tea party

eva, mara and elise got to attend their first annual granddaughters' tea party with oma last weekend!  it was adorable!  it was a party for "just the girls" and elise had been looking forward to it and talking about it all week!  (though you will notice pictures of isaac...the only boy allowed...that's what happens when you're still nursing!)

the girls arrived at 4 in their matching party dresses and pretty shoes.  oma started the afternoon off by making easter bonnets with them, which they wore the rest of the time.  then they made an easter egg craft and a bunny craft.  after that, they had dinner followed by tea and cupcakes, at the special table with the special tea set, complete with little spoons and everything!  it was so sweet seeing the three of them sitting at this large table together looking so grown up!  after tea, they dyed eggs and finished the night off with a movie.

thanks oma for such a fun time.  i am especially grateful that elise gets the privilege of growing up with her cousins so near by.  it's such a cool thing that i didn't have that growing up.  as i watch lisey get older and see her connect with them more, miss them, run to them when she sees them, play with them, talk about them, look up to them...i see more and more how special it is.

 

 

 

what it's all about

i certainly know what it's not all about (yet, i focus my energy on so much of the time)...it's not about how clean my house is, or if i appear to have it all together, or if my kids' outfits are cute, or if i make a good meal when we have friends or family over for dinner...it's not about how much i get done in a day, or if what i do get done is valued as "important" by the world...

it is about me doing what i do each day for the glory of God...

it is about keeping God, my husband whom i love, and our kids my top priorities...

it is about enjoying all the glorious moments i am given with them each day...

Lord, each day, reset my heart's perspective and thank You for these glorious moments.  it's sobering to think these are times and days i will never get back...they are only this young once..may i savor it

helping mama cook (in the smock oma made for daddy when he was litttle)

too young for the big kid swings...but very content to watch everyone

growing more and more brave on the playground each time we go

everyone needs an outfit like this to cook in

i adore this picture of the two of them

he loves playing in the kitchen

milk face :)

fun times with aunt mare-mare

she gets major props for wearing just about everything in the dress up box...all at the same time!  she's such a child at heart and i LOVE it! (so does elise!)

isaac and i playing in the grass-he tried to eat it-of course

grilling with daddy

when did my little baby get so big?!

on the move!

our little boy is on the move!  if i thought he got into everything when he was in the walker...well, i think that was just the beginning!  he's army crawling, real crawling, and anything in between.  but to top it off...i looked in the school room the other day and found him standing up against the music table, playing with all the buttons and sounds!  over the past 24 hours, he's mastered standing in his crib too!  it's unbelievable!  as i was uploading these pics, i started pulling together my twelve month pictures for him.  i want to make a 12 month frame for each of our children, showing what they looked like for each of the first 12 months of their lives.  as a result, here's a small memory lane walk of my little man...

his newborn days...at the time, i didn't even realize how jaundice he was!  i just thought he got justin's olive coloring...turns out, he's got my snow white skin!

two months old...

five months old, wearing mb's sweet hat...

to now...crawling, teething like a madman...can you see the three (yes, three!) teeth coming in simultaneously on top!?

when it comes to crawling, walking, and anything physical, he's so brave, curious, determined...he likes to play with elise's play kitchen now.  he'll sit and empty the cabinets, or stand and play in the pretend sink.  he'll go after any toy she has (and she'll do the same to him...), he'll crawl across the floor to get to me, he's just so darn sweet...i just look at him and smile

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.