Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, we sure did. On Christmas Eve we went to my grandparents house and celebrated with family and friends. Santa even stopped by to hand out some presents (Santa was played by my best friend's dad since Curtis figured out that my grandfather was Santa). Lauren was petrified of Santa and was screaming and shaking. :( I felt so bad for her. She is still telling me, "No more, Santa." On Christmas Day, my mom and stepdad came over with their gifts and we fixed a Christmas lunch consisting of ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, carrots, and rolls. In the evening, my brother Luis and his fiancee Michelle came over and had dinner with us. The kids had so much fun, Curtis even asked Michelle to put him to bed! I'm now in the process of putting the apartment back to the way it was and sorting through things to see what we can get rid of and what we are keeping, so that we can get things packed. We have a train table that we need to get rid of, so if anyone wants it or knows someone who could use it, please let me know. I can't believe that this year is coming to an end, can you? We are looking forward to 2010 and moving back to Minnesota. I hope everyone has a safe and fun new year.

I love this picture.

Curtis with Santa.

Claire with Santa. (I don't have a picture of Lauren with Santa because she was kicking and screaming, and moving around too much. My friend got a picture, so when she emails it to me I will post it).

Lauren got into my red food coloring while I was making snickerdoodles. What a mess!!

Claire's two new teeth. When she smiles, it looks like she has fangs, and we can't help but laugh. We've been singing, All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, but it didn't happen. One of the front teeth is now starting to poke through.

It's Christmas Time!

Can you believe that Christmas is upon us? Boy it sure came up fast! I have been busy baking cookies and chasing after my children. Claire turned seven months on Monday and started crawling the same day. Now she is all over the place. She has also started saying ma ma. She is the only one to say "ma ma" first. The other two said "da da" first. She only says it when she's hungry. Curtis and Lauren decorated the tree this year, which they had a blast doing. They did a good job. We have also been teaching the kids about Christmas and what it's really about. Lauren doesn't understand, but Curtis gets it and has been asking lots of questions. I have to tell you this great story, yesterday, Lauren was holding her tummy and getting a little fussy, so Curtis was concerned that she might throw up. He came up to me and asked if we could pray over her, so that she could get better. That blew me away! He surprises me sometimes with his compassion. I am hoping to finish up my baking and wrapping today. Thankfully we don't have a lot of presents to wrap. The kids get three presents each since Jesus only got three presents from the Magi on His birth. On Christmas morning, before we open any presents, we will sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Every morning for the last week, I have been reading a little about Jesus' birth to the kids. We want to make sure that the kids know that Christmas is about Jesus and not Santa. This led to a great question from Curtis, which was," Mommy, if Christmas is Jesus' birthday, then why don't we celebrate Christmas for my birthday?" This then led to a bigger discussion about why Jesus was born and ultimately why he died. Well, I need to get back to baking, but I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.

Cakes

To end the week, I'm showcasing the most delicious of my hobbies, cakes. I learned how to bake and decorate cakes from my grandmother, who bakes and decorates amazing cakes. One day I hope I can be just as good as she is.

I made this cake for Kevin's 40th birthday.

This was Curtis' Buzz Lightyear cake from last year.

Lauren's first birthday cake.

Curtis' cake from this year. Not my best cake since Curtis wanted an apple cake and I had never made one before. It was more like an apple crisp, and hard to decorate. It was a definite learning experience.

Card Making

Today's showcase is on card making. This is another hobby that I have started recently. Like scrapbooking, my skills are pretty basic. Sometimes simple is better, at least until I can figure out how to make fancy cards! :)

This is Curtis' birthday invitation from this year.

This is a birthday card. You can't really see it, but I stamped Happy Birthday on the pink part of the card.

This is a birthday card that I made for my 2 year old niece with the cricut machine. One of the best inventions ever!

This is an anniversary card that I made using the circut machine and embossing.

Tomorrow, I will be wrapping up the week with a showcase on cakes!

Scrapbooking

Today's showcase is on scrapbooking. I didn't get started with scrapbooks until we moved to Minnesota where it's very popular. I'm still learning, so my pages are pretty basic, but I know the kids like looking at them. If you have any suggestions on what I could do better with my pages, please let me know.

This page is about Curtis' first trip to Disneyland and his first ride on Winnie The Pooh.

This page is about Curtis' first Angels game.

I think this page speaks for itself. :)

This page is Lauren's birth. I only have three pages of Lauren's scrapbook finished.

This is Claire's birth page and the only page I have finished in her scrapbook. I am so far behind.




Tomorrow's showcase will be on card making.

Cross Stitch

Today's focus is on cross stitch. Like sewing, I got into cross stitch when I was in jr. high. It's very relaxing, but quite time consuming. Some kits are pretty easy to do and some are very intricate, which takes more time and concentration to do. Here are some of the projects that I have done.

I made this one when I was pregnant with Curtis and it's in the kid's room.

This is Curtis' birth announcement.

Lauren's birth announcement. I haven't even started Claire's yet, I don't have any time right now.

This is Lauren's Christmas stocking that I started last summer. As you can see it's not finished yet. Maybe next year, I will have more time to finish it.

Tomorrow's showcase will be on scrapbooking.

Sewing

Yes, it is time to kick off my week long celebration of my hobbies and crafts! I am so excited to be sharing with you. I decided to start out the week by showcasing clothing that I have sewn over the years. I learned how to sew when I was in jr. high and it has been something that I have enjoyed ever since. I just wish I had more time to make all of the things that I want to make. Oh well, one day maybe, when the kids are all in school. :)

These were some of the first kid pajamas that I had ever made and they are now my favorite pj to sew.

This was the first dress that I ever made. The black mesh was a pain to sew, but the dress came out beautifully. Sadly, I will never be able to wear that dress again.

This is a maternity top that I made when I was pregnant with Curtis. I kinda guessed on what size to make because I had no idea how big my belly would get.

I made both the shirt and the shorts for Curtis last year. It was a fun project to do and he looked so cute in it.

Tomorrow I will be focusing on cross stitch.

Rock and Hard Place

I'm sure many of you have heard the expression, "stuck between a rock and a hard place." Well Kevin and I feel like we are living this expression. We have been living with tight finances for a couple of years now since Kevin stopped getting his raises and health insurance keeps getting higher and higher and rent keeps increasing. We hardly have disposable income and most months we have to take money out of savings to get groceries and necessities. No matter what we are always obedient to tithe and the Lord blesses us for that. We are so thankful that we have a roof over our heads and food on the table, but it is geting so hard to make it out here. We kind of feel like we are in a desperate situation to get out of California before we end up in the poor house. I feel so bad for Kevin because he works so hard and he is being taken advantage of and making peanuts for what he does. He has little panic attacks every morning because he dreads what's going to happen at work. As the wife and mother, I am supposed to stay strong and hold everyone together, but it gets hard sometimes. We had to drop our dental coverage this coming year because we can't afford it and we just found out that Kevin's work didn't turn in the paperwork on time so medical and dental are still being deducted from Kevin's paycheck, which means we now have no disposable income. We have no idea when this will be resolved and it just makes me want to cry. I know that the Lord has a plan for us and wants to prosper us, but it's just so hard to believe that sometimes. I have been chewing on this piece of scripture from James all week. This is James 1:9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. This struck me as odd and I'm still trying to comprehend it. I sure don't feel like we are in a high position, but I guess compared to people in third world countries, we live like kings. I need to keep reminding myself of that. Even though this place here on earth is hard, we have our Rock, Jesus Christ, to sustain us.

On a happier note, starting Monday, I will be doing a week long showcase on my hobbies/crafts that I have done over the years, so stop by next week and hopefully you will get inspired. Have a great weekend!

Six Months

Our sweet Claire bear turned six months on the 21st and she has grown by leaps and bounds! She loves being on the floor so that she can roll and scoot all over the place, and she's fast! She has now started to push up onto her knees and she rocks back and forth. It's only a matter of time before she is crawling all over the place. She has gotten two more teeth and it looks like there are four more just waiting to break the gum line. She is growing up way too fast! She had her check up yesterday and she weighs 17 lbs. 14 oz. and is 26 inches tall. I think she is going to be small like her sister. She is such a happy baby and she loves to laugh. She has learned to screech from her sister. I'm sure that's not the only thing Lauren will be teaching her. I'm going to have my hands full when they get older. She loves her cereal, especially the brown rice and tonight was her first time drinking out of a sippie cup. She did really well. That's all of our sweetie pie's accomplishments this month. Have a great rest of the week!

Knott's Berry Farm

Last Saturday, we went to Knott's Berry Farm for their annual veterans celebration. All veterans and a guest get into the park for free. It was a very nice day, my mom, brother, and grandparents went with us and the weather was perfect. The kids had a blast and I was able to ride some roller coasters (Ghostrider and Silver Bullet) with my brother. So here are some pictures from our fabulous day at Knott's.
Kevin, Lauren, and Curtis riding the big rigs.

On Lucy's Tugboat

On the old steam engine.

Too much excitement for Claire.

The fam in an authentic Olympic bobsled. Too cool!

Trains and Birthdays

What a fun weekend we had. On Saturday we went to Irvine Park to ride the train and play at the playground. The kids had so much fun. It was so nice to just hang out as a family and chill. On Sunday we went to my cousin's daughter's second birthday party. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and eating cake! Here are some pictures from our weekend fun.

Waiting for the train to leave the station.

Curtis, Lauren and Mr. Rob (the Conductor)

Claire loved being in the backpack so much, she cried when Kevin took her out to put her in the car!

Curtis chillin' on the slide. (He is afraid of going down slides).

Lauren didn't want to get off.

Claire and cousin Nathan

Lauren with cousins Natty and Mollie. Can you tell they had too much fun at the party!?!

On a side note, we take Lauren back to the GI on Monday for her follow-up. She has had six bouts of bleeding since last month. We are going to try and push for the scope to be done because this treatment isn't working. Have a great weekend!

Shock and Awe

Today has been a roller coaster of a day to say the least. This morning, Stellan flatlined before his ablation and things weren't looking to good for him. Curtis and I were on our knees praying for that little guy. To be totally honest, I didn't think he was going to survive the surgery. Oh ye of little faith! God performed a miracle through the surgeons and I'm estatic to say that Stellan not only survived the ablation, but he is SVT free tonight with no damage to his AV Node. Praise God the awesome Creator of the universe! I'm crying just thinking about what the Lord did today. Another praise report is that my cousin's wife Maggie, who is 30 weeks pregnant and has been on bed rest for the last couple of months because of an incompetent cervix, had her OB appointment today and the baby is measuring 2 weeks ahead weighing in at 4 lbs. 3 oz. Big brother James was born at 29 weeks and only weighed 3 lbs. so this is awesome news as we were expecting her to get admitted to the hospital today. She will still need to be on bedrest as her cervix has gone from 1.3 cm to 6 mm. We will have a new baby in the family soon. Please pray that baby Lia will continue to grow so that she won't have to stay in the NICU too long. To God be the Glory!

Pray For Stellan

Please pray for baby Stellan and his mom Jen. He is at Boston Children's Hospital awaiting ablation surgery, which can happen at any time. He may not survive this surgery and he is in a bad way right now. Details are at www.mckmama.com Thank you for praying.

Halloween Time

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween. On Thursday, I took the kids to the circle in Old Towne Orange for Treats in the Streets. Every year on the Thursday before Halloween, the city closes off the circle and kids are allowed to trick-or-treat at the shops along the street. They have hay rides, food booths, games, and a costume parade. The kids had so much fun, but Curtis got very tired from walking around. Yesterday, our church had it's annual Harvest Fair, so we went and had lots of fun. Curtis got to hold a snake and Lauren got a pony ride. My original costume plan was for all of us to dress up as The Incredibles, but I had the hardest time trying to get costumes so I decided to dress Curtis and Lauren up as Raggedy Ann & Andy, but that didn't work out either, so Curtis ended up going as a firefighter and Lauren was Alice In Wonderland.

Aren't they cute!?!

Getting a picture with a real fireman in front of a fire truck. Curtis was on cloud nine.

Having fun in the ball pool.

Curtis holding a snake.

I finally got a picture of Claire's teeth.

Flowers and Rings

I am happy to say that three weeks ago my brother got engaged! I'm still trying to process it. It seems so surreal that my little brother is getting married. It seems like yesterday he was graduating high school, and soon he will be a married man. It's hard to believe that over seven years ago he was walking me down the aisle at my own wedding, looking so handsome in his tuxedo. I could go on and on, but I won't bore you with my memories. It's looking like they will be getting married at a courthouse in February, then having an actual ceremony in 2011, after Luis gets back from deployment. Curtis has been asked to be the ring bearer and Lauren the flower girl. I can't wait to see them in their outfits. I've already been looking at dresses for Lauren and once I find out the exact color of the bridesmaids dresses, I can go to town. The next year is going to be busy with wedding planning!

Five Months

Today Claire turns five months. It has gone by fast, but I've enjoyed every minute. Her two bottom teeth are really coming up now (I'm still trying to get a picture of them). Her top gums are swollen and it looks like the top ones could be poking through any time. I still can't believe that she has teeth already, but it doesn't really surprise me. When she was born, it looked like she was getting teeth. Kevin and I kept staring at her mouth saying, "No way!" Claire also likes to roll all over the floor and scoots backwards when she is on her tummy. So far she has gotten stuck under the couch and entertainment center. Her personality is starting to show. She is such a happy baby and LOVES to laugh! She is very ticklish on her knees, elbows, thighs, and armpits. Whenever we are in the car, she jabbers up a storm and laughs at Curtis. She loves rice cereal and I just introduced her to applesauce, but she doesn't care for it to much. She scrunches her face and spits it out. She still wakes up once, sometimes twice, during the night. She has been going to bed at 7:30 p.m. and waking up between 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.. I am so looking forward to her sleeping through the night. Here are some pictures of our big girl.

Waiting to eat.

Our happy girl!

Sitting in the big tub for the first time.

Family Update

I just wanted to update everyone on how our family is doing. First off, we finally received Kevin's PSA results and they are normal. We are so relieved, thank you all for praying. Lauren hasn't had any bleeding for three months now. She still has to see the GI next month for her, hopefully, last appointment. We are still giving her the Miralax, but only as needed. I have started potty training with her and she is doing good. She loves to sit on the potty, but doesn't go a whole lot. Her vocabulary has really taken off as well. She is nowhere near Curtis' vocabulary at this age, but she communicates with us very well. The big news around here is...no, I'm not pregnant...Claire has two teeth! I can't believe it!! I've never heard of a four month old with a tooth, let alone two! I felt something sharp on Saturday and figured she had one tooth, but when I looked on Sunday, I saw both bottom teeth poking through the gums. She has definitely been the best teether of the three. Claire has also been on cereal for the last week and she LOVES it. My baby girl is growing up way too fast! So that is the latest news with us. Hope you all have a wonderful week.

The Love Dare

Kevin and I watched this really awesome movie last week called FIREPROOF. If you haven't seen this movie, you really need to see it. I won't tell you what it's about, but the main character gets this book from his father called The Love Dare and he follows the dares in this book for 40 days. Well, while watching this movie, Kevin and I were saying that the book is a really neat idea. Well, come to find out there really is a book called The Love Dare. So we got really excited and bought the book on Monday. I started the book yesterday and even though our marriage isn't in trouble we want to make our marriage stronger because there is stuff that we need to work on. I am excited to see where this book takes us and today's dare is to do an unexpected act of kindness for your spouse. I'm having fun trying to think of what I can do for him that's unexpected. If any of you want to strenghten your marriage, I suggest you get this book. Do you dare to love?

Baby Dedication

Last Sunday we dedicated our sweet Claire to the Lord. All three have now been dedicated, but Claire's has effected me the most. Standing up in front of the congregation and listening to our pastor speak just brought tears to my eyes. Maybe it's because of everything that has happened with Jon & Ali that's made me look at my children differently. After Emmalee went Home to Jesus, I held onto Curtis and Lauren tighter than ever. I was afraid of losing them, and with the loss of Owen & Cooper (who would be very close in age to Claire) it's really made me aware of how fragile life is. I looked up the definition of dedicate in the dictionary and this is what it says: to devote to the worship of a devine being specifically to set apart (a church) to sacred uses with solemn rites. When we dedicate our children, we are giving their lives back to the One that created them. My children are not my own, they belong to God, and I am just here to teach them. I am so thankful for this privilege, and I'm not afraid of God asking for them back. Does this make sense? When I was pregnant with Curtis, I was afraid of losing him, and once he was born, I was afraid that he was going to die of SIDS. I wasn't as afraid with Lauren, but the fear was still there. Now with Claire, I'm not afraid. Do I want the Lord to take my children while they are young? No, but if the Lord were to ask that of me, I would accept it. We pray over our children and leave them in the Lord's hands. That's all we can do. Thank you Jesus for blessing us with three children here on earth and one in Heaven.

A Parents Prayer

I came across this prayer today while I was cleaning out the closet. My mom gave this to me when I was pregnant with Curtis. I must not have read it because it has been in a box ever since. This prayer made me cry because I fall so short as a person and a parent, but God and my kids still love me. I want to strive to be this kind of parent, and only with God can this happen.

A Parents Prayer

O Heavenly Father, make me a better parent.

Teach me to understand my children,

to listen patiently to what they have to say,

and answer all their questions kindly.

Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them.

Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.

Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes,

or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me.

May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.

Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal.

And quide me hour by our that I may demonstrate by

all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meaness in me.

And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.

May I ever be mindful that my children are children

and I should not expect of them the judgement of adults.

Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves

and to make decisions.

Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their

reasonable requests and the courage to deny them

privileges I know will do them harm.

Make me fair and just and kind.

And fit me, O Lord, to be loved

and respected and imitated by my children.

Appointment Time

So today was appointment day and I'm sure you are all waiting to hear what's going on with my body, but I will make you wait a few minutes while I share with you how Claire's appointment went...So our sweet baby girl is four months old now, can you believe it!?! She can roll from her tummy to her back and from her back to her tummy. She loves to grab her toes and roll from side to side. She is getting very vocal (I'm hoping that she isn't going to be another 20 questions about everything kid like Curtis). She loves to grab her play keys and chomp/drool all over them. She has graduated from size 2 diapers to size 3, and she is starting to wear 6-9 month clothes! She's our big girl. Her appointment went well, and she weighs 16 1/2 lbs. and is 24 3/4 in. tall. We now have permission to start her on rice cereal, so we shall see what happens...Now for my news (drum roll please)...My blood work came out normal, but I have two small cysts on my thyroid (one on the left and one on the right). The one on the left is the size of a grain of rice and the one on the right is 1 1/2 cm. The good news is that they aren't cancerous and too small to do any kind of biopsy on. I do have to have another ultrasound in three months to see if they have shrunk, grown, or stayed the same. We are praying for them to shrink. The doctor was very sure that there is nothing to be concerned about, but she just wants to check to see what they are going to do. I can't tell you how relieved I am that 1) I don't have cancer, and 2) that I don't need to be on medication. What an answer to prayer! So thank you for praying, we really appreciate it.

On a side note, we still haven't heard the results of Kevin's bloodwork. His doctor's office is right next door to mine, so I went over there after my appointment to find out why we haven't heard anything yet. The doctor is on vacation this week and the receptionist couldn't find the medical assistant, so we have no idea what's going on with his lab results. I will keep you posted...

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Today we went to an Angels game courtesy of one of Kevin's vendors. What an awesome time we had. We were able to take the kids (we left Claire with my grandmother). The tickets we were given were on the club level, so we got free up front parking and a personal waiter to take our food order (sweet!!). The kids had a blast and after the game, the kids were able to run the bases. That was so cool! I wish we had a video of that, it was priceless. So without further ado, here are pictures from today's game.

Here we are at our seats. Are we baseball fans or what!?!

Angels win 3-2 against the Chicago White Sox. Light the Halo!!

Here are the kids running the bases. Curtis is on the grass and Lauren is by the kid in the brown shirt. We weren't allowed on the field, so the kids had to run alone.

Here's Lauren crossing Home Plate. Kevin and I can't believe that she ran the bases by herself.

Here is Claire in here Angels outfit. Go, Angels, go!