Sometimes

Sometimes I'm a good wife and stay up until 2:45 editing papers due early in the morning.

And sometimes he's a good husband and buys me gorgeous flowers as a thanks.

Thank you, Jesse... I love you, too!

Okay, I Haven't Completely Stopped Blogging...

I've just been doing it elsewhere the past couple of weeks.

For the past two years, my church has been involved in Advent Conspiracy.  Both years, we put together a devotional guide to take our congregation through a worshipful Advent season.  This year, I've been posting each day's devotional to a blog.  Some of the devotionals I've written, some of them are by other people in our church and others are quotes out of the Advent Conspiracy book.  All are challenging and encourage you to focus on Jesus during this season that retailers would like to make all about consumerism.  Anyway, if you'd like to follow along over there, that's where most of my time and energy is being spent.  (Well, that and getting ready for Christmas with Jesse's family). But, either way, I hope to see you back here on a more regular basis at the beginning of a New Year!

Love!

Things I'm Thankful for This Year

A smiley girl who keeps us laughing and on our toes!

(Last week, she ran away from my sister at Barnes & Noble.  Elisabeth found her with the trains and told her she couldn't play with them because she ran away from her.  Eliana told Elisabeth: "That okay.  My mommy bring me here tomorrow to play with the trains." Wow.)

 My little boy who is growing up so quickly! (Three weeks today and you've already rolled from your tummy to your back twice... I'm in trouble.)

A sweet boy who's had a hard time adjusting to having his schedule turned upside down by the arrival of his brother.  (But who couldn't love him more... he spends great chunks of time watching his baby.)

This guy... who's not afraid to do diapers or help with getting up in the middle of the night (in spite of the fact that he's going to school and taking a couple of really hard courses this semester).  And who is also well known for his ability to swaddle a kid better than anyone.

Thank you, Jesus, for my sweet family.  Even in the middle of trying or tiring times... they bring such joy!

Our Stay at the Hospital

 Ready to nurse immediately... he had to wait over an hour.  (The downside of a c-section.)

The nurse said: "One day, he'll laugh over this picture and you guys in your blue hair nets." In the mean time, I guess you get to laugh.

Flowers from Momma.

Flowers from Youth for Christ.

Diego loves Cruz.  (He calls him "my Cruz".)

Panera (thankfully) is across the street from Wesley.

Cruz spending time with Diego, Yaya, and Eliana.

Welcome, little boy, we're so glad to finally meet you!

Time for Tea

This year's costumes (I knew) had to be low key for me. Sewing was not an option this year with a baby due less than a week out.  I repeated to myself: I will not buy fabric, I will not buy fabric.  I'd like to say that I didn't and to be honest, most of the elements were pulled from somewhere around my house, my parent's home, and my aunt, Nine contributed a top hat.  Then there was the dress... I didn't stress.  Everyone else did instead, I think.  I'd gone to a couple of second hand shops and hadn't found a flower girl dress, and I wasn't finding one on Craigslist either.  SO, my mom, my sister, and Nine all went to about 45 second hand shops between them and couldn't find one either.  (They got so desperate that Nine actually bought lingerie with a built in bra... oh my! in hopes of reassembling it into something that would work.) Then the day before, I thought I'd try one shop while Jesse and the kids ran through the Micky D's drive-thru, and they had about 5 flower girls dresses to choose from.  So, there you have it.

Mad Hatter -Diego sweat his make-up off in no time flat. I did hand stitch some lace onto the cuffs of last year's Christmas jacket. The thread bandolier was the most fun to make... I love those vintage spools of thread... (my momma found them at an estate sale for a buck).

White Queen- Eliana's smeared lipstick was my own fault...fortunately for her she ate before she went out and Elisabeth reapplied it much more prettily.  I used a white spray in her hair (it looks pretty gray but my mom and I thought that there would have been no way of keeping a wig on her at this point).  There were a few undone stitches on this dress that my momma restitched so Eliana could wear the dress.

This was a group effort and I have to say that the other mommas did much more than I did. Because you can't have Wonderland without...

Alice! Evie was the perfect little Alice (even though she wasn't too terribly thrilled to put on her costume that evening).  Emily did find the dress at a second hand shop and I believe she had the pinafore from a previous costume, but she modified both of them quite a bit.  Such sweetness!

Absolom, the Caterpillar. Finley was such a hit!  (What a beautiful first Halloween costume!) I believe, was completely from scratch... go Elisabeth!  Even the hookah! 

Now, one of these days I'm going to learn my lesson about photos.

First, I have a very slow point and shoot that I know I should be grateful for, but grrr... it usually goes something like this: I say, "Look at me you guys." They look, I push the button, they look away, the camera finally flashes.  If anyone knows how to fix the timing on my camera I would be eternally grateful.  But I have a feeling it's just the camera and I'm going to have to deal. So, I need to learn to take individual shots of the kids!  Because getting a good shot of just one of the kids is a big challenge.  But my goodness! Trying to get four kids to look at me all at the same time is impossible.

This is as good as it gets of a group shot.

Second, it probably would also help if the kids had any sort of clue who to look at- there were four cameras going off at the same time.  But maybe someone else ended up with better photos... we'll see.

Third, must take Halloween photos before sun sets outside. Must, must, must.  (There's always next year, right?)

Hope you all had a happy Halloween... ours was splendid despite my lack of good photos (because it involved Potato Cheddar Ale Soup and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread Pudding with Praline Sauce and wonderful family!) Oh yeah... fourth, must take photos of spectacular food and family next year.  On that note: I give up! *sigh*



Thirty-Eight and Still Kicking

(Fortunately.) Diego hit his thirty-eighth day of school this last week. When he reached it, I reminded him that his Papi's birthday would be later in the the week and that Papi would be turning 38.
Diego: But I'm sad.

Me: Why?

Diego: I will miss Papi.

Me: Why are you going to miss Papi?

Diego: Well, he is going to be so old and then he is going to die.

Me: Well, probably not quite yet.  (Grandpa is a lot older than Papi and he's still alive.)

Diego: Oh, okay.

I was lazy and didn't even make a cake for my husband's birthday.  I was mean and made him go into Cold Stone by himself to pick out his own cake. He chose well; it was way yummy!

Mom helped Diego and Eliana put on the candles. Yes, it does say 23... that's Jesse's birthdate, so to Diego it made perfect sense. It made me laugh. I wonder if this picture will be confusing later on in life as we are looking back.

Jesse, I love you and am so thankful I get to share my life and such beautiful kids with you!  (And I'm glad you made it through your 38th birthday.)

Six More Days (and Friday Favorites)

The crib is not yet up.  And I still have a swing and bedding and stroller to pull out and wash.

But I have two boxes of diapers purchased.  And a breast pump from a college friend -thanks, Beth!

And our sweet friend, Adelita gave us a cute little outfit, a coat, and (most importantly) pacifiers. Thank you, Addy!

I've made a lasagna and bierocks that are now in the freezer and ready to go. 

I'm (for the most part) done at work, so I can focus on more prep... and although I was originally going to do school with the kids this week, I decided we needed to take a break, so we're doing that as well.

I've got Thursday and that night covered for childcare. (I need to sit down and figure out the rest and then get things packed for the kids- and I suppose myself.)

About Cruz Esteban: Cruz is Spanish for Cross and is also Jesse's grandmother's maiden name. I never met her, but she was a constant presence throughout Jesse's childhood, living just down the block, and her faith in Jesus combined with the special moments they spent just the two of them had a great impact on his life. (He would often run down the street to her house when he got in trouble. I never have been able to understand this. I would have been too afraid to run away for the extra trouble I would have encountered.  And apparently he did run into extra trouble for pulling this stunt, but he would still run down the street to her house to delay the inevitable.) Esteban is a Spanish form of Stephen. It is not a family name per say, but we love Stephen's strong example of faith. Stephan means Crown and the combination of Cross and Crown reminds me of my dad's favorite hymn, The Old Rugged Cross. The last two lines in the chorus say: "I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown." I hope that life and promise for Cruz!

Happy Friday!