So long 2008...

What a great year of change and growth we've had! In the last year we've been shown God's protection and provision in a big way. He has been so faithful in guiding our way to a new church and a new home within months of each other. We have found ourselves feeling more settled and established than ever and can't help but think we are extremely blessed. In this coming year we are going to hit a couple significant milestones...John & I will celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary (no itching here ;) ), Luke will turn 2 (officially not a baby anymore=( ), I will turn 30 (ahhh!!!), and Kate will start preschool! John says this will be the first year of a great decade. He is sure that our 30's will be fantastic and I have to agree. We're looking forward to 2009 and all it has to offer. So bring it on!

Merry Christmas...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! We are finally starting to recover from both sickness and celebration. Yes, we've all been pretty under the weather this last week but, fortunately, we were still able to enjoy Christmas with family and friends.

We started the week of illness with Luke getting conjunctivitis in both eyes. =( We were able to get the doctor to order antibiotic drops over the phone and he was all clear by the next day which meant John and I were able to make our bible study's Mustache and Bad Christmas Sweater Party.

By Monday both kids were feeling pretty lousy but thanks to some Motrin, Sinupret (I highly recommend), and cozy jackets & hats we made our annual walk around Naples to see the lights. They were both troopers and enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful decorations.


On Christmas Eve, we spent the day with John's family. His grandma and aunt & uncle were here from the east coast and we had a fun day of good food, gift opening, and family togetherness. When we got home that evening, we set out our cookies & milk for Santa. Luke could not be in the pictures as he kept trying to eat Santa's cookies. =)

The next morning, we celebrated as a family of four with gifts and breakfast. Kate was having a hard time grasping that we were celebrating Jesus' birthday without Him. She wanted Him to come over. =)

After Luke's morning nap we headed over to my parents' house to spend the rest of the day with them, my sisters, brother-in-law, and niece. It was another fun day with yet more good food, gifts and family togetherness. We are very blessed to have had the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior with 2 great days.

Merry Christmas!!

Paci fairy...

As of Wednesday night, Kate has officially taken the last step out of baby/toddler-hood into being a real big girl. Her paci has been a huge comfort for her since she was 2 months old and, as we've s-l-o-w-l-y weaned her away from it, the thought of taking it away completely was too much. I knew it was going to be rough so I've majorly procrastinated. For the past couple of years she has only been allowed to have her paci at nap and bedtime. My goal had been to get it away from her at 2 years old, then at 2 1/2, then at 3 but I'd always chicken out or feel too bad to take it since she loved it so much. Several weeks ago, though, I looked at her at bedtime with that thing in her mouth and thought she looked ridiculous. So we set the date, made a countdown calendar, and talked up the "Paci Fairy" (much like the tooth fairy). She never got completely on board but she knew it was coming. On our set date, December 17th, we put the paci in a little bag and hung it on the front door knob.

A major meltdown did ensue and I felt like the meanest mom ever but by 9 pm she was sound asleep and has only asked for it a couple of times since. I so underestimate my children's ability to cope and realize my anxiety is always way worse than their responses to change. We're very proud of Kate and she was thrilled with her gift from the Paci Fairy.

Good job, Kate!

Picture time...

With Christmas fast approaching I was, yet again, in a hurry to get a cute picture of the kids for our Christmas card. Every year, it seems I wait until the last minute and then have a terrible time getting a good picture. So last week we attempted a Christmas photo shoot and after countless goofy smiles, run aways, bribes, threats, and tears I gave up, picked a couple of pictures I'd taken a month ago and called it a day. Here are a few from our failed attempts...

This was one of the bribes mentioned above. Kind of a dumb idea since smiling with a mouth full of cookies didn't make for a great picture.

A lot easier getting a cute one of just one kid at a time. =)

Merry Christmas!!

Back in the day...

Who does this remind you of?

Happy 30th Birthday, Johnny J!

That's right, folks, my dear husband turned the big 3-0 today! We started the day with breakfast at home, headed out to get our tree, decorated our tree, and had our parents and siblings over for dinner and cake.
It was a very low key but nice day to celebrate John's entrance into his thirties- I can't believe that! Both kids got a letter on their birthdays this year so I thought it only fitting that I write one for John today...

Johnny~
30 years old!! It seems so old when I think about the fact that the first birthday I spent with you was your 17th. I have literally watched you grow up before my eyes and, especially in the last couple of years, am so proud of the man you have become. I’m very proud of everything you’ve accomplished and love that we’ve created this little family together. I appreciate how hard you work, especially with all of the overtime, and I want you to know how much that is benefiting our family. Our kids are being provided for above and beyond their basic needs and have the best care on a daily basis because you put in the time and effort to make that possible- because of you they have their Mommy. We are so blessed to have a provider who so obviously loves and cares about us and takes great care in our well-being. I remember, even before we were married, imagining our family and you have exceeded my expectations in the kind of father you’ve become. Our kids know that their Daddy loves them and they will grow up happy, confident, and secure because of that. You are going to be essential in demonstrating for Kate what she should look for in a husband and for Luke in how he will treat his wife. I feel blessed to know that my daughter will settle for no less than a man who will treat her with the utmost respect and consideration because that’s how you treat her. I am confident that my son will be a gentleman and will someday be as good a provider as you are. Thank you for loving us enough to do all that you do.
I love you! XOXO ~ S

Tis the season...

Tonight, we went on our first Christmas-themed family outing. Thanks to Aracely at Daytripping Mom, I won a family pack of tickets to the Irvine Park Railroad Christmas Train. Having never been there, we weren't sure what to expect but it did not disappoint. The train station and area around it was completely decorated and included cookie decorating, a bounce house, and story time with Mrs. Claus. It was REALLY crowded so we ate a quick dinner so we could get in a very long line to wait for the train to take us to "Santa's Village". If I was at all worried that an outing like this would take away from the real reason we celebrate Christmas Kate took care of that: while we sat at eating at the picnic benches, she loudly exclaimed, "Mommy! At Christmas we celebrate Jesus' birthday. Jesus is God's Son!" So proud! ;) After waiting almost a hour, therefore, putting us way past bedtimes we boarded the little train. It was beautifully decorated with lights and trim, as were all of the trees along the tracks. We arrived at an outdoor amphitheater where Santa was set up on the stage. Kate was so excited to meet him and did such a great job being patient while we waited in another long line.

Unlike the last two years Kate went right up and sat on Santa's lap.

Luke, however, was not interested in getting much closer than this...

...that is, until the candy canes came out.

It was a nice time with the family and a fun way to kick off the season of festivities!

Just like daddy...

Yesterday afternoon, John hung the Christmas lights on the house. Luke was VERY into all the work being done outside and proved that in a couple of years he will be a good assistant to Daddy. He couldn't get enough of the tools and especially liked climbing the ladders.

After a long day of hard work the men dressed in their UVA gear and took in a little football.

Like father, like son.

Look who's talking...

Recently, Luke's vocabulary has really taken off. I have this theory that 18 months is this turning point for language for most kids (Kate's vocab increased amazingly the week she turned 18 months) so we have one more month and I'm just waiting for that day when he can actually really talk to us. His language has been slowly evolving over the last few months, he's got the basics down: Momma, Dada, No (a favorite), Nana, Bapa (Grampa), Pop-pop. And, even though I know every child develops at their own speed and that boys tend to take a bit longer than girls, I can't help but think, "C'mon, your sister was saying WAY more at this point." In the last few weeks he's begun to say a lot more so for documentation sake I thought I'd share some of my favorites from Luke's list of new words:

Wawa= water, up until recently he called water "dada" now it's "wawa" unless its in his cup then its still "dada"
Duuuu= dude
Yeah
Kiki or Tate= Kate
Baba= bottle/blanket
Puppy
Poopy= this is said anytime he is poopy or when we go into a public bathroom and once in the dressing room at Target. =) Then he says....
Phewww
Ma= more
Peeee= please
Cookie= Brooklyn (derived from Brookie-Cookie), or an actual cookie, cracker, chip, etc.
Dan do- Thank you
Ca= Car
Buttball= football
Tutda= touchdown
Gum
Lella= Cinderella (what can I say but he has a sister)
uh oh
Da!= done

I'm looking so forward to hearing what he comes up with next. My favorite thing about him learning to talk is watching his "conversations" with Kate and Brooklyn. So cute!

Finally fall...

Last night, John and I put the kids down early, made dinner, and ate by our first fire while listening to the rain. That is what fall is supposed to feel like as opposed to the 80-90* weather we've been experiencing. Just look at the beautiful fire my *Eagle scout created without any gas! What a guy! ;)
*Correction to the previously posted "former Eagle Scout", as John says, "Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout." =)

MOMS playdate...

We had a pretty full house today hosting our church MOMS group for a play date. It was fun to have all of Kate's "church friends" over. We had eight moms, nine pre-schoolers, six 1-year-olds, and a baby. Thankfully, the weather was nice and we could play outside then go down to the park. All of the kids were so well-behaved and played really well.

Just some pics...

As usual, we've been busy with swim, dance, MOMS, church activities, play dates, Disneyland days, etc. Luke is still sleeping great and now loves bedtime. All I have to say is, "Lukey, are you ready for bed?" and he'll run in, turn on his air filter and climb up in the rocking chair. We rock, read, sing, have a bottle and he happily lays down in his crib and falls asleep. =) Kate's imagination is really taking off lately, as is her attitude. She is quite dramatic and loves to pretend and act out movies. The attitude I could do without but on her "good days" we have a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures we've taken over the last couple of weeks.

Silly faces

Kate got to help out at the Playhouse Disney show...yes, that is one of those backpack/leashes on Luke. I vowed never to get one and have been known to mock the use of them until I realized better to leash your child like a dog than lose them in a crowd.

Luke loves to ride around in Kate's doll stroller. =)

Yea for sleep!!

Well we've made it through the first week of sleeping training (AKA Operation Cry It Out) with flying colors. Luke has gone from maybe getting 12 hours to definitely getting 15 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. I am praising the Lord for the ease of it all. Every night got better and better and now all we get is a small cry before Luke is off to dream land for about 11 or 11 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It really is a small miracle. Naps continued to be difficult until Friday when I got the bright idea that perhaps by his 1 pm nap he was just too tired. Many of you moms know what I mean when I say an overtired baby is not a sleepy baby. Every day he'd cry for almost 45 minutes and then sleep for only about a hour. Friday, I had my epiphany and put him down for a morning nap. Bingo! He went right to sleep for that nap and again for his 2 pm nap. Same thing yesterday and today. So we're back to 2 naps a day and all the more happy for it. At first I was dreading the fact that we'd have to do some schedule rearranging to make that morning nap happen but now I'm excited because I've decided that that will be a perfect hour for some alone time with Kate. I am one VERY happy mommy. I've already created an extensive list of things to do with all of the free time I suddenly have. =)

Night 2...

Last night Luke slept GREAT!! I was a little worried since yesterday's nap did not go very well. He cried off and on for more than a hour and only slept for about 1 hour 20 min. when he finally did fall asleep. I felt so sorry for him when I was giving him his bottle at bedtime because I could tell he knew what was coming. He knew that when he finished that thing, he was going in the crib. Poor little thing, he drank that bottle slower than ever before and was trying so hard to just fall asleep on my lap while drinking it (which he has never done). When he finally finished and I put him in his crib it was only a matter of a few minutes and he was out....until 5 am!! Hallelujah! But it doesn't end there. He put himself back to sleep at 5 and again at 5:45 am and stayed asleep until 7 am!! So we're 2 nights and one nap down, at this moment working on day 2 nap, and I couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome. We should have done this weeks ago!

Operation Cry It Out...

Many of you know we have struggled with sleep issues in our house. Kate was a pretty terrible sleeper until she was about 22 months and in a "big girl bed" and I didn't think anyone could be much worse...until we had Luke. At first he was a dream, I thought we'd hit the jackpot with a great little sleeper. As the months went on his sleeping habits became worse and worse. I rolled with it, though, thinking he'd follow in Kate's footsteps and start getting better after a year. Many of my friends had had great success with letting their babies "cry it out". I knew it worked but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. That is until I really stepped back and looked at our what our situation had evolved into. It was taking me, on average, an hour or more to get Luke to sleep at nap and bedtime and he was spending about 2-3 hours in his crib only to end up in our bed for the rest of the night. This was leaving him in a constant state of tired that was affecting his behavior and development. And it was leaving me without any patience leftover to deal with him or Kate during the day. It had to stop and thanks to some very supportive friends and MANY prayers we're well on our way to a much healthier, happier, sleeping household. I know this is a really long post but I'm writing this more for our own record of a pretty significant event in our lives.

Last night, we did our regular bedtime routine: bath, bottle, rock...only this time I rocked him for a couple of minutes, gave him a kiss, put him in his crib and left. We had a plan to endure what was sure to be a torturous night. To save Kate from getting upset over Luke screaming (and, boy, did he!), we borrowed "Sleeping Beauty" from my parents and made it a special movie and popcorn night. With his bedroom door and the hallway door closed and the movie turned up nice and loud we weren't able to hear him. We decided to allow 20 minutes to go by then we'd go in to let Luke know we hadn't abandoned him, lay him down and leave the room. We'd repeat this every 20 minutes until he was asleep. I was thrilled to find I didn't have to go in once! At 20 minutes I went to his door and could hear him whimpering, "Mama, mama..." (side note: I think that was more heart breaking than the screams) so I took a couple more minutes to change my clothes and by the time I came back to his door I couldn't hear anything. I waited another 20 minutes and went in to check on him- he'd taken his pants off and stripped the pillow of it's case but he was sound asleep. I had imagined hours of him screaming, myself in hysterics, and feelings of guilt like I'd never before experienced. But, God is good and He answered prayer in a big way. Even throughout the night 20 minutes was the magic number. Luke woke up a few times and only once did I have to go in to give him his paci and lay him down. The other times he settled himself down and went back to sleep in under 15 minutes, once in just 5 minutes. This morning I'm elated that we made it through the first night and everyone is in great spirits. Thanks to all for your prayers, words of encouragement, and support!

Trick-or-Treat...

Trick-or-treating was much more successful this year than last and both kids had a lot of fun. We made it to over a dozen houses, met a few more neighbors, and collected some yummy treats. Luke was really into knocking on the doors, yelling "ti-tee!", and taking candy from the bowls. He thought it was the greatest night ever. Every time we'd leave a house he'd hold up the candy and do his sign for more, meaning he wanted to eat it. When we didn't open it for him he'd just try to eat through the wrapper. We got home with a lot of soggy, smooshed candy that we had to throw away, which is just as well- to save my waistline. =) Kate was not shy at all this year and impressed everyone with her twinkling, light up wings and excellent manners- never forgetting to say thank you. Since we were the first ones out in our neighborhood, we got home early enough to catch the trick-or-treaters that came to our door. Kate was just as excited to pass out candy. It turned out to be a great first Halloween in our new house.

More Halloween fun...

Yesterday, we went to the Garland's house for our MOMS Halloween play date. Gina and Nicole did such a great job arranging games and fun things for the kids to do. Kate participated in two fall/Halloween favorites: bobbing for apples and bouncing a ping pong ball into a cup to win a fish. We went home full of sweets with a goldfish that Kate named Dana. Sadly, Dana has since passed and took a ride on the porcelain express back to the ocean.

Kate was so patient bobbing for that apple! It took her a good couple of minutes but she didn't give up and finally got it.

Kate, Reagan, and Bailey showing off their fish.

Out of the mouth of babes...

Kate's latest struggles recently are with obedience and fear. So our conversations have been centered around those two things a lot lately. She is generally a pretty obedient kid but her desire for independence slips her up sometimes. The fear thing is relatively new and comes with her age. She brings it up especially at night time when she tells me she's scared. So far she's been easily settled down when we talk about God watching over us and Jesus and his angels protecting us. She likes to hear it and it works to calm her fears.
So....today I found her sneaking some nail polish after I told her to leave it alone. During her punishment she was crying and calling out, "Jesus! Jesus!" Part of me wants to laugh and the other part wants to cry. At the end of her punishments we always discuss what she did wrong and why it was wrong, etc., then we say a prayer together. Today during our discussion she says to me, "I just want Jesus!" I can't tell you how happy I was that at 3 1/2 years old she already has a such a sense of comfort in Someone she can't fully understand. Talk about blind faith!

Halloween fun...

Yesterday we attended the Ostermann's Halloween Potluck play date. There was a good turn out and the kids had a lot of fun. Thanks to Marikka, Jonah, and Javan for hosting another fun day!

Luke and Anna

Tinkerbell in a tree


Storytime