My Boy

 

So, I have been incredibly behind on editing my own personal photos (and there are some good ones to be shared at a later date from our summer and fall adventures) but, I had to share this one from today because it makes me grin from ear to ear.

I am experiencing what, I"m sure many mom's (and dad's) experience when their kids hit that age of 3 and it can only be described as exhausting and, very often, I forget that it should also be remembered as a remarkable time where one can sit next to their son/daughter and have an actual conversation with them. Where I can sit next to my little Benjamin and hear him talk to me like a little man, recounting what we did that day and letting me know what we're going to do next. I can sit next to this little person who is growing up in my house - watching every little thing I do and say and mirroring it right down to the very inflection of my voice.

 I am astounded by the fact that this beautiful little person was once in my belly and is now sitting beside me, asking me 'Mommy, how was your day and what did you do? (a habit that his nana taught him at the dinner table and one that I appreciate very much). I am amazed at his love for life and how, an afternoon together walking across an overpass and playing ''hide and go seek' in the trees along a simple path in the middle of Willoughby can be just enough for him to say 'What a beautiful day' completely unprompted and stemming from a genuine love for life. I am amazed and I am in love.

It is so easy to forget the measure of awesomeness of these little people when they are constantly asking why and uttering phrases such as 'no way,' 'whatever,' or 'fine' with all the attitude of a 15 year old in the smallness of a 3 year olds body but, on those days, when we're snuggled beside each other watching cartoons, playing 'go fish' and talking about our day - those are the moments that make me step back and thank God with my whole heart for the privilege and honor of being Benjamin's (& Jacob's but today these thoughts are for Ben) mom.

 I love this kid and, no matter how many more are added to our family, no matter how hard we are on him possibly because he's our first, no matter how many frustrating moments we have or how much he might tire me out, I will always, always thank Jesus for his life and always, always, try to remember that he is watching my every move.

It is for that reason, that I am trying to practice the art of gratitude in front of him. To ask him what he's thankful for each morning as we head along our way because, I want him to hear, as often as possible, that one of the things I am most thankful for is his life and the fact that I get to be a part of it as long as God allows. Thank you Jesus, for this precious little life and the way he, daily, brings me back to you in prayer and gratitude. I am so thankful.

Summer Adventures - Jer's Wedding

A good friend who found his best friend - enough said! Congrats Jer and Adrienne! So excited to hang out and get to know this girl of yours, Jer.

Summer Adventures - The Aquarium

The first of many Aquarium trips, I'm sure - Ben was in love with all the fish but possibly equally as enamored by the guy making balloon animals as we left :)

Summer Time

One thing I will tell you that is a constant frustration for me is Ben's 'helmet hair' - he comes by it naturally with Jon and I both having super thick hair and one of Jon's nicknames as a child being 'red helmet.' Either way, each little hair seems to have a mind of it's own and I am constantly wondering how to tame it but, every now and then, I have pictures like these where the sun catches each individual hair in just the right light and you can see the helmet in all its' glory. I hope Ben understands that, if it was just up to his dad, he'd have a buzzed hair cut all year long as a way of dealing with it, but hopefully he'll thank me one day for trying multiple different things to try to tame this beast!

 

Summer Time - Hanging around the house :)

Just a few of my boys!

Summer Camping Adventures - McCarthy Siblings!

We had such a wonderful time with Jon's brother, Greg, sister, Jenn and their families on this second annual sibling camping trip. Here's hoping we can make it a yearly tradition! It was pouring rain the whole weekend but the kids didn't mind at all and we all had a great time hanging out together around the fire under the fantastic tarp built by Dave, Greg and Jon. Thanks McCarthy's/Baergs for an awesome weekend and many great memories for the kids and us adults. Love you guys!

 

First foods for Jacob ;)

Not a lot of time to write about each of these pics but wanted to post them nonetheless as I think they speak for themselves :)

Summer Adventures....they just keep coming!

A few more of my favs from the summer! I love these boys :)

Summer Adventures #5 - 9th Annual SFU Crew Birch Bay Trip

I don't know any other way to describe this group of friends than as extended family. We all met in University and, over the years, we have all got married and some have started having kids but, what's really cool is that there has been a continued effort beyond University, beyond graduation and work or family taking us to locations extending from North Vancouver to Burnaby to WhiteRock to Langley and even Halifax, we have all made an effort to stay connected and that, combined with the strong connection we all had in University as well as what I truly feel is the hand of God on all of our friendships, we have stayed close and grown even closer over the years through all of lifes' changes. 

Some of the 'connecting' we do happens at get-togethers over the course of the year but once a year we all take time out and head down to Birch Bay to spend some quality time together. Next year will be our 10th annual trip and we're already starting to plan it so every one can be there. This year we missed the Mansfields, Zvonarova's and Andersons' but it was still a great time and so many memories were made.

I love all you guys so much and, Jon and I, look forward to the years ahead of continued friendship, fellowship and always silly fun no matter how old we get or how many kids come into the picture. You are all truly a gift from God and we so appreciate you loving us for who we are and loving our boys. We plan to return the favor with you all and your families for many years to come.


 

Summer Adventures #4- McCarthy Birch Bay 2011

Birch Bay - two words that mean relaxation, fun with cousins and, once a year, the July 4th fireworks and two special girls' birthday celebrations. Every year, we try to set aside a week with Jon's family and a week with my family for a trip of some sort and each year we LOVE going down to Birch Bay with the McCarthys' and, slowly but surely, Ben is growing to love the pool even more but the grandparents, the parades, the C shop, the ocean have all been favorites of his from the start. Here are just a few memories from this years' trip :)

 

Summer Adventures #3 - Family

The one thing I find with my photography is that I don't get in too many photos unless I ask and set it all up, which inevitably means that I don't get too many candid moments of me and my kids captured but the posed family shots will have to do for now and, I'm talking Jon into letting me pay someone to do family shots for us once every few years to satisfy that other desire :) Here are a few from one morning before church and, yes, I have the boys in matching outfits. I swore I wouldn't do that but I can't help myself. It's too much fun!

 

Summer Adventures #2 - Pool Time

Still being owners at Pepperwood has its' perks and the pool is one of them! Ben is slowly, but surely, getting to like the water better, though he still mostly hangs out on step 1 or step 2 of the pool. In fact, the photo in the middle was probably proceeded by a lot of crying but, the more I put Ben in situations where he is challenged to try something new, the more I am reminded that, when given the opportunity, he will continue to amaze me. It reminds me of a song I started singing to Ben before he went to bed and the words are so true, 'Ben is a promise, Ben is a possibility, Ben is a promise with a capitol 'P.' Ben is a great big bundle of potentiality and Ben is learning to hear God's voice and Ben is trying to make the right choice. Ben is a promise to be anything God wants him to be.' I love these boys and, love even more that, those words I can sing to Ben & Jacob can be impressed upon their hearts at such a young age so that, hopefully, with God's help and grace, my boys can understand the unlimited possibilities that lay ahead of them as children of God.

Summer Adventures #1 - Aunty Ruthie

Growing up, I had a lot of honorary Aunts and Uncles, which is why it doesn't seem confusing or odd to me for my boys to have the same experience. I always knew who my biological family members were but, the blessing of having a lot of other men and women in my life who showered me with love was pretty special. Ruth is going to be one of those 'Aunty's' for my boys and has such an amazing place in my heart. My dearest and closest friend for so many years, she knows me inside and out and loves each and every quirk - I love that about her and love every chance we get to hang out. Here are some photos from a fun night with my favorite Fro :)



Love you Ruthie :) xo

Summer Adventures: Some thoughts...

So, it's Sept 17th and I have yet to post any photos on our family blog of our summer adventures. EEEK! Every time I go to start, I either have a photo shoot to do, something to do with the boys or something football related ;) This morning, as Ben quietly plays and Jacob is still sleeping, I've decided to make a dent in the giant stack of photos that represents a blessed summer of family memories for which I am so thankful.

Do you ever get so busy with life that you don't stop to think about all the ways you're blessed and, instead, get bogged down in all the details of day to day life? I fall into that trap all of the time and, for me, a calm , peaceful and grateful heart comes primarily from two things: daily prayer & frequent journalling. I am such a verbal processor and, by writing things down, I am able to remember what's truly important and realize that the things I've been stressing about are small in comparison to those things that will matter for eternity, like my relationships - primarily my role as wife and mother but also as friend, daughter, daughter-in-law and sister-in-law. It's when I stop to pray and journal that I start to think about the weighty responsibility of parenting and it's only, when I am in prayer, that the desire to take this responsibility seriously and tackle it head-on starts to grow.

I've been having more of these moments lately. God has brought enough things into my life that have made me stop, slow down and come back to a place of prayer. Parenting has brought me to my knees a lot lately - namely, parenting an almost-3-year old who is too smart for his own good. As we look ahead to celebrating this amazing human being later on in October, daily I wonder how best to train him to be a little boy who loves the Lord. I've started reading 'Grace Based Parenting' and I'm trying hard to send my child out into the world with a desire to honor God born out of a real Love for the Lord and not born out of guilt. I'm trying so hard to allow myself the grace God offers so that I can pass that grace along to my children. I am constantly challenged by this huge task and constantly blessed by the seemingly unconditional love children offer at this age, even on the days where you don't feel like you're doing a good job as a parent- it's almost as though they extend that grace to you and, in their unconditional love, you can catch a glimpse of the love of the Father. Funny how that works.



So, what I'm trying to say is that, in between the family memories I'll share from our summer, there is a lot going on - a lot of trial-and-error parenting, a lot of frustrating moments, a lot of laughter, a lot of tears, a lot of early mornings with little patience for the toddler that wakes up wanting to play right away, a lot of puzzled looks by parents who realize their toddler has once again developed a new bad habit that we need to adapt to....But, even as I write this, as I verbally process our day-to-day life, I see the joy in all of those things, good and bad. I see the light in Jacob's eyes when he watches his brother, I see Jacob's bright smile even as his brother steamrolls his head, I hear Ben saying 'Mom, what a beautiful day,'  I see my boys snuggling each other in bed while Jon reads them a story, I hear Ben saying 'Jacob and Jesus are friends because they're both babies,' I see the amazing imagination of my almost-3-year-old, I hear Ben singing 'I just called to say I love you' at the dinner table, I hear Ben saying 'Well, fanks' when I congratulate him on using the potty, I hear Ben saying 'I love you so much, with emphasis on the SO.'



I see and hear all of these things and, even though I know I'm a work in progress as a mother, wife, and friend, I know that 'He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.' I rest in that grace and hope and pray that, when others come in contact with me and my family, that they will see Christ in us and, through our lives, experience His grace. That would be amazing and make this whole, crazy adventure so worth while, don't you think?

June 28, 2011: Campbell Valley Park

Campbell Valley Park & Good Friends = a great morning! With Jon almost being done school and our summer on the brink of starting, it was great to hang out with some home group friends one last time before disappearing off the social radar for the summer! I find that, in the summer, I fall off the map a bit when it comes to my usual hang-outs because we're trying to make the most of precious family time - one of the main reasons why it was easy for us to both decide to go into teaching. It's totally worth it and we have some amazing summer adventures together but I do miss seeing some of these ladies as regularly as I get to see them in the Fall and Spring when I'm on Maternity Leave.

This particular morning, I met up with Juliet and Kathryn at Campbell Valley Park and we decided to go for a little hike....totally great idea but I didn't exactly dress properly for a hike and there was a small but steep hill at the beginning of our hike that I got the blessing of experiencing in flip flops with the double stroller - I'm not going to lie, those boys are heavy but I think the highlight for me, while there were beads of sweat developing on my forehead, was hearing Ben from the doubles seat saying 'Go Mom Go.' At least I had my own cheering section and some good company to laugh about it with after :) We headed to the grass afterwards to cool off, have some snacks and I couldn't resist capturing some of these moments between the two older boys - Ben & Jonah, you guys were too cute!



Watching Ben interact with Jonah makes me excited for when Jacob and Ben can start interacting more than just when Ben steam rolls over his face :)




Just before heading over to Kathryn's to hang out, I decided to snap a few pics of the boys. Can't get enough, in my opinion ;)



I absolutely love the expression on Jacob's face in the bottom right photo - pretty sure he's just taking note of all these occasions for a future date when he's suddenly the BIG 'little' brother and I don't think that's far off :)



Impromptu hang-outs are awesome and this particular day we got a chance to see Holden & Jamie right after hanging out with home group friends. With Ben being hit and miss for naps these days we were totally up for a park date and, I had my camera with me anyways so we got some pics of these two little buddies!



Love this kid and his curly locks :)





Oh, child-like fun :)



I love that Ben is at the stage now where he actually interacts with other kids rather than just plays 'around them' and the interactions are pretty hilarious. Here they are sharing their uninhibited excitement at nothing in particular ;)



Good buddies



Thanks friends for such a great day. I'm so blessed to have so many mommas home at the same time I am & Ben is lucky to have so many good buddies by association!