Christmas Fun!

I can't believe all the holiday festivities have come and gone... It sure seems like a lot of preparation and then it is all over so fast!  We had a special Christmas this year as it was the first with a little one.  He did not get what all the fuss was about, but it was still fun to watch him just be a baby.  My parents came to Amarillo, so we celebrated with them and Gabe's family.  We were just missing Kevin and Kristen :-(   We had Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning brunch at our house and then went to Gabe's parent's house for Christmas dinner.  Michael was of course spoiled with lots of cute outfits and toys, and Gabe and I were also spoiled with lots of big kid toys.  Our families are sure generous!
     Even though Christmas is over commercialized and turned into a major indulgence of all the senses with all the food, decorations, presents, ect... I still love it all.  I love that it promotes generosity towards others, we have to intentionally think about others and what special gifts we can give them. I love that family and friends get together to feast and be merry. I love that we take time to think about what is truly important. I love that it is a holiday that the world knows about and whether they choose to believe or not- it is celebration of the birth of our Savior - the best gift of all.  I hope the holidays were a special time for all of you.  Here are some highlights from ours...  

The Decorations 

The Uglies

We had an Ugly Sweater Party with our small group at our house.  However, there was a shortage of sweaters this year, so people mostly just came ugly :-)

The Family

Our sweet friend Cynthia came over to take some Christmas card pics (which were sent out a little late this year due to our cards getting stuck in New Mexico because of a snow storm).  These are a few of my favorites:

And then there was this one... can we say heart attack!  Cynthia was screaming as she took the picture and luckily I was around the corner so I didn't see it happen.  Gabe thought it was really funny... me, not so much.

Christmas Baby

I could tell from my pictures what my focus was on this year.  We didn't get a whole lot of pics of the adults, but there were plenty of Michael :-)  Here are some favorites...

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!  I wish you much peace, love, joy and adventure in 2012!

8 Months!

I have not been very good about keeping up with this blogging thing.  I am now at a one post per month pace.  I hope to post more in 2012, but I'm not making any promises that I will more than likely break.  December is a busy month!  We celebrated Christmas here with my parents, Gabe's family and Gabe's Grandma.  There will be a Christmas post to come... soon... I hope...  but for now I will tell you about Michael's new accomplishments/milestones...

• According to our scale he now weighs 22 lbs and looks to be about 28 inches long.  He is passing up many 1 year olds that we know.
• He is sleeping pretty consistently from 8:30pm-7:00am and he takes 2 nap 1hr-2hr naps during the day, one at 10:30 and one at 3:30.  
• He is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything and walking while holding on to stuff.
• He can give high fives.
• He is starting to ham it up a little for the camera (see below).
• He dances all the time.  Anytime there is music, singing, clapping, etc it is as though he can't help himself, the music takes over and he just can't help but rocks back and forth to the beat.  It is pretty cute.  This may be due to playing a lot of "Just Dance" on the Wii while I was pregnant.
• He tolerates pretty much any food (so far), but rocks back and forth when he is eating something he really likes.  (His dad did this too when he was a wee one, which is kind of strange.  Is there a happy food dance gene?)
• He will roll the ball to Hugo (brother dog) and Sadie (his auntie dog)
• He loves... doggies, his grandparents, his uncles and aunties, puffs, carrot souffle (discovered this on Christmas), eating, talking Carl (its an app), his talking bear, any toy that he can stand up to play with, his mommy and daddy, music, dancing, and baths.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Everyday his personality comes out a little more.  It is a joy to go into his room after a nap and see his little smiling face.  His curiosity and unabashed emotions are a wonder to watch.  He is a precious gift from above and I am so grateful that I get to be his momma.  We love you Mr. Michael!

Here he is hamming it up for the camera...

7 Months!

This post is a little late.  I blame it on the turkey coma I have been in since Thanksgiving.  That and I had a 40 page group proposal to write for my class that was due last week.  I am thankful to be done with that!  Here are some other things I am thankful for...

Our little turkey is 7 months old!  We tackled quite a few milestones this month.  Here are some highlights:

• He is officially mobile!  He started crawling about a week after his 6 month mark.
• He is eating his veggies!  After he got over experiencing a new texture, he has begun to enjoy his veggies.  Which brings us to the next milestone...
• His first solid poopies!  Your welcome.  I know you are glad I shared.
• He now has 2 teeth!  The bottom right one came in and then over Thanksgiving his tooth got a neighbor.
• He started pulling up to a standing position.  Now, nothing on the coffee table is safe.  Just today he pulled a whole cup of tea off and onto his face.  Luckily, the tea was cold.  I'm super thankful I could learn this lesson with cold tea!
• He's started saying "dadadada" and "babababa."  
• He likes to yell and wave both of his arms in a helicopter like motion.  
• He is overall a fun and happy little guy.   

Here is our little 7 month-old turkey...

And we are off...




Go turkey, go, gobble, gobble, gobble...




This cute turkey outfit was made by his auntie Beth.  He actually got 2 turkey outfits because his other Auntie Kristen saw the idea on Pinterest too. She made him another one without knowing his other Auntie had the same idea.  Great Aunts think alike!

Here we are in our other turkey outfits right before we ran in the 8 mile Turkey Trot!  We all ran the whole thing, finished under 1 hour and 30 minutes, and none of us trained.  Needless to say we were all a little stiff later, but we earned our turkey dinner!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!  We have lots to be thankful for this year.  We are especially thankful for all our friends and family!  Much love to all of you... you know who you are... yeah, even you.

Eating His Vegetables!

The craziest thing happened... Michael started eating his vegetables and he grew some major hair!  And I thought he was going to be a blond...

Fall Photos

Here are just some cute recent pics...

He likes to roll all the way over on the changing table.


He is sitting up like a big boy!



We dressed up for Halloween... Here is our Super Baby!




We also went to the pumpkin patch to snap some photos.

 Happy Fall Everyone!

Beautiful You

Below are the lyrics of the song "More Beautiful You" by Johnny Diaz.  The song expresses so perfectly an important message that I want my children to know and believe.  They are beautiful just the way God made them.  I probably heard this when I was younger, but I sure did not believe it until much later in life and after many mistakes.  Living up to unfair standards set by the world, trying to find love and acceptance in empty places, and constantly being unsatisfied with how God made me led to lots of heartbreaks and mistakes.  I hope to spare my children the heart ache, and instead believe what I have come to know, God has perfectly crafted me into a unique masterpiece in order to fulfill a purpose that only I can do. 


"More Beautiful You" Johnny Diaz


Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine
Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn't straight, her body isn't fake
And she's always felt overweight

Well, little girl fourteen I wish that you could see
That beauty is within your heart
And you were made with such care, your skin, your body and your hair
Are perfect just the way they are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies, disguises and hoops, they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Little girl twenty one the things that you've already done
Anything to get ahead
And you say you've got a man but He's got another plan
Only wants what you will do instead

Well, little girl twenty one you never thought that this would come
You starve yourself to play the part
But I can promise you there's a man whose love is true
And He'll treat you like the jewel you are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies, disguises and hoops, they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you, more beautiful you

So turn around you're not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It's not too late, you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear, they can all be washed away

By the one who's strong, can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears, dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light, He will show you truth
And again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl

That there could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies, disguises and hoops, they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you
There could never be a more beautiful you

6 Months!

Michael is already a half a year old yet, he is only a half a year old.  The time goes by so fast, but there is still so much to enjoy.  I have to remind myself not to wish for the next stage, but to enjoy the fleeting, precious moments that I have in the present.  It has been a joy to watch this boy grow.  Here are some highlights:

Weight: 19 pounds, 3 ounces

Height: 28 inches

He is sitting up on his own, but occasionally falls over.

He gets up on all fours often and rocks back and forth.  He is about to crawl at any moment!

He grabs for everything!

He tried a couple bites of avocado and rice cereal.  Neither seems to be his favorite, but it causes him to make really funny faces so we will keep trying :-)

He is sleeping pretty regularly from 8:30-5:30, feeds, and then goes back to sleep until 8:30.

He is very vocal and has learned to turn up the volume.

His go to sounds are "bob bob bob" and he has said "mommmama" which I'm pretty sure is a coincidence, but I can pretend he's saying, "mom."

He gets very giggly when tired.

He is interested in everything that is going on around him.

He loves watching Hugo get the ball.

He flew for the second time and he played peekaboo with the neighbor on the way there and slept the whole way back.  He is a great little traveler.

And here he is, the moment you've been waiting for... the man of the hour... the piece de resistance...

Mr. Michael Skypala!!