A New Season

Every year at this time I always find myself saying the same thing...


"Where did the year go?"


This year I find that question more fitting than ever.

Is it just me, or does it seem that every year goes faster?

Brady will be 2 in 18 days and I can honestly say that the second year goes faster than the first.

I wish I could find a way to slow down the clock...to find a way to catch all of those precious memories I'm chasing.

I feel like I'll blink and he'll be waving goodbye as he walks into Kindergarten.

And as much as I can't wait to see my babies (I'm sure the time will go as fast with Noah) grow into precious little boys and amazing men, my heart breaks to think of that day.

But, the Bible tells us, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to reap, and a time to sow; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war; and a time of peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

So, for now, I'll cherish this beautiful season of our lives. And look forward to those seasons yet to come.

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions, but I do believe in setting life goals and taking steps to reach them.

As we come upon a new decade, there are things I would like to accomplish during this season...

I want to be a better follower of Christ. I want to spend more time each day in His word and His company.

I want to work on throwing off the chains that keep me from doing so...worry, fear, anxiety...

I want to be a better mother, a better wife, a better daughter, a better sister...more loving, more patient, more understanding, more giving.

I want to spend more time giving back...finding more ways to leave this world a better place for my babies and their babies.

And there are a few things I want to do just for me too...

I want to take a few photography classes so I can better preserve some of those precious memories of which I spoke.

I want to begin teaching fitness classes again.

I want to spend more time just being in the moment and enjoying where I am right now.

I hope that in saying goodbye to 2009 we can all look forward to a beautiful new season. And that in 2010 you find peace and contentment and joy in God's richest blessings.

Happy New Year!

I Know It's a Few Days Late, But....

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas!

We hope you had a day filled with the love and laughter of family and friends.

Cupcakes For Jesus--The Video

Here we are singing Happy Birthday to Jesus...

Watch until the end. It's too cute!

Cupcakes For Jesus and A Present For Brady

While I'm waiting on my last pie to bake, I thought I'd do a quick post.

One tradition that I wanted to start with our kids was to bake a cake, or this year, cupcakes for Jesus on Christmas Eve. It's just one more way that we can incorporate the birth of Jesus into our Christmas story.

My mom sent an adorable Christmas cupcake kit for Brady and I, so it turned out the be just the perfect thing!

I baked and iced the cupcakes, then B got to help me decorate.

When we were all finished, we took one, lit a candle, and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus! (I'll post that video in a separate post.)

Brady was excited to start mixing the food coloring into the frosting.

And then he grabbed the bottle of "polka dots" we were using to decorate.

And ate a few of them, of course.

Placing our "polka dots".

He was all to eager to dish out the sprinkles.

And here we are with one of our finished cupcakes.

(B pretty much did all of the decorating by himself!)

Another tradition, that I'm carrying on, is that our kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve. For us, it was usually our Christmas p.j.'s, but since we have boys, I didn't think p.j.'s would be too exciting for them. Instead, I let B choose which one he wanted to open.

He was practically vibrating when I brought the two presents out for him to choose from.

He chose the "Imagination Movers" DVD that my dad sent and was excited to show it off. He wanted to open it right away, so we let him stay up a bit late and watch one episode.

The look of concentration on that sweet face says it all!

Could Not Ask For More

One of B's favorite things to do is play and cuddle in our bed. Every day, he grabs me by the finger, says, "Come.", and drags me to our bed.

Today was no exception. But, once we got to the bed, he wasn't in a playful mood, but a cuddly mood. He just wanted his Mama as close as possible. And of course, I was in heaven.

He started stroking my cheeks, much like I do his. Then he wrapped both of his sweet little arms around my neck, called my name, pulled me as close as I could get and started playing with my hair.

As I was lying there, listening to his little heart beat, the words to the song, "Could Not Ask For More" kept running through my head...

Could Not Ask For More Than This Time Together,

Could Not Ask For More Than This Time With You,

Every Prayer I Had's Been Answered,

Every Dream I Had's Come True,

Right Here In This Moment,

Is Right Where I'm Meant To Be,

Here With You,

Here With Me,

I Could Not Ask For More Than The Love You Give Me,

Cause' It's All I've Waited For,

And I Could Not Ask For More

Lying there I realized that in this life I could not ask for more. I have the love of my husband, my beautiful son and the love of another on the way. It doesn't get much better than that.

Gingerbread Fun House

For Christmas, Nana & Grandpa (Buck's mom and dad) sent a Gingerbread House Kit in our package.

For weeks now, I've been trying to find a good time to put it together. It's been hard between doctors appointments, surgerys, moving, putting up Christmas decorations, wrapping Christmas presents, Christmas grocery shopping, baking...and the list could go on.

Finally, today, we made time. It's been snowing here for over a week, but today, it warmed up just a bit, the snow turned to rain and Baumholder became a wind tunnel. It's pretty nasty out there, so I decided it would be the perfect day to stay in our jammies and decorate the gingerbread house.

Buck and I assembled it and a few hours later, Brady and I decorated it.

Of course we took tons of pictures...I think Buck took something like 60 or so for me to sort through. Here are a few of them.

B was excited to finally get so close to his house.

Then he discovered the bowls of candy on the table.

And he decided to eat it...

And eat some more...

And more....

And more...

And more!

Finally, he'd gotten his fill of candy and started paying attention to what Mama was doing.

And decided to give his hand a try!

I thought for a little guy, he did a pretty darn good job!

And here is our finished product!

A Visit From Grandpa

This past week Buck's dad was in Heidelberg on a business trip.

Since Heidelberg is only 2 hours from us, and he didn't have to fly out until later in the day on Friday, he was able to make a little detour and stay with us on Thursday night.

Since B never meets a stranger it took all of five minutes for him to be in Grandpa's lap. Of course it didn't hurt that Grandpa let Brady play with his keys. After that small act of generosity, B was putty in his hands!

Brady asked for "Pa-Pa", as he called him, for the next two days! And just now when he saw these pictures, he got excited and was pointing and smiling at "Pa-Pa".

We all had a wonderful time...it's always good to be with family!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from Thursday night, and Friday morning before saying goodbye.

PSE: Just Too Cool

I'm in love with my PSE! Photo editing is my new obsession!

It's just amazing what you can do! Until now, I've only used it for scrapbooking.

Yesterday, I decided to start teaching myself a bit about it's photo editing capabilities and I'm just blown away!

Two of these I applied actions to and then tweaked a little myself. The other I just applied layer masks to. Anyway, I thought they looked way cooler than the originals.

And only one of these was taken with my Nikon. The other two are from my old point and shoot. Now, I can't wait for a little better weather to get B outside and take some great pictures!

Thought I'd share a few before and afters...

BEFORE:
AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Let me know if you know of any cool sites to download actions or textures...or if you have any good tricks up your sleeve!

These actions came from Coffee Shop and Flora Bella.

The Challenge Of Keeping CHRIST In Christmas

From the time I was pregnant with Brady, Buck and I have been discussing how we would handle the Santa Clause issue when it arose with our children.

We were both on the fence for the simple reason that we didn't want our children de-bunking the Santa myth for other children. We think that we need to be sensitive to what other parents tell their children and that it's a family's decision as to how to handle the issue. We respect what other people teach their children.

We just knew that we VERY much wanted Christmas to be centered around the reason that we celebrate--the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Don't get me wrong. We too enjoy many of the commercial aspects of Christmas! What adult or child doesn't love seeing brightly wrapped boxes under a beautifully decorated tree? And who doesn't love seeing the sparkle in a child's eyes when they look at a big, bright, glittery display of Christmas lights? And perhaps best of all, who doesn't love the smell of freshly baked goodies accompanied by a big cup of hot cocoa, in a cute candy cane striped mug, of course?

It just bothers us that so many children (and adults) spend an entire holiday season making list after list of their wants, and focusing on the things of this world that don't truly matter. We want our children to understand that life is just as much about giving as it is receiving. And, that the giving is far more rewarding and lasting.

I was discussing the issue with my friend Monica over dinner one night a few weeks back and Buck and I both love how their family handles the issue.

Their three (soon to be four:)) little ones get one small gift from "Santa". The other gifts under the tree are from Mama and Daddy.

Problem solved. Buck and I are like the idea for a few reasons...

One, and most importantly, Santa Clause and the gifts he brings doesn't become the central focus of Christmas. It makes it easy to incorporate the story of the birth of Jesus, and explain that we follow in the tradition that the Three Wise Men began over 2000 years ago when they brought gifts to honor their King.

Two, our children won't upset other children and their parents (and we won't get angry phone calls) because they informed them that Santa Clause doesn't exsist.

And three, our children will know that we are giving them gifts because we love and honor them, as we love and honor our Savior.

I also want us to find multiple ways throughout the holidays to teach our children the joys of giving.

Maybe by selecting a child to purchase a gift for from the Angel Tree (and using their own money to do so)...

Or by volunteering at a local coat drive...

Or a soup kitchen...

Or by inviting over a single soldier or two or ten for Christmas dinner who couldn't make it home to be with their families...

Jesus tell us in Matthew 25:40, "...Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me."

After all, in a week or two, the novelty of those gifts under the tree will wear off, and they, like all the others, will end up in the bottom of the toy basket or in the back of a closet. However, the feeling of bringing joy to others will last in their hearts all year long.

And in the process, we will have taught our children that regardless of what the world may tell them, CHRIST is the one true reason we have to celebrate not only at Christmas time, but every day of the year!

First Snow

This past weekend we had our first snow of the season.

Although it has snowed here several times since B was born, he wasn't cognizant of it, until now. So I'm counting this as his first ever snow experience.

We dressed him up in his snow suit and rain boots (since I forgot to get him any snow boots) and let him go. He loved it as it fell from the sky, but wasn't too sure about all that wet stuff on the ground. His reaction revolved from smiling joy to whining and crying, so I'm still not sure exactly what he thought of it.

Anyway...Here are a few pictures of him in his first snow.

Trying to catch it as it fell from the sky...
Getting his first snow ball from Daddy...

Taking refuge in the "house"...

Admiring his first itty bitty snowman...

And finally a video of our little snow baby...

Moving Day

The actual move itself took two days. One day to pack our things up and one day to deliver it all.

The first day, Buck stayed at the old place and B and I came here to the "new (empty) house" so he wouldn't get in the way of the packers.

The night before, Buck brought over an old TV we had in the basement and the DVD player and Brady's favorite chair to help me keep him entertained.

I have to say that the day went much better than I had anticipated. Brady was a doll and he loved all of the extra space to kick and throw his ball. He also got a kick out of hearing his echo in the big empty rooms.

Here he is watching one of his favorite shows, "Little Einsteins". (Note the floor cushion. That's what I had to sit on. Not very pleasing for my big, pregnant rump!)
Eating his first ever Burger King breakfast. I am a little ashamed to admit that it wasn't the last Burger King breakfast...or lunch...or dinner that week. But hey, when you literally don't have a pot to cook in, what else can ya do?

And when the TV gets old, how does an almost two year old entertain himself? He climbs and hides in the empty cabinets of course!

From That To This...In Under A Week

I must say that it's so nice to finally be able to rest and relax in a complete home. The move, though a short distance it was, wasn't an easy one for me. Though, it's not hard to figure out why...


At 28 weeks, walking to the car makes me tired! It's funny in a way, because I was almost 31 weeks the last time we moved...all the way to Germany! I told Buck that after this, we were planning any other children around moves!!


Because of Buck's scheduled PRK surgery we had just under a week to get the house in order and decorated for Christmas. Somehow, we managed!


7 rooms and just over 150 boxes later everything is neatly in its place.


Here are a few before and afters (minus the boy's rooms and kitchen)...


Brady enjoyed having new places to climb.

The master BR Before (and you can't see all of the boxes in this picture):

And After:

Dining Room Before:

After:

Living Room Before:

And After:

And finally...my tree is up!