me after service and got lost. Happy Mother's Day to me again. He knows where the table of cookies are for the guests' at church. He also knows how to run under 39948 people's legs to get there. He now knows what both of those things get him. I found out that I could, in fact, spank kind of hard today. Happy Mother's Day to you, Ley.

Church was followed by lunch, where Leyton slept in my arms the whole entire time. That's never happened. Seriously can't think of a meal that's been that quiet since he was born. I enjoyed his snuggles and my food. 

Thank you instagram for pretty much all pictures anymore. I can't even keep up with my kid in church, so the camera is definitely not making it anywhere with me. Maybe one day. Maybe. 

I loved today today. Thankful for the joy that comes through loving a precious child. As I laid down with Leyton tonight and said prayers, I couldn't help but say over and over, 'thank you.' I'm blessed. Even if life isn't anything close to how I had planned 3 years ago, it's so sweet. 

Today we celebrated the sleepless nights. 

5am calls through the monitor. 

Screaming and crying of a toddler that doesn't get their way.

Pants and shirts on backwards because they have to "do it themselves."

Toys everywhere.

But mostly we celebrate the sweet times.

The snuggles and prayers at night.

The laughter.

The "I love you's."

The milestones. 

All else kinda fades on this day. I remember why I'm here, who I've been called to be. Life is just like it is for a reason. There is two year old boy that thinks I am the world right now. Can't take that lightly.

Happy, happy Mother's Day.
If you're a momma, you are beautiful. You are blessed. 

Chattanooga for Easter.

Easter number two in Chattanooga. We were missing two family members this time though. 

 I really love this place.

Such a great city. So much to see and do. 

Day one was the ZOO! 

Leyton had a blast.

Even I had a blast, and I don't really like animals. 

Gorillas are by far the best thing at the zoo. I could have watched them all day. I also could have listened to Leyton say that they were isgusting (disgusting) all day. 

They were picking each others noses, scabs, ears.

It was pretty 'isgusting'. 

And funny.

Tornado Alley at the IMAX theater. So good. 

I only fell asleep 3 times. 

Worst movie watcher ever.

But really, it was good.

Dinner at The Station House. So yummy.

Waiters and Waitresses sing while you eat. 

Must go if you are in Chattanooga. 

Oh, and the Pickle Barrel. 

Fried pickles. That's all I'm gonna say. 

While sitting at lunch, I was drawing on Leyton's coloring page and told him I was going to write his name. I started with L-E and he says, "Y-T-O-N." But, seriously, when did he learn how to spell his name by himself? Surrrrprise.

Late night rides on the bus around town to get coffee and cake.

Diaper changes on the public bench because...well...that's all you've got.

And a six mile run through downtown, jumping up and looking in every office window, just to give people something to laugh at during their workday. 

Such a fun trip. 

Probably a little too much fun at times. 

I love making memories. 

I love family.

I think we should have stayed a little longer. 

Back home, back to work.
Bye Chatt. 

{Pics were taken with two different cameras, 5 photographers, and 3 phones. Please excuse awful blurriness and lighting. We got the memories captured}

Easter

Saturday's Easter egg hunt went something like this...we get to the park where 4039343483 kids are running around waiting for the hunt to start. We go to our assigned spot for his age group, and wait for the horn to blow. The whole time I am thinking to myself, Leyton is going to have a knock down drag out with the kid that takes the egg he wants. We are still learning the sharing thing. However, it was not anything like what I had anticipated. After holding Leyton back from the thousands of eggs for a while, the horn finally blows. Ley walks maybe 8 feet to the first egg, sits down, opens it, and eats the candy. The end. One egg.

Good job, Mr. Determination. 

While leaving the park he whispered "oh my gosh" at the sight of every Easter basket that was overflowing with eggs. 

Lesson learned?

There's always next Easter. 

Easter Sunday

I love Easter. I love spring. I love what this holiday means. What happened on this day so long ago. 

Grave conquered. 

The power that conquered it, lives in me.  

Happy Easter!