the beautifully mundane

As a stay at home mom of two littles, sometimes the mind numbingly mundane days 

start to get to me. 

Change a diaper.

Fix a snack.

Do the laundry.

Do the dishes.

Change a diaper.

Wipe a nose.

Wipe a butt.

Pick up legos.

Do more laundry.

Change a diaper.

Do you get my point, yet?

Sometimes, I feel like I am in a fog and I wonder if it will ever let up.

Each day seems the same.

Each moment seems the same.

Here's the thing though, if that's my focus then 

I will miss all the beautiful moments that I get with my kids every single day.

The moments I want to carry in my heart forever.

The moments I want to bottle up. Moments that make everyday new and sweet.

Moments like...

sam blowing me kisses

annabel bringing me a book to read to her

annabel climbing up into my lap and saying "hold me yike a baby, mommy"

folding tiny laundry

picking up yet another impressive lego birthday cake that Annabel has constructed

singing songs with both of them

having dance parties

sitting at the table eating lunch together and annabel saying "mommy yet's have a conversation."

kissing boo-boos

drying tears

seeing my daughter's excitement to have pieced together that same puzzle that we've already worked a billion times

watching them sleep

all of us brushing our teeth together

annabel watching cartoons on the ipad while i finish up my morning beauty rest :)

These are all beautiful moments that Jesus has given me.

Jesus is in the mundane.

Those moments I have when I think all I do is change diapers and get bossed around by my two year old, Jesus is there. He's with me. I don't have to be doing something uber exciting or super spiritual for him to show up. He's there when I'm wiping noses and fixing lunches. 

He's listening when I'm complaining and being selfish about how many diapers I've changed today. He welcomes me and my selfish heart.

He loves me anyway. He loves me the same, not more and not less.

I want to make much of him in those mundane moments. I want to make much of his name to my kids. I want them to know I love Jesus and that I am pursuing him.

Jesus is using these mundane moments to teach me so much about him and about myself.

He's using them to draw me to him.

There are times when I wonder if I will ever do anything besides change diapers. 

There will be and if I'm honest, that makes me sad.

But for now, I'm praying that I soak up every minute that I have with these precious babies and that I use all these blessed moments to make much of Jesus.

Monday with mama

Hello Monday!

It's a good day here in my house.

Kids are napping.

I'm eating some lunch in peach.

Dishes are done (most of them).

Laundry's going.

I'm on it.

Also, my artwork is being featured over here!

A little while back Tricia and I started emailing here and there and just chatting about life as a pastor's wife and being a mom to a little girl and we hit it off.

She's basically a doll face and she's written some super kind words over on her blog.  Oh, and she makes some pretty cute jewelry :)

She offers some really generous ways to bloggers/shop owners to get their name and product out there so I was able to do a custom piece for her.

You should totally check it out!

(oh and enjoy the ginormous picture of my face when you head over to her blog)

sweetness

My babies are so different.

This one likes to give me a run for my money, but she does it (most of the time) in the most cutest way possible.

She's very particular.

She is not a multi-tasker and she's very task oriented.

She loves pretending like she's in an episode of Dora or Diego and she needs to find the baby jaguar who needs help.

She has such a sweet and sensitive heart.

She's really quite bossy. We like to tell her that one day she'll be a great leader and momma but right now she just comes off as bossy.

She loves a good party.

She's super duper enthusiastic. I wish I had just an ounce of her enthusiasm.

And she's really dramatic with her enthusiasm. Its pretty much the most precious thing ever.

She's started telling fibs, I'm not sure whether it's on purpose or not, and so I've tried to start talking to her about lying and what the truth it. Each time, she proceeds to roar like a lion.

Lion does not equal lying. Close enough, but not really.

She is super smart. She absolutely loves puzzles and she's super good at them.

She's basically a genius. I bet she could even figure out a rubix cube.

She likes to organize and group things.

She like to sing and shake her booty.

She loves her " geen bankie" (green blanket).

She's a good big sister. She really loves Sam. She is also that first born child so she definitely feels like she should have dibs on me and really anything else and Sam will just have to get over it. 

I love watching her play.

I love just watching her be her cute little self.

She is a beautiful and spirited little ball of energy that melts my heart on a very consistent basis.

This girl has stolen my heart. 

She's probably barking orders at me in the picture below. 

"Momma, stop takin pictures!" "Momma, no cheese!" 

She's awesome and I want to freeze her at this sweet little age with that sweet little voice of hers.

Oh well, I guess that's what makes it so precious is that it doesn't last forever.

My birthday :)

Today is my birthday! It's already been picture perfect. Michael made me a cookie cake before work and then he woke up Annabel so they could sing happy birthday to me and blow out candles. It was precious times :)
Annabel always gets so excited about birthdays, cakes, and candles so she's super fun to have around on a special day. I love that about her! She just gets soooo excited and she'll say things like "yets party!!" She cracks us up.

love love love

Happy Valentine's Day from the Merediths!

sam turns one

This guy turned one today (yesterday, by the time I finish this post).

This boy is so happy.

He's so jolly and joyful, all the time.

His smile is the sweetest sight in all the world

and he has these beautiful blue eyes that absolutely melt my heart.

He can wave now and he's so friendly with his wave.

He waves hello and good-bye. He waves to friends and to strangers.

He isn't walking just yet but he has this funny crawl that seems to get him around just fine.

He's got this new scream cry thing that he does when Annabel steals a toy from him, which is often.

But, he's so easy going that usually he'll just move onto a different toy. 

He loves to play with balls.

He likes to bang things on the floor, loves to be loud and make noise.

He loves to climb.

He loves to play with his sister.

He loves to smile and laugh.

He loves to be tickled.

He loves to be loved on.

During bedtime prayers with Annabel tonight, I thanked Jesus for being smarter than me and Michael and for giving us our sweet Sam when we weren't "planning" on getting pregnant so soon after Annabel was born. Sam is the sweetest surprise I've ever gotten. He fills my heart with joy and with more love than I thought possible.

When he was digging into his cake, in the midst of all the celebrating and laughter, my mind went back to that perfect day when Sam was born. 

That was a day of pure bliss. 

I love you Samuel Ezra, so very much.

a little art

I was recently asked by a dear friend of mine to paint up a wedding gift for some friends of hers who had just gotten hitched. They had met in Louisville but were going to be living in Texas so my friend thought  fleur de lis would be cool and would hopefully remind them of their time in Louisville (ya know cause the fleur de lis is the official symbol of the city, I think...). 

So here is the final product... ta-da!

I always like to throw in a little something extra so I made this little, baby canvas for them as well. She mentioned they would be honeymooning in San Francisco so I thought it be fun to have a reminder of that as well.

If you're ever in the market for a custom wedding gift or any kind of custom art, please email me at spoonfulofsunshine@yahoo.com. You can also check out my portfolio located on the right side of the page.