Pizza, Painting, Pumpkins and Doughnuts

I am always trying to think up fun family traditions for our little family. You know the kind of things you will do each year that you hope your kids will one day remember and cherish. For example, we go out to eat for breakfast on Christmas Eve, we have an Easter egg scavenger hunt inside, we cook a big thanksgiving kind of meal the week of Christmas, and a few more. I decided we'd add a new fall tradition of eating pizza, carving/painting pumpkins and making homemade doughnuts. We had such a wonderful family time that I almost want to do it again this week. Ella helped me with the doughnuts and she worked so hard on painting her pumpkin. Kev found a Minne mouse template on-line and worked very hard creating Ella and Eliza a Minnie pumpkin. He did awesome. He is such a great daddy to his girls.
















Just in case you want to try some homemade yummy doughnuts on your own they are so simple and surprisingly a little healthier than the store bought ones. I just got the small canned biscuits. I think you could have three for like 160 calories. We used the top of a water bottle to cut out the middles (save them because they are your doughnut holes). But 1/2 to 1 inch of veg. oil in a pot and heat on med. Add in your doughnuts a few at a time and they fry up in a few seconds. We coated some in cinnamon and sugar, some in powdered sugar, and some in choc. icing and sprinkles. So Yummy and so much FUN!

Tonight is Ella's first night to go to sleep without her paci. We have been putting this off as we didn't want to rock the boat with a new baby . So far she is not screaming. I still hear her talking and it has been a while, but so far it is going way easier than I expected. Thank you Lord!

Pumpkin Patch

I've looked forward to our pumpkin patch day all year! I love fall and what says fall better than a fun pumpkin patch. We had a fun family day...until it was time to leave. Let's just say ella wasn't ready! Kev had to carry her to the car kicking and screaming....all in a day's work of being parents! So thankful for my two little pumpkins!

Daddy and his girl!

Mommy and the lil pumpkin...poor

eliza..I didn't know her hat was covering

her eyes!

Loved the mini maze!

The tall slide was her favorite! She did

it over and over!

Let's find a pumpkin!

Maybe this one??

I got it!

My sweet eliza!

It was a great day! (First photographed smile..

might just be gas...but I'll take it!)

My 2 year old

What I love about my 2 year old...

1. I love how full of life and energy she is...although some days it wears me out...I wouldn't want her any different.

2. I love how she loves to snuggle in our bed early in the mornings.

3. I love how she is learning so much. Tonight she said for the first time, "Mommy what's wrong?"

4. I love how she loves people. She will talk to anyone and older people love her.

5. I love that she loves for me to fix her hair...she asks me to straighten it everyday...seriously!

6. I love her spunk...of course she would call her baby sis Titus!

7. I love how she says, "I sorry mommy!"

8. I love how she won't tell us that something is red but instead tells us that it is either elmo or mickey's car....both of which are red!

9. I love that she still wants me to hold her!

10. I love that she is a daddy and papa's girl! She thinks they are tops!

It is hard to believe how fast two years can go by. It seems like just yesterday we had just brought you home from the hospital. Our greatest prayer for you is that you will grow to know and love Jesus in a real and personal way. We pray daily that you will come to know him at a young age and live for him your entire life. We pray the Lord will give you a heart for people. We pray that you will love those who are different from you. We pray that you will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He works in your life. We pray you will always respond to the Lord as He teaches and directs your path. We pray that you will grow to be a strong servant of Jesus. We pray the Lord will put his angels all around you and protect you from harm. We love you more than you know!

My Girls

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever!

It's Official..

I must really be a grown up because I now drive a mini-van. I have many friends who vow to never drive one, but if they only saw how roomy they are they might just change their minds. Can I just tell you how thankful I am to have a car again. We sold Kev's truck a few weeks ago so I have been car less. Thankfully, my mom has been gracious enough to cart us around with her some so that I wouldn't completely lose my mind. Have said before that I don't do well staying at home? After weeks of bed rest and then no vehicle I think we may go for a very long ride today! I am so thankful that the Lord led us to a great deal after weeks and weeks of looking at cars. I am even more thankful that we only had to pay a little extra after the sale of Kevin's truck. My wonderful hubby sold his second truck within our 6 years of marriage...for the sake of our family! He's a keeper. I think it only took about one time of me having to crawl over the middle console into the little space in the back of the explorer to convince him that we could use a little more space.

Although it is not a new van or perhaps the color I'd have chosen if I'd had my top pick, it is nice and will be great for us. We decided a long time ago after buying a new vehicle shortly after we married that we'd never ever go into car debt again. I am thankful that so far we have been able to stick to that!

The man we bought it from told us that he was born a Muslim and is now an atheist. My dad and Kev were able to witness to him some and left him with a gospel track and DVD. We are praying that the Lord will soften his heart and that he'll find the Lord one day.

Intentional

I'll get back to my title in a minute...but I want to start by just saying a nice slow ahhh! Ella is tucked in her bed and eliza is nuzzled beside me in her bouncy chair and they are both asleep! One more time....ahhh!

I figured I'd take this minute to catch up on my blog reading and posting...which I do find somewhat relaxing and therapeutic. I have a lot to catch up on. Ella celebrated her 2nd birthday last Thursday and I am sad that I didn't get her a b-day post up yet. We had a really fun family day and I have some cute pics to post soon...hopefully later this week. She is two and acting every bit of it. I think the newness of her little sister is wearing off and she is realizing she is staying. She is still wanting to love on her little sis but I sense a little aggression in her love pats. Whew...we are having to watch her like a hawk. She loves to pinch eliza's little nose! I do agree that it is so cute that it would make you just want to give it a little pinch..but big sis doesn't know a lot about personal space yet. Especially when she says, "Oh, Titus I snuggle you!" and throws her whole head of luscious red hair covering eliza's face! If you're confused about why she is calling her Titus you can read the previous posts...and no it is still not getting better! We may just have two little Titus' in our family!

Eliza is the sweetest little thing. I love her more and more each day! She is really sleeping well. Last night she slept from 11:30 until 3:00 and then from 3:45-6:30. That was probably our best stretch so far. Thankfully she is going back to sleep easily after eating. She def. has a fussy time from around 8pm until bedtime...lots of crying! We are still trying to figure out her hair color. I am thinking she is going to be a Blondie like her daddy! At times I see hints of some red and there is def. some brown in the back too. It does appear to be getting lighter on the top! Oh and at her 2 week check-up she was up to 6lbs 10 oz. which was almost gaining 1lb in about a week. Woo Hoo!

Okay, now to my title. I told Kevin yesterday that Intentional is my word for the week. I am really trying hard to be intentional in the things I do.

I really need to be Intentional in what I eat this week. When you are tired and sleep deprived it is so easy to make unhealthy food choices that leave you feeling worse and not better. (ex. my peanut butter shake I got from sonic on Friday night because I felt stressed and tired...oh and I finished ella's too! Yeah..that is the way to lose those pregnancy pounds!) I really need to lose some more poundage before it cools off so I will have some jeans to fit. I also want to be intentional in working out. This is not something that comes easy for me and not generally a normal part of my day. I bought the workout video called The Shred. It is so easy to just not do it. I have to be focused and make the effort in my day so that I will get it done.

I also have neglected spending a personal quiet time with the Lord for many weeks now. Nothing will show you your need for the Lord faster than dealing with a 2 year old and a newborn while feeling like a hormonal mess! I cannot be the mommy and wife I need to be without being intentional in spending time with the Lord. I need time with Jesus to balance me, slow me down, help me to see what is really important in my life. I bought a new quiet time book for busy moms and so far it is really good. It is not an in depth study but just what I need at this season of my life.

A few other areas of where I have found I need to be intentionally focused is in getting mine and ella's showers at night. I know you are saying, Huh?? But I have found that if I will do this it helps me so much the next day. It makes getting out of the house seem like it might happen before two and I might actually get a chance to straighten my hair. I never feel like doing this but it makes my next day so much easier! I am also trying to get our clothes out the night before! It takes me only a minute or two but really helps to not be chasing ella from room to room as she is pulling out everything while I gather our clothes. These are just little things that I need to do in order to be the best me.

So that is where I am at and what I trying to do this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Two weeks and adjusting!

Today was my first solo outing with both girls. We had to go to the a lab and have a little more blood work done on miss Eliza. Her thyroid levels in her newborn screening came back slightly elevated and so they are re-checking it again. We are praying that everything will be perfectly normal this time and we won't have to ever think about it again!

We are adjusting to having a newborn. I have felt so much more tired this time around...or maybe I just forgot how tired I was last time. Everyone keeps reminding me that it is because I have a toddler too. Eliza is such a great baby so far. She is sleeping great for being a 2 week old and is very content..unless she is getting her diaper changed. Ella seems to really love her and did not like the lab tech poking her baby today. She has surprised us in how well she has done! She usually asks to hold her once or twice a day. She loves to hold her hands and sing, "Ashes ashes, we fall down!" She likes to know where she is at all times, esp. when she wakes up from a nap and she likes her to be where we are. Oh, and she is still calling her Titus. I know one day we will laugh with her about it but really it is a little frustrating at times. Today at the lab she kept calling her her Titus and the sweet foreign lab tech who spoke little English was somewhat confused. She asked me several times what her name was. I tried to explain that Ella was calling her sister by her cousin's name...but I don't think she understood. Oh well!

I think some of the more challenging things about having two little ones is getting them safely up and down stairs, in and out of cars, and inside the house. I feel like I don't have enough arms! I am always worried about ella taking off or having to leave Eliza waiting! Another challenging thing has been the amount of time consumed with feeding Eliza while Ella is playing. She is doing great playing independently and I am so proud of her ,but my oh my we are making some big ole messes! We are also going through lots of diapers. I have no clue how many but it is a ton! I wanted to get Ella potty trained before Eliza was born, but she wasn't all that interested... so we just waited. I also figured it might be easier changing diapers than running her to the potty a million times a day! We'll work on that this winter!

So far I have loved having two little girls to dress in cute clothes! I love watching Ella love her little sis and look forward to watching their relationship develop! I also love riding in the car and looking back and seeing them both. I think I have said before that after we lost Samuel I'd often be driving in my car thinking, crying, pleading to the Lord for more children. It was often when I was alone in the car that I dealt with the reality we were living. Itseemed like then that it would be an eternity until we'd have one child and the thought of having two seemed like an endless dream. I knew the Lord would one day bless us but the waiting was painfully hard. Now, I love to I look back into the back seat and see them both. I feel so blessed, so fulfilled and so content with my family!