[five] years of creide + a letter to my [boy]

Two and a half weeks ago, on September 11th, our little Creide turned the [big 5].
Can you believe it?
Where does the time go?

This little man is super special.
I love his little heart so much.
His care for others.
His constant encouragement.
His joy for life.
His ability to make you laugh - constantly.

I will share more about his actual birthday day soon.
But for now I wanted to share some photos.
[five] years of having this little man in our lives.
[five] years of this joy.
Looking at them makes my heart swell with love.
But also brings a tear to my eye.

I will so miss my little Creide.
My Creidey-Bear.
My baby boy.

But I have joy in the Creide I have today.
I will do my best to soak up each day like a ray of sunshine.
My mama moments.

  

  

 

Despite how this may look - he DOES have a diaper on. :-)

        

  

\

~My Dearest Creide~

You are loved more than you will ever know.
You fill my heart with such joy every day.
Your sweet smile and fun loving spirit bring such a brightness to this world.
A brightness that this world so desperately needs.

You were born on such a special day.
September 11th.
And on that day you brought hope.
Each day since then you have lived that out.

I would not be surprised one bit if this becomes the theme of your life.
Bringing hope to those who need it most.
I can't wait to watch from the sidelines.
I will be your biggest fan.
[Okay, maybe I will share with your daddy.]
And I will cheer you on every step of the way.

You constantly make me laugh.
The things you say.
The things you do.
They belong only to you for you are truly one of a kind.

I love how you still enjoy cuddling with your mama.
Please don't grow out of that too quickly.
I remember when I was sick from my chemo and I would be sleeping -
I would wake up to you in my arms.

You were "quiet like a ninja" and would sneak in to cuddle with me.
You will never know how much that fueled my soul to keep fighting on.

I know my time with you is such a precious gift.
And when you read this on your own someday.
I hope.
- No matter what -
That you can look back on these growing up years.
And feel only love.

Keep on keeping on my little Creide.
The world needs more of you.

With all my love,
Your Mama

What is Love?

I was recently on StumbleUpon - another little internet addiction I am developing.
I saw this post where some experts asked little ones to define what love is.
Here are some of my favorite answers:

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." ~ Terri - age 4 

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."  ~ Danny - age 7 

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."  ~Bobby - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." 

~ Nikka - age 6 

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." ~ Tommy - age 6  

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." ~ Elaine - age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." ~ Chris - age 7 

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." ~ Mark - age 6 

[sorry, this might be TMI but it made me laugh so I had to share.]

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." ~ Jessica - age 8 

What a beautiful pictures these little ones create. 

It is my hearts desire to create the same picture for my own children. 

I am determined that they know how much they are loved and how much their father is loved.

That is why I started this blog. 

That is why I continued as regularly as I could when I was going through treatment. 

I didn't know what was going to happen. 

I couldn't predict the future. 

But I could do something about today.

And I could leave bits and pieces of me. 

Bits and pieces of my love for them to find later on. 

Life is so precious my friends. 

I cannot remember for the life of me where I heard it. 

If you know maybe you can give me a shout so I can update this. 

But the other day I heard something along the lines of:

{It is a privileged to be able to grow old with someone.}

I could not agree more.

Yet so many of us take this for granted.

One final story from this same site:

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. 

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. 

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. 

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 

"Nothing, I just helped him cry." 

To read the full article go to: "What Does Love Mean?" See How 4-8 Year-Old Kids Describe Love"

Being Intentional and Intentionally Being

Being intentional is something I have really been convicted of lately.
And when I say "lately" I really mean the last 20 months.

I thought I was good about this before.
But it has been redefined for me.
For that I am grateful.

None of us know how much time we have here on this earth.
We never know if the words we speak to our spouse, our children, family, and friends will be the last they ever hear from us.
In that light, we need to make them count.
We need to leave a heart impression every chance we get.

We get opportunities every day to make a difference in peoples lives.
Are we taking them?

Are we building relationships?
Are we caring for people the way we need to be?
Or just being too busy.
Or perhaps it doesn't fit into our own "vision".

I continually ask myself these questions.
What will my children remember from today.
What will my husband take away from this moment.

I am not perfect in this.
Far from it.

But in my heart of hearts I know that each of these moments are truly a gift.
They should be celebrated
Soaked up.
Taken in.
Cherished forever.

So, I wanted to share with you one of my "Being Intentional" moments....

I am a thrifter.
I drive my husband nuts.

But I have a few shops that if I ever get a "mommy moment" I will definitely take advantage and see what they have to offer.

I was at one re-use shop the other day and spied a treasure.
Then I spied the price - half price.
A sale at a re-use shop is like "happy birthday to me!"
You can tell I get a bit excited.

So, I found this delightful little tea set.
For.
Wait for it.
$2.50.
Can you believe it?



The special thing about this tea set is that it wasn't super girly.
It is black - about as manly as you can get there.
No handles - so big fingers can't get stuck.
Maybe you can see where I am going with this....

I actually bought it for my husband.
Some of you might be chuckling when you think of my big, broad, 6'4" husband being the proud owner of a tea set.
Okay, maybe that is worth a giggle.
Or two.

But hear me out.

My hubby and I don't drink a lot of coffee.
I only drink it, at the most, once a month.
Not that I don't like it.
So, don't start boycotting me or anything like that.

But sadly, I cannot drink it black.
That yummy vanilla cream is just so good!
However, I don't need it.
I am currently trying to live (and eat) as healthy as possible.
And coffee just sends me in the opposite direction.

So, we drink A LOT of tea.
Unsweetened.
Plain goodness.


I know someone out there will now send me an email about how too much tea isn't good for me either.
But I will tell you what I tell my doctors.
I don't drink coffee, I don't drink soda - please don't take my tea away from me too!


Anyway, back to my tea pot.
Or Jason's tea pot I should say....





We have a special area in our bedroom with a small table and two chairs.
Perfect for your morning coffee tea.
Perfect for a couple to spend a few quiet moments hearing about their schedule for the day.
Perfect for reconnecting.
Perfect for being intentional.

That is why I got the tea set.
To be a visual reminder to always be intentional.

And it works.

We kind of take turns preparing the tea.
The other will come out and see it sitting there and then we will sit.
And talk.
About everything.
About nothing.

Because what matters most is that we are together.
And that we are being intentional.