Playtime With Daddy

Grace used to party every night between eleven and two A.M.!! Grace's new playtime is between 9 and 10PM and she wants to play for about a half an hour and then falls hard to sleep. She's six weeks now and is becoming more and more alert. She smiles and laughs and coos. We caught some of this playtime with her Daddy last night...

Valentines Day

These are the beautiful flowers my Sweetie got me on Valentine's Day. There's a balloon there, too, but you can't see it in the picture. The more days I live with my hubby, the more I love him. I can't believe we're going on 16 years this August! Yes, he gets on my nerves every now and then, and sometimes I feel like I can strangle the living daylights out of him, but when I stop and watch him on days like today: I just want to shout from the roof tops and every highest mountain how wonderful he really is. Not only for all he does to help me with the house and the kids, but we've reached a point in our marriage that we deeply care about eachother - more than anyone or anything else. I know many marriages have reached that point way sooner than we have, but we've trudged through lots of garbage, lots of headaches, lots of disappointments - and we are coming out gold. I have a wonderful husband and I think I have earned the right to say he's got a keeper of a wife! LOL Happy Valentine's Day everbody!

New Home Office

It's official. I am now working from home. As a matter of fact, I am typing this post on my new laptop! I'll ususally use my home computer for blogging because I don't want to mix "business with pleasure" but since it's new and I've never had a laptop before, I couldn't resist. Today Larry and I went shopping for a desk, office supplies and other office essentials. Our company computer guru, Michael, came and set up the laptop this afternoon and he's coming back to set up the wireless fax/printer/scanner/copier once we have the desk completely installed. I even had wireless internet available at my house and didn't even know it! Proves I'm not as "techi" as I let on. :D Well, time to go make dinner and get the kids off to Awana and us to Bible Study. Love, love, love to everyone and I'll post again later....

Happy 1st Birthday Isaiah

My sister Nicole threw one of the best 1st Birthday parties ever! The party was at my parents' house - and good thing because there were so many people we lost count!

The Birthday Boy was as cute as ever and he enjoyed visiting with all his little friends. I don't think I've ever been to a birthday party with so many little ones. And I mean little ones...like under one years old. There had to be at least ten!


Isaiah is such a special little boy to Larry and me. We love him so much and we can't wait to see what God has in store for his little life. My baby sister Nicole is doing a wonderful job mommying Isaiah. He can make you feel the sun is shining in the middle of a rainstorm. He is so full of love and the sweetest boy you'll meet. We are so proud of Nicole and thank God for blessing her with our little guy.


We love you, Isaiah!

We Caught A Smile!

Grace met her Tia Liz this weekend. Liz saw Grace through cell phone pics and video, but this was the first time she got to hold her - and Liz didn't let go easily either. LOL Grace stared at Liz for almost 15 minutes straight. It was hilarious! Nothing could take her little eyes off of Liz! After staring, she decided to rest her eyes and then give her Tia Liz a big ol' smile. It was love at first sight....that's what I'm calling it. :D

Dad Turns 60

Today my Dad celebrates his 60th birthday! We all celebrated yesterday at a birthday lunch at Black Bear Diner and then all of us kids went over Mom and Dad's to have a Baskin Robin's ice cream cake and just hang out together. We ended the day at our house for dinner. Dad came over to watch a western with Larry while me, Mom and my sister Liz sat and visited. My Dad is a one-of-a-kind, gentle and caring man who loves God and loves his family. I love you Daddy!

Bath Time Baby

Today was bath day with my Grace. The first bath we gave her was in the hospital and she loved it! The last few times here at home, she cried until her little face turned red and I thought her lungs were going to pop out of her little mouth! Thankfully, today she really enjoy it! Her bath hammock is from her Tia Sandy and Uncle Laz - and we are so thankful for it...makes bathtime much easier.

A Very Long Weekend

Today is day one of a five day weekend. Hooray! I worked long, long hours yesterday and got all my work done so I didn't have to go into the office today. As a matter of fact, my home office is being set up tomorrow and I'll be able to do all my work from home. So exciting. I took Grace to the office with me yesterday and she did so good! I took our portable travel swing and she sat there and loved every minute. I held her every once in a while, but she had more fun staring at the lights or watching the swing mobile more than anything. While all went well, it will be so nice to keep her home and out of this cold, rainy weather we're having.

Alliah and Angel went to Awanas last night. Today they are studying their memory verses so they can begin earning badges. Alliah already has one badge, and one pin with two jewels. Angel's lessons are a little bit harder than Alliah's so he's still working on getting his awards. They are still loving Grace more than ever. Angel is very protective of her, while Alliah is very motherly. Such great kids I have.

And as for Miss Grace, her sleeping habits are improving. We now go about 3 to 3-1/2 hours and then a feeding of THREE ounces and diaper change. She is sleeping in her crib all night, too, and we have just a 15 watt bulb in our lamp. Next week we're going to try to turn off all the lights and see what happens. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Grace was in the NICU for two weeks...where they never turn off the lights. She had never been in the dark so on her first night at home, she freaked out when we turned off the lights to go to sleep. Since then, we leave on a lamp so she's not afraid. We've been making it darker and darker every couple of days. She's so funny. Life is even greater with her around.

OH! I almost forgot...Larry got me a gift! I came home from work yesterday and found the most beautiful upright piano in my living room. It's not new, but it is very nice. A friend of Larry's is moving to Oregon and he said he didn't want to take it. Larry asked about it and it was given to us for free! The keys need a little bit of TLC, but it plays wonderfully. I felt so loved and appreciated by my husband. Even more than that, I am thankful that he treasures the gifts God has given me and wants to make sure I continue to use them for His glory. Well, Grace WAS alseep, but I hear her starting to grunt LOL Gotta go...

Road Trip!

My Gracie went on her first road trip yesterday afternoon. We went to visit our friends Pastor Chuck and Naomi in Scotts Valley. The ride is just over 40 minutes and Grace slept the entire way. Angel and Alliah were so excited to do a "road trip" with Grace. Alliah is so helpful and made sure no sun got in Grace's eyes while we were driving. When we arrived at the Tuck's home, their daughter Lindsey held on to Grace for about a half an hour. She wanted to keep her. I told her to wait until about 1 or 2 in the morning and she'll want to give her back. Lindsey is in 8th grade. Jared, who is now a junior, looked so cute holding Grace. Jared is Alliah's pal so it was nice to see Alliah happily share Jared - for a minute. Jordan and Angel are best buds and they spent their time shooting nerf guns and playing with their miniature skateboards. Jordan's comment was "she's small." Larry and I chatted it up with "Uncle Chuck and Tia Naomi." Time goes by so fast when we're with them. Pastor Tuck put on a mean ol' barbecue, too! We thank God for the Tucks. They know how long we've waited to have these three kids we now have and they have prayed along side us for them. The Tucks are the glitter on our life's picture and life wouldn't be the same without them in it. Thanks Lord for this special friendship....

Family Visits Grace

Okay, so today I've been a very busy girl on Blogspot... Grace has been asleep almost all afternoon - only waking up to eat, get her diaper changed and back to la-la land (wow I hope she sleeps tonight). Angel and Alliah are at Awanas until 8:15pm and Larry is watching hockey. I think Grace may be lying on his tummy watching hockey too. I think I heard her grunt. Oh she is a grunter! Well, I've had about an hour and a half to catch up on the blog, post the videos and some new pictures. This past weekend Larry's entire family came to visit us! We had such a great time together. First time in 15 years that everyone came to visit. There's nothing better than family!