SNOW DAY!!!

Yay! It snowed all day yesterday here and we have almost a full foot of snow! Jake loved every second of it and played as much as we would let him out there... it was so cold his little face was red but he did not care.. he had a blast. Carter really hated it... which did not suprise me since he does not like water all that much either. He was upset that he had to wear gloves and did not like his shoes either so he stayed on the porch most of the time. After building and then jumping on a snowman we went to my parents to use the sled and go down the lawn and driveway since theirs is pretty steep... man was that a good time! The kids and I can't lie Ricky and I had a blast!

Below are some pictures that we took of the day.. the progression of the snow fall and the kids playing! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them.

My baby got a tooth today....

Today I made a discovery.... my baby boy got his first tooth!! It is the bottom right one and I am totally shocked! You should understand that my other two boys have not gotten a single tooth until right before their first birthdays... and you see Noah is only 6 months 3 weeks old! He does not even eat baby food yet and he has a tooth! I just can't believe how fast this last baby is growing up. God is so amazing to bless me with the most amazing boys anyone could ever ask for.... truly they are. While some days can be chaotic most of the time I am truly honored to be their mom. So little by little I think my shock is giving way to sadness... that he is really going to get bigger and grow up and not be a baby anymore. But I am excited to see what God is going to do in their lives!

Mojave Narrows...

We had a really nice time yesterday... we went to Mojave Narrows with the Kulhs and got to hang out and meet Wendi's sister and her family! Wow do they look just alike! LOL... anyway, the kids had a great time. I was not going to let them get into the water but Jake really wanted to so trying to be more layed back I agreed! He had a blast running in and out of the water.. I did not get any good shots because Noah was crying at this time so I missed the water shots... but I got Jake playing Star Wars (what new right??) and Carter eating his Oreo..

Carter was not in a playing mood yesterday... not sure if he was just overwhelmed by the bigger kids or not feeling perfect. Anyway, he hung out with me and Noah most of the day which was fun.

On the way out of the Park Jake asked to stop and see the Camel.. so we did... and the Camel as you can see.... saw us too!! LOL!! What a good day... we missed Daddy though.. he had to work.. ya I know on Venteran's Day... STINK!

Pictures from the last couple of days...

The NEW clean play room!!

and my boys being silly while I am trying to clean!!

What an amazingly weirdly amazing day!!

LOL... anyway, I have been wanting to clean out our play room for some time now but it is such a SCARY task to undertake that it has been getting worse and worse for months now. This weekend Ricky built me a storage unit that I could store boxes of toys in and since he finished it so quickly I wanted to get my end done fast too. So today I took the entire play room apart. Went through every single toy... gave lots away, threw some away, and labeled and stored the rest of them in the new unit. I then took everything out of the entertainment center in the play room, dusted and re-arranged it all, took the small couch out and sent that over to my moms for the guest bedroom, and cleaned off the the piano...all with two little people wanting to touch and play with all the toys I was trying to clean!!

I took some pictures of the aftermath so you could see how wonderful it turned out but since its 1:30am I might wait until tomorrow to upload and show them.

Tomorrow (rather today.... ) I am going to take the boys to the park with some other families... since its Veteran's Day all the daddies will be off.. but Ricky has to work... how does a military contracted company who is run by a former Navy Seal not observe Veteran's Day??? Ug!!!

Fun play date!!

Today we had a nice morning. It started off a little on the crazy side but we ended up meeting up with Wendi, Judah and Aly at Mojave Narrows to let the kids play and run some of their energy out! I don't think either of us planned on it being that warm so after about and hour of playing outside we decided it was time for Juice It Up!! The boys pretended they were McQueen racing to have smoothies... you got to love their imagination. Judah and Jake are the same age and they really seem to get along great. Carter did his best to keep up with the big boys and occasionally I found myself climbing something someone my age should not be climbing... =) I had to get Carter down cause he would get up high and then could not get down... it was still a funny sight, me climbing all over kids playground equipment.

We went for Smoothies and since their was no where to sit we plopped down on the sidewalk outside and enjoyed the shade and cool drinks. I had a really nice time visiting with Wendi and I know Jake had a blast!

We are now off to take naps and maybe get some laundry done!

What a weekend!

Gosh... we had such a busy wonderful weekend! My little sister is moving to Thailand so we had a really nice going away party this weekend for her... it was crazy trying to fit 40+ people into my parents house cause the weather was to cold to be outside. My mom, myself, my two sisters and my Aunt Debbie cooked like we were on Iron Chef on Friday night and Sat during the day to feed all those people! It was such a great time and such great memories!

Sunday, Carter came down with a really high fever. He was bouncing between 102 and 104 so we decided to call off the dedication at church and took him to the hospital. He has a double ear infection and a throat infection... my poor baby! It made me so sad to see his little body so sick!

On a good note, since we worked so hard this weekend I slept like a ROCK!! WOW! It was great. Even though Noah is still getting up in the night... I know, I know... we are working on it! I went right back to sleep and it was amazing!

My sis leaves tomorrow at noon... I am really trying hard not to think about it. How does one go from seeing your sister more than twice a week to not for a whole year or more?

Noah...

He is becoming such a little sweet heart!! Really I don't know if its just cause he is my baby... and I just feel this really emotional attachement to him or that he is just so dang cute, but what ever it is... I just feel so blessed to be his mommy!

He is growing so fast too... already wanting to sit up and he is really into what ever the other boys are doing! Jake and Carter really had him laughing the other day! I ran to get the video camera so I could get it but then Carter was to intereted in the video camera and stopped playing with Noah. Everyday I get to spend with these three amazing boys I am truly blessed!

I am out...

I have been in a "FUNK" that last like week or so.. not really sure what it was that was bothering me so much but I bet it has to do with all the change that is going on around here!

1. Noah is awake so much more

2. Carter is talking... and by that I mean he only says "MOM" all the time

3. Jake has been pushing to see what is allowed and what is not...

4. My sister is moving away... by away I mean THAILAND!

5. We started SMILES (this was a great thing for me)

6. I had a cold

7. Honey is working 9 hour days instead of 8... I know only an hour but seems like forever to me!

8. Did I mention my little sis is moving to Thailand???

Anyway, things are a changing.... and its not bad but it can cause one to be in a "FUNK"! But I am doing better the last two days and I have gotten caught back up on all my house work and I might even wash the car... or maybe not... hum... a nap??? Gosh what to do??!!

SMILES.. and some tears

I am so excited to have started SMILES (Bible study for mom's) this week. I know SMILES started three weeks ago but we were gone and then I had my kidney surgery so I missed the first three weeks. But man I am I glad to have gone today. I was feeling under the weather with a cold, but decided to go anyway since I had missed to much already. Truly God was at work this morning. We all got dressed and ready on time, everyone was happy and not complaining on the way to church and checked in on time.

I felt blessed to be able to sit at a table I am at. It is a good mixture of ladies I know, ladies I don't know, and ladies that I recognize but have never spoken to. There is comfort in all of those! I am glad my good friend Cassie was there with me though, she always makes things easier.

I was surprised this morning by how emotional I was. I know this sounds like a funny statement because generally I am an emotional person. Now I was there to be clarification here, I am not just emotional in a "crying" way. I love to laugh, smile, love, cry, and get angry. Anyway back to my story. This morning the woman leading the study... I can't even remember her name now... that's bad huh?... anyway, she was talking about how God has been healing her through a loss in her life. Her loss was a pregnancy at 16 weeks. This hit me like a ton of bricks!

Before I was blessed with my wonderful children, I had three miscarriages. All second trimester and all very difficult for me. Because of life at the time, I don't know if I have ever dealt with my true emotions about my losses. Because I was not in a place in my life that was God seeking, I think I was not able to allow Him to heal me as I tried to let time heal me.

This morning shed a light on to my path. Although it has been years, and I have three wonderful boys, I am still mourning the loss of three other babies. Over the years I have been close to other women who have suffered the loss of their babies and it has always brought up the hardest feelings for me to deal with. And I now realize that because I had not allowed God to heal me, I was not able to be a true friend to those when they needed me. How could I give words to encourage God's healing when I have not allowed God to heal me? This morning I resolved to allow God to heal my wounds... no matter how old they are.

I still grieve....

Just one of those weeks....??

Have you every had just one of those weeks... you know the ones where you feel like they should be over but its only Tuesday? Where you are just tired? Where you feel like there are a million things to do but you are not motivated to do any of them? Where you just feel "blah"?

That is me this week.... I am in a funk I think and I know I just need to snap out of it but for some reason that is harder to do than one would think. So here I am, 10:50pm... awake and frustrated that I can't sleep because I can't turn off my mind. Some things I am thinking about right now:

1. Why am I so emotional?
2. How can I have a less emotional conversation with my husband, certainly he is not as emotional as I, therefor the emotion ends up being one sided and I'm the only one upset?
3. How can I be a better communicator?
4. Laundy..... laundry.... laundry....
5. My babysister is moving... to THAILAND.. yes THAILAND PEOPLE!!! I am super excited that she is going... because I know how much it means to her to go, but I am sad at the same time. Who am I am going to google chat with at 1:00am if she is gone??
6. Why do my muscles have to hurt so bad....??

7. Why do I sound so whinny in my head???

8. Gosh I wish I was sleeping now....

9. Please God don't let me be getting sick... my throat is killing me!

So that is just the top of the list... really I could go on and on but that is probably why I am not sleeping.... lol...

I am going to change my week! I want to have a good week, a good attitude, more patience, more fun, and more smiles! I want to be out of my funk!!

Good night!

Sorry its been so long...

Gosh it feels like forever since I last blogged! Anyway, here are the reasons why I have been MIA....

We were in Reno for a week with limited Internet access and then we were in Carson City at my grandparents who don't have wireless access so no internet basically...lol! Then when we got home I had my kidney stone removed which was harder than I thought it would be. Felt like I got hit by a truck the first two days. Anyway, I think things are getting back to nomal so I am hoping to pick back up blogging... even though I have made a resolve to not be on the computer so much during the day. It was really actually very nice without it, less of a distraction and more time with the boys! I loved it!

Anyway, hope this finds you all well and I will post some fun pictures from out vacation maybe at nap time!

XOXO

Labor Day...

So I am really behind in getting this post out, but to be honest,I am still recovering from a long weekend. It was a great one though. With my sister leaving in a little over a month to live in Thailand, we have been trying to get in as much time together as a family as possible.

Friday night my parents were so great to bring dinner over here to us, we hung out and ate yummy food. (Thank you Iron Chef Mom) Then Saturday we celebrated Father's Day...LOL... We had planned to take my Father in Law to an Angels game for Fathers day but it was not going to work out so we did his second favorite thing, had good steak! Melissa and Macha came up from LA and we hung out all evening. Macha made the best corn on the cob ever! He boiled it first until it was almost done and then put it on the grill to finish it off. While it was on the grill he brushed it with Soy Sauce which made it AMAZING!! It was great to spend time with the Huff/Suzuki family. I always enjoy our conversations...

Sunday was filled with lots of stuff. We went to see our good friends daughter get dedicated in the morning at Sonlife church in Apple Valley and then went over to their house for a BBQ. It was a nice relaxing time. We always laugh a lot with them so it makes any day fun! Then we went to my parents, who live around the corner from our friends, and hung out with my sister and her boyfriend Geoff. We ended up playing one of our favorite games, Settlers of Catan, that we did not get to finish because it was so late. My mom was awesome and let us keep it set up all night so we could finish in the morning.

Monday was BBQ time!! The older boys, Jake and Carter, wanted to spend the night with Nana and Papa so Ricky and I got to sleep in. We headed over around 10 am and when Geoff got there at noon we finished our game! He won again!! Stinking Geoff! Before he leaves for Japan he is going to need to get beat so he does not go on thinking he is the KING of Cattan!

Monday afternoon was filled with family and amazing friends. We ate good food, laughed, played in the pool, and took naps. Played Scrabble (ya I lost again) and Scategories! We stayed until it was time for bed for the little ones and then headed home! We were all asleep by 9:00pm! It was a great day!

I have pictures from hanging out on Monday so I will post those later. Noah wants to eat... so off I am go to take care of that! Hope you all had an amazing weekend!

"Everything happens for a reason....."

How many times have we heard this said to us? When something horribe, out of our control and sad happens... people often say, "well, everything happens for a reason..." or "God has a plan, and it all happened for a reason." But when you are in the moment... doesn't that just feel like something people say? To me it does... Even though I am guilty of saying it as well. I think sometimes people just don't know what to say so that is what comes out.

Most recently I was thinking back to some (at the time) sad things that had happened in my life. Things that were out of my control and were devistating to me. My heart was broken, my life was changed and I thought at the time that there was no good reason for why this was happening to me and to my little guy Jake. But its amazing how God changes your heart. How He has already planned out how it will all come together.

There was a reason, and that reason has been revealed to me recently. As I sat in church on Sunday night, it was the most interesting thing. To my right was the man that I love more than any other human, EVER. My wonderful husband. He has truly been the biggest blesssing in my life. His gentle spirit, his tender heart, his sense of humor, ( I could go on and on.... really I could.. ) He is amazing. Then to my left, there sat a woman with whom my past has been rocky. She is currently married to my ex-husband (Jake's dad). While things have been really rough the past three years, God has slowly healed my heart and allowed a type of friendship to grow there. With her sat my ex-husband. As I sat inbetween my past and my present/future God spoke amazing things to my heart.

Sunday night I learned the reason that "everything happens for a reason". Its because the past to my left could not and would not have been able to cope with the things that God has chosen for my life. The challenges and struggles that have been and the ones to come, God knew I needed Ricky. He knew I needed him. Not only that, but God knew that for whatever reason, the people to my left would not have been there, that night, listening to that service unless, "everything happens for a reason". Its amazing the peace that comes with clarity.

I am thankful formost for my God, who has a plan. I am thankful for the man that God has placed by my side forever. Ricky is truly something to be thankful for. I am even thankful for how my past has come full circle and through the grace of God we are able to share Jesus' love with two very important people in my son's life.

So....

Since its 2:10am and I can't sleep.... I thought I would upload more pictures for everyone to look at of my kiddos! I am really camera happy right now....

Jake kickin' it with Momman Penguin watching the Olympics! He loves the beach Volleyball cause if the player from the USA, his name is Jake too!
Carter's MySpace Photo.... LOL.. I laughed so hard when this came out!

My Little Noah... Smiling... makes mommy smile too!

Looking forward to this weekend...

I really need a weekend of relaxing! So this weekend we are just hanging out. We are going to our good friends for a late lunch on Saturday and Sunday we are just hanging out at my parents! Should be a good, relaxing time. We all need some time to just hang out and be with eachother!!

As I look forward to what next week holds, it only makes me charish this weekend of relaxing more.

Monday- Shots and Check up for Noah

Tuesday- Shots and Check up for Carter, dinner with friends

Wednesday- Small Group

Thursday- I have a hair appointment (yay!!)

Friday- Thinking of taking off for the weekend with the kids.... maybe to the beach!

Busy, crazy week!

Some new Pictures!!

Carter "trapped" and Jake helping!

A little outdoor time with daddy in the POOL!

Mr. Noah... getting to be so BIG!! Already 3 months old and lots of smiles for mommy!

The weekend...

So on Saturday, I got to hang out with Mom. Since Ricky and my Dad went to CORE racing in Pomona we decide to have a girls day. We went down to Victoria Gardens and had lunch then did some shopping. Nothing crazy since I had the two smaller boys with me.

Carter was such a trooper in the heat, he loves his stroller and I am so proud of him.
He makes me laugh the way he loves to people watch. He would rather do that than play with a toy or anything else while we out. He just loves to watch what people are doing!

Noah does not care for the heat at all so that was a little harder. He does not sleep well in the car seat so I held him until he fell asleep and then put him in the stroller. That worked for about 30 min then he was up and wanted to be held again. Silly little guy!

I exchanged a dress that I bought that was too big and got two shirts instead. I really love one but I am going to take the other one back.. it fits weird! With two kids its hard to try on at the store so I just normally get my size and go. Lucky for me my mom works close so she can take it back again for me.... huh... shopping.. is that really all that fun??

I loved hanging out with my mom! It was such a nice time of talking and hanging out. We should try to make time for that more often. Both of us are so busy that often times special times like that get pushed aside but they are important to me and mean so much. We talked about lots of fun stuff! So naturally when Ricky got home I asked him how his time with my dad was, and what they talked about? He looked at my funny. And this is how our conversation went....

"What did you and my dad talk about?"

'What do you mean?"

'I mean WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT? Did you talk about my sister's new boyfriend? How does he feel about that? What about my sister moving to Thailand? Did he say how he felt about that?"

"Well I guess we talked about that. We talked about mom's new job...."

"Oh ya? How does he feel about that???"

"My goodness, we are not girls! You are asking me questions like we sat there and had a conversation like two women.... I did not ask him how he felt about it all. It was more like. Oh hey do you like Geoff? ya I do. Cool. Julie has been working down the hill now cause her new job.... Oh ya? what kind of gas mileage is her car getting now?"

I guess their time was a little different then mine and mom's but still they had a good day and so did we. Guys and girls are so different it makes me laugh!

How to do... is there a google search for this??

How to?? How to?? This is the question that rolled through my mind last night at 7 over and over... How to raise the Godly man Tom is talking about? With three boys, last nights message on being Masculine, truly Masculine, according to how God designed men, was by far one of the most interesting and captivating messages I have heard, EVER. I know he kept saying he was talking to the men... not the ladies. But I was listening. With three boys 3 and under, my heart is continually longing to know how to raise them to be Godly men. How do I instill in them the desire to be all that God created them to be?

This is something that continually is on my heart... the unknown of being a parent is amazing. God gives you these little humans and in return He wants you to mold them and shape them into what He has already pre-wired them to be. But at the same time allowing them to grow, make mistakes, get hurt, etc. HOW TO??

I thought last night was great... but it still leaves me with questions?? When Tom was talking about Drew and how he knew not to make him docile and meek... how did he know that? Who told him that? What is the balance? Between fighting all the time, everything is a weapon and raising a warrior who will fight the enemy and protect his family?

I feel like this is going to be my quest.... to figure out the HOW TO?? and do it!! Please pray for me as a mom and a wife. That God would show me HOW TO and I would be able to thrive in that, thus my boys thriving in their God designed Masculinity.

Saturday at the lake...

Since my in-laws live in Spring Valley Lake, we have a guest pass to the lake and parks which I use during the week a lot with the kids. But this morning I thought it would be a fun thing for us to take the kids over and BBQ on one of the pits they have there and play! So we got all our chores done this morning, kids took a good nap and then about 4:00pm we headed over to the park/beach area at the lake. Ricky's parents came, it was nice to visit with them and as always they played lots with the boys!

Getting the grill going in that wind was such an adventure! We had brought the coal, which was match light, but not any lighter fluid since you are not suppose to need any! Well with the wind going the matches would just blow out before Ricky could get the coal's going. Not sure how, but we ended up talking to a guy who was just finishing grilling at another pit about our troubles and he offered us his fuel! So in an attempt not to move all our picnic stuff, I downed a Pepsi, Ricky cut off the top of the can, loaded it up with HOT coal's from the other pit and walked them across the park to ours. I think he did this like 4our 5 times until we had enough hot coal's burning and it eventually got the grill going... such an adventure and my thrifty and creative hubby was the hero of dinner!

Jake had his first hot dog on a BUN, with mustard and ketchup which he only ate about half of, thank goodness for my little garage pit Carter, he came right in behind him and finished it off! Jake got to play paddle ball with Ricky and Grandpa, and also go and put his feet in the water down on the beach. I had forgotten his suit so just feet today!

Carter decided he wanted to teach himself how to climb up onto the picnic table... and by the end of the afternoon he had done it! I think I felt actually sick to my stomach knowing he could get up on that and still he does not have good balance even on his feet! He is a climber though... in the past week he has really decided that is the favorite thing to do so he is climbing up onto the couch, standing on chairs, walking across the ottoman... its really scary for me! Carter also played in the sand which mostly ended up in his blonde little hair but he had a good time. I don't think he has ever been more dirty that he was when we got home! Carter also learned a new word today... He can clearly say "Bubble" which was fun to hear over and over and over!

Noah did good considering the wind. Between me and Grandma Jean he ate good and slept most of the time. We even got a little free time when we were able to come up with a tent like spot for him to lay down on the blanket and be blocked from the wind while he slept for about 30 min. He is cat napper not a real napper so 30 was good!

All in all it was a fun time! Good time with the kids, good time with Ricky's parents and a great time with my hubby! Something so cute about his standing over a fire pit BBQing...

Oh did I mention that Ricky and I played a form of paddle ball too... but this was the parent version. Dodging Jake with his paddle and Ricky holding Carter in one arm... it was so fun!

I really want to do more things like this with our boys! I want to create memories for them of times that we took them places and hung out. Taught them new things, ate new things, talked about new thing. It is something that I think about a lot... wanting to make sure that we are creating memories with our kids that will last them a lifetime! I can't wait until the babies are just a little older and outings are not as much work for us and more fun for them! I think the Zoo is next. Jake loves the animals and Carter has not been since he was a little guy so it should be fun!

What are some of your favorite things to do with your family?

Date night... with my honey!

So on Friday night we had a a wonderful evening planned. Ricky had bought me tickets to see Les Miserables In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. For those of you who have not been to this venue, its amazing. The atmosphere here is like non other. The bowl was built all the way back in 1922, but still has a sophisticated feel that is not matched by another venue locally.

Here is the view from the seats of the main stage, at night this is amazing looking. But the best part is by far the seating arrangement. It is not the most comfortable seating, by far. Wooden benches in the top three sections. Box seating has chairs, with padding (next time honey!!)

Here is the view of the Bowl from the air! Its amazing! It is very steep which is hard to get into

the picture. I would recommend everyone see something at this venue at least once, just because! And one of the best parts is you can bring in any food or beverages that you would like. All over you will see people with picnic baskets and wine, while they do sell some snack items there, it is so much fun to pack up all your favorites and enjoy them during the show.

Back to our date night.... so last year for our 1st anniversary we went to see John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Joans, etc. composer) conduct the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl and before hand we went to eat at an amazing little place in Burbank. Chadaka Thai has to be my favorite food and place to eat all in one. The atmosphere is so hip and fun, but the food is matched by no other place I have ever eaten. So all year I had been craving and trying to re-create Chadaka Thai in my kitchen. Last night my sweet husband treated me to another dinner date before the show at Chadaka Thai. Its so much fun to hang out with him. He is so thoughtful and caring and always is thinking about what I would like to do, see, or experience. He really made it an amazing night for me!

We had the pleasure of having my sister-in-law and her new hubby come with us to both dinner and the show, which was a special surprise and treat! They are so much fun and its such a blessing to see them loving being married and loving each other. The two of them are so funny too, so it keeps the laughs coming non-stop. Example: We are on the bus (remote parking for the bowl is way better than the stacked parking at the venue) to take us over to the bowl and they had decided that the floor of the bus was lava.. you know like you use to do when you were a kid... and you could not touch it or your would melt? Anyway, they held their feet up the entire ride and were in competition to see who would last longer. So as we pulled into the Bowl, neither had touched. Wanting to win Melissa jumps onto Ricky's back and he carries her off the bus. ALSO not wanting to melt... Macha holds onto the polls and climbs on the seats from the back of the bus to the front and jumps off like he does it everyday! It was so funny to watch them be silly and having a great time! Thanks for your amazing company, Mr & Mrs Suzuki! We love you both... see you Wednesday!

Honey, thank you for my amazing birthday present! By far the best part of the evening was just being together. Thank you for making that happen! And for the Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice... WOW!

Making babies....?!?!

I had to laugh out loud today when my mother-in-law sent me this email about why Grandparents love grandkids so much... here is what one of the cute stories said

A second grader came home from school and said to her
grandmother, 'Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies
today.' The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried
to keep
her cool. 'That's interesting,' she said, 'how do you make babies?''It's
simple,' replied the girl. 'You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'.'

Hope you all enjoyed that as much as me!!

Books...

I am so excited! Yesterday I got two new books... (thanks Bubba)! Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson and The Measure of a Woman by Gene and Elaine Getz.

Ricky and I are both going to read Reforming Marriage.... Our really good friends the Giles recommended it to us... so far so good! And my friend Cassie and I are going to read through The Measure of a Woman together... kind of like two chapters a week and talk about it. I am really excited!

There have been so many times in my life, in my marriage, being a parent, a friend, a woman in general that I have thought "Am I doing this right? Is this what God meant?" I am excited to read some people's perspective on these issues and gain insight from them. I am excited to learn. I think that is something I really enjoy... learning. Learning without the writting of papers or exams... but just good ol' learning. Maybe I will take a class non-credit... just to learn. Something that I am really interested in... maybe child development or something like that... hum?? Idea!!!

Anyway, just wanted to share what was on the night stand right now! Going to go watch So You Think You Can Dance with my hubby.... LOL... I LOVE THAT SHOW!!!

Good NIGHT!

Aunie Melissa and Uncle Chacha Get HITCHED!!

Most of you know already that Ricky's sister and her wonderful fiance' tied the knot on the 19th of July... but I did not have my camera so there were no photo's from me! Anyway, we just got the almost 700 that were taken at the wedding. While I have yet to make it through them all... here are a couple of Jake, Ricky, and some of the bridal party which I love. There are some really sweet ones of Melissa and Macha alone.. but I wanted to ask before I shared those with everyone!

Hope you enjoy!

Ps. Besides Ricky and I's wedding... this one was at the top of my list... we danced and had a blast but better than that... I have never seen Melissa or Macha so excited and happy. It truly blessed me to be able to be a part of it!

Marriage....

Last night at 7 was amazing!! Tom did an amazing job of being direct and honest about how God designed marriage. I loved it! What are the roles, how that play into our society's view on marriage and especially woman, and how to fulfill our roles the way God designed them. It was eye opening. It sparked great conversation between Ricky and I last night.. I think we talked until he fell alsleep...lol...which sounds funny... but it was a good long time past our bedtime!

I whispered to Ricky during the service, I wish the couple's retreat was more like this message! It was soo goooood! I wanted more.. .more info.. more of what a Godly marriage looks like. More of how to be a Godly wife. I am looking forward to the rest of the series, but to be honest, my heart longs for a branch off... I know it would be hard considering not everyone is married at 7 but it would really cool for all the young married couples to have some clarity!

Anyway, it was really great. It will be available to listen to online at 2:00pm today... here is the link... just in case you missed it! What a great service!

Making me WHOLE

This morning was one of those mornings for me. Seems like everyone woke up in a bad mood.... Noah was fussy, Carter was whinning about everything, daddy was frustrated.... which in turn always make me a little on edge. Know we have a full day ahead of us, Birthday parties and church + BBQ after... I needed more morning coffee and some quiet time. I am lucky to get an email devotional every morning... this works out good for me since I am an email junkie!

Anyway, this morning it was about the woman who touched Jesus' garmet and was made clean. She was healed. And she was healed because she believed and professed her faith by coming out of the home she was banished to, into a crowd of people who had called her "unclean" and shunned her for over 12 years. You can read the entire story in Luke 8... short but meaningful and for some reason hit me hard this morning.

Maybe I need healing? Over the past couple of days... well mostlty this week each one of the email devotions and my email from The Generous Wife lady has all been to me in some way or another about healing. I have been praying for healing this week.

It seems weird to share such personal information on such a public forum but if I am honest... I need this outlet. I need to be able to share without feeling like I even care if someone thinks I am weird or wants to tell me how to fix me... Only God can fix me and I am so thankful for that! But for some reason I do want to share. If only to be completely honest... to be able to real.

I think for quite some time I have felt like I am not good enough to be blessed with such an amazing husband and family. I know that it is Satan trying to mess with my head... and honestly he has gotten to me. For sometime now I have felt unworthy of the love that I receive from Ricky and the kids. My heart has been burdened by that. It has been a real thing for me, Satan bringing up things from the past, mistakes that I have made, people that I have hurt, lives that I have impacted, people I have judged, etc. And for the most part, makes me feel really lousy about myself. This is something that I am truly striving to change. But I have realized this week that this is not something I can change alone... I need my God. I need Him to make me Whole. I need his healing, I need his forgiveness, I need his love, only HE can change my heart.

So I guess I am stepping out, into the crowd, and touching Jesus' garmet. In hopes that he will make me Whole. - Funny, that song, by Hillsong, "From the Inside Out" just came into my mind.

A thousand times I've failed- Still Your mercy remains- And should I stumble again- I'm caught in Your grace- Everlasting Your light will shine when all else fades- Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame

My amazing husband!!!

There are so many wonderful things about my husband.... I am not sure where to start. When I think about how much he does for me, for our boys, for his family, for his friends and for my family. As I sit here, I wish the words would come, but to be honest, I am not sure there are words to describe how much he means to the people around him.

To me, he is my best friend. The love of my life. He has the most tender, loving, forgiving heart. He is a provider, a leader, and I could not love another person more.

To our boys, he is what I want them to be when they are men. He shows them how to love with all their hearts, to love the Lord with all they have, and to be respectful of others. If our boys turn out like him I will be the luckiest person in the world.

I am so thankful for the love he shows me on a daily basis.... so thankful that I don't know if there are words to describe how I feel.

Truly, the Lord has blessed me beyond any expectation.

Stop and Smell the Roses.....

This morning I have been thinking about fast life can move and how hard it is to enjoy the moments that we are given. It seems like with the warm weather comes a crazy schedule for us and most of the people that we know... I know that for me, when this happens, I tend to buckle down and be extremely focused... but I also know that when I do this... I miss some of the small things that happen. I know in my own life this can happen with God too.. I get so busy worrying about how the house looks, what we are having for dinner, are the kids dressed nicely, am I giving enough to my husband, my family, and my friends... and I often get so distracted that I don't focus on God and what he has for me today. Am I taking the time to pray? To praise him for what he has blessed me with?

AM I TAKING THE TIME TO JUST PRAISE HIM FOR WHO HE IS???

Most likely not... I am going to do my very best to focus on God this week... To stop and smell the roses that God has placed in my life for a reason...

Thank you lord.... thank you for the small things... Thank you for the look on my husbands face when his sister walked down the isle, thank you for the blessing of a new brother in law... thank you for the blessing that we are allowed to go to church with our families. Thank you for my children, thank you for their health, thank you for all the small things that mean the world to me! Help me to be able to slow down and enjoy them more!

Wedding...Wedding...Wedding....

So we are in full wedding mode! With only THREE more days until my amazing sister-in-law ties the knot... we are in full swing... last min everything! The flowers came yesterday just in time for us to be able to swing up to Lake Arrowhead and ready the cabin for their first couple days as husby and wifey! That was so much fun to spend the day with my mother in law Jean and the bride herself! So this morning after I finish the sequence of events... I am finally getting to use my wedding coordination certificate.... we are going to get a mani/pedi and a body scrub! I got a body scrub when I was getting married and I felt like butter for days... so I wanted her to have the same...!!

Anyway, I better be off to get the house cleaned up since its going to be a busy weekend and it gets out of control so FAST!!!

PS... this picture is so funny to me! They took them we took our Huff family pictures but its SSOOOOO not them... they are so fun loving and not cookie cutter at all this super traditional picture makes me laugh every time I see it! LOL!

Mornings....

I guess you could say that I am not a morinng person. I would love to sleep until 9:00am every morning... with three little ones that has become something of the past. Anyway, this morning was so sweet... Jake came and got in bed with me when I was feeding Noah... I got up for a second and when I came back... they were laying together and Noah was smiling at his big brother. It was so sweet....made being up way to early worth it!

MIA.... Sorry

So the last couple of days I have been MIA because Noah was admitted to the hospital for a fever.... on Saturday night we noticed he felt warm so we took his temp and it was 100.4, which was right at the limit for his age. So to be on the safe side we took him to the ER at St. Mary' Medical Center. They saw us right away and by the time we got there his temp was up to 100.8F. They ran some tests and started and IV with antibiotics. This is where mommy lost it... not because we have not been through this all before, and some worse, but because the nurse that was starting his IV... well lets just say... I was not happy. She smelled like smoke... she was not very nice and when she went to start the IV should would not stop poking him. In and out she pulled the needle... his heart rate was over 220 and he was turning purple from not breathing. We asked her to stop several times and she completely ignored us. We started nice and then got more and more stern with our requests for her to stop poking him. I was very angry and upset. As soon as she left the room I walked over to the charge nurse and told him that we did not want her to come back in the room, we wanted a new nurse and we did not her to touch our son again. From then on it was ok. We got the NICU nurse to come down and start the IV and take blood. Then we were admitted to the pediatric unit where everyone was amazing. Dr. Sharma came to see him on a regular basis and we were very pleased with the level of his care and could not have asked for anything else.

Some it comes down to it and it is just a fever, not anything else to worry about and we got to come home this morning. He is sleeping and eating good so we are all happy! Mommy stayed around the clock with Noah as he does not yet know how to take a bottle. I am happy to be home with my other boys!

Thanks to Mindy and Marcos for lunch yesterday!!! Love you guys!!!

Smiles....

Noah Grayson is 8 weeks old today... and this morning he melted my heart. I had just finished feeding him, so we cuddled into bed like we do every morning... for a little snuggle time before the other kids get up. Anyway, I was talking to him and he was looking right at me with those big dark blue eyes. His nick name is "puppy" because when he cries he sounds like a newborn puppy... its so cute! Anyway, I told him he was my favorite "puppy" and he looked right at me and smiled! I know... I know... its just a smile... but when each of the other boys started smiling it melted my heart too.... there is something about those first couple of smiles. So here is a picture of my beautiful baby boy... I am so blessed!

PICTURES!!!!

So since my camera has been broken we have been behind on pictures... BUT.... Grandma Jean got a new Camera and has been picture happy... so she burned me what she had so far... mostly of the kids... lol... and I wanted to share some of them!










This is Carter when he was really sick... mostly he just layed on daddy!









Mommy and Daddy on Father's Day!! He is so cute!









This is so funny.... Jake Eating the FISH

..... The fish eating JAKE!

I will try to post some more later... hope you enjoy!

House Hunting!!!

So we have decided to look into buying a new house!! We have out grown this one and really need some more space. Since it is such an amazing time to buy we have decided to put the feelers out there.... we are looking all over the high desert and have found some really great homes. We are just praying that God leads us in the right direction and that it will all work out.

We will need to rent our current home... so if anyone knows some really great people who are looking to rent a 3/4 bedroom 2 bath home for $1350 a month! Please feel free to pass along my email address Rickysgrl@gmail.com

We are excited to see what God has for us and if this will all work out!

So much FUN!!

Today we had such a fun day! The kids had some friends over... ok ok... mommy had her friends over and the kids all played together! Everyone, except Carter, had a blast in the little pool and I really enjoyed chatting with Heidi and Emily. I think every stay at home mom needs a play date... to keep us sane... to remind us that we are not alone... to laugh about how crazy we sometimes feel... and remember how blessed we are to stay at home with our babies!

Thank you Emily, Jager, Heidi, Caleb, Katherine & Justin for a fun day! Lets do it again soon!

Summer FUN!!!

Yesterday we went and got some fun things to play with outside! Here are a few pictures from this afternoon of us playing! Jake loved playing in his new pool, Carter however wanted nothing to do with the water. I don't think he likes the cold water at all... ENJOY!!!

My camera....

IS BROKEN!!! So... for now... we will be pictureless.... STINK!

Contentment....??? What is that??

So this morning I was reading Philippians 4 and this verse stuck out in my head....

vs. 12 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have
plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
whether living in plenty or in want"

And then I started thinking.... have I learned the secret of being content? hum.... probably not. So I went back... went back to the entire chapter of Philippians 4 and started looking for the "secret"... my thought.. why would Paul say "I have learned the secret..." but not share the secret? He must have already shared it and I missed it. So back I went. The following is what I found and struck me as steps on the way to contentment.

1. Rejoice Always- "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4)!

2. Don't Worry- "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6).

3. Guard Your Thoughts- "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

How often do I spend time pondering on the negative? The shortcomings of my house, my husband, my kids, MYSELF, my friends.... etc. Today I want to focus on the good. Guard my thoughts, Rejoice, and don't worry! For this I believe is the secret that Paul was talking about in Philippians... and I pray that I will find true contentment.

Officially... its Roseola!

So Carter got up from his nap this afternoon with a rash! While it might seem weird that I am excited... I AM! Just knowing thats what it is makes me feel better. He is done with the fever, he is not contagious at all... and has made the turn to feeling better. His Auntie KrissyJo will be here on Thursday so we are praying that happy little Carter will be back to normal to visit with his Auntie!

Feeling a little better... Yay! for Carter

His fever finally broke last night! He had a pretty rough night sleeping but has made up for it this morning... its 8:45 and he is still sleeping!

I got a weird urge to clean last night... at 6:30pm I started on our bedroom! we don't have any storage at all in our room, no dresser or anything so it can get out of hand fast... but it was really bugging me so last night Noah and I ran to Costco, got storage tubs to pack some stuff away in, and then headed home to work on the room. Ricky and I knocked it out last night and it looks and feels amazing to have my room back to normal.

I think today we are going to work on the play room. How do three little boys have so many toys! I need some kind of storage unit for them all... anyone have suggestions??

Carter is so sick!

If everyone could keep Carter in your prayers... he has had a 103+ temp for most of the past three days. We took him to Urgent Care on sat and then to his regular pediatrician today. They decided to run some blood work and so we are waiting on that. He has been pretty sad, which makes mommy and daddy sad! He wants to be held and loved on since he is not feeling good so I am so thankful that daddy stayed home today to help me. With Noah needing to eat every like 2 hours still and Carter wanting to be held all the time... it makes for a challenging day!

Once we get the results from his blood work this afternoon we should know what the plan will be. They are thinking it might be Roseola, but not sure so we will wait it out. I'll update when I know more!

Thanks for your prayers!

Amazing.... lol

How is it that a three year old knows more than I do... ABOUT EVERYTHING!!! It seems to me lately that I don't do anything correct, according to my little man Jake. Not even eat popcorn... and then it dawned on me... I thought I knew more than my mom too... until I had my own children... now I know that I can never know as much as my mom. Someday this will dawn on Jake and my other son's. Until then, I guess I will live my life eating my popcorn the wrong way, not knowing what is the correct right hand and left hand, and not drinking the correct soda at lunch. LOL!

Daddy's back at work....

Sniff Sniff... I think I was spoiled having my wonderful husband home with me this whole time.... so now that he has gone back to work I am missing him something crazy! Not just because he is so helpful, but becaus I miss his company... he makes me laugh! I love the way he plays with the boys, I know I can never compair in their eyes to how much fun daddy is.

All in all I think we are doing reasonably well though. We are already on our way to a good day. Baths are done, lunch is done, Carter is down for his nap.. and Jake will go down for his in about 30 min! Noah is ready for his lunch now so I better get going...

I am so thankful for this day, knowing I can do this... three boys all alone... has been a great morning! Thank you Lord!

Carter is WALKING!!!

We are so excited for our little guy!! He has finally started walking..... mostly to keep up with his brother who is always running and play. His tentative steps have turned into him walking across the entire living room area and laughing most of the time. He thinks it is so funny how everyone gets so excited and then he gets excited... and then falls!

We are so proud of him!!!

Here is the newest picture of Noah... he is sleeping like a champ... ONLY DURING THE DAY.... but soon enough he will get the hang of it!

So grateful!

My goodness.. I am so lucky to have my hubby home with me while we are getting use to having all three kids! This morning, some how, he managed to keep all three of them quiet enough for me to sleep until 9:00am!! I am so lucky!

With all three sleeping now... I am off to take a nap... hopefully we will be prepaired for a good night and things will start to fall into place with some kind of a schedule... I guess mostly Noah will have to fit into a schedule that we have had for some time... I keep thinking so much will be different but I guess in reality not that much has changed and things will be fine when daddy goes back to work!

We were so blessed to have dinner with more good friends last night... the food was good and the company was good!

Adjustments!!

So after two nights at home with three (oh wait FOUR) boys... I think I am getting the hang of it... SLOWLY! And with help from my wonderful husband! I actually feel more human today than I have in a while..... Noah is still getting the hang of sleeping here in his new bed... but I think that he will be a pro in no time! He is a eating pro which makes mommy so happy!

Last night we got to enjoy a wonderful and FUNNY dinner with our dearest friends, Alan and Cassie and my princess Elizabeth! They are always so much fun to be around... so relaxed like being with family... we are blessed to have them back close to us!

Our small group has been awesome, getting food organized for these first two weeks at home... we are looking forward to spending time with all of them as we are so blessed by their time and friendship! Noah is looking forward to meeting everyone too!

Jake has been amazing with his new brother! He is so PROUD of him and loves every min of the time he is holding him, which unless mommy is feeding or Jake is playing cars, is all the time! He loves to hold him. Stays so still and tells Noah over and over how "cute you are" and "I love your dark hair like mine".... seriously... that is enough to make a mommies heart burtst! Even just watching them be together I tear up... I am sure some of that is post baby hormones too but I still love it!

Carter is not as sure about this new little "thing" in our house! He does not want to touch him, and really just laughs at him when we show him his new baby.... I am sure that he will grow into the idea... although he is not showing signs of being unhappy that Noah is here... I am just not sure that he knows what is going on yet! On another exciting note... CARTER has taken his first couple of steps... the first ones were to mommy and daddy both from Grandma Jean... and the second set were to his Auntie Huna... he mostly thinks its funny!

I think there is a pattern with Carter... he just loves to laugh and is so easy going that he is not in a rush to get anything done!

I am sad the weather is bad... I was thinking a trial run of me getting out of the house with all three kids before daddy goes back to work might be a good idea but with the weather like this... I think we will be staying in!

Anyway, I will try to post more pictues soon! There are some great ones from when Noah came home and Jake was holding his brothers!

HOME!!!

We got an AWESOME surprise last night.... during rounds.... I asked a lot of questions about what at TRUE Brady was and once we got to talking there was a realization that what had happened to Noah was not a TRUE Brady... so as long as he did not have another one... which he had not... and continued to not.... until today at 11:30am... he could come home!

SO, we are beginning our first night at home! Noah is home and we could not be more excited! Both sets of Grandparents... two of the three aunties... and some close friends were here to welcome him home. We shared a lovely dinner and watched the LAKERS win.... all with little NOAH in our arms!


We are so blessed to be all under one roof! Thank you LORD!

News from LLCH

So for the last couple of days we have been working on Noah's feedings... he is required to eat a certain amount each day before he can come home. This comes out to about 45 cc every three hours. This has been a challenge for him as he gets very sleepy very quickly. Yesterday he reached his goal of eating and we are so proud of him!


Last night and this morning we had a set back.... Twice in the middle of the night while feeding and once this morning... Noah did what is called a Brady... this is where his heart rate drops below a normal level. He comes out of this on his own without assistance or oxygen but it also means that he will have to stay until that is resolved. There are several reasons that he might be doing this, so it is hard to have a fix for it. It could be that he has to much milk in his mouth and then can't get air.... or that he is so tired from being pushed on the eating that he falls into a deep sleep which then causes his heart rate to drop if he is eating at the same time. Either way, we are looking at another five days min... from his last Brady which was this morning at 11:30am.

My heart is so sad that we have had this step backwards after feeling so excited that we might come home this week. But I know that God has a plan for our little family and that He is taking good care of Noah and his needs right now.

Both of the other boys have runny noses so they are not allowed to stay at Ronald McDonald.... so Daddy is staying home with them while I am down here trying to help Noah eat and grow. We are hopeful that its just the change in weather and that we will back togeher again very soon. I know Daddy is tired and getting over a very bad ear infection as well, and I am so thankful for him and all he does for our family. He has been such a rock during this hard time in our lives.

I will do my best to keep this more updated... its been very little sleep for us right now so I am resting when I am free of nursing....

Here are a couple of pictures.... sorry the one is sideways.. I am to tired right now to figure out how to change it!

The one of Jake and Naoh... is the first time that Jake got to meet his new brother! It was such a sweet time for our family as he has been asking about him every day!

Thank you all for your prayers! We are hoping to come home next week! Love you all!