More Christmas Fun!

A new Christmas tradition that we decided to try this year was making a gingerbread house.  I thought that if I built it and did the icing, my daughter would be old enough and understand enough to decorate with the candy pieces.  So we gave it a shot!  And I have to say, she did a fantastic job!! 

**Side note-pay no attention to her wardrobe.  She was attempting to put a shirt on by herself, but ended up with it inside out and only one arm made it through.  ;) **

Helping Mama get the icing ready!

"Are you getting all of this, Daddy?"

She added each of the candy pieces herself!

So deliberate and careful.

We had so much fun!  Every time she added a piece of candy and it stuck, I would say, "Good job sweetheart!  That's so pretty!"  So then, every time I iced something, she would say, "Good job, Mama!"

Our finished product:

The next morning, we were sitting at the counter eating breakfast, and the gingerbread house was situated in front of us.  She was drinking milk and admiring her work, and suddenly proclaims, "Aww...so pretty, house!"

I think I would have to agree.  :)

Our First New Mexico Christmas

Despite all the chaos as of late, we really did have a wonderful Christmas.  We tried to make it as special as possible, despite the fact that we are still living (somewhat) out of suitcases and boxes, and the fact that I just could not muster up the energy to decorate our entire house for Christmas.  This was a very hard decision for me to come to, because I LOVE Christmas, and I LOVE having the house decorated, and having a beautiful, freshly cut tree...well, you get the idea.  With so much stuff still not organized and in place, I just couldn't see dragging everything out, just to pack it all away again a week later.  So there you go.

BUT, a very sweet couple at our church, no doubt sensing that our poor home would be completely devoid of any sort of holiday decor, gave us the sweetest little mini tree (ready to go with lights and ornaments even!) and the most beautiful Christmas quilt, so I was able to use the tree as the center piece for our table, and arrange all the gifts around it.  It actually made it a very special and unique Christmas, and honestly, with such small children around, it was probably better to have everything up out of reach anyway! 

 
And of course, the kids got to open presents, so we all had a blast!

Discovering her new Dora backpack!

Takin it out for a spin

Perfect fit!

Playing with his new toy, still in the box

Listening to the fun music!

And now, just playing with the box. ;)

And of course, baby girl was just as content as always, and had a nice relaxing morning before our lunch with friends.

I hope that your Christmas was joyful, memorable, and most of all, a reminder of what Christmas is really all about.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born in the most humble of circumstances, lived a perfect, sinless life, and then died on the cross to save His children.

God Bless!

I'll Love You Forever

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

And while she held her, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be. 

The baby grew. She grew and she grew and she grew. 

She grew until she was two years old, and she ran all around the house.  She pulled all the books off the shelves. She pulled all the toys out of the toy box and she took her mother's keys and threw them in the trash can. Sometimes her mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to her room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of her bed; and if she was really asleep she picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

While she rocked her she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!  I can't believe you are already TWO! We love you SO much and we're so very proud of you!

*Adapted from the book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch* 

Settling In

Whew!  Moving out of state with three babies under two is without a doubt one of the most exhausting things I have ever done!  But we are here now, and trying to get settled.  On the top of my list was getting internet at our new home, and I cannot even tell you how happy I am that we are finally connected!  But considering this weekend was not only Christmas Eve AND my baby girl's birthday, and then Christmas day, everything else on the list has gotten put on hold. :)  But no worries, one thing at a time. 

So far, everyone has been very welcoming to me and our small herd of children, but of course, I knew they would be.  And my kids absolutely LOVE playing in the nursery, which was one of the reasons I knew that this was where God needed us to be.  I know that sounds silly, but if any of you have ever left your child screaming at the top of their lungs in a nursery or daycare, you know what a big deal it is when your baby walks right in and makes herself at home!!  So yeah, so far I think it's a good fit. ;)

Unfortunately, with this being the week of Christmas I have not had a whole lot of time to explore the town, but I plan to remedy that very soon.  Now, it is a small town, so I don't know how much there will be to explore, but I've been told that there is always something to do.  So we shall see if that's true!

Well, that's all I have for now, because small children are calling me.  But I will definitely be sharing pictures soon, because my beautiful firstborn just turned TWO, and my newest love is growing like a weed, and changing everyday.  :) 

I'm looking forward to sharing new adventures with you!!

Together Again!

Well, I apologize for my absence, but I'm sure you can imagine just how little time (unfortunately) I have for blogging these days.  Thankfully, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, as moving day is quickly approaching, and we will soon be (somewhat) settled again! :)

But in the midst of our packing and sorting and planning and the five million other things that have to get done, we had a visit from some very special friends. 

I really can't even tell you how wonderful it was to see our friends and their beautiful daughter again and for them to have the opportunity to meet our new little bundle before we head out. 

All the babies played together, and I was able to spend some MUCH needed girl time with my friend!

It was so sweet to see all the kids together, and to see how much everyone has grown.

But I have to say, as wonderful as it was to see them again, it was not any easier to say goodbye.  Especially knowing we will now be even further apart.  But I am thankful for the little bit of time that we did have! :)

Two Whole Weeks!

I can hardly believe it, but our sweet little girl is already two weeks old!

She is doing great, and growing everyday.

I feel so incredibly blessed, because she is BY FAR the easiest of our three babies.

Most of the time, she's so content, you wouldn't even know she's there!

And we love her SO MUCH!!

Goodbye Texas

We arrived in Texas all the way from the east coast in June of 2008.  Two and a half short years, our first house, and three babies later, we are saying goodbye. 

As excited as we are to embark on our new adventure, the move is definitely bittersweet.  We are settled here, we found a church we love, and we have friends here.  But God is calling us to a wonderful, new ministry opportunity, and so off we go!

I know there may be some people who don't understand our move, or wonder why in the world we were here in Texas for such a short time, and so on and so on...but I really don't think I can say this enough.  God's plan and His timing are perfect.  And I know that even more clearly now than I did two years ago when we felt Him calling us to Texas.  The past three months have been difficult, but it has been so clearly preparation for what's ahead, and I'm so thankful for God's wisdom in the direction of our life.  We couldn't have planned it out any better ourselves if we tried!

And although our time in Texas has been brief, we have loved it here, and I know there are so many reasons that we have been here for this specific time in our lives.  Most of which I probably will never know or understand while here on earth.  But one thing is for sure.  We were in Texas, in this specific location, during this specific time, to have our beautiful, amazing children.  Being in the "big city," we have been incredibly blessed to have access to the very best health care.  Considering everything my son has been through, and considering what a high risk pregnancy I had this last time around, we needed to be in a place where that kind of care was available.  It's hard to believe that in the past two years I have given birth to three children, and I have sometimes wondered why God gave them to us so close together, but I have no doubt that part of the reason was so that they could be born in Texas.

But now?  Now we are saying "Goodbye, Texas," and "Hello, New Mexico."  That's right, this east coast girl is moving even further west.  I will now be closer to California than to my home in Virginia.  It's going to be a new experience, but I am sure we will grow to love our new home just as we have grown to love and appreciate the uniqueness of Texas.  :)  And for anyone who has ever been through a big move, I'm sure you can attest to the stress associated with selling your home, and packing everything in sight.  Add taking care of three babies on top of that, and let's just say, we could use a few extra prayers!  So thank you in advance, friends, your prayers are truly appreciated!