Nicknames

I love nicknames. Especially unique ones, that only the person who gave it to you realizes the meaning behind it. There are some nicknames though, that I would rather never have received. I am thinking about this because the other day Moses gave Emery a nickname without realizing it. He is so little and is just learning to talk and tried to say Emery and said Mimi. We definitely will be calling her that, how cute right?

We have a million nicknames for Moses, some practical some not so much. Some of my personal favorites are: momo, motar, mozito burrito, mogatoff, and motasaurus. I know half of these don't make sense but have become so special to us for various reasons. I know most of them won't stick and that is why I am writing them down so that I remember later on.

Ten Things

I never had intended staying at home with Moses full time, but it has turned out to be the biggest blessing in disguise. I haven't been able to find a job since moving to California and now I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was God's plan. I have really been trying to be intentional with my time with Moses because Emery will be here any day now. He is such a neat little person and I never realized I could love someone so deeply. I created a list of my top ten favorite things about him (which there are thousands, but these are the ones that I currently enjoy the most):

#1-The way he looks at me when I pick him up out of his crib after he has been sleeping. He is overjoyed to see me and it melts my heart every time.

#2- He is such a snuggle bug and will crawl right up next to me on the couch and hold my hand and sit with me forever

#3- The way that he "runs away" from me (which is right to me)

#4- Whenever he does something good he claps for himself until I clap with him and gets the hugest smile on his face

#5- His wet slobbery kisses on my face

#6- This kid has some serious dance moves. Watch out world we have the next MJ on our hands

#7-I love how he gets jealous over me (I know he is not suppose to do this). If Jarrell is sitting too close to me on the couch he has to get on top of me or in between us

#8-I love how much he loves Jarrell. He will follow him around and wants to do whatever he is doing

#9- His sweet little laugh when you tickle him

#10- His huge precious smile which lights up his face and everyone else around him

I Never Knew A Love Like This

One of the greatest joys of being a mom is seeing how much Moses loves me. It can come through a smile, a stroke of his little fingers on my face, or when he crawls in my lap, throws his head back and stares up at me. Even on the worst of days, I think about him and suddenly the problem slowly melts away. Today I snuck into his room while he took a nap (one without resistance) and just watched him. Through him, I understand God's love for me in a deeper way then I ever have.

*The picture above is one of my favorite pictures of Moses. He was about 1 month old and looked so peaceful.

One of the other greatest joys of parenthood is

watching Jarrell being a father and the relationship he has with Moses. Moses absolutely adores him and gets so excited when he hears the key turn in the door when Jarrell comes home from work. I can see so much of Jarrell's personality in Moses. They both love being around people, playing/hearing music, dancing (you should see them dancing to MJ), and are both ridicously persistent when they want something. I look forward to seeing Moses grow into the type of man that his father is. I am truly blessed that I have a godly husband who loves me and our child and would do anything for us, because I realize for a lot of women this isn't a reality.

Turning the Bad into Good

In an effort to focus on things I am grateful for, I will start with the later part of my day and briefly touch on the rough part. Jarrell had to take his work computer to the Apple Store, so while we were out and about we decided to get some Japanese food, which happens to be my favorite. We are always hesitant to try new Japanese places because they can be so hit and miss, but I sure am glad that we did. This place literally was the best Japanese place I have ate at since leaving New York. (it is really sad, but I didn't even catch the name of it) My dinner consisted of Fried Tofu in an amazing sauce (eaten like soup), a huge seafood salad, and a California Roll, since I can't eat the good stuff right now. At dinner Jarrell looked at me and said, "I know why people love Japanese food. It is like an amusement park ride for your mouth." I thought this was so hilarious! Afterwards, we topped of dinner with Starbucks which made it an even better night.

Moses had such a rough day, which in turn made me have a rough day. He is refusing to take naps lately, even when he is so tired all he can do is fall over and cry. I was really losing my patience with him, but even in the midst of this moment God spoke to me. Two things that really stuck out to me were:

#1- I kept thinking of how 1 Corinthians 13 starts out with Love is patient. I began to realize in order to follow through with the rest of the verses, you first have to have patience.

#2- I thought about how patient God is with me/us. There are so many times in my life, like Moses, that there is something that I desperately need (whether that is prayer or to be in the word) and I don't doing, making my condition only worse. God is so patient with us in those moments and will be by our side no matter how many times we have to repeat a lesson or how stubborn we are.

I am so thankful that God can use tough times to teach us/remind us of important principles.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Moses is at such a fun age right now! I can't believe the rate at which he learns new things and how quickly he is developing. He sure is an active little guy but I am really blessed that he is healthy. Some of his latest and cutest things are:

Uh-Oh: When you say Uh-Oh, Moses will put his hands over his face/head like he has experienced some horrible tragedy. The best part though is that he has the biggest smile on his face when he does it. (The pictures above don't even begin to capture the cuteness of this)

Throwing his head Back: When Moses thinks something is really funny he will throw his head back and start laughing. He learned this from watching my friends' mom and it is so cute!

Da-Da: Anytime Moses sees a picture of Jarrell in our house or in his wallet, his eyes get really big, he smiles, points, and yells da-da. So precious. *Now only if he did that for me :)

Blowing his nose: Moses absolutely despises his nose getting wiped, so Jarrell taught him how to blow his nose. When you hold the tissue up to his nose and tell him to blow he does. It makes the cutest little noise.