Sweet Easter

Easter ... oh sweet Easter.. 

I love this time with my family. We are starting to create our own little traditions and they are so sweet. Saturday night we go to our church and head out for Mexican food. The boys dressed in their Sunday best... which for them meant jeans without holes and new shoes and stopped to take a few pictures before church. Umm.. I could just eat them up. 

I mean are you kidding me???

 Tylers face is so classic. And when did Ethan look so big?!!

Sunday morning we watch Veggie Tales... a lot of Veggie Tales with donuts and milk of course. Then lunch time head to Moke's house for Easter Egg hunt and lunch. The kids are all started to play together and its so sweet to see the relationships being formed. And what an amazing gift to celebrate with a family who all have a great passion for the Lord. We know it's a rarity and don't take that lightly. 

On the way to Moke's today we saw a cross on a church. Ethan then began to say "Thats the cross where Jesus died. The soldiers got em, and beat him and he had lots of boo boos. and then they put nails on his hands and feet and he died on the cross. He died so we could go to heaven. When I go to heaven I will see Jesus and we will wrestle, and I will kiss and hug him. And then he will take me to see the animals." 

I really didn't he was listening- and if he was that he got it- but he did. All except the animals bit--- I have no clue where that came from. =) 

My mom put "girl stuff" and "boy stuff" in the eggs. Ethan loved going through all the eggs and passing out the cars, dinosaurs, rings and hair bows. As you see Hannah loved her hair bows. 

i hope someone got one of all 4 of us looking at the same place. 

Mae was far more interested in looking at what the little kids were doing than looking at the camera. 

Ethan LOVES his Mae. He wants to hold her, find her bottle, get her toys, help Lauren in ANY way he can. He prays about her, asks about her, and checks in with her if he hasn't seen her in a few days. I hope these two always have such a sweet relationship. The moments with her are some of the few ones where he will actually be still. 

Can you repeat that?

As I zipped up my pants ( without having to lay down I might add) Ethan looked at me and said " mom, you have a big belly." As I tried not to bust into tears, give excuses of my lack of good diet techniques, or say any 4 letter words, I had him repeat it. "I said you have a big belly." 

Oh Lord. 

It's true. Children only speak truth and have no sense of sparing anyone's feelings. Maybe that's why it hurt a little bit.

As someone who has fought body image, being overweight, eating disorders, and comparison for FAR TOO LONG, I refuse to pass down such horrible self talk to my children. I want them to grow up knowing their bodies are temples and treat them as such. I know boys have body image issues just as much as girls and want them knowing how wonderful God made them. 

I am not one of those women who says " I am fat and I am cool with it." I am also know that mom who says " I hate my body and I will do anything at any costs to be a size 1"  I came out of the womb a size 8 and will die as such. :) I live somewhere in the gray area of the two. 

I simply knows these truths: 

My body is a temporary gift. God gave me this body for the short time I am here on earth. I will do what I can to care for it by doing exercises I love, feeding it foods I love, and doing what my grandma always taught me " everything in moderation." 

My body made 2 freakin children and I will give myself a break... Not an accuse. After children everything changes. My stretch marks and tummy sag is a sign that I grew 2 freakin people. However, that's not an excuse to give into every stress craving.  

My body is not your body. Since 3rd grade I compared my body to others. My little group of friends once sat on the playground and look down each others shirt to figure out who needed a bra. I know we were totally creepy. But since then I have tried to see where I measure up. After having kids, both my sister and my SIL looked like per a y bodies  a month after giving birth.... I still am caring around baby weight 20 months later. I am not their bodies and don't want to be. 

My kids will watch and listen to how I respond to my body. There is talk about how moms of daughters should watch what they say around their daughters. I Know that to be true. But I believe that boys will reflect it to... Not only in how they look at their bodies but how they view women around him. If I chose to surrender to being a fat mom or become a psycho dieter, there will be volumes   being said about how we should look at each other. 

After Ethan pointed out my sweet big belly he finished with this. "I love your big belly." 

Oh sweet child, what a great lesson to finish up my day. Ethan loves what I think is totally unlovable. He isn't in denial that my tummy is there... He points it out and loves it. 

Me and my big tummy love you too kiddo. 

(And just because every post requires a photo... Here's how we finished our day)