one word for the year

  Image from birdiesandpeppers 

 This post is a little late coming, since it's already the end of January!! But hey, better late than never, right?

      Last year, Marc and I choose a word for our family to focus on for the entire year. It's not something I came up with and I had read of others doing it. Our word last year was PATIENCE and were we tested in that area right away! It was so strange it seemed that right after we choose that word different things would come up around us that seriously needed our patience to get through. It wasn't anything too dramatic but we realized that just a little patience would certainly make the road just a little easier. As much as we love our friends,we knew that we needed patience to live with them as our roommates, we needed patience as we waited to hear whether or not our offer was accepted on our first home, patience was important in waiting for our Seth to be born, especially since we would be possibly be moving at the same time as his birth. At first we thought we would be living another year in our two little bedrooms, squeezing as much as our family of four could fit in that space was going to need a whole lot of patience, too!

      Well, this year we (well, mostly Marc but I am up for the challenge!) are choosing the word LOVE. I see it as a challenge because to me really loving others is not easy. It's more natural for a person to love themselves than to think of others. And even when I think I am doing something for someone else, if I really test my heart motives and intent, I can usually find an ulterior motive. Not something to be proud of, but I am ready to dive in and practice checking myself in this area and GROWING by God's grace. It's funny because as I write this, I am realizing that our church small groups is studying what it means to live in true community and the first chapters have so much to do about really LOVING others just as they are. I actually am also trying to choose a personal word as well because I feel like I have some growing to do in many areas. So for me the word GROW will be highlighted in 2014. I want to grow as a wife, a mother, a friend, in my talents or interests, and as a believer in Christ. I know it is a never-ending process, but I little growth in the right direction is a start. It's better than just staying stagnant! 

Do you choose a word for the year? And what helps you stay focused on that word for the year?

Dustin off the Blog

      

    

        Well, hey there little corner of the internet . . .it's been way too long since I last saw you. Finally feeling like I can spend some time with you from time to time. I might even make a goal to post here a few times a week. We'll just have to wait and see!! These babies keep me busy in the most amazing way ever and I am so blessed! 

        Until next time . . . here is my little firecracker running around. She is so full of energy and non-stop ALL.THE.TIME!!! :)

evening at the beach

I love this shot, but I hate how much older she looks in it . . stop growing baby girl! 

Oh, how I love this teeny little face! 

                    Mr. Handsome carrying little man <3

Seriously hard to get a shot of us with my Nikon (since we       hardly ever have a smartphone with us)

Marc thinks it's weird that I like going to the beach at night and just walking along the shore, listening to the waves and staring at the moon. But we use to go at night all the time growing up. I have so many memories of my brother and I singing "In the jungle the lion sleeps tonight" and giggling non-stop as our car would throw us side to side in the back seat as it traveled down windy Topanga Canyon to get to the beach. On this particular Saturday I talked him into it ;) It wasn't hard really, as long as we stopped to get some hot drinks from our favorite coffee shop on main street. Such a coffee lover that guy! 

Lately it seems like the days are running into each other. Especially since I started tutoring in the evenings. So when I look back at short family outings like this it make me want to go back and savor them just a little bit longer. 

ventura county fair and princess the horse

When the county fair rolled in this summer we could not wait to go with the littles. Marc found out that there was free transportation to the fair and that there was a pick-up spot right in the Riverpark Collections area which is walking distance for us. You better believe we were going to take that opportunity to avoid traffic drama and it was . . . free! Sign us up! Ha! It was Maci's first time on a school bus and it didn't take long for her to try getting up in her seat to look out the window. 

In fair tradition, we hit up the animal farm for Maci and as you can tell from the picture, she wasn't really into the cows. 
We made it to the fair just in time to watch the pig races which was pretty entertaining I must admit. I mean who doesn't want to see tiny little porkers (named after Harry Potter characters)run around a track and then jump over miniature size fences! 
We planned on only one ride for Maci and lunch for us so that we don't spend too much (which can easily happen when you're having fun). As soon as we passed the pony ride, we knew it was the ride for Maci. Whenever I think that Maci might get scared or hesitate to try something, she surprises me. She loved the horses and actually didn't want me to help her hold the reign from the moment she got on the horse! We also thought it was very fitting that the horse they put her on was named Princess. Marc had just taught her the word "princess" that week. 

Maci loved the horses she saw that day so much that every time we see one she points and says, "Maci wan hoose". Marc is a little worried we have to start saving for the pony fund. After the ride, we had a chance to walk through the agricultural booths and there they had a kids activity where Maci planted a seed and decorated her mini-pot to take home (it didn't last long by the way). 

It was a fun day. Tiring but in a good way. At the end it was great that we didn't have to drive, but who wants to walk a few blocks! Ay! 

Chalkboard Calendar Wall

I have been wanting to share our chalkboard wall on here for a while!!! But a couple of munchkins have been keeping me quite busy these last few weeks, along with work (yep, started tutoring again). 


When we moved in this summer, Marc and I were struggling to keep up with all events that make summer special like spending extra time with friends and family. Around the same time the lovely JenLovesKev shared her chalkboard wall tutorial. So of course the first thing I did was bug the husband about it! He actually liked the idea and wanted to get it done right away. We decided not to title the board since there wasn't much room up top anyways. Oh, and don't look too closely or you'll see pen markings! I love my hubs, but he isn't the crafter so he missed the memo about using pencil instead of pen on the wall! Ha! Oh, and if you do decide to try this in your home, make sure you use the quality painter's tape (at least the bleeding is consistent all around and most of our friends thought it was supposed to be that way ;)). 

I also ordered some amazing pencil style chalk that doesn't break and can be sharpened! It works great if you want to write smaller details and want your chalk to last. 

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seth the stud: 3 months

I don't know why I never imagined myself having a boy. But now that Seth has entered our world we can't imagine life without him. I think that everyone feels that way about their children. Once they are a part of the family, everything just feels right.

In honor of Seth turning 3 months and exiting the newborn stage, I want to write a letter to him. I can't even believe he isn't a newborn anymore! 


To my sweet little man, 


As I write this, my eyes fight back tears because I feel so blessed to have you in my life. These past 3 months have been so amazing. You made me a mommy for the second time and I thank you for that. From the moment you were even a thought in our minds, you brought happiness and joy into our hearts. Even your sister has loved babies for so long and has always taken a special liking to boys! I like to think that you were an answer to her little hearts desire. Thinking about the last 3 months, I think of all the little things that make you unique already.

You latched on immediately and loved to sleep for 4 hour increments.

You still love your sleep, sometimes I think you would rather sleep than eat! 

Mommy most often has to wake you for your feeding.

You rolled over before you were 2 months (tummy to back). I heard a little baby giggle and turned to find you looking up at me and smiling.

Crying isn't your specialty. When you cry for more than a few minutes, you do this little baby cough as if to show you are "straining your voice". It's pretty funny and so cute.

You found your fingers at 6 weeks and love to suck on them until you fall asleep. 
Every morning you let mommy know you are hungry when the sucking becomes louder. I'll take that over crying any day! 

Just when mommy thought you wouldn't sleep longer than 5 hours at night, you showed me by sleeping from 9 to 6 at nine weeks! 

You haven't peed on mommy once(well, at least not yet)!

Even though you seem to be the shy baby, you didn't take long to start smiling at us.

You have out grown your clothes like crazy! In these pictures, you are wearing a 6 month outfit! 

I love that you have just enough hair so that mommy can have fun brushing it to the side. 

You learned to say "a goo" at 6 weeks and haven't stopped to look for our eyes to have the longest conversations with us. I hope you never get tired of talking to us. 

And most importantly,
I hope that one day you will realize that God has been looking for your heart and that you won't hesitate to look back at Him and spend the rest of your days talking to the One who made you.