We DID celebrate Mother’s day and all the women in our lives. We ALSO celebrated JB’s birthday on the same day. During all of these celebrations we ALSO got EB’s hair cut for the first time. What a day, I tell ya.
JB turned 33 and had to celebrate his day with an ocean of estrogen + a tiny ‘tude who rules his world.
He is so wonderful to our little family and works so very hard for us. We love you, JB. 
Moving right along. The fam came over to celebrate the moms, grandmom and aunt in our family who have helped to mold and shape us into who we are today. Ironically, my “Nannie” is a MEAN cook and I didn’t inherit a SINGLE one of those genes. That’s INCREDIBLY unfortunate. In fact, all of the dishes “we” brought to the table were, in fact, prepared by Jason. Domestic Goddess I am NOT. I can iron…and do some mean laundry…I’m REALLY good at cleaning toilets....This lady right here is my lifesaver.
(can we get an updated pic soon, folks? I've since fixed that mess on my head-the woes of going back natural..)
She doesn't hesitate to run down to EB’s school and grab her if/when I get stuck. She is QUICK to let EB spend the night at “nightclub” when we have something going on. She jumps to rescue EB when we have the virus of the week- usually resulting in her being the next victim. She is SPEEDY fast at putting herself last and aiding in any of her kid’s needs at that moment. In EB’s short life, I have learned how quickly UNIMPORTANT my needs/wants are when it comes to those of my child. I think I learned that from watching my mom. NEVER have our needs gone unmet. NEVER was there a sporting event, recital, program, concert, etc that I was not able to look out and see my parent’s faces, my grandparent’s faces and my aunt’s face all smiling back. Never, I tell you. NOT.ONE.EVENT. That goes for the brother too. Since Jason has entered this family, that goes for him too. That is special. My family is really special…. we operate under a group of special ladies (and who…well… I really didn’t get good pictures of). 
Onto the tiniest lady in the group. Sister-friend DID NOT, let me repeat, DID NOT enjoy the spa we set up in the kitchen. I shouldn’t be shocked that she didn’t want to be still, but I was. It took LOTS of strength, singing, 
Outtakes:
As for me on Mother’s Day, I was honored. My mom honored me. My husband honored me. Of course, it’s an honor to be a mom to my MOST precious gift. Since becoming a mom, I’ve gotten all kinds of serious emotions working for me. So, I find myself quite sentimental. Sentimental over having a family to celebrate and to celebrate with. Having a mom who I can still talk to WHENEVER I want to. Having a grandmother who I can still talk to WHENEVER I want to, eat breakfast with EVERY Thursday morning and to share my child with her who is LITERALLY the highlight of her life, I’m preeeetty sure. My heart was heavy this year, too, because we’ve had a few friends who have lost their moms….aware of a few moms who have lost their most precious gifts. My heart hurt for them, yet made me celebrate “my” day just that much more. I’m surrounded by incredible moms. I meet them at McDonalds so their kids can play and I can ask a MILLION questions. I live across, up and down the street from some of the best, I work with great moms and my child attends school with kids who have great moms. So, I feel blessed…. and I’m honored, I really am, every single day. 
--However, I don't feel so "proud" of this angle..Thank you, brother, for capturing the triple chin. It takes A LOT to get EB to smile for the camera-
--However, I don't feel so "proud" of this angle..Thank you, brother, for capturing the triple chin. It takes A LOT to get EB to smile for the camera-
I love my neighbors. No, really, I LOVE them. I wish we could all live together forever. They are some of the most caring, giving, FUN, precious, smart (and there’s me), loving people. We broke ground on our house in 2005 and moved in in 2006. So, in the four years we’ve lived there, we have formed awesome friendships, doubled and quadrupled the offspring, laughed, cried, been mad at each other, etc. etc. etc. No kidding, when all of the houses were complete and occupied we had (give me a minute, I’m really bad at math) THREE (!!!) babies. I’m floored by what I’m about to tell you….Now we have NINE kiddos + a few that live right outside of our ‘hood that we claim. WOW! Look at all of those blessings! How could we not have fun?! We're missing a few of our buds in these pics.
I didn’t take pictures of the MASSIVE water balloon fight that went down on Friday evening between these guys and their daddies. 
However, I can tell you that we were sitting at dinner and got a phone call concerning our whereabouts. The Blacks can’t be ambushed, so I dropped JB off on the corner so he could do a sneak attack. See, we just have good ol’ fun.
Her great grands got to take her to 
Considering, at that point, that we had been sick EVERY weekend since Easter, she had yet to wear her Easter dress. So, we (meaning her-b/c I remember sweating profusely, being covered in mud and commenting to myself that I’m glad I opted against the white pants) donned her Easter finest and headed over to a local garden(s) for a little shoot with my VERY unprofessional self- so don’t judge.
she only wanted to play in the various bodies of water, 
she was more interested in the snake we found (yep)
and the baby geese whose mom was NONE to happy about our presence-sorry, old lady, you and your babes were blocking our exit. 
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