Well 2011 is coming to a close! What a year it has been! Personally and around the world... I mean, just watching all the 2011 reflection videos just makes you think what a crazy year it's been! All the natural disasters (Texas drought/wildfires, Japan tsunami/earthquake, other earthquakes around the world, flooding in New England from Irene, the Joplin tornado as well as the tornado spring outbreak in general, and flooding around the world like in Brazil, just as a few examples) were absolutely CRAZY this year. Such destruction, yet so much hope coming from those people who went/are still going through it. And then we had the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden was killed, troops withdrew from Iraq, we had the final shuttle launch, the Arab Spring and all those uprisings, and who can forget the Royal Wedding! 2011 sure was a HUGE year...
I watched my big boy turn 2 and my little one turn 1, I celebrated my first wedding anniversary, and a million other blessings...
But I'm excited for 2012! I get to welcome another beautiful son into the world in May, travel to Colorado in April (I haven't been more west than San Antonio!), celebrate my 2nd wedding anniversary. There's the Olympics, and of course the infamous 12-21-12.... Oooooo! But in all seriousness, I'm very excited for what 2012 will bring! I'm excited!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Christmas traditions...
I love Christmas traditions! The really fun thing is that once you get married and start your own family, you get to continue on with your traditions, find a way to mix you and your spouse's traditions, and make new ones!
This is how we do itttt;;
First of all, looking at Christmas lights! We usually do it any time in the week before Christmas. We get Starbucks or bring hot chocolate or something and go look at lights! Sometimes we seriously look at them for HOURS.
We also do this tradition of the elf thing! My grandma did it to my mom and my mom to us. Now they have like, elf on the shelf and stuff but I got ours from a website. I don't like the elf on the shelf ones. They're cheap looking and I don't like that they're "watching" the kids to reinforce good behavior. The way we did it was that Santa sent an elf to spread Christmas spirit and share the real meaning of Christmas! He always got into mischief and ate candy or soemthing like that... It was always really fun to see if our elf had done anything when I was little, so I can't wait to do that, too!
We also make a Birthday Cake for Jesus... I always loved singing Happy Birthday to Jesus when I was little, and it helps remind of the real meaning of Christmas!
Then on Christmas Eve, the fun begins!
We do the gingerbread house, bake a whole lot of stuff, and make and decorate the cookies for Santa! We'd check Santa's progress on the NORAD tracker... My parents always got us Christmas pajamas, and that's the present we got to open on Christmas Eve! We have done that every Christmas with Bentley and Rafe so far... Even when they were too little to open it theirselves, haha. We set out the cookies and milk for Santa, and then read the kids the Christmas story, which Bentley is curently obsessed with. Then we wake them up to go to church at the late service, at like 11pm. I always did that when I was a kid and it was so magical, and wondering if Santa would know if we were awake and not come to our house yet...
On Christmas morning, I would always wake up SUPER early and run to my parents' room (because their room was on the same floor as all the kids) and we'd jump on their bed and they would make us wait an hour or two... Waiting was the worst, because we weren't allowed to go downstairs and see what Santa had brought! Then when my parents FINALLY got up (after we woke them up a million more times) we would go downstairs! My parents didn't wrap the presents from Santa, which I'm SO glad they didn't. I loved just going downstairs and seeing everything all set up and just going right to it! We'd check it all out, get the stuff out of our stocking, and then open the rest of the gifts from under the tree from our parents and from my other siblings. I plan to do the same with my kids. It's so much more fun when they aren't wrapped, plus you still get to unwrap tons of presents anyway! Then we always eat a huge breakfast, and listen to Christmas music.
This year we're going to my parents' in the morning after we do our own family thing and my sister Ana is coming with her family, so we'll give each other our presents and stuff and kind of have our own Christmas. Then we're going to Levi's mom's for dinner!
My favorite thing about having my own family is just seeing the same things that gave you joy as a child light up your own child's eyes... And making more traditions that someday they'll carry on to their kids, as well!
This post was kind of rambling, sorry! Haha. Just thought I'd share what a typical Christmas is for us!
This is how we do itttt;;
First of all, looking at Christmas lights! We usually do it any time in the week before Christmas. We get Starbucks or bring hot chocolate or something and go look at lights! Sometimes we seriously look at them for HOURS.
We also do this tradition of the elf thing! My grandma did it to my mom and my mom to us. Now they have like, elf on the shelf and stuff but I got ours from a website. I don't like the elf on the shelf ones. They're cheap looking and I don't like that they're "watching" the kids to reinforce good behavior. The way we did it was that Santa sent an elf to spread Christmas spirit and share the real meaning of Christmas! He always got into mischief and ate candy or soemthing like that... It was always really fun to see if our elf had done anything when I was little, so I can't wait to do that, too!
We also make a Birthday Cake for Jesus... I always loved singing Happy Birthday to Jesus when I was little, and it helps remind of the real meaning of Christmas!
Then on Christmas Eve, the fun begins!
We do the gingerbread house, bake a whole lot of stuff, and make and decorate the cookies for Santa! We'd check Santa's progress on the NORAD tracker... My parents always got us Christmas pajamas, and that's the present we got to open on Christmas Eve! We have done that every Christmas with Bentley and Rafe so far... Even when they were too little to open it theirselves, haha. We set out the cookies and milk for Santa, and then read the kids the Christmas story, which Bentley is curently obsessed with. Then we wake them up to go to church at the late service, at like 11pm. I always did that when I was a kid and it was so magical, and wondering if Santa would know if we were awake and not come to our house yet...
On Christmas morning, I would always wake up SUPER early and run to my parents' room (because their room was on the same floor as all the kids) and we'd jump on their bed and they would make us wait an hour or two... Waiting was the worst, because we weren't allowed to go downstairs and see what Santa had brought! Then when my parents FINALLY got up (after we woke them up a million more times) we would go downstairs! My parents didn't wrap the presents from Santa, which I'm SO glad they didn't. I loved just going downstairs and seeing everything all set up and just going right to it! We'd check it all out, get the stuff out of our stocking, and then open the rest of the gifts from under the tree from our parents and from my other siblings. I plan to do the same with my kids. It's so much more fun when they aren't wrapped, plus you still get to unwrap tons of presents anyway! Then we always eat a huge breakfast, and listen to Christmas music.
This year we're going to my parents' in the morning after we do our own family thing and my sister Ana is coming with her family, so we'll give each other our presents and stuff and kind of have our own Christmas. Then we're going to Levi's mom's for dinner!
My favorite thing about having my own family is just seeing the same things that gave you joy as a child light up your own child's eyes... And making more traditions that someday they'll carry on to their kids, as well!
This post was kind of rambling, sorry! Haha. Just thought I'd share what a typical Christmas is for us!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Boy number three!
And it'll be.... another boy! Haha. :) If we're being 100% honest, I was a little disappointed at first but now I'm excited! I'm so excited to go out and buy stuff and do up his room! And that I get to call the baby something other than "he/she" or "the baby".... Haha. I just get to say HE, HIS, ETC! Haha. :)
So on the names front, I'm kind of lost... I have a lot that I like, but I really dont LOVE any of them. So if any of ya'll have any suggestions, let me know!
So on the names front, I'm kind of lost... I have a lot that I like, but I really dont LOVE any of them. So if any of ya'll have any suggestions, let me know!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Names!
Well tomorrow we find out if it's a boy or a girl! I'm beyond excited, I can't think about anything else! :))))))
Well here's our name list right now. I won't say Jillian after every girls name, but that's 100% what the girl middle name is. And we're pretty sure William will be the boy middle name so I won't repeat that one, either.
Girls;
Solara
Felicity
Molly
Kadence
Caroline
Allie
Cheyenne
Amelia
Lyla
Rebekah
Eleni
Evelyn (but prob. won't use it becase Evelyn Jillian, don't like double n ending!)
Maya
Paisley
Ruby
Guinevere
Genevieve
Boys;
Milo
Lyle
Elijah
Cash
Paxton
Pax
Beau
Reilly
Max
Isaiah
Owen
Logan
Heath
Ezra
Ross
Colt
Well here's our name list right now. I won't say Jillian after every girls name, but that's 100% what the girl middle name is. And we're pretty sure William will be the boy middle name so I won't repeat that one, either.
Girls;
Solara
Felicity
Molly
Kadence
Caroline
Allie
Cheyenne
Amelia
Lyla
Rebekah
Eleni
Evelyn (but prob. won't use it becase Evelyn Jillian, don't like double n ending!)
Maya
Paisley
Ruby
Guinevere
Genevieve
Boys;
Milo
Lyle
Elijah
Cash
Paxton
Pax
Beau
Reilly
Max
Isaiah
Owen
Logan
Heath
Ezra
Ross
Colt
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Just some thoughts!
Today, I am 19 weeks pregnant! I seriously cannot believe how fast the time has gone. This pregnancy is flying by ten times faster than either of my other ones. Today I feel like a giant water buffalo, but most days I feel normal. :) I can't believe that in seven days, I will know whether we're having a boy or a girl! I'm BEYOND excited to start doing up his/her room, buying stuff, etc.
Christmas is right around the corner, yet I am 100% unprepared. I haven't gotten ANY gifts at all, for anyone, and my tree isn't even up yet..... FML! Oh well. I still have what, a week? :/ The one thing I can't stand is that it's DECEMBER, Christmas is in a week, and it will officially be winter in what, 5 or 6 days, and it's EIGHTY DAMN DEGREES OUTSIDE. :l Not. Even. Cool. But anyway. Bentley is obsessed with his advent calender with the chocolates in it... It's the first thing he asks for in the morning!
I also can't believe that Rafe is ONE. I can't believe it's been a year and eight days since I had him.... Time truly just flies by when you're a mom! We just had a little cake as a family on his actual birthday, and then next week once my siblings and niece are out of school on Christmas break and things are less crazy for everyone, we're going to have a party with family, just a small thing but just something to celebrate!
Also, I just read this AMAZING book. It's called A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini. I've read a lot of books in my time, but this is by far my most favorite book EVER. As a woman and a mother, this book just touched my heart in so many inexplicable ways.... I'm not only going to recommend this book to you, but I urge you to read it. It's absolutely heartbreaking and tragic, yet hopeful and beautiful at the same time. You will not regret it. It's absolutely beautifully written, and I have never read another book that has touched my heart so much...
Christmas is right around the corner, yet I am 100% unprepared. I haven't gotten ANY gifts at all, for anyone, and my tree isn't even up yet..... FML! Oh well. I still have what, a week? :/ The one thing I can't stand is that it's DECEMBER, Christmas is in a week, and it will officially be winter in what, 5 or 6 days, and it's EIGHTY DAMN DEGREES OUTSIDE. :l Not. Even. Cool. But anyway. Bentley is obsessed with his advent calender with the chocolates in it... It's the first thing he asks for in the morning!
I also can't believe that Rafe is ONE. I can't believe it's been a year and eight days since I had him.... Time truly just flies by when you're a mom! We just had a little cake as a family on his actual birthday, and then next week once my siblings and niece are out of school on Christmas break and things are less crazy for everyone, we're going to have a party with family, just a small thing but just something to celebrate!
Also, I just read this AMAZING book. It's called A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini. I've read a lot of books in my time, but this is by far my most favorite book EVER. As a woman and a mother, this book just touched my heart in so many inexplicable ways.... I'm not only going to recommend this book to you, but I urge you to read it. It's absolutely heartbreaking and tragic, yet hopeful and beautiful at the same time. You will not regret it. It's absolutely beautifully written, and I have never read another book that has touched my heart so much...
Friday, December 9, 2011
The Proverbs 31 Woman
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
She is like a merchant's ship,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her houshold
and plan the day's work for her servant girls.
She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vinyard.
She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamps burn late into the night.
Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber.
She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm clothes.
She makes her own bedspreads.
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
Her husband is well known at the city gates,
where he sits with other civic leaders.
She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to all the merchants.
She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instruction with kindness.
She carefully watches over everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.
Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
"There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!"
Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.
So I saw this video that kind of set of a series of thoughts in my mind. It was by a young man who had been on facebook during the Victoria's Secret fashion show, and saw all these girls making comments like "Gotta hit the gym!" He was saying how we shouldn't focus on things like beauty or how hot a woman is when looking for a wife. You should focus on finding someone that would fit Proverbs 31.
As a mother of boys, this is something I really hope to instill in them. Like the verse said at the end, charm is deceptive and beaty fades. One of the things I really want for them is for them to be able to look for the important qualities in a woman - and in people in general. I don't want them to focus on the body or the face of a person. I want them to focus on the heart of a person.
So how different would our society be if we focused on being Proverbs 31 women instead of looking like Victoria's Secret Models? What if we focused on being a good person, not the way we look? How would things change?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
She is like a merchant's ship,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her houshold
and plan the day's work for her servant girls.
She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vinyard.
She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamps burn late into the night.
Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber.
She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm clothes.
She makes her own bedspreads.
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
Her husband is well known at the city gates,
where he sits with other civic leaders.
She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to all the merchants.
She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instruction with kindness.
She carefully watches over everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.
Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
"There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!"
Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.
So I saw this video that kind of set of a series of thoughts in my mind. It was by a young man who had been on facebook during the Victoria's Secret fashion show, and saw all these girls making comments like "Gotta hit the gym!" He was saying how we shouldn't focus on things like beauty or how hot a woman is when looking for a wife. You should focus on finding someone that would fit Proverbs 31.
As a mother of boys, this is something I really hope to instill in them. Like the verse said at the end, charm is deceptive and beaty fades. One of the things I really want for them is for them to be able to look for the important qualities in a woman - and in people in general. I don't want them to focus on the body or the face of a person. I want them to focus on the heart of a person.
So how different would our society be if we focused on being Proverbs 31 women instead of looking like Victoria's Secret Models? What if we focused on being a good person, not the way we look? How would things change?
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Updates on my 2.5 kids!
#1
Bentley's favorite words are "Mine!" and "No!" right now... He's so crazy! He's not too bad about sharing and he's usually nice, but he knows that saying "No" to me every time I ask him a question makes me frusturated, and he things it's the funniest thing in the world! :l He loves to do things for himself! He loves to dress himself (and, to my dismay, undress himself), wash his hands BY HIMSELF, etc. Sometimes he gets confused or can't reach and freaks out and gets mad when I don't help... It's honestly hilarious and annoying at the same time!
He's starting to kind of understand that I'm pregnant. He knows that he'll have another sibling like Rafe, and that right now he or she is in mommy's tummy. He'll come up to me and rub my belly and whisper in some randomness, and he says he's telling the baby things! Too cute. He also wants to name him/her Bentley. How clever! Hahaha. He's doing pretty well with the ABCs and drawing! When we put him to bed, we usually spend a tiny bit on ABCs before we read him a book. Right now his favorite things are his Children's Bible, and the Christmas stories I've been reading him. I don't know why he likes them so much, but when he goes to pick out a book, it's guarenteed to be one of those!
#2
Rafe will be ONE YEAR OLD in only THREE DAYS. :'( I can't even believe how fast this year has gone by! We're probably going to have a small little get together on Saturday with family and a cake, nothing too crazy! He's starting to walk more now, but he doesn't usually get too far without falling right on his butt, haha. He can say "mama", "dada" and "benny", but not always to the right person! He says ""dog" sometimes, too, but not often. He's super curious and he's always getting into everything he can get his hands on! He also imitates a lot of things that Bentley does, which isn't exactly a good thing but oh well, it's cute!
#.5
Well I'm 17 weeks and 3 days pregnant! I'm really showing now, it's insane how big I already am. I feel like I already look 22, 23 weeks pregnant! I'm finally getting over morning sickness. FINALLY. I was SO sick! I was never that sick with Bentley or Rafe! There were some days where I literally either couldn't get out of bed or couldn't get out of the bathroom. It sucked! Especially if Levi couldn't stay home with me, and the boys were wanting me to play with them or I had to feed them or whatever, and I just wanted to curl in a ball and sleep! We're finding out the gender on December 22! I'm SO excited, I feel like it can't come soon enough! I'm feeling a lot of movement - this kid is strong already! No strong kicks yet, but I'm pretty sure there will be soon! Overall, the pregnancy is going really well, and now that I'm through with being sick, I feel great!
Bentley's favorite words are "Mine!" and "No!" right now... He's so crazy! He's not too bad about sharing and he's usually nice, but he knows that saying "No" to me every time I ask him a question makes me frusturated, and he things it's the funniest thing in the world! :l He loves to do things for himself! He loves to dress himself (and, to my dismay, undress himself), wash his hands BY HIMSELF, etc. Sometimes he gets confused or can't reach and freaks out and gets mad when I don't help... It's honestly hilarious and annoying at the same time!
He's starting to kind of understand that I'm pregnant. He knows that he'll have another sibling like Rafe, and that right now he or she is in mommy's tummy. He'll come up to me and rub my belly and whisper in some randomness, and he says he's telling the baby things! Too cute. He also wants to name him/her Bentley. How clever! Hahaha. He's doing pretty well with the ABCs and drawing! When we put him to bed, we usually spend a tiny bit on ABCs before we read him a book. Right now his favorite things are his Children's Bible, and the Christmas stories I've been reading him. I don't know why he likes them so much, but when he goes to pick out a book, it's guarenteed to be one of those!
#2
Rafe will be ONE YEAR OLD in only THREE DAYS. :'( I can't even believe how fast this year has gone by! We're probably going to have a small little get together on Saturday with family and a cake, nothing too crazy! He's starting to walk more now, but he doesn't usually get too far without falling right on his butt, haha. He can say "mama", "dada" and "benny", but not always to the right person! He says ""dog" sometimes, too, but not often. He's super curious and he's always getting into everything he can get his hands on! He also imitates a lot of things that Bentley does, which isn't exactly a good thing but oh well, it's cute!
#.5
Well I'm 17 weeks and 3 days pregnant! I'm really showing now, it's insane how big I already am. I feel like I already look 22, 23 weeks pregnant! I'm finally getting over morning sickness. FINALLY. I was SO sick! I was never that sick with Bentley or Rafe! There were some days where I literally either couldn't get out of bed or couldn't get out of the bathroom. It sucked! Especially if Levi couldn't stay home with me, and the boys were wanting me to play with them or I had to feed them or whatever, and I just wanted to curl in a ball and sleep! We're finding out the gender on December 22! I'm SO excited, I feel like it can't come soon enough! I'm feeling a lot of movement - this kid is strong already! No strong kicks yet, but I'm pretty sure there will be soon! Overall, the pregnancy is going really well, and now that I'm through with being sick, I feel great!
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