Mother's Day! (by Hans)

In honor of Mother's Day I am going to try to make a blog post capturing a little of the wonderful world of having Michelle as the mother of my children. I can honestly say that as a love struck 23 year old I wasn't really thinking about what type of mother Michelle would make. I knew she was amazingly smart, really funny, crazy beautiful, and I knew she had great values and was a good girl. I think I probably thought "yeah, she'll be a good mom", but that was probably all I really thought about her as a mother. I wasn't really thinking about kids. They seemed so far away. Kind of something "old people" have. I guess the kids and I lucked out completely because she is one amazing mother. Michelle has all the traits you could want in the person bringing up the next generation. She is kind and compassionate. She sets boundaries that are reasonable and she works to teach responsibility and hard work. She knows how to play with the kids and how to help them grow and direct themselves. She gives hugs and kisses when needed and makes our home a happy, secure, wonderful place. She is a great example of gospel living and sets the bar high for all of us in the family. She is drop dead gorgeous, a super hottie (not that important in motherhood but its nice to have eye-candy around). I would like to continue this list of her virtues but Justin is whining on one side of me that I should play with him and Mia keeps burping up disgusting smelling spaghetti stench. I just sent her to brush her teeth but it doesn't seem to have helped.
 
I am going to post a bunch of pictures in here if I can. Some of Michelle at the hospital bringing each child into the world. I know these may not be the most flattering shots but they capture the most important beginnings of her as a mother. You will also see some shots of the kids at each of these times to show a bit of how successful she's been as a mother keeping them alive and thriving for these past almost 10 years. There are more shots than I should put on here but as I got looking back I was sucked into how cute our family is. I could and sometimes do sit for hours looking at the growth of the kids and how cute they are and have been.

 Ashley born

 Not sure why we have a picture of this nurse. It made me smile to see it though.

 Ashley becomes a big sister.

 What a beautiful mother!

Unfortunately Michelle has often had to bring the children into the world by way of sedation.

 This is Justin. Michelle looks like a model in this one.

 Ashley is going to be a great mother too. She's already practicing here.

 Katelyn appears to be confused about this one. "What IS it?"

 Love these close shots of Michelle's handy-work.

Beautiful!

 Ashley when Mia was born.

 Katelyn around Mia's birth.

 Justin too.

 Look how tiny Mia is!

 Can you believe this hottie at 39 weeks!?

 Unfortunately I failed as a photographer when Michelle ran the Boston marathon. This pretty much the only proof we have that she ran. I am so proud of her. It was a tough race and hard training.

 The family at Waveney park right by where Michelle grew up.

Michelle almost 10 years after her first was born. Even more beautiful now than she was then. I love her so much and am grateful for her motherhood. She is everything I could ever hope for.