Mother's Day

1 Samuel 1:27- For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him

This year, Mother's Day definitely meant a lot more to me.  

 To go from wondering if we'd even be able to have children to having this energetic, talkative little guy has been the greatest (and hardest!) blessing of my life over the last few years.  My heart goes out to all others who, for whatever reason, do not and perhaps will not have literal children in this life.  My source of comfort before Atticus came along was the knowledge that, in whatever capacities we're able, Heavenly Father gives us a chance to "practice" for the eternities.  I know that He is a perfect, loving, heavenly parent and will not deny this blessing to his faithful chidlren.

For me, this "practice" came in various forms.  As a teacher, coach, Aunt, Sunday School teacher, and even as a neighbor, I had opportunities to mentor and love a few of these little ones (even the bigger little ones, ha ha!)  I know that, though we might not even feel GOOD at this whole motherhood thing (and I very often don't!) we, as women, have been given special gifts to nurture and love these precious children from Heaven.  Like so many other things, practice (along with generous use of the Atonement!) makes perfect.

So today, I express gratitude to Heavenly Father for the chance to have this beautiful little boy and to experience the wonder of life again through his eyes.

Gimme five!

Atticus turned 5 months yesterday (April 3).  Time really has flown by.  I look at the tiny newborn pictures we took in the NICU and he looks like an entirely different child.

In fact, there are times that Dane and I swear he looks like a little boy.  It's a little disconcerting.  He's growing up a little too fast for me.  I was more than a little upset when I had to put aside all of his 0-3 month old clothing a couple weeks ago...

But I can't complain too much.  This age is just so much fun.  He laughs all the time (I swear, his laugh is almost musical!)   He talks all the time and sometimes even seems to be trying to "sing" when I sing to him.  (It's really more of a growl, but he looks so sincere as he does it!)

He is starting to inch himself forward by propping himself up on his head and toes (it's exhausting, just watching him!)  He can scoot backward, although I'm not sure he means to.

He reaches for objects all the time (usually with his left hand?!), including our faces & my glasses.

He's also far better at self-soothing.  He finds his thumb (or his fist/fingers) every time, now.

He got his first real taste of the sun last week during my soccer practices (see the red on his nose?)

He also met his first friend just a couple days ago!  At first he didn't seem to notice the other baby in the room, but when the two finally made eye contact, it was pretty cute to see them interact.  Gideon is 7-8 weeks further along, so he was grabbing Atticus and putting his feet on him. 

As usual, there has been plenty of quality time with his grandparents.  We are so blessed to have three grandparents so close!

My favorite thing, though, is how much he enjoys action.  He really has become quite an adrenaline junkie!  He loves falling, bouncing, spinning, and being thrown up in the air.  Here's proof:

Yep.  He's pretty much a ray of sunshine in our lives.-  That is,  as long as his gums aren't hurting from teething!

Well, the little man has his four month appointment this Thursday.  Wish us luck with the immunizations (gulp!)