Firsts...

Isla has had a lot of firsts lately and she has been over the moon excited about all of them.

Swimming lessons - she started swimming lessons in October. She is one of two in her class. I've been so proud of her excitement, confidence and her sweetness. The other little girl she is in the class with has been terrified of the teacher and being away from her mom. Instead of Isla getting upset
about the little girl screaming, she's been trying to calm her down. She tells her its going to be okay, shares the pool toys and smiles at her. I've been so proud to see her light shining and also proud of all her new swimming skills!

Dentist - she had her first dentist appointment this week. She was not hesitant at all to climb up in the chair and when they asked her how many teeth she thought she had, she opened her mouth and counted them one by one until she got to twenty. I was amazed at how well she did! She was super excited to get to pick out a toy from the treasure box at the end too.

Home with mommy - This is our first week of being home more. We've cut her preschool hours to just three mornings a week versus all week and she is doing school with me at home on Mondays and Fridays. Our first Monday was awesome! I had to be a little more flexible than I had planned, but overall it went well, she was excited to learn and we had fun together. This is a great trial for us to continue to explore homeschooling for the years to come.

She's growing up so fast that it often makes my chest ache. She no longer likes kisses on the mouth, she tells me - "on the cheek mom."
She calls me mom most days and if I'm super lucky, I get a mama, but hardly ever does she call me mommy.
She wants to do it all herself these days. She used to like for me to show her the way first, but now, she wants to do the first try herself too.

All these things are great and I love to see her growing smarter, stronger and more confident every day... but some days I just want time to stand still. I want to take a mental snapshot and remember her and Laylin in their thermal pajamas smiling at me before bedtime. I want to remember her silky skin and how she asks for tickles on her back over and over again. I want to remember how brushing her hair is a fight, but she jumps at the opportunity to brush mine. I want to remember her eyes lighting up when I tell her I'm going to put her to bed tonight, or snuggle with her for a little while.

I hope I remember all these things and more forever.

Christmas with Elmo

Isla is Elmo crazy! This year we got her a pair of Elmo pajamas, a Sesame Street themed kitchen set and my mom got her a stuffed Elmo. She's also crazy about Barney and loves her Barney movie that Gigi got her. Every day she wants to watch Elmo and Barney. We have to limit her TV time with these two or she would watch it all day! Luckily we have Elmo books, stickers and coloring pages too. I feel like our house is exploding with Elmo... but it's a super fun stage! It makes me curious to see what the next stage will be.... maybe Disney princesses or super heroes. Isla is such a fun special girl! Every stage has opened our eyes even more to the blessing that she is.

Here's a few of our favorite's from Christmas 2013...

Isla Prefers the Reindeer...

Isla was a ball of energy this weekend! She was running wide open throughout the day and crashed before 6pm both Saturday and Sunday... must be all the talking she is doing that is wearing her out! She says nearly everything these days and repeats everything too. She carries on conversations with herself, her toys, friends and sometimes me. :)

This weekend, we took her to see Santa. We really talked Santa up all weekend. We watched Santa cartoons, played with Santa ornaments and looked up different pictures of Santa. She loved talking about Santa and the idea of seeing Santa.... but she did NOT like Santa. Not even a little... She was actually terrified of him when it came her turn, so much so that she kicked Santa in the knee!

She did however love the gift that Santa gave her and she told him, "thank you."

We'll try again next year. Merry Christmas!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! What a sweet day this is! I feel blessed to have so many loved ones in my life. Today, I am reminded of the love I have for my husband, my daughter, my family, my friends and most importantly the love I have for the Lord.

To my husband: I love you, I love you, I love you. I realize today, that I don't say those three little words to you enough. I'm so blessed to have you in my life and I always look forward to today and the traditions we have started over the past 4 years.

You make every day fun and exciting. You are a wonderful husband and father. I love watching you in your new roll as a daddy and I can see Isla's love grow for you every single day. I know she is going to be a daddy's girl... I can already see it.

I love how helpful you are, how you turn a heavy situation into a light one, how you can always make me laugh and put my mind at ease. I love the life that we are building together, how we approach everything together as a team and how supportive you are. I love that you put God first and the initiative you take. I love how real you are. I know I can always count on you. Thank you for opening my eyes to so many wonderful things in the world and sharing so many blessings with me. I am proud to be your wife. I love you.

To my daughter: Happy 1st Valentine's day love bug. You have shown me a love that I never knew before. A love so great and enduring. Just one single thought of you, instantly brings a smile to my face and a happy tear to my eye. You have given me so much true joy. I love you so much sweet pea and can't wait to share many more special days with you.

To my family and friends: No matter how busy we may get or how far away we may live, my love continues to grow and the roots run deep. I would do anything for my family and loved ones. I consider myself  blessed to be part of such a wonderful family and have so many loving and caring friends. I love all of you!

To my savior: Thank you for loving me. Thank you for continuing to forgive me, prune me and make me better. Please use me to serve others through you. May I always show others the same unconditional love that you show me every day. Even though I continue to fall short, your grace is always there. I pray that as I persist in my walk of faith, that my heart continues to grow and I be filled with your spirit so that others see my light for you. Please help me to show love not only on this day, but every day with every passing year. I love you.

Busy bees

As you can tell from my lack of posts, It has been another busy week! It seems every week is busy now that we have miss Isla. This week we've all been fighting off yet another cold. We're at the tail end of it, but I am so ready for flu/cold season to be over! I am really looking forward to the Spring this year. I just hope we actually have one and the weather doesn't roll right into Summer as Charlotte is known to do.

My daffodils have already bloomed, which makes me even more eager for warmer temperatures. I'm really looking forward to taking Isla to the park, pushing her on the swing, family picnics, walks on the green way and just being outside this Spring! Isla loves being outside and I know she's going to love it even more now that she is growing and noticing every little thing.

I'm also looking forward to mine and Isla's Spring wardrobe. After Fall, I'm over sweaters and boots and ready to move right back into summer dresses, frilly tops and shorts. My Winter wardrobe always makes me feel so drab. For Isla, I cannot wait to put her in rompers and sundresses. She has so many cute ones just waiting for the season to get here. I especially love the ones with ruffles on the butt. So cute!

There are so many things I want to do with Isla, I just pray I don't let myself get too busy and forget the important things. It's so easy to get stressed and overwhelmed with the work week. I have to stop and remind myself to slow down and focus on what really matters.

Holiday Memories...

The Holidays bring back such fun memories for me. I adore Christmas. It is definitely my favorite Holiday. I have such wonderful memories from my childhood of winter white Christmas’, church plays, sleigh rides, hot cocoa, homemade candies, hunting for presents and warm family togetherness.

We were blessed enough to have the dream of a white Christmas come true on multiple occasions. I hope that as Isla gets older she will be able to experience the magic of waking up to piles of snow on Christmas morning.

My hometown church always had church plays and I loved being a part of them. Several seasons, I played the part of Mary. Other years I was an angel. I used to get so excited to get up in front of everyone and sing our songs. I also loved that my entire family would come to watch the play and be at church celebrating the season together. I’m pretty sure I thought I was a much better singer than I really was, but still I got smiles and hugs from everyone. I also loved the huge Christmas tree the church would put up. The white and gold ornaments were so large and dazzling.  I loved sitting around the tree for children’s church and all the goodies that they always shared with us every year.

My parents have the perfect setup for sleigh riding. Our house is perched on the very top of the hill with my uncle and grandparents living towards the bottom. We would start at the top, ride all the way down to the bottom and bail (most times) just in time to miss hitting the creek.  Sometimes we would even get my dad’s motorcycle helmets out and really suit up for the icy ride. After an hour or so… or whenever we could no longer stand the wet cold snow that had slide down our suits and socks, we would head in for some warm cocoa. I remember hanging our cold wet clothes up and mom having a warm cup of cocoa ready for us.

Another favorite memory is the homemade candies and pies my great-grandmother, grandmother and mom would make. Chocolate was always my favorite pie, but she also made a delicious coconut, apple and pumpkin pit too. The whipping on top and consistency would be perfect. I could eat a whole pie by myself! For candy, we would have fudge, chocolate and coconut balls, white chocolate covered pretzels and peanut butter crackers. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it! I’m looking forward to continuing on the tradition of making these candies with mom this year in honor of my grandmothers.

I was always on the hunt for presents growing up. Once I found out about the North Pole, I knew they were hidden somewhere in the house and it was my goal every year to find them! I remember the year my search was a success and the look on my mom’s face once she realized I had found ALL my presents. She took everything back, and that was the end of that. I didn’t search the next year.

I love this season and the way it brings our family together, I love the special time we all get to spend together. I love the many laughs we share, the delicious food we are blessed with and the memories we make, but most of all… I love the true meaning of this season. I’m so grateful that God thought so much of me to send his only son to live on earth, die for my sins and promise me forgiveness and a place in heaven.

Thank you God for this season you have blessed us with. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to be together and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have A LOT to be thankful for!

Trick or Treat?

Do you remember getting more treats or playing tricks on Halloween?

Some of my most vivid childhood memories involve Halloween. I remember my costumes thoroughly. Some of my most memorable costumes were homemade. One year I was bugs-bunny and chewed on a carrot all night. One year my brother and I were hobos/clowns and one year I was a cat.
We never had extravagant costumes, but my mother always did a great job pulling our costumes together on a little budget using things we already had. She would paint our faces and make sure we looked good... even sacrificing her own clothes for the cause. I remember the year we were hobos, I wore her sweatsuit and stuffed it with pillows. We always got bags and bags full of candy. (Treat!) It's funny...even to this day, I remember some of the treats I got and from which houses they came from. One of our closest neighbors never gave candy. She always gave us an apple, small can of Donald Duck orange juice and a Little Debbie's oatmeal cake.Trick?) Some of the elderly ladies in our church would make homemade candy. (Treat!) My great grandmother was one of these ladies. We always stopped at her house last. She would make homemade fudge. (Treat again!) It's unheard of for people to do that today...

While we always had plenty of treats...we had our fair share of tricks too. I remember our parents always letting us pick our top three pieces of candy out of our bags, then we would go to bed.  Little did we know, while we were sound asleep... mommy and daddy were pillaging our bags of treats and picking out their favorites too! (Trick!)

I also got tricked several times while trick or treating. One year someone was hiding under the steps of a house we were trick or treating at. As I walked up the steps, the man grabbed my ankle... to his surprise I quickly kicked back and kicked him in the face (accidentally of course). (Trick!) Another time I was trying to be brave and walk in to a haunted house. My cat tail got caught in the screen door while leaving and fight or flight kicked in. I ran out of the house and down the road. When my mom caught back up with me, I was so scared I didn't recognize her and punched her in the face. (Trick!) Yikes! I'm pretty sure we went home after that house.

Trick or treating was always so much fun for my brother and I. I remember being devastated when he decided he was "too old" to go anymore. I'm looking forward to Isla having plenty of cousins to go trick or treating with and hopefully a sibling or two one day. :)

Oh Happy Fall!

Autumn

I can't believe its Fall already! I feel like we just rung in the new year and now its more than halfway over. As I get older, it seems like the years go by faster.

Well ready or not, the season is changing and Fall is upon us. Fall is one of my favorite times of year. Where the landscape is lit up with color all around us and there is so much natural beauty that it can't be ignored with our daily tasks.

This time of year makes me miss living in the mountains. I miss the art splashed across the mountain sides and endless miles of countless shades of autumn. I miss hearing the sounds of the creek in the still of a cool morning. I miss the smells of a campfire and catching fireflies. I miss high school football games on Friday nights.

I'm hoping we will have a nice long, cool Fall here in Charlotte and we make the trip home to the mountains at least once in time to see the leaves change.

I'm looking forward to carving pumpkins, wearing sweaters and tall boots, turning off the a/c and opening the windows, watching football and enjoying all the beauty God blesses us with during this beautiful season.

Stationery card

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Snow days...

I was listening to Matt Pond’s song, “Snow Day” today and it made me remember the past…

Growing up we had more snow days than I can even count. I used to love snow days. These days when the power goes out it’s such a big inconvenience, back then it meant sleigh riding, snow ball fights, playing Monopoly and Clue by candle light, hot chocolate and togetherness. 

I miss the simple pleasures snow days used to bring to my life. I remember anxiously listening to the radio for school cancellations and praying for school to be canceled. There is also something so peaceful about a huge snowfall. It brings a silence with it that is breathtaking. 

Everything stops, if even for just a short while.  Joel and I got to experience this in NYC last year. It was amazing to see one of the busiest places in the world, slow down. I was literally standing on a normally busy street and there were only a few headlights on the road. 

My only wish is that we would get more snow days here in Charlotte. Until then, I’ll keep going home to the mountains and enjoying my little white wonders there. 

Hope you enjoy the song as much as I do...enjoy!