Fall phone photos

I just went through some phone photos from Fall and I found some gems. Enjoy.

Brygit cried in the car and Liam hated it.

The kids had cupcakes at our church harvest dance (and Liam burned his tongue on hot chocolate).

We rode the teacups. (Of course).

We layed in the grass at the park while Liam was in school.

We pushed the cozy coupe to its limits.

We went to Pretend City in Irvine and got sand in Brygit's diaper.

And examined X-rays.

And lifted weights at the fire station.

We painted the new place.

We found creepy toy parts at the park.

We climbed up the wrong way.

And held hands while moving. 

Unblemished

 

 

I once read somewhere that the human brain operates in a way that makes us want to conquer more and be better. I don't remember the science behind it but it said that our brain has a hard time being content because it is hardwired for survival. It wants us to better ourselves and to advance as a society. The way it encourages us to do this is by sending messages that we aren't good enough or that we need to do more or be more. I'm not sure how much of this is actually proven scientifically but it sure makes sense to me. There is something engrained in us all that makes us keenly aware of the fact that life is short and we don't have a lot of time. We want to leave our mark and we don't want to waste our lives. We want to climb higher, be faster, and accomplish more.

 

I think that is wonderful. To an extent. There comes a point when that little "voice" in our head gets a little too loud. It makes us feel like failures or like our point of exhaustion comes too soon. In my life, at times, it makes me feel like I'm not a good enough mom or a good enough wife or, heck, a good enough person. On Sunday, our pastor spoke a little about this "voice." This wasn't the point of his sermon but it spoke volumes to me. He said that we need to remember what God says about us. I found this article this morning called What Does God Say I Am which is basically a list of Bible verses. It says that we are children of God and friends of Jesus. My favorite is Ephesians 1:4. "For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight." I don't often feel "chosen" or "holy" or "unblemished." In fact, I mostly feel like I am a work in progress. Which I definitely am. But, sometimes I need to quiet the voice that tells me I'm not good enough. Sometimes I need to remember who I am and who I was created to be. Sometimes, I need to remember that God chose me to be the wife of Paul and the mother to Liam and Brygit. Me. Not the mom at Liam's school who brings watermelon cut into fun shapes for snack, or the mom next door who homeschools, works out every morning and has patience for days, not the mom on Pinterest who throws the most adorable birthday parties for her children. Me. I'm the mom who responds to my children's cries, I'm the mom who goes without sleep at times and who goes without showering sometimes. I'm the mom who worries about my kids and who prays like crazy for my kids and who loves my kids unconditionally. I have been chosen to be this mom at this time in my life and, though I'm pretty far from "holy" or "unblemished" I know that God is confident in who I am and He sees my potential.  

Coo-Kee

 

Brygit has been dressing up in princess gowns then leading me out to our balcony to dance with me. We do a little waltz then we curtsey. Or, as Brygit calls it, "Coo-Kee." The other day, when she was dressed as Rapunzel, she insisted that she needed a boat. I'm assuming it's because there is a boat scene in the movie and we recently saw a Rapunzel stage show at Disneyland where Rapunzel insists that she needs a boat in order to reenact her story. A laundry basket did the trick. You know, sometimes it's hard for me to play with the kids. I do it all day long and it gets pretty exhausting. But, waltzing on our balcony and doing coo-kees and sitting in laundry baskets just might be my favorite thing to do right now.

 

 

I'm alive!

Just checking in to say "Yes, I'm alive." Blogging has been on the back burner because January and February are pretty busy months for our family. Not to mention the fact that I have barely been touching my camera since I stopped the 365 project. We celebrated Paul's birthday this month with lunch out and gifts and we celebrated his transfer to the aviation department at work with a small party with his family at our place. And I took zero photos of it all. Now, we are making plans for our anniversary this weekend while preparing for Brygit's second birthday party in two weeks. Can you believe she's going to be two!? I can't! If it weren't for her blossoming vocabulary and ability to buckle her own car seat I would never have guessed. I hope to be better about taking pictures of it all. Here's hoping!

Eight Years

The screen saver on our computer was cycling through photos from 2006/2007 the other day. I paused and enjoyed the walk down memory lane. Life was so different. We, apparently, spent a lot of time pet hunting at animal shelters and house hunting in model homes since those seemed to be the most abundant photographs. We treated our little pups like they were our babies, we played guitar hero in our pajamas and we took our (not so little anymore) nephews and niece to amusement parks. We spent weekends at cheer competitions, I commuted to Costa Mesa for grad school, and Paul gave every ounce of energy in the Academy which led him to where he is today.

 

We are about to celebrate our eighth anniversary and those memories are so precious to me. Three moves, two babies, and innumerous other changes have occurred since then. We have had some really great times and some super challenging times but we are closer to each other now more than ever. I am thankful to God for giving me Paul as a husband and as a father to my children. We make a great team. And, some things never change. We still enjoy playing video games in our pajamas and taking day trips to Disneyland. We just have some extra company these days.

Big brave kids

We haven't been to Disneyland for a few weeks now. Why, you ask? Because when Disneyland is crowded it easily becomes my least favorite place to be. The adults are rude, the children are screaming, people start misinterpreting their size and try to fit into pockets in a crowd where they don't fit, and the worst part is the turkey legs. It's bad enough that patrons gnaw on the pink, smelly bones in the afternoon but, by the evening, they are digesting them. You know what I mean? Okay, this post is going downhill fast. My point is that we went back today now that the holidays are over and the children are all back in school and it was amazing. No lines, beautiful weather, happy people, no smelly turkey legs. Amazing. And we realized something. Our babies are becoming big kids.

Brygit got her very own autograph book today and she approached a character by herself for the first time ever. Of course, it was Ariel and Brygit is quite the Ariel fan but still. She was so brave and she answered her questions with a nod and an, "uh huh," and she even hugged her and posed for a picture. What the heck? Where's my screaming infant?

As for Liam, he did the bravest thing yet. He fought Darth Vader. Liam has loved watching the "Jedi Training Academy" where they pick kids from the crowd, give them a light saber, teach them to use it, then battle the Dark Side. But he has never been brave enough to participate until he heard his cousin did it about a month or so ago. I guess, since he now knows a survivor, he decided to give it a try. It was the highlight of the day. He was so stinking adorable fighting the bad guys. He had a lot of trouble getting the light saber to "activate" so he became the object of some of the humor the actors were throwing around. I don't think he noticed but we thought it was pretty hilarious. Then, at the end, he lunged at Darth Maul like a mad man and two of the Jedis had to hold him back. He was a bit zealous. And very big and very brave.

 

 



Tea Party

 

We have a lot of tea parties around here. Or, as I like to think of them, outdoor baths, since I think more water ends up on the kids than they actually drink. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Brygit for her second birthday since I think I'm going to be cheap again and not take her into a studio. Oh, and we are celebrating her second birthday with a small tea party so it's only fitting.

 

 

(I seriously don't know why Blogger is freaking out and won't resize the pictures after the first three. But I do know it brings out the OCD in me. Any ideas?)

 

 

Happy 2014!

 

I took these photos in January of last year. I can't believe how much can change in a year. We moved, Liam started preschool, Brygit learned how to walk and talk (and throw stuff and hit people), I finally "converted" to Methodist, Paul got notice of his transfer/ promotion that he will be starting in a couple weeks (hooray!). Not to mention, just look at those kids! What the heck happened? And why did I cut my hair!?

 

Everywhere I look people are making resolutions for 2014 and encouraging others to make them too. It has made me ponder the coming year and what I want to accomplish in the next twelve months. Honestly, it's not much. It's probably the opposite of "accomplish" to most people. I resolve to do less, to relax, and to take my time. To consume less, save more. Rush less, notice more. Watch less, read more. Stress less, love more. Just enjoy those chubby little faces and not sweat the small stuff. Aaand maybe add another day at the gym each week.