20 days till Spring...

be thankful....

amidst the many updates i want to share, i can practically hear the Holy Spirit in my mind, saying, "be thankful..."

both kiddos caught colds this week.  while that may not seem like a big deal to most, with elise's asthma, it is for our household.  sure enough, her coughing has kicked back up, her sleep's been disrupted, and to add to it, isaac started wheezing the other day.  we ended up in the ER on saturday morning with him, and now they're both on breathing treatments.  makes me wonder if we're the only family out there having this many respiratory problems this winter!

as i sat in the ER though, i was reminded of the children that were in rooms on the floors above me...children with much more serious illnesses and injuries, and children who live in that hospital...we came...and we left...for that i am thankful.

how else can i point my mind heavenward?  i am thankful for...
*warm mist humidifiers because they allow our kids to sleep through the night without coughing
*a husband who will sacrifice sleep to get up with elise in the middle of the night (for hours at a time)
*medicine that allows our children to breathe better
*moments of laughter amidst crankiness
*justin being home from work during these times
*doctors and nurses that treat you and your child like real people
*Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Elmo and Cinderella!
*a husband who gave me time to myself to read my Bible, journal and refocus amidst a moment of being incredibly overwhelmed and emotional
*the facelift our basement is going through (my husband is amazing)
*when i'm rocking isaac, he lifts his head up, looks at me, smiles that adorable smile, and then crashes his head back down on my chest
*watching elise rock her baby doll and sing to her
*seeing the sweet, sweet bond that is growing between daddy and his girl
*watching isaac army crawl, worm-crawl, shake-his-butt crawl...you get the idea
*seeing how much elise loves to read Bible stories and listening to her talk about Moses, Pharaoh, and Jesus

this has been such a hard season.  i have never been looking forward to spring as much as i am now.  God is so faithful to point me back to Him in the midst of it though.  here are a few more sweet moments that i'm thankful for.

yes, that rice cake is being held to his face by boogers...but he couldn't be happier!

smiling and adoring her daddy

my sweetie...with hair! (get a good look at it now though...i don't know how long i can convince him to keep it!)

isaac was mesmorized by the falling snow

she's in a twin bed now and over the past few nights, we've found her in some pretty funny positions and places.  but this was too sweet not to take a picture of...she had gotten out of bed, gotten her Bible, and then fell asleep on it.  sleep tight baby girl

birthday parties

celebrating oma's birthday

micah is so tender and gentle with children, especially isaac

listey waiting patiently for the birthday cake to be cut

celebrating grandpop baloche's 95th birthday!  eva and pa pere...

isaac and his 2nd cousin, baby clayton...they are only two months apart...can you figure out who's older?

sitting pretty...it's so rare to get her smiling in a picture!  thanks shannon, for making her smile!

grandmom and grandpop with their great grandchildren-how amazing to live to experience that!

the baloche men (minus david)

my blue-eyed-boys :)

four generations of baloche men

elise LOVES her cousins...the hugs and smiles when they see each other are just precious!  elise is old enough now that she can go off and play with the girls during family get togethers and eva did such a great job watching out for her and making sure she was ok.  thanks eves!

and eva got her to smile! (she has her must-have-trio in this pic: bumma, kitty cat, and blankie)

uncle joel and jonas

i could just eat her up

she had so much fun playing with the girls!  i am so grateful she has such wonderful cousins!

as promised girls, here's your lovely picture.  you all look adorable!

my love

i'm not the most creative when it comes to making hand-made gifts.  i tend toward my kindergarten days and bust out construction paper, scissors, glue...and maybe even glitter if you're really special.  but in wanting to make a gift for my sweetie, this was what i came up with.  i find myself already forgetting things...forgetting things i don't want to forget...so here are some of my favorite snapshots babe, that i never want to forget...

i remember not being able to walk straight after meeting you...

i remember watching you pull up the driveway for our first date and having such butterflies in my stomach and such a silly grin on my face...

i remember how easy it was to talk to you...

i remember the first time you put your arm around me for a group picture and my whole body tingled...

i remember meeting you at Starbuck's for coffee and you hugging me and swinging me around in the parking lot...

i remember getting to Mexico and all i wanted to do was call you...

i remember waiting for your emails throughout the day at work...

i remember the first dinner with your family...your mom on the porch when i got there...and you in an apron cooking my nut crusted salmon...

i remember our walk in the park and feeling like i was walking on air...

i remember our "commitment scare" conversation and how calm you were despite my emotion...

i remember how you laid your heart out on your sleeve...

i remember how nervous you were the day you proposed...

i remember bouncing out of bed the morning of our wedding day...

i remember seeing you beforehand and the energy and excitement that just flowed through my veins...

i remember walking down the aisle (only halfway though), so you could walk down, meet me and walk me the rest of the way...

i remember playing cards in the apartment...

i remember having devotions together in the morning before work...

i remember so many times that make me laugh, shake my head, tear up...and more than anything, i come back to the same thought i always come back to, when i reflect on God giving me you.  you are more than i could have ever hoped for or imagined.  God took a little girl with a bumpy past, saved her from her sin and changed the path her life was naturally headed down...

i love you for your humility, love for the Lord, stability, confidence, gentleness, openness, humor, desire to grow, your diligence, determination, perseverence...i'm repeating myself...it seems anytime i write something to you, i repeat myself.  i remember so much...i hope i never forget...and years from now, when i remember these sweet days, i will repeat myself again.  i love you.  i am so grateful that i get to call you mine.

little drummer boy

isaac is getting so big.  i was just looking a friend's picture of her newborn, and already forgot how little he once was.  so here's our little drummer boy.  he likes to "boom, boom" on anything.  his bangs are growing back, which i'm thankful for.  my first attempt at cutting his hair left his bangs a little short for my liking.  lately, he's been drooling like crazy (as you can tell by these pictures), his nose has been running like a faucet too...so he's just one big ball of bodily fluids!  we're just waiting for his two top teeth to break through.  he'll bite just about anything...including your shoulder, nose, hands, legs...anything!  his laugh is so sweet, especially when he's laughing at his sister.  he's been eating more solids (slowly...) and sits at the table with us for meals.  it's so surreal having both our kids sitting at the table!  he's as much as mama's boy as ever!  to the point where i put him in the moby the other day, just to clean and straighten up.  it seems that when we're in the same room together, he has to be on my hip, or there's trouble :)  he's trying oh so hard to crawl, but just can't seem to get all the motions together quite yet.  soon, i'm sure.  he seems to be more inquisitive and into things than elise was at this age.  his walker is his key to freedom right now...but i found him pulling stuff on the bookshelf, pulling towels off the stove, pulling bowls off the island, pulling elise's nebulizer off her face while she's using it, chasing the dog, opening drawers and pulling things out...and you get the picture. :)  boys are so different...but i admit, i'm loving it!  we're just realizing we need more safety precautions than we had with our girl.  i can't believe how fast the time is going.  i continue to pray that i will not wish it away in the crazy moments, but enjoy and savor it.  at times i still can't believe i'm a mom...or just how much i love these children!

what to do when there's a blizzard...

make a fort of course!  you've gotta love what kind of static a fuzzy blanket will create!

aunt kare-nen's birthday

elise woke up on the 30th, and the first thing she said to her daddy was: "it's aunt karenen's birthday!"  our sign was ready, she put her purple dress on, and we celebrated.  aunt karen: we love you!  i am so grateful for your friendship that has spanned the last 15+ years of our lives.  i am eternally grateful that you were brave enough to invite me to snow camp and share your faith with me.  and i can't tell you what it means to me that you are such an active part of our family.  love you girl!

sister & brother

these two are just so cute, i can hardly stand it sometimes.  it is such a privilege to watch their relationship grow and develop.  i pray they stay close all their lives.

hair cut

before and after... i think these pictures speak for themselves...my son can see again :)