~THANKFUL~

THANKFUL!!
"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."  Psalm 107:1


...for an awesome work schedule that allows me to be around my mini-man as much as possible.
...for a job that allows me to laugh, help, and hopefully encourage each and every day.
...for the crock-pot that allows even unskilled chefs like myself, cook dinner for my family that is not only edible but enjoyable!
...for the opportunity to be a mommy! I really don't deserve to have such an amazing mini-man to love and to hold each and every day!

...for my friend Liz who gave me such easy (and stylish) hair to do in the super rushed morning. 
...for camera phones and the pictures I receive while I am at work that make me feel like I am not missing everything.  This one was sent to me from Auntie Stephanie on Friday.  It made me stop (for just a second) teaching about the segment addition postulate and just smile!

...for Starbucks.  Let's be honest, I'm exhausted!
...for post-it notes.  If it isn't written down, there is no way it is getting done. What happen to my memory??
...for awesome family who is watching our little man so we don't have to send him to daycare.
...for the opportunity to work with my best friend, even if she is all the way across campus in the athletic office.
...for God's miracles and getting to see his work first hand over the past week when he saved the life of a woman I have known and loved my whole life.  God is so good.
...for loyal friends who aren't friends with me for what they can get but who love me, stand by me and would do anything for me.  For my friends who I know will be a part of my life, forever. I just love you ladies.
...for the amazing steroid cream that the dermatologist gave Little Way that literately cleared up his terrible eczema skin over night.
...for a sister-in-law who takes the time to capture in pictures what an amazing little man we have. Thanks Brianne.

...for hand sanitizer.
...for a mom who can seriously make anything and everything that me or Waylon might need in about two hours.  She is so talented.
...for my husband who makes me laugh every day and is being patient with me through this adjustment phase into the working mommy world.  He is such an amazing father and Waylon really does just adore him.  I don't think I could love my boys anymore.

...for my amazing Daddy who is the kind of dad that every little girl should be lucky enough to have.  His unconditional love and attention is something I too often took for granted growing up. 
...for DVR so I can still watch my shows even though I can't stay awake past 9 at night.
...for Waylon's laughter that melts my heart and for the way is feels when his little hands are wrapped around my neck. 
...for the opportunity to interact with so many parents that are unknowingly teaching me what to do and more often, what not to do when raising my own children. 
...for football season finally being here (and the NFL ticket)!!!! GO BEARS.
...for the many, many blessing the Lord is giving me on a daily basis.  I am so spoiled and living the life I have always dreamed of.   Thank you so much Jesus.  With all the amazing blessings that I have on this earth, I would be nothing without you!  To often I forget, that You God, are all I need!  I love you Jesus!

FIVE MONTHS...you have got to be kidding me!!

The morning of Waylon's birth was one of the most unimaginable times of my life.  I will never forget being in the bathroom (sitting on a patio chair) curling my hair and cutting Derrick's hair in between contractions.  (We had to look good if it was D Day and in case it wasn't...I didn't want to look like the little mommy who cried wolf!)  I remember the look in Derrick's eyes right after Dr. Maly told us that I was in labor.  Derrick just looked at me and said, "We are going to have a baby today!"  It was magical! 

If I had only known then how many more moments we were going to have that were going to forever stay in my memory.  Like our second hellish night in the hospital, when Derrick and I had been up for hours...not due to Waylon...due to the absolutely awful hospital noises and desk right across the hall....we sat in the hospital room and gabbed for hours, reliving the birth of Waylon instead of finally getting some sleep.  Looking back, I am pretty sure we were delirious but it really was one of the best memories I have ever with my husband.

Now, August 9, 2010, our little baby boy is five months old!!  He weighs 21 pounds and is 27+ inches tall.  He has a laugh that melts my heart and when he looks up at me with those beautiful eyes in the morning, I feel like the luckiest woman in the world.  His personality is just like him... growing every minute.   He is is inquisitive, fast, independent, always hungry and STRONG! Call it a mother's intuition...but I have a feeling, this little man is going to be keeping us on our toes! He is getting pretty good at sitting up by himself and is SUPER close to crawling. He loves his workbench toy,

swimming,

carrots and his Tahoe Tesse dinosaur.  He has made our family complete! We just love him!

It is amazing what having a baby does to you.  As a wife, I have fallen in more deeply in love with my husband.  He is such a fabulous father and Waylon truly adores him. 

I am so lucky to have a husband who loves us and puts us before anything else.  He helps with making Waylon's food, bath time, bed time, and most importantly...snuggle time. The Lord really gave me a man who not only makes me a better person but who will raise our son to be a good, Godly, strong man. 

One of my favorite things that the three of us do these day is play on the floor together when Daddy gets home from work.  Waylon has been working on his tummy time but will do a lot more of it if we are down there with him.  Most afternoons, we lay a sheet down on the floor and the three of us lay around.  Derrick and I catch up on what happened during the day and plan dinner while Waylon impresses us by holding his head up, rolling around, and most recently, almost crawling.  We tickle and kiss Waylon and listen to him babble about his day!  It seriously is precious.  Waylon recently has found his tongue and ear and toes (and something else in the bath tub ).  The other day Derrick and Waylon were sticking their tongues out at each other and grabbing each other's tongues. 

Of course I snapped a shot!! These silly and fun moments seriously take my breath away sometimes.  It is funny how the simplest things are really the best moments of my life.  WOW, LIFE HAS CHANGED!  These are the moments I have always dreamed of and never want to end.  I didn't even know I was capable of so much love.  EEEK...I get teary eyed just thinking about it.

It is true that being a mother does change you.  I am sure that it effects everyone differently.  For me, it is empowering.  Let me clarify, I know that obviously millions and billions of woman have been a mother, but for me, it has taught me so much about my strengths and abilities.  I have grown so incredibly much as a person it is unreal.  I am much more aware of who I am and what I want then even before.  I think it has forced me to see things more clearly and really focus on what is important.  While being pregnant, I learned that EVERYONE has an opinion and EVERYONE has advice about EVERY little thing about your pregnancy and how to raise a baby.  But through the last five months with Waylon (our Ginnie Pig baby) I have learned that while Derrick and I aren't near the perfect parents, we have to do things our way and trust our guts on what is best for our sons. 

For instance, I'm glad we ignored the unapproving looks and reactions to letting Waylon sleeps with us.  It was fabulous in helping us adjust and bond with Waylon.  Plus at nine weeks, he was sleeping in his own crib and then at ten weeks he was sleeping through the whole night ... all without any tears.  I guess I learned, Derrick and I really don't believe in the "cry it out" method.

And just for the record, YES, we do pick up Waylon every time he cries and no we don’t think it is spoiling him. We're his Mommy and Daddy, that’s our job…to be there for him when he needs us.  I am not going to ignore him when he is 5, 15, or 30 if he is crying...so I'm not going to do it now either.

We are on a pretty strict schedule over here too.  Now, all that know me should not be the least bit surprised by this.  I plan everything, and I plan it all with tons of time to spare.  I will be the first to admit that it isn't always convenient for everyone, especially us, but Derrick and I pretty much revolve our lives around Waylon.  Him and his needs always come first.  Call me old fashion, but I believe that is the way it should be. 

Other things I have done for him that I am well aware that other's do not approve of but I stand by, I put rice in his bottle at five weeks to keep him full, I get him every pair of shoes I can find so we always have a pair to match his totally cool outfits (even though he is a boy...he still needs to look sharp), oh and I bought the coolest (and most expensive) walker probably ever made!  He loves it and well...it is a good thing he is worth it. 
I am honestly so proud of my son we are raising and the family God has given me.  While our house isn't always clean and we eat frozen dinners more than I care to admit...I think we are finally starting to get a hang of things as a family!  Yes, this is great news but a huge change is right around the corner...Mommy Pearce becomes a Working Mommy. :( 

Well, those of you who know me...know that I am NOT a writer!  There is a reason I teach math, it is because I can't spell and don't know a thing about writing a proper essay.  (So expect a ton of errors and please...keep your corrections to yourself!)  But, I have started this blog for a couple reasons.  One is that I am having trouble falling asleep at night and people keep telling me that if I write things down it will help.  Now honestly, most of the things I think about at night would not be a bit interesting to anyone  It usually has something to do with which food I want to start Waylon on the following week or trying to remember if I started the dishwasher or not.  But, if this helps me sleep that would be a fabulous bonus.  The other reason is that time is seriously zooming by.  Waylon is now almost five months old!  I do my part to totally be the paparazzi mommy and capture pictures of his each and every move but I want to be able to look back and read about moments we shared that were touching or funny.  While it seems like Waylon couldn't possibly be almost five months old, it also seems like there was never a time before him.  I hope by doing this, I can hold on to these moments and really enjoy them all over and over.

So with that being said and the start of this blog officially underway, the only other thing I can think to write down right now is that Waylon is truly a gift from God and has brought so much joy into our lives.  Sure, we would love to be able to sleep in past 6:45, eat with the family instead of having to leave due to a crying baby or for me, go tanning anytime I felt like it!  BUT.....what would life be like, or even better what was it like before this little smiling face...

This little man is all I need to see in the morning to make me laugh, feel refreshed and blessed.  He has filled our days with many new activities; diaper changing, sink baths, walks with the stroller, car seat lifting, and baby food making.  Oh yeah....and story time, walker time, morning courtyard playing time, snuggling time, tickling time, singing time, dancing time, praying time, and my most personal favorite kissing time.  He is the part of us that was missing, that we didn't even know was missing.  He is a gift from God and a real life image of our love.  He is the best thing Derrick and I have ever done!  We couldn't be more in love with him!