He's Finally Here!!!

Thomas Jacob was born Friday, December 11, 2009 at 11:46 am weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz and is 20 inches long with a full head of hair. I am so in love!!!

The Lord's Tender Mercies

As many of you know I am more than ready to have this baby. My body has felt so done and I have felt discouragement and frustration that he hasn't already come (especially when labor started and then stopped after a few hours last weekend). Remember this has been a bit of a tough pregnancy. Well, today I am so grateful that when our maintenance man came to change our filter he noticed the fire in our gas fireplace going and he observed that the logs were arranged incorrectly allowing the fire to burn up front instead of in the middle. Apparently this was releasing carbon monoxide into our apartment. He fixed the logs. It happens that the cradle was right next to the fireplace. Now I think I understand at least one reason why our baby hasn't made his debut yet. I am so grateful for the Lord's ways and for His tender mercies. 

How I love thee, let me count the ways!

You dance with me

You're creative

You take classes with me

You bring me roses (and lilies and orchids)

You're patriotic

You're still a kid at heart

You enjoy the great outdoors

You love and enjoy your kids

You join your wife on crazy adventures

You bring me chocolate

You make delicious weekend and birthday breakfasts

But most of all you love me!

Happy 8 year anniversary babe! I love you more and more each day!

November 17, 2009

Since We've Been Away

Well, these last few months have been full despite the exhaustion of pregnancy (9 months of being sick is just no fun. It's a good thing these little ones are so worth the effort.) We've experienced birthdays, a reunion, a funeral, Halloween, snow and lots of in betweens. So here is a fun re-cap.

We've apparently started a new tradition of decorating the birthday cake together as a family. It was a lot of fun and the kids still talk about it daily and look forward to the next birthday so we can do it again, this time in castle form.


Snow White and Mickey Mouse, complete with princess shoes and mouse crocs, and loads of fun dressing up. We have a tradition for Halloween as well that after we go trick-or-treating we order a pizza and watch a movie together as a family. This year it was Sleeping Beauty.

And yes, snow. We've experienced a few down falls which are gorgeous to behold and definitely keep you inside for a couple of days with warm mugs of cocoa and a crackling fire. Actually today church was canceled because of a downfall. The amazing thing is that after it snows it melts within a week and the weather is beautiful again. I can definitely handle that.

Another enjoyable thing the kids love is that every Saturday Dad takes them to story time at the library. It's a great bonding experience and gives me a chance to rest. I love that man!


As for me, well, I am really looking forward to this little boy coming. 35 1/2 weeks and home bound leaves for a little stir craziness at times but it's worth it to help ensure complete growth and when I'm not laying down holding onto the bed to keep from passing out I enjoy reading and playing with the kids, doing puzzles (never knew how fast you can put together a 1000 piece puzzle when you can't do anything else. I think I've gone through 8 so far.) And wow my house is very slowly getting meticulously organized. That indeed is nice.


And for this wonderful family of mine? Well, they've learned such patience and love in these past 9 months in a way that we never could have experienced before. I love them dearly and am forever grateful for their service, joy, laughter, and desire to learn and help. The Lord truly blesses us in our lives!

Life in the Fast Lane

Whew! I think we're finally breathing a little albeit only because the body has slowed down. These past few months have truly been a whirlwind.
In June we made a fun trip back home to Louisiana for a class reunion and to visit my sweet brother and other dear friends.


The kids and I visited the Baton Rouge temple where we were married.


We then headed down to New Orleans to visit the French Quarter, enjoy beignets, the Riverwalk and the French Market. So fun!


And we figured that since we were so close to Florida we'd go ahead and make a trip to the beach for a couple of days!


We then made a quick trip through Houston to pick up wheat and say hello and off we headed to Del Rio for a couple of days to visit the Garza grandparents.

But alas, all good vacations must come to an end and so after a few fun weeks we headed home. But not before we visited Capulin, an extinct volcano that we explored in the middle of New Mexico.


We got home in time to enjoy the 4th of July and to have the in-laws come and visit.

And now, well now, I'm enjoying the couch and my bed as this sweet little baby has made its opinions known of all our gallivanting around. We'll see what the doctor has to say tomorrow. But oh what fun we've had!

And One More for the Road

As mentioned earlier today at Church, I am indeed pregnant, due December 18. We are so very excited!

A New Annoucement

I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago, conference weekend to be exact. I’d come to conference with a list of questions I had prayed about and was seeking answers for. I was learning great things as I listened to the talks, feeling that each one had been written for me and my questions were being answered. Then at the end of the first session the direct thought, “You need to move to Colorado.” crossed my mind. “No,” I thought “that wasn’t one of my questions” and quickly dismissed the thought. A few minutes later it struck again with the added impression, “You are needed there.” In complete shock I decided it was time to listen to what the Lord wanted to tell me, not just what I wanted to know. And though we had our lives planned out in Houston for the next 5 years the Lord has given us a different direction. Thus my dear friends and family we are following the direction we have received from the Lord and are moving to Colorado. But may I say how very much we have loved Houston and the people. You truly couldn’t ask for better friends and a better ward. How we will miss you!

A First Haircut-for her and me

Today we ventured into the world of girl haircuts. Two hours later we came up with this.








P.S. A Dora movie, a lollipop and a good friend to help with the ending make all the difference in the world.

We did it! Anything you set your mind to you can do!

We did it! We did it! We did it! And I am so proud of us! Nicole, my fantastic running partner, and I ran our first half marathon down at Surfside beach yesterday and boy did we beat the obstacles before us. These included (but were not limited to) an amazingly strong headwind from a storm coming in. It literally felt like we were pushing weights in front of us as we ran for 5+ miles. Pelting rain that blew sideways and caused almost all spectators with umbrellas to run for cover. And a hip injury at mile 6 that was excruciatingly painful by mile 11. But even through it all, we did it! And it was good. The trials were hard but the satisfaction at the end was worth all of the hard work we've put into training. And listening to the waves sent a soothing calm to all runners.

And I learned. I learned again that you can do hard things, that you can do almost anything you set your mind to with the help of the Lord, family and friends. As we were running through that headwind I just put my head forward and ran looking up on occasion for the oasis (which to us were water stops). I thought how this is a lot like life. Sometimes when the going gets tough you just put your head down and work looking up occasionally for an oasis. But then as I ran further I felt someone lift my chin up and I had the thought, "Look up." And I did. And I saw so much. I saw the sky again, the waves, all around me, and even though it was harder to look up then just putting my head down and plowing forward, I found that I could do it. And I learned we can walk tall, keeping our heads held high, seeing around us, and even though it may seem harder it is possible and we see better and learn more at His side. The Lord truly teaches in all moments that we are listening. I am grateful.

So 13.1 miles we accomplished! Triathlons, iron mans, marathons, the world here we come! And if we can do it so can you! The feeling of accomplishing what you've set out to do is well worth the price paid! Thanks for being such an incredible running partner Nicole!

Testimony bearing

I bore my testimony today to 4 mean, teeth baring....

DINOSAURS!

and one sweet little boy who decided that we were going to have an impromtu testimony meeting outside.


While he and his sister decided to bear their testimony from the top of the slide, I opted for the quiet of the grass. How I do love them and how much they teach me!

Make-up mishaps

Ah children, you love them but sometimes you wonder where they get their antics from. For example, yesterday I had a wonderful 10 mile run in two hours with my great running partner Nicole. I was on an endorphin high heading home as I returned the phone calls I’d missed from my husband. I’ll now tell the story from his point of view.

“I was sitting in the living room studying for 15 minutes when I noticed how quiet and good the kids were playing. I thought I’d go and peak in on them and return to my studies. As I opened my sweet girl’s door, low and behold I found my 2 children indeed playing with their kitchen toys and every piece of their mom’s make-up. They had gone into our bathroom, loaded the bounty in a small wooden toy box and had now poured the base out to make a soup in the play skillet. They had decorated themselves, the carpet and of course their clothing and anything else they had touched. Aaaaa! Okay, breathe, I can breathe. I took a picture for posterity’s sake and then proceeded to give them a bath (Did you know eye make-up does not easily come off), a lecture, a 10 minute time-out on the couch to think about what they had done. I had them draw pictures for their mom and as soon as she walked in the door humbly apologize. Later that night they helped me clean out the carpet. Thank goodness for good carpet cleaner."

That’s one way to clear out the make-up drawer. Maybe not the most preferable but I guess it does the job. It’s a good thing we love them so much and that they’re so stinkin’ cute!