happy father's day!

dearest casey,

you're gone in wyoming today.

a father missing his child on father's day is a sad day.

luckily you will be back in the evening to see your oh so adorable wife and child who will celebrate you the way you deserve.

your first father's day with a child here on earth will forever be one to remember.

i hope you remember this feeling of looking into maxson's happy face and knowing he is happy because of you.

you make him laugh.

you make smile.

you tickle him.

you help him balance.

you encourage him.

you teach him.

he already loves you so much.

like i say almost every year, i feel so proud to have picked such a wonderful father for my children and such a supportive spouse for myself.

we love you!

i'm so incredibly blessed to have a wonderful father i grew up with, i love you dad, you'll forever be my knight to the rescue!
to my father-in-law for being so loving and accepting,
and to my 4, older, wiser, loving brothers: weston, logan, scott, and kirk:
i love you 4 dearly, you are all such wonderful fathers!

happy father's day!

this and that

the other day i was talking to my brother (who does not yet have children),

and he asked "so what do you do all day?"

i answered "uhhhh...play with maxson?"

ha it's true, i feel like that the majority of my day,

but i love it and find so much joy in it!

he's "awake" for 9ish hours of a 24 hour period, but about 3 1/2 of those hours he's eating so not really interacting much,

which leaves a mere 5 1/2 hours!

that's really not that much time,

so what time he is awake i genuinely want to play with him.

and casey is such a great dad. the past few weeks have been brutal for dental school, BRUTAL i tell you! it's hard test after hard test after hard test. class always starts at 8 this semester. and because there's been so many tests he truly IS studying all the time. last semester and january of this year were nothing like february and march have been. i'm so impressed how much time he spends studying because it's exhausting just for me to watch the poor guy sit and look at notes for that long. but he's such a dedicated husband and father and student so he studies at the kitchen table which makes life so much better. i make a very conscious effort trying not to distract him too much while he's home, so then he's able to take breaks and play with maxson all throughout the evening when maxson is in an extra happy mood, or if i really need help calming him for some reason, or just to give mama a 10 minute break from mommy hood, or to hold him of from eating for 10 extra minutes while i finish dinner or working out, or even to ask, hey will you take a picture? we are SO READY for spring break. (that's right cougars, we ACTUALLY get a spring break, yeeha!) but, oh wait. he has a test that monday we get back from break, blahhhhhhhhhh. so in summary, casey ROCKS at being a student and husband and father these days. love him to death.

***
here's a few randoms from recently:
a. we invite a bunch of friends to come to yogurtini to take over half the place, great fun, great fun i tell you.
b. casey relaxing while maxson plays with grabs his hair
c. friends with children=wonderful women in my life
d. ward chili party with friends.


***
i've seen those polka dots pants around the internet over the past 6 monthish and think it's such a fun trend.
so playful, bold, and cute!
a few friends and myself got together and made some of our own,
we all used different methods and i think they all turned out so awesome.
i kinda want to do another pair, but know it's not necessary, ha



what do we have forward to look to for the next week?
SPRING BREAK STARTS FRIDAY
60 degrees by the end of the week?
don't really believe that since we pretty much had a blizzard on sunday!
other than that my agenda is pretty open...ha :)

a father.

i saw this video today and had to share it.
it is so beautifully done
and so dear to my heart right now.

or see it here

as i'm finishing up the month of december on our photo album and love going through the pictures of maxson.

i love seeing how he's grown and remembering when he was like this or that.

but even more, i love seeing the pictures of casey and maxson together.

i feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, faithful husband and father for my children.

i see in the pictures the tenderness casey has for him as he holds him so closely and protecting.

my heart continues to spill over in gratitude and happiness looking at those moments.

as i put maxson to sleep each time for naps or bedtime we're constantly singing different songs about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and their love for us.

it often brings me to tears knowing just a little bit ago, this small spirit i'm rocking to sleep in my arms was in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His love for him and me is more than i can fathom.

as parents, we are the lucky ones to get to teach our children the most important things in life:

that their Father in Heaven loves them and they are a Child of God.

there's so much to learn in this life and with our Father in Heaven, all things are possible with his love.