Jake's First Day of School!

So I know it has been forever since my last post... mostly because of Facebook, but I am going to try to do better at it! And what better occassion than Jake's First DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Last night, after church, we stopped at Rite-Aid and got ice cream as a special night before school starts treat! Jake was so excited..... this morning, he got to have his favorite breakfast ever, SMOOTHIES! Not a morning person himself, Jake was having a hard time getting going at 6:30am. He was so excited though once he was dressed and ready to go... he was a little worried about his hair, but we fixed that right away and then he was ready to go! With his back pack and lunch packed we loaded the kids in the car and Ricky and I headed out to Apple Valley Christian.

This was a really special moment for us, Ricky graduated from Apple Valley Christian and now Jake is attending. There was something amazing about the moment we got out of the car, realizing that Jake was here for school, not just to visit with Grandma and Grandpa.

When we were getting out of the car, he was talking talking talking to everyone. "Hi" "My name is Jake" "Today is my first day of school" "Hi" "Hi" to EVERYONE! We snuck over to see Grandma Jean while she was checking in the High Schoolers and then quick over to see Grandpa Rick in his class... Grandpa's class is only two doors away from Jake's.

I thought he would be a little nervous, but he walked right in, gave Mrs. Cooper a hug and then started wandering around the room checking it out! He put his backpack (macha bag) on the hook along with his lunch and then found his desk. My little man is sitting in front row which for some reason makes mommy so proud!

As we were getting ready to leave him for class, Mrs. Cooper asked a question, and you know what Jake did?? He raised his hand like he had been doing it his whole life and answered the question!

Hope you enjoy the pictures that I took.. I was busy being Mommy so there are only a few!

AHhh... A good time!

The last couple of days the weather has

been amazing! Now that we are all over our yuckies, I have been trying to get the kids outside more to run some of their energy off...... Yesterday we played outside most of the morning and then after naps we took about an hour long walk which was nice. I am not saying we got very far... Cause Carter wanted to "walk" all the way so in reality we only made it around the block but still it was an hour outside.

Carter is a little mini-Jake, which makes me laugh on a daily basis. Yesterday while we were walking Jake stopped to "read" a For Sale sign in the neighborhood. Carter then decided to get over to where Jake was standing and "read" the sign as well. It was super cute to see him trying to be just like big brother. We have had lots of talks with Jake about how imortant being a big brother is and the responsibility that goes along with it... he always takes it very seriously telling us that "they always want to be just like me mom, what am I gonna do?" My response: Do the right thing, always, so they will try to do the right thing too!

Noah has gotten so big over the last few weeks... he is really getting around on the floor and wants to stand up on everything! I am thinking he will be walking in no time! He has almost 10 teeth... which is the same as Carter! Ya I know! His smiles brightens my world. He is such a little sweety! He loves everyone. Loves to smile. Laugh. Play. He loves his big brothers so much and wants to "kiss" them all the time.

Here are some fun pictures of Jake and Noah.... there are none of Carter... because lately he has been running from the camera.... so here you go. Enjoy!

PS.. notice Jake's black eye! He was not the first though... Carter has already had one!

Life lately for the Huffs...

Gosh... with the new year for me came a resolve to keep my house cleaner. Most of the time it is "picked up" but I really wanted to keep it clean. Organize all the files, have a schedule for the major stuff (bathrooms, sheets, windows, etc) and it has been going great! It took me about three weeks to get completely organized and clean out all the rooms, closets, filling cabinets, desk, but once I was done it has been pretty simple to keep it up! I am so loving that if I just keep up on the little things, do one big item a day, that the house stays clean! AND it all become worth the work when this week Ricky got home from work and sat down on the couch and said "Honey, I think this is the first time, since we have been married, that I feel like our lives are more organized and less chaotic, the house looks amazing, the kids seem happy, we are getting to spend time together, thank you". I was so sweet of him to say and I could tell he meant it. While we have been super busy these last couple of weeks, it does not seem to have taken the chaotic spin that it normally does.

And now for an update on my boys:
Jake is growing up so fast I can barely stand to take my eyes off him for a min... afraid he might go away to college or something! His thought process amazes me daily! He can remember things that happened in our day to day lives like no person I have ever met... His tender heart blesses me daily. We have been attending SMILES. Its a bible study on Thursday mornings for Moms... they have a children's program and Jake loves it! Last week he made a bird on a paper plate and was so proud of it! We work three times a week on his letters, numbers, colors, matching items, etc. I have been able to see him grow in that area so much lately... like the light bulb went on. Its so special for me to be able to see his little brain growing, learning, and desiring to learn!

Carter... where to I start... he is my pistol! He is as crazy as Ricky! He has a funny sense of humor and now that he can pretty much say anything it has come out full force.... he thinks Jake is the best thing to ever come around. He wants to do everything brother does, go everywhere brother goes, and play with everything brother is playing with! This alone causes some tension but we have been able to break through most of the horrible temper tantrums with consistent time outs... basically for a while there Carter spent most of his day in time out! lol..now its much better! He has 14 teeth now... which makes me happy since I was getting scared that maybe he would only ever have 6. He got all the other ones at once and while we were on Vacation after Christmas.. I know... SPECIAL HUH?

Noah... oh my sweet boy... he has such a sweet gentle spirit about him. He rarely cries. He loves to watch his brothers play and really loves to snuggle with his momma. He is my momma's boy. He has 2 teeth on the bottom and his top two are on the way in... thus we are no longer nursing! He has taken to a bottle well, while eating solid baby food has been a challenge. He just spits it at me... and thinks its funny! I think because he has teeth and is sitting up now I am just going to put him in a high chair with mashed up what ever we are eating and let him go at it! We will see how that works out! This morning he started "scooting" along the floor in the play room and really seems to have a desire to get moving... probably to keep up with Carter and Jake. I can't believe he is already on his way to being a big boy! Where did the last 8 months go???

I am working on some pictures right now so as soon as they are done and ready I will post them. Such cute ones the last couple of weeks of the boys playing and us just be us!

Hope this post finds all of you well and enjoying 2009!

A little update...

I am finding it hard to blog these days... so that is why it has been a while. Carter on most days in sick (ears and teeth) and is a real handful for me. Noah is getting to be such a big boy now too... I have almost weaned him completely (due to his two bottom teeth... can you say ouch!) But still trying my hardest to get him to take solid foods. He is almost 8 months old and really shows no interest in it at all.. in fact he mostly enjoys spitting it out because Jake and Carter think that is so FUNNY!

Jake is becoming such a big boy as well... already he is talking about going to school and how much he would love to go to Gramma Jean's school. It amazes me the things he remembers and talks about. He can remember things from a single conversation from months and months ago... but somehow can't remember to flush the toilet?? LOL... BOYS!!

It has been so sweet to see the relationship between Carter and Jake develop into one where they truly want to be with each other and PLAY!! Just this morning Jake told Carter "Your my bestest friend Carter.... I love playing with you" to that Carter said "Ahh..." and hugged him. It was so sweet.

Carter has become such a little talker in the last month too. Oh my.. he can basically repeat what ever you say (careful mom) and often is able to communicate what he wants now with words not just throwing a tantrum. That is nice.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Decided to head up to Carson City (close to Tahoe) the day after and spend some time with my grandparents. It snowed just two days before we got there so we had a nice two feet or so to play in. Ricky and I built the fastest sled run ever! OK well maybe not ever... but ever in terms of ones I have been on. It even had a jump on which I totally bruised my tailbone. Leave it to me right? We got some great pictures and I will do my best to get them up on here as soon as I can.

Right now I am in the middle of re-organizing my house. I need more storage so that has become a priority for us. Usable storage space. Also in a few weeks we leave for Iowa where Ricky will be the best man in Lee's wedding. I have never been to the Midwest before and I am looking forward to it. Well most of it... not the -43 degree weather with wind chill... not that at all!

Hope this update finds you all well...

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!