messiness

There are just some days when I make the silly mistake of allowing a type of behavior that I simply should NOT have allowed. Recently I had one of those days.

Acaiah and Ez were over to play... which is such sweet relief for Maraeca and me, as the girls will typically play with each other and then Maraeca and I have the chance to talk to another adult instead of just our two year olds.

While the girls were playing outside, Maraeca and I were inside with the two babes. We went out to check on the girls, and this is what we discovered:

And yes, instead of telling Lia "No, we don't throw tons of dirt onto our head," I grabbed my camera and took pictures. Why did I think this was acceptable behavior?! Who knows... but I definitely learned my lesson when I had to give that dirty, dusty girl a bath, then clean the bathtub, then give her another bath.

Nasty.

77/365

"But it's nice to say that we played in the dirt, oh dear, cause here we are. We're still here... what a beautiful mess this is." ~jason mraz

blueberry fingers

76/365

You love to swing... You love blueberries... but you call them "strawberries" ... You look like you're praying here but you are really pretending to wash your hands... You are seriously one of the most beautiful creations I've ever seen... I can't believe He lent you to us.

The luckiest in the whole world.

cool wind in my hair

75/365

lions, ditches, and tina, oh my!

Recently, our Besties came over to visit us. By Besties I mean: my best friend Maraeca, Lia's best friend Acaiah, and Siena's best man, Ezra. They always bring us so much joy when they come by - such a welcomed break from our day-to-day. Here is Ezra and his mommy - who happens to be explaining Acaiah's Halloween costume (which is an adorable lion costume! And she has the "roar" down so well) :)

After this crazy game of charades with Maraeca and Ez, the girls ventured outside in the HOT HOT sun! (Thankfully, tomorrow's high will be 87! Can't wait!) The girls love to sit (yes, just sit) in the car that Nina Tiffy gave to Lia. Somehow, who knows how, because the girls aren't so great at steering themselves around the yard, Acaiah got stuck in our little ditch area! It was so funny because Maraeca, Tina and I were all inside and we looked out and there was little Acaiah, "help! help!"

Of course, I had to snap a photo before we did any "help! help!"ing.

After THOSE shenanigans, the girls ventured into our little "grotto" area. 

When Michael and I first saw the house, we thought the little grotto outside was awesome (by awesome , we mean hilarious and holy at the same time). The grotto is a place where we plan to put a Mary statue (that may be Mike's Christmas present as we have yet to get a Mary statue - and if I don't type it out here I will totally forget). But, since we don't have a Mary statue to safeguard our grotto, we just have Acaiah and Lia. Which is ironic, because they are becoming less and less holy by the second because they are 2 year olds are on a mission to be as rebellious as ever ;)

Look at this mischievous face!! You know she's planning something :) But still, can't help the cuteness. Like for reals.

This day of fun was just another day for us - another day of giggles and sighs and everything in between. These moments have been shared so much with our beautiful friend Christina. Tina (what the kids like to call her) is truly an incredible, magnificent creation from God. She is the epitome of what generous, unconditional love looks like. From the moment she was around our family, she gave all of herself to love on Cecilia, and eventually, Siena as well. I have never seen someone so open to children as much as she is. It's really unbelievable.

Not only has Tina brought so much light to our girls' lives, she has continually brightened Michael's and mine. I feel so blessed to have met such an incredible person - that the Lord would see it fitting to show me the light that she is. It can only be from Him and through Him that I was given her as a gift to my life. With that, I know that He sent her here and into my life to teach me, as all of the people in my life do. And the things I have learned from her - about cooking, about serving, about adventure, about delighting in my children... these are all things I hope to grow on from now to kingdom come.

We (I) will truly miss her more than she knows. I will always be grateful for what she has taught me, and I can't wait to take many a trip to Nashville to learn even more.

74/365

"Alongside the sadness, I was feeling something else. I was feeling free."

sweatiness

74/365

free

73/365

"in Your freedom i will live."

the freshest air

A few weeks ago, Mike and I decided to pack up the kids and take our very first family vacation :) My grandparents own a cabin up in Munds Park, just 17 miles south of Flagstaff. We drove up there right after my niece Anisa's bday party. We had a blast at her 2nd birthday party which was at a jumpy house place. Here are my parents holding their two youngest grandkids:

And here is the birthday girl with my bro and sister-in-law and sweetest ever, Pablo: 

In case you can't see Pablo's adorable onesie, here is a close-up:

Isn't it so sweet?? I want a boy JUST so I can get a faux tie onesie. In a few years, of course ;)

Anyway, we went to Anisa's bday party and then packed up and headed up to Flagstaff. It was a little bit warmer than expected, but we had a blast. It was so nice to see Lia out of our home environment and out in the fresh air. At night it was freezing so for a couple nights Lia got into our bed and cuddled up with us (more like kicked me a lot, so much that I proceeded to sleep on her mattress on the floor). Oh, but the cuddles!! ;)

We went to the neighborhood park with Grandma and enjoyed our special times together...

First family vacay = success for sure.

72/365

"Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies."

the evolution of a fall

being rebellious sitting on the tables while watching your favorite tv show = pure joy

mom asks "please get down from the tables."

the collision

...the world is literally over...

back to favorite tv show.

oh the life :)

beautiful

70/365

I am blessed beyond comprehension.

"all praises to the One who made it all... and finds it beautiful." ~gungor


ps: Check out my wonderful friend Maraeca's blog and see an adorable post and pictures of the girls with their besties!

my happy place

Some days are harder than others. One of those days. 

When I'm frustrated, it's so helpful to turn to moments like below and feel His grace.

69/365 

island girl

Thanks to Nina Tiffy teaching Lia how to pick out outfits, I've begun to ask Lia what she would like to wear for the day. One day we were heading over to Siena's Nina's house (Lori, Michael's sister), a few weeks after Siena was born. I asked Lia what she would like to wear, and she was obviously in the mood to be an Island Princess for the day, because this is what she chose to wear:

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It's crazy to me how much of an islander she looks like - it's so adorable I can't handle it! (In case you don't know, Mike's family is from Guam.)

She also got a lesson in hunting from Uncle Gas... I mean, gotta learn from the best, right?!

embracing the real

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, the Cloth Diaper Whisperer, and I couldn't help but be amazed by one mama's recent post. Her post is called Why Cloth Diapers Slow Me Down, and I Love It!

We are encouraged everywhere we look to find fast and easy and now and disposable.  But I was finding that sometimes in the name of convenience, real was getting sacrificed.  Real nutrition, for empty microwaveable calories.  Real stories on laps, for tv shows.  Real moments together of conversation or staring out car windows with very real thoughts that move and change with the passing landscapes, for mindless movies in the car.  Real games thought up with real friends for video games.  Real moments stolen by manufactured ones.  And who says parenthood is meant to be convenient?  I contend that this is where most people get a little off track.  We're meant to give of our self for their good. It grows us and stretches us and in the end, strengthens us. So yes, real may take longer.  But it's in the extra time that I am bettered.

I couldn't agree more with this mom, or her view of parenting and the world. I have been so blessed to be home with both of the girls the past couple of months since having Siena. I never thought that I would enjoy being a stay at home mom, but these past few weeks have swayed my heart in huge ways. To be honest, Mike does know that having the freedom to get out of the house and see friends/family/have a cup of coffee by myself is huge to me, so after we put the girls down, he occasionally sends me out to have some "me" time. This gives me even more openness and patience to appreciate my every day with the girls.

Using cloth diapers has definitely given to me what the above mama has spoken about - every time I know it's time to do laundry, I am stopped by the idea that I am doing something that is for the betterment of my girls' lives.. every time I go outside to line dry the diapers, I am sending Lia out with me which then turns into big playtime... every time I restock Siena's diaper stash, she and Lia are right next to me and I am encouraged by their babbling and love. These moments (which I never really noticed before) are definitely brought on consistently by my cloth diaper routine. Funny, isn't it?

My girls constantly teach me so much more about wonder and joy and creativity and life... I just never realized that what they poop in could be helping me learn even more.

67/365

"I remember thinking, sometimes we walk, sometimes we run away. But I know no matter how fast we are running, somehow we keep, somehow we keep up with each other." ~dmb

back on track... hopefully

66/365

"Hello, how are you doing today? I hope I find you feeling healthy..." ~dmb

many faces

Okay so I have entirely too many photos to make separate posts for, so I figured I would try to put a bunch of old pictures together in one post and get them out there!

For your viewing pleasure...

"contemplative"

Siena at three weeks old, photo taken by Christina Lafferty Photography.

"distracted"

55/365

"creative"

56/365

"aggressive"

57/365

"joyful"

58/365

"content"

59/365

"adorable"

Siena at six weeks old.

"crooked"

60/365

"comforted"

61/365

"disdainful"

62/365

"surprised"

63/365

"gangsta"

the lovers, Ezra and Siena forever ;)

"explorative"

64/365

"frightened"

65/365

"Everybody wake up, if you're living with your eyes closed." ~dmb

peace

54/365

"You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

macbook terror

This is such a delayed post! I am so sorry for having taken so long to write another post. My computer was a part of a natural disaster - the great Lia Hurricane.

I walked out of the room where I was uploading pictures from my camera to my computer and drinking a tall glass of refreshing water, and upon my return, I found the entire glass of water had been poured over my beautiful aluminum MacBook. The horror!

After looking at Lia and realizing that she had no idea of what she just did and that it was even BAD, I knew that it was completely my fault as it was something that could have been avoided by my good judgment of not putting a huge glass of water right next to my computer and my thirsty toddler. Hello!? Don't they teach you that in Parenting 101??

But alas, I got my computer back from the Heavenly Apple store who so graciously fixed the computer FOR FREE! Who-da thought?? I am happy to be back in the arms of my beautiful aluminum MacBook, and with that...

Since my posts are so behind, it will be a lot of catching up for me since it is pretty obvious (to me) that Siena was tiny in the picture below. I think she was... hm... five weeks old, but in real life she is nine weeks old. I know, to most people four weeks doesn't mean much. But in the life of a newborn! That's a lot of time!

Here is the Siena and Lia 1 Month Photo:

53/365

Lia doesn't like to cooperate (what toddler likes sitting still??), so I have to make her "kiss baby!" every time I try to take this photo. It's pretty hilarious.

"kisses are a better fate

than wisdom."

~e.e. cummings

me and her

52/365

"...When you begin to find Him in all the stuff of life, everything starts singing. Every moment breaks into song. Every breath becomes sacrifice, and the songs become sweetness. This is living praise." ~dcb

impatient beauty

Lia received a beautiful new purse from her Nina Tiffy, especially made for 4th of July, but hey, she loves it for always!

Notice the sunglasses, purse, and reaching for the door - she's ready to GO!

"C'mon, Dada!"

And then there was this:

51/365

"God chose the center of the human soul as his dwelling place because that is exactly the most beautiful place in all creation."