april 26. a great day all around.

yesterday was one of the greatest days of my life..especially while being a mommy.

yesterday was my first nephew's 5th birthday. he was my "first" little love. and he's so dear to my heart. don't get me wrong, i love my other nephews. but preston will always hold a special place. i may have already shared this before. but shortly after my mom passed away, i put so much time, effort, & love into preston. i felt like he was what i had left. and i didn't know that i could love a little person so much. and i did/do love him. he was my "baby". i remember the first year that i was married & we came to visit for thanksgiving. i was so distraught when we left my family to head back to new mexico, mainly preston. that night, i was bawling & brandon was like "jess, chill." and i said "but i miss him so much. i hate leaving him & missing him grow." and he was like "he is not your baby.".. yes, he is. ;-) i am so excited about going to louisiana this weekend to celebrate his birthday. i'm a proud aunt.

i never knew i could love a little person as much as i love preston. i didn't know it was possible. and i didn't know i could love a second, third & fourth little person. i was actually kind of afraid of when my second nephew, maddox, was born. i told my sis, gina, that i didn't know how to make that work. but our hearts just expands & is filled with more love... more love to go around. i didn't know how it would work out when i had my own child. and it's definitely a different kind of love. but love unconditional, nonetheless. and love for all.





i LOVE my son. and i love him more & more each day. yesterday, on april 26, 2010, he said "momma" loud & clear for "momma" & daddy to hear. he said "dada" on march 26. and has said "daddy, dada" ever since. last week while he was playing his in his exersaucer, i heard him say "mama".. but brandon & i have this little thing that it doesn't count unless we both witness it. kind of like i could sit here & say he did this & that.. and not really do it. or maybe because i have been telling him for weeks to say "mama" then i hear what i want to hear or my ears play tricks on me, you know? so last night, while i was feeding fox his dinner. he started squealing, but he was mad. he tightens his fists.. i'm telling you, he knows what he's doing. and i was correcting him that it was not nice to do that and he needed to eat. as you already know, he doesn't eat a lot at school so at home i try to stuff him as much as i can. heehee! and so i would try to be stern (but loving) and correct him. but he just kept tightening his fists & squealing. so i had daddy intervene. and daddy was telling him "no". but he kept doing it. so daddy came up to his highchair & i was telling fox to please eat. and he said "mmm ma ma mom momma momma". and OH MY GOODNESS! when he started with the "mmm" sound, brandon & i just stopped in our tracks & listened intently.. hoping he would say what i have been waiting for almost 9 months for him to say. and he said "momma" and when he did, we both started clapping (fox was confused) & daddy started jumping for joy & momma started crying & just melted. heehee! i hope he doesn't think we were clapping & cheering him on for the squealing out of anger thing. i guess we'll find out soon enough. ha!

it's funny that as a young girl, you dream and wonder what your husband will be like. then when you're married, you wonder what your child will look like or be. and now that we have our child, brandon & i have wondered what his sweet little voice will sound like. and oh, it's the sweetest little voice, i have ever heard. i'm so excited about his next new words. he's growing way too fast. he is standing up on everything. he really likes to stand up in front of the tv stand & watch the tv. and he's walking with the help of his walker. he is almost a big boy. and i am so sad. :( but so excited, too.




yesterday, april 26, 2010, would have been my parents' 31st wedding anniversary. here's a little trivia for you. preston was born on my parents' 26th wedding anniversary, on the 26th day, and my sister would have been 26 yrs old that december. so yea. it's kind of sad to say that it "would have been".. wish it "could have been". my parents had a troubled marriage at first, but in the end it was the best marriage i have ever known. i have such sweet memories of them. my favorite memories: we would not go a week without seeing my mommy & daddy dance. they knew how to "git jiggy wit it". ha! even after my mom had the exploratory surgery, she was dancing with her hand over her "wound". and dad would always have his hand on her butt. we would all say "get a room!" heehee! and i loved going out to dinner with my parents. i was always the third wheel. honestly, i much preferred to spend my friday nights with my parents than my friends. and i loved waking up & going to their room & climbing into bed with them & laying in between them. i did this all my life, even in my teenage years. dad said i was always in the middle of them two.

my favorite memory of their marriage: for their 25th wedding anniversary, dad wanted to do something really special & surprise mom. so without mom's knowledge, we planned a surprise renewal of their vows at church. axel made a slideshow of pictures from when mom was a baby, dad was a baby, when they were together, then of every child & then the family. dad rented all the boys tuxedos. and he was flying lester in from washington state; lester was in the navy. so he told mom that sunday after church, they both had to drive to shreveport, la for a business lunch along with mr. casey & mrs. denise (their bff's) so she needed to find a really pretty dress. you didn't have to tell us twice to go shopping! haha! mom & i would go shopping like 2-3 times a week.. oh how i miss those days! so we found her a really pretty dress & i got myself an outfit. so sunday morning rolled around & dad told mom he was taking axel & aaron and they were going to go play soccer (which wasn't unusual) & he would pick her up after church & they would head to shreveport. at church, bro. harry spoke on marriage & the whole time mom was like "your dad needs to be listening to this". heehee! at the end of the sermon, bro. harry said he had a "presentation" & the lights dimmed. the first picture on the slideshow was a baby picture of my mom & when she saw it, she caught her breath & was like "where is your daddy?" and began to cry. at the end of the slideshow, the lights came on & my dad was standing next to the pastor in a silver tux. bro. harry then asked who gave my mom away. my oldest brother walked from a door behind the stage & said "i do".. both of my younger brothers walked down the aisles to the front & said "we do".. and then lester walked from the side entrance & said "i do". oh goodness! my mom just lost it. she just couldn't believe that lester was there. we were all in tears. one of my mom's friends came behind us & gave us both a bouquet of flowers for us to walk to the front. my sister in law had to help me get my mom going. mom was in like hysterics that she needed our help to walk. heehee! so we went up & they renewed there wedding vows while my brothers & i stood as their attendants. daddy bought mom a new ring & after their vows, we had cake & punch afterwards. it was a day to truly remember. i hope & pray & will strive to have a marriage like theirs.. or even better. and i hope we set great examples for our children.





so all in all, april 26 is a pretty great day!