 |
 |
| Personalize your own greeting card |
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
the first of many
It has been quite a year, well, year and nine months for us. We celebrated Cecilia's very first birthday this past week - and it has been quite an adventure. I cannot believe that the Lord has blessed us with such an amazing angel, and that He felt we were worthy enough to take care of her soul here on earth. We are truly so blessed.
We had the immense pleasure of hosting Cecilia's birthday party here at our home with our dear family who, for some of them, saw the house for the very first time! We were extremely blessed to have Michael's family and my family help us along the way with party planning and execution. It was such a fun day!
Here are some photo ops that Maggie and I took throughout the day:
It was really such a fun day, and we are so happy that we pulled off a great party with very little mishaps. It's such a joy to see this process of growing up - for Cecilia and for me. It's such an exciting trail to be on - to see what it is that she grows to love, grows to care for - what she grows to hold true and dear. What her passions may be, what will set her on fire. I cannot wait to see the fire in her eyes when she talks passionately about something, I can't wait until she looks everywhere and then some to find herself, only to go back to where she began - to look inside herself and find Him waiting for her with open arms. I can't wait to see her mischief and her attempt at deception (when, let's face it, parents always know everything). She has already given us so many laughs and so many tears of joy - I pray that the Lord grants us worthy to see her out for so many more.
We also shared some (insanely!) exciting news - WE'RE PREGNANT! Woop woop! We just couldn't resist getting pregnant again while Josh and Susie are too - I mean, what fun is just ONE new baby in the family without his best friend?? Ha - we are expecting a new little one around the end of June/beginning of July. We are so excited and thrilled to see Cecilia interact with a new baby and her new best friend. It will definitely be an insane adventure and one for many more blogs!
So that's the scoop - it may not be the planning and timing precisely as we expected, but what's the saying? - "When you make plans, God laughs."
I mean, He's been laughing since day one ;)
"I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it."
Love.
We had the immense pleasure of hosting Cecilia's birthday party here at our home with our dear family who, for some of them, saw the house for the very first time! We were extremely blessed to have Michael's family and my family help us along the way with party planning and execution. It was such a fun day!
Here are some photo ops that Maggie and I took throughout the day:
The centerpieces, filled with lemonheads, oranges and some flowers.
Nina Tiffy gave Cecilia a car for her first birthday - so that was definitely the hit of the day. Joey and Leila both had a lot of fun pushing Cecilia around the yard.
The two cuties - Cecilia and cousin Anisa. They both like stripes - obvi!
Tio Josh preventing some dead bush mishap with Cecilia's leg - thanks Tio!
Auntie Furgie and Cecilia after blowing out the candle... on the awesome cake that Auntie Lori got from La Dolce Pesca the yummiest (and most awesomely designed) cakes in town!
This is the special recipe of deliciousness upon deliciousness topped with deliciousness. Yum.
Grandpa John getting a little loopy ;)
The cousins!
Uncle Zach scared her with his beard.
Nina Tiffy giving some love.
This is us with Josh, Susie and Anisa!
It was really such a fun day, and we are so happy that we pulled off a great party with very little mishaps. It's such a joy to see this process of growing up - for Cecilia and for me. It's such an exciting trail to be on - to see what it is that she grows to love, grows to care for - what she grows to hold true and dear. What her passions may be, what will set her on fire. I cannot wait to see the fire in her eyes when she talks passionately about something, I can't wait until she looks everywhere and then some to find herself, only to go back to where she began - to look inside herself and find Him waiting for her with open arms. I can't wait to see her mischief and her attempt at deception (when, let's face it, parents always know everything). She has already given us so many laughs and so many tears of joy - I pray that the Lord grants us worthy to see her out for so many more.
We also shared some (insanely!) exciting news - WE'RE PREGNANT! Woop woop! We just couldn't resist getting pregnant again while Josh and Susie are too - I mean, what fun is just ONE new baby in the family without his best friend?? Ha - we are expecting a new little one around the end of June/beginning of July. We are so excited and thrilled to see Cecilia interact with a new baby and her new best friend. It will definitely be an insane adventure and one for many more blogs!
So that's the scoop - it may not be the planning and timing precisely as we expected, but what's the saying? - "When you make plans, God laughs."
I mean, He's been laughing since day one ;)
"I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it."
Love.
Friday, December 3, 2010
advent and the haps
Well, Advent began a couple of weeks ago and it is such a beautiful season. I have always been a self-proclaimed non-lover of Christmas, and I realized this year that the reason I dislike Christmas so much is because I've never celebrated Advent.
Onward with my determination to find Advent devotions and reflections - anything to fill my mind and center my life around the "reason for the season," as the saying goes. It has been such a wonderful journey since then - I've found some beautiful reflections, and I've even got my one and only seasonal decoration up - an Advent wreath! Ha - I definitely need to grow into Susie-homemaker and make my home a holiday extravaganza, right??
Every evening Cecilia, Mike and I light our Advent wreath and pray our daily devotion for the season. It is a beautiful time for our family, and already a tradition that I know will grow into much more and something we will all appreciate so much in the future.
So, I am in the process of waiting. Becoming ready for the coming of the Lord. It is a sacred time in my life - especially a time of patience and reverence for where He wants to be in our lives and where we allow Him to be. Opening ourselves up to what His desires are for our family and preparing for all of the joy and culmination of this season is a long journey, and a journey that we are going to take and run with even after the season is over.
With this wonderful season comes much family love, and with that comes... pictures!
So Cecilia has been taking more and more steps every day which is pretty incredible to see. At first, it took us enticing her with the iPhone and she would talk a couple steps, fall over, and start laughing her head off. But the past couple of days (when I'm not "looking" of course) she'll take a few steps to certain toys or to the couch or different things like that. But she definitely likes to do these things in private - she doesn't like the whole audience to gawk at her skills.
She's turning into such a big girl right before our eyes, and it is really incredible to see. I'm trying not to think, "where'd my baby go??" but really try to embrace the fact that she's really getting bigger - and we'll have plenty more future babies so I won't miss the baby stage TOO much ;)
She's almost 1!!! In 6 days our girl will be one. Look out world, she'll be coming for you!
In the meantime, please take advantage of this precious season, enjoy your Advent, prepare for the really beautiful feast of Christmas - not with shopping - but with the watchfulness and patience that He calls us to practice.
"May I walk each step in this moment of grace, alert to hear You and awake enough to say a simple Yes." ~Robert Corin Morris
Onward with my determination to find Advent devotions and reflections - anything to fill my mind and center my life around the "reason for the season," as the saying goes. It has been such a wonderful journey since then - I've found some beautiful reflections, and I've even got my one and only seasonal decoration up - an Advent wreath! Ha - I definitely need to grow into Susie-homemaker and make my home a holiday extravaganza, right??
Every evening Cecilia, Mike and I light our Advent wreath and pray our daily devotion for the season. It is a beautiful time for our family, and already a tradition that I know will grow into much more and something we will all appreciate so much in the future.
So, I am in the process of waiting. Becoming ready for the coming of the Lord. It is a sacred time in my life - especially a time of patience and reverence for where He wants to be in our lives and where we allow Him to be. Opening ourselves up to what His desires are for our family and preparing for all of the joy and culmination of this season is a long journey, and a journey that we are going to take and run with even after the season is over.
With this wonderful season comes much family love, and with that comes... pictures!
This is from Thanksgiving - Leila's showing us her skills on the piano :)
The three cuties all together - Leila's being a ham, of course!
Grandma being sooo silly with her favorite granddaughters. We had fun watching Mike and Josh put up the Christmas lights while Dad cooked up some yummy Thanksgiving leftovers.
I mean, the cutest. I want to bite her cheeks!
And here's our girl doing what she LOVES to do - EAT! She's been so awesome lately...
So Cecilia has been taking more and more steps every day which is pretty incredible to see. At first, it took us enticing her with the iPhone and she would talk a couple steps, fall over, and start laughing her head off. But the past couple of days (when I'm not "looking" of course) she'll take a few steps to certain toys or to the couch or different things like that. But she definitely likes to do these things in private - she doesn't like the whole audience to gawk at her skills.
She's turning into such a big girl right before our eyes, and it is really incredible to see. I'm trying not to think, "where'd my baby go??" but really try to embrace the fact that she's really getting bigger - and we'll have plenty more future babies so I won't miss the baby stage TOO much ;)
She's almost 1!!! In 6 days our girl will be one. Look out world, she'll be coming for you!
In the meantime, please take advantage of this precious season, enjoy your Advent, prepare for the really beautiful feast of Christmas - not with shopping - but with the watchfulness and patience that He calls us to practice.
"May I walk each step in this moment of grace, alert to hear You and awake enough to say a simple Yes." ~Robert Corin Morris
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
