May Daze

As the end of June approaches, I figured it might be a good idea to get some pictures up from May. I'm not sure where that month went. Like the rest of life, it flew by in an instant. One of the highlights in May was another special Mother's Day. Every year I get a little clearer on how I want to spend the day and we add to our tradition. This year, we timed our arrival at the Khron Conservatory Butterfly Show perfectly and had a very short wait. Next year's plan will include some brunch reservations afterward. It was a beautiful day!

A couple of weeks later, we took a road trip in the minivan. The built-in DVD player barely got a break! We headed to St. Louis to celebrate the Jacobs' graduations. My sis-in-law Julie just received her MPH from St. Louis University, and my brother-in-law Nathan received his doctorate in computer science from Washington University. The two of them worked so hard over the past five years to achieve these goals and have much to celebrate! Nathan has accepted a faculty position at University of Kentucky starting this fall. We are thrilled they are starting this next phase of life so close to us!

Maggie's not so sure about the butterfly landing on her flower

My princesses

Anna meets Nana

Three generations

Anna meets Aunt Katie

A trip to Grant's Farm with MawMaw and PawPaw

Feeding Grant's goats

Checking out the Clydesdales

Upload failed

I've tried at least three times to upload this adorable video of Anna's first coo-ing sounds, but can not get the darn thing to transfer. The video was shot during a particularly rough week of mothering my three back in mid-May. Jim was traveling for work for the first time and I was struggling. I'll share the post I wrote at the time and omit the video, just so I can get back into the swing of updating the blog. So here it is:

In the midst of a stressful week with Jim out of town, I find myself focusing on the little things in life that bring joy. Claire, followed shortly by Maggie, developed Hand, Foot and Mouth disease this week with it's fever and telltale rash. My hunch is that it was picked up either at Claire's well-child check-up last week, or from the preschool water fountain which Claire visits every time we take Maggie to school.

The girls seem to be in good spirits, which reminds me that kids are resilient. Our neighbor came at a moments notice to help fix a closet door, a friend came to sooth Anna to sleep so I could take a shower, my parents took the big girls for a night to give me a break, and several friends have offered to help in any way they can.

I am taking a moment to be grateful for all the blessings and support in my life. I'm also treasuring my youngest, sweet baby girl. She's growing so fast and becoming quite the social creature. I'm soaking up all of her beautiful infant coos because before I blink she'll be talking in sentences.