Thankful for...

Although I am beyond thankful for so many things, the spirit of Thanksgiving makes me think about everything in my life and just what it is that I am thankful for.

I am very thankful for my wonderful family. I have an amazing husband whom I do not deserve. He treats me like a princess and takes care of all of us. I am thankful for my two wonderful little boys. One is so feisty and full of energy. He brings a smile (several times) to my face every day. The baby boy is so sweet and happy. A true joyful baby who brings us so much happiness. I can't remember how I was ever happy without these three people in my life!

I am thankful that both Mark and I have good jobs and can pay our bills that provide a roof over our heads, good care for the boys, groceries, transportation, and clothes.

I am thankful for good extended families. Both sets have blessed us in more ways than one.

This season always causes me to reflect on the fact that I do have so much to be thankful for. All of life's worries and annoyances seem to melt away when I think about everything I have to be grateful for...but sometimes, I have to force myself to remember these things when I am upset about something or sad for any reason. Perspective. I blogged previously about how perspective is so important and how it helped me that particular day. In fact, I don't believe I have looked at anything quite the same.

I am thankful for a God who omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He knows everything about me and what I truly need. I am thankful that He has my best interests at heart and that I can simply go to Him in prayer and thankfulness. It is truly humbling in a way, that God, in His power would deign to care about me and listen to everything that is on my heart, no matter how trivial. I am very thankful for His grace. Without it, I would be quite wretched indeed; but He came down to Earth and humbled Himself as a man to be a mediator between us and the Father. There is nothing I can do to be worthy of Heaven or to be in his presence but for His grace. Without Him, I would have no hope. I am beyond thankful for His love, not only for me, but for all mankind.


Three of my most precious earthly treasures.

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Weekend Fun

This past weekend we drove 6 hours away (actually make that 7 hours with the bathroom breaks and baby feeds along the way) to visit Mark's family near Amarillo, TX. His niece, Brooke was acting in The Wizard of Oz and this has really been the first year we could come and see her act. The musical was fantastic and Brooke did such a great job playing the wicked witch of the west. We took Christian to see the play as well. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical, seeing as he can't keep still for one of his favorite movies, but he ended up being so captivated. He got so excited to see his cousins on stage (Brett was also in the play as a munchkin).


A few hours before the musical began, there was a meet and greet with the characters that we took the kids to. Christian was a little apprehensive of Brooke's green face. He wasn't sure what to think :)




Elias had no problem with Brooke's green face. He kept touching it and rubbing his cheek up against hers...in fact, after we left it looked like he had a giant bruise on the side of his face! :)


Christian decorating a cookie with Aunt Angi


Elias decorating a cookie with Brooke. He plopped his hand right in the middle of the icing then had a taste. He loved it :)


Elias and Emma, 3 days apart in age.


After the show, at Brooke's birthday party.

We went home on Sunday, but before we left, we had to have a play in the snow, especially since it is so rare in our part of Texas...at least this much of it!


Elias LOVED the snow!




Christian running around in the snow.


We have a similar picture of Christian in the same outfit in his first snow!


Christian was so excited about the snow. He declared that Christmas was finally here because it was snowing :)

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend and we can't wait to visit again for Christmas!

Haircuts and Pj's

Christian needed a haircut...badly. His hair grows so fast, that within 6 weeks of each haircut he is looking unkempt, which is kind of funny, because he didn't need a first haircut until he was nearly two. His hair was so fine and thin, it never seemed to grow out from that baby stage. When we finally took him, the change was enormous. He looked like a different kid, and older, which made me sad for a bit. now...he just looks scruffy when he goes too long without a trim. So, we all loaded up and drove to Cool Cuts for Kids to get him a haircut.


Pre haircut, waiting for his turn while playing on a computer at Cool Cuts for Kids.

Elias also has been needing some PJ's. His legs are so long, he keeps outgrowing the ones he has, and has nearly outgrown all his his "feeted" pajamas (or Nonnies, as Christian likes to call them!), so while waiting for Christian to finish, Elias and I popped in to an Old Navy just a few stores down in the shopping strip to see if we could find any.


He looks like such a big boy sitting in that cart!

After selecting some suitable PJ's and some pants for Christian, we started walking back to the place where Christian was getting is haircut, and halfway there, ran into Mark and the Mr as they were coming to see us!


I love the new haircut!


Elias in his new pajamas ready (or not quite so ready!) for bed :)

Children's clothing reviews

To take a leaf out of my awesome sister Nadia's book, I want to review some recent purchases I have made in the area of children's clothing. You can read about Nadia's reviews about her baby wearing gear here.

For Halloween, I was all set on us as a family dressing up as Peter Pan characters. Christian already had a Peter Pan costume (purchased earlier in the year for his cousin Lexi's costume birthday party) and I thought it would be neat to all dress up as a family like we did last year with the Cat in the Hat.


October 2012


Lexi as Tinkerbell and Christian as Peter Pan

So, that was the plan until I stumbled across The Wishing Elephant. I completely fell in love with practically everything for sale for babies and toddlers. Especiallythe baby robot (R2D2) costume. As you will see, it is not exactly a costume in the traditional sense. It is a onesie and a cute hat that the baby can wear more than once, all of The Wishing Elephant's costumes are like that. Super cute! So, at that point all was lost in the whole matching family costumes. Christian went as Peter Pan and Elias was R2D2. And Mark and I were...the parents. :) Oh well, there is always next year! But seriously, check out The wishing Elephant! Super cute clothes/costumes for your baby and toddler, as well as timely shipping and great customer service!

I paired some BabyLegs with his robot onesie so his little legs didn't freeze!

Around the same time I discovered The Wishing Elephant, I also discovered The Chic Couture Boutiquealso on Etsy. (Yes, I LOVE Etsy) I fell in love with this outfit immediately and knew it would look great for our family holiday portraits. I ordered the outfit, then contacted the seller, Christina who replied that she could custom make Christian a matching shirt. I received the ordered items within two weeks and they were (are) so lovely. I can't wait to see the holiday pictures of the boys!



I cannot recommend The Wishing Elephant, and Chic Couture Boutique enough. Not only are the clothing items amazing, but the makers and sellers of the clothes are prompt, gracious, and exhibit awesome customer service. Go check them out! :)

Car shopping

Or rather SUV shopping. So, a few weeks ago, our SUV was stolen right out of our driveway right before I left for work. It was quite a shock to step outside and have your mind racing 90 miles per hour as you stand there stock still running over every single possibility as to why there is a gaping empty space where your car used to be not even two minutes before....at 5:45am. And then within about 30 seconds coming to the conclusion there is no logical solution as to why your car is gone. It was just taken.

The aftermath has been a rental car for two weeks to stuff our family of 4 (with two bulky carseats...thank goodness there are just two kids so far!) into whenever we head out as a family. Not comfortable...but doable. We do what we can, right? I am just beyond grateful insurance pays most of the cost of the rental car!

Mark and I have been car shopping online and I have to say, I enjoy it infinitely better than actually being at the dealership.I have bought 3 cars in the past and all three times it has been a beating. I emerge exhausted like I had been boxing. My brain is fuzzy like I had been studying all day and night for a test and I am emotionally deplete. There is so much back and forth, haggling, nail biting, impatience and dread that yes, you are going to have to pay a certain amount in car payments...FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! (Ok, I exaggerate...a little.) But at the end of a very long day, I am finally the owner of a new car. Usually not the one I came in for. But whatever.

I have determined that this time, the above scenario will not happen. Neither of us want to be at this all day for several days. So, we are trying to narrow everything down to maybe two dealerships. Tops. And choose a few SUV's we would like to test drive that is within our budget. And hopefully everything should fall into place.

Have I mentioned how much I do not like car buying? Well, in case you missed it, I don't relish the activity and am dreading doing it this time. But hopefully this time will be much better. I'll keep you posted. :)

Bookmarks

I was a stay-at-home mommy for a day. Or rather, both Mark and I both were stay-at-home parents today. We had planned this day a few months ago and took off work together specifically to have a full day with the boys. There are some days that just I will take off to be with them, or just Mark, but I think it is important for our children that both of us take a break from the day to day mundane and routine to shake things up a bit by both being with them all day on a day that is not the weekend. Plus, after not being with them for the greater part of Friday and Saturday (due to the birthday happenings) we both wanted to set aside special one on one time with the boys, and that was what this day was about.

After letting both of the boys rise a little later today (around 8:30 am), we ate breakfast, got ready, and drove to Northpark Mall in Dallas to go to their public children's library called Bookmarks, which is part of the Dallas Public Library system. Mark and I had noticed this gem last week and we both were eager to bring the boys, specifically Christian to enjoy this children's library.

Both boys loved it, as there was something for children of all ages.


Elias enjoyed the circular...seats (?) that were available throughout the small library.


Christian choosing a book with Daddy.




There were two computers set up with educational games for the kids. Christian chose the computer where anatomy was explored. One of the activities was to construct and decorate a face. Christian chose the theme and color for his face. He had a bit of trouble with the mouse (as he is used to our iPhones he thought he could use his finger to click on things) so we have decided to dedicate more time with him on a computer using a mouse to give him more practice. We want to try http://www.abcmouse.com with him soon.


Christian enjoyed "reading" more than the computers...which made me pretty happy.


Elias liked the activity center.


More reading in a comfortable chair.


Part of the beautiful mural in the back.


As we were leaving, Christian wanted a go in one of the circles.

Altogether a very nice, refreshing, and educational day...one that we will need to try to repeat very soon :)

Dirty 30

I have to say, Mark did a fantastic job of getting together a wonderful 30th birthday for me. I knew he was planning something but I had no idea what or the magnitude until it was actually happening.

The day of November 8th he had me close my eyes and enter the bedroom where he had a beautiful Vera Wang dress (that definitely gave new meaning to "little black dress") laid out on the bed. He told me it was to wear later that night. Around 4pm, Mark's brother and sister-in-law J and A with their son Brett showed up to watch Christian and Elias for the weekend which was pretty awesome as they live about 6 hours away near Amarillo, TX. Thank you guys again!!

The entire car ride as Mark drove us to our destination I was blindfolded, so that heightened and added to the anticipation. As we drove up, he took the blindfold off and found myself at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, TX. This was extremely exciting for me because I have always wanted to stay there!

Upon our arrival to our room for the next two days, we were greeted by a bottle of champagne.


After we got ready, we met some friends downstairs in one of the restaurants called the Riverwalk Cantina which was also a surprise. My sister Triana had been helping coordinate the party with Mark.

Justin and Becca




With my sister Triana, Syble, and Becca


With Sharon




With my sister Charissa and Becca having fun in the lobby of the hotel.

After dinner we headed over to the Glass Cactus for drinks and dancing.



Since Mark had booked two nights at the Gaylord, the second night we had fun touring and exploring the entire resort and having dinner at an Italian restaurant. The Gaylord is a huge resort that they are starting to deck out for Christmas and when it is complete will look like a winter fairyland. It is also the home of ICE! where every year they feature a walk through ice sculptures attraction with a particular theme. This year will be The Nutcracker and we plan on taking the boys to see it.

Getting ready! Ice opens November 14, 2013.


Different views of the sights inside the hotel.






The view of Lake Grapevine from our hotel room.

It was overall a magical 30th birthday weekend. :)