Good morning lovely friends of Sarah! I’m Shannon and it is an honor to be here with you today. We are all over the moon with excitement for baby Tuck. I have been waiting for his arrival for years! (yes, years. you don’t even want to know the number of times I emailed Sarah or thought about emailing Sarah about when she’d be making babies!) 

Actually, I think Tuck is the prime time show in blogland a bit this winter. Because pictures of him (and his gorgeous mama) are better blog material than any perfectly adorn Christmas tree, bokeh effect, or chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever seen!

So while Sarah and JB are adorning their new little one with hugs and kisses and cuddles galore, I get to share a bit with you.

First, in full disclosure you should know that writing this post is making me a bit weepy. Never much of a crier, becoming a momma has made me a full on ugly crier. UGLY cry. Like the ugliest you have ever seen. And then I try to talk my way through it so things get uglier. You get the picture, right?

Second, I am surrounded by boys. I have been married to my college sweetheart for over 6 years. Our son Behr was born in January 2011, and is about to celebrate his second birthday {insert ugly cry}. I am due with another boy at the end of March {ugly cry again} so I am a bit hormonal these days. Which is quite the contrast from the rest of my family. It is full on testosterone in our house these days with dinosaurs, trains, and destruction reigning supreme. Side note: who knew how many uses there are for a mini golf club? They are fabulous at clearing items off a table, knocking down pictures and causing bruises. 

Here are a few things I think Sarah {and everyone else} should know about living with boys.

Wild ride: We jump, and soar, and fall, and crash, and bound at full speed, constantly. Scars become battle wounds, revealed with a sense of pride. And precious milky baby skin gets scrapped faster than you can reapply healing ointment.

Volume: Everything is louder with boys. And the volume seems to be a constant. Invest in earplugs. You can find me sporting some while I busy myself around the house on an average Saturday afternoon.

 Rejection: Somehow rejection from sons seems to come faster than daughters. Our family is officially in the “No, Momma” phase. My heart breaks a little each time.

Love and Kisses: Here is where it all comes full circle. No matter how wild, how loud, or how cruel their rejection may be, when little boys decide to crawl up into your lap, grab your face with two hands, and plant a disgustingly wet wide mouth kiss on your face, you fall more in love that you ever thought possible, again and again and again. Each time they nuzzle their freshly bathed head into your shoulder for some pre-bedtime snuggles, or reach up to grab your hand, just because, you get transported back to the dreamy newborn days.

Motherhood is an emotional roller coaster, full of moments you want to forget and others you will cherish forever. But the rewards are rich. Every momma who reads this blog can likely attest to both their worst motherhood moment and an ever growing list of favorites. Fortunately, our own human error seems to be far outweighed by the glorious plan God has for his children. {cue happy tears…} So I want to remind JB and Sarah that no matter how many “oopsies” they make in these whirlwind few weeks of figuring it all out, and the years to follow, God has an incredible plan for Tuck. An incredible plan indeed.