GrEightful

Wow, this week was sooo busy and there are so many things to be grateful for:

I am grateful for:

1.) My husband and all the hard work he does. It is such stressful time for him, yet is still makes sure that he spends valuable time with the kids and to cuddle with me! :o)

2.) For not losing my bank card! Some days I don't know where my head is!

3.) A wonderful play date with Kim and Heather and their beautiful kids! I love these guys! Check out the photo that Heather took of the three 3 year olds!

4.) A family dinner out to celebrate our 5 year anniversary at a yummy Thai Food Restaurant (the kids were really good too)!

5.) A friends surprise b-day party! She is such a wonderful person! We had such a blast and played a really great game! Lots of laughs and great company always something to be grateful for!

6.) Time to get together with some good friends and some new friends.

7.) Beautiful roses and an awesome card from my wonderful hubby!

8.) The imagination of a three year old--he totally cracks me up!

......ok, I know this is more than eight, but since I missed a couple of weeks.....

9.) My little girl and her personality that is so cute and is totally starting to shine through now!

10.) Family time. Yes we headed out to 'Big Rock'! I think that John was thinking about 'Aires Rock' in Australia, because when we got to Big Rock, he had this total look of disappointment and said 'this is it?'! It made me laugh and he now teases me about it. Zech loved it though! He got to play with the Rock Monsters (if you have seen the Veggie Tales Pirate movie you will know what I am talking about)!

5 Years

March 19th, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Some days it really feels like we just got married, yet other days I feel like I have known my hubby for years (well technically we have known each other for 8 years).

You know when you are young and have this list of the ideal husband, well I have to say that my husband met all of my requirements and has even exceeded them. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband, friend and father for my kids. I love spending my life with this man, and am so excited to see what God has in store for us over the many years to come.

Our verse for our wedding (our marriage) was/has been Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹Again, if two lie together, they keep warm,^(A) but how can one keep warm alone? ¹²And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

This has been such a true testimony of our marriage. We have always been there to lift one another up during the most difficult times when it seems that all we get thrown is constant criticism, discouragement, lies, disappointments. We are also there for one another to celebrate all of the wonderful blessings, miracles, the light bulb moments (hee) in our lives. However, what has been most important and what we wanted our whole married life to based around was God. With God at the forefront we can get through anything, we can not be broken that easily! Praise the Lord for his unfailing love, mercy and grace and the "threefold cord"!

So five random tidbits about "us":

1. For our first date John took me to the pool to teach me how to swim (I still think he just wanted to see what I looked like in a bathing suit--haha--I guess I passed) :o)

2. I knew after the first year of dating that he was the man I was going to marry, but it took him a bit longer (yeah 3 years of dating).

3. We both have a massive case of the travel bug disease and it has never left us and probably never will.

4. John proposed to me in Korea the night before my birthday. It's funny how it happened.... and I just found the film of pictures and had them developed (my digital camera broke while we were there and luckily I brought my old film one--so the memories are still preserved)

5. We both love Mexican food. In fact John was quite disappointed that we never had tacos for our wedding dinner! :o)

Two More Sweet Talkin Challenges!

So yes, I am still trying to complete this Challenge, but am really far behind. None the less, here are two more layouts I did. I am also not going in order.

Remember the post a few days ago......I thought it was perfect for Challenge # 9 - Share Your Thoughts.

So here it is----really, really simple, but the focus is supposed to be on my Thoughts (the journaling) right?




This is Challenge #3 - Record a Conversation

I knew instantly what conversation I wanted to use and actually started this one a month ago or more, but it took me a while to get it to look the way I wanted (I actually lost the first attempt as I didn't save it and my battery died--that was a good thing because I am much happier with this one)!

GrEightful

Oh so much to be grateful for!

This week I am grateful for:

1.) Strollersize with a good friend and a chance to take the kids for lunch afterward! (Our boys are the same age and our girls are almost exactly two months apart)

2.) Play date and lunch with Heather, Helayna and Silas! It was so nice to see them again!

3.) My little princess who is sleeping at night a whole lot better!!! (ahh sleep)

4.) My boy who is now potty trained!!!!!! He is doing so AWESOME! (thank goodness...I was beginning to worry)

5.) Nice weather and the melting of all that yucky white stuff! Which also meant that we were able to go to the park A LOT!! Also, Daddy fixed up Zech's bike (he grew a lot since last year) and Zech is a riding machine! I am so impressed at how well he did. He pedals and steers all by himself!
6.) Flowers from my wonderful hubby! (they are so pretty and so spring like)


7.) The ability to have some great friends over for supper!! Hope they didn't mind the Bison! :o)

8.) The moments, the ways that God is able to speak to us if we allow Him to.

Genesis at 9 months

Another month just seemed to fly by!

So Genesis at 9 months:

- weighs 19 lbs. 9 oz. and is 29 inches long (74 cm). It is funny to see the differences between the kids and their growth spurts. Genesis has completed stalled that last few months and it was at this point that Zech really packed on the weight. (sorry Mari, I keep trying to get it in metric and forget) :o(

- Now has 7 teeth!!! She just got 5 teeth in the last month and a bit and is still working on another one!

- Is now sleeping in her own room! This was the best move! She goes to bed at 7:30 pm and sleeps until 7:00 am. She only gets up once for a quick feed and then goes right back to sleep! Praise the Lord for this---it beats getting up 5 or more times like we had been doing! Ahh sleep is a marvelous thing!

- Naps twice a day. Once in the morning at 10:00 am for about an hour. Once in the afternoon for about an hour at 3:00 pm. Although these past few weeks her naps have been a real struggle--not sure why!

- Crawls up the stairs--eeekkk!

- Stands a lot more on her own without holding onto anything. Wants to walk hanging on to our fingers all the time now too!

- Waves bye-bye!

- Loves to talk on the phone and always says "Dadda" when she is talking on the phone!

- Says "mamma" all the time when she wants to be fed now.

- Is eating more finger foods. Really loves Quesadillas!

- Had her first taste of cookie---not by mommy's choice. I was eating a cookie that our friends gave us and I was holding her too. I was busy doing something and all of a sudden she grabbed my hand with the cookie and shoved it into her mouth. I had to do a bit of fishing as she took quite a big bite, not to mention it was COOKIE. She was not impressed!

- Loves to dance and listen to music!

- Claps her hands now!

- Goes to the nursery at church and stays in there!

- Gets into tussles with her brother and has tried to bite him!

- Always gets into the cupboards--erghhh!

- Has a real sweet personality and is still one happy little girl.

- Loves when mommy sings and when Daddy whistles (she really dances when daddy whistles).

- Still loves her bath time and gets really upset when we pull her out.

- Loves to be naked and hates getting her diaper changed or her pj's put on after the bath.

- Has super curly hair after the bath.

- Plays with her brothers toy cars and trucks and makes the noise--too funny!

- Loves her baby Cabbage Patch doll from Aunty Mel, Uncle Cory and Jonas. She cuddles it all the time and like to give it kisses.

- Speaking of kisses, she still gives us kisses all the time. Melts my heart!

A Sign of Things to Come.......

This is her new favourite toy (I just hope she doesn't dial 911 or Hong Kong). I am a little worried that this may be a sign of things to come??!!!
Coming soon a 9-month post of all the happenings in this little one's life. She is growing up way too quickly--sigh!

Do You Love God?

Last week was one of those weeks where I felt like the walls were caving in, there weren't enough hours in the day, my sleep was deprived (big time), I was impatient and ill-tempered and I just wasn't being the person, the wife, the mother that I know I need to be.

I love being at home with my kids! I feel so blessed to have this time with them. It is also the hardest job I have ever done, but it is the most rewarding job and the job that I really, truly desire to be my best at. I don't want to make mistakes, I want to be a Super Mom in the eyes of my kids, but most importantly I want my kids to know how much God loves them and how much I love them ALL THE TIME--UNCONDITIONALLY!!

So last week as I was trying to get some important work related projects completed, I was reminded of what was truly important. I was stressed, short tempered and finally snapped at Zech to' just go play by himself and read a book or something', so that I could finish what I needed to get done. Zech turned away from me rather hurt and rejected and went to the living room and pulled out his favourite book from the basket of books. He sat down and started to leaf through the pages of the Bible (yes that is the book that he loves the most and will sit and read all the time). Suddenly he looked up and said "Mommy do you Love God?". That hit me and it hit me hard. My heart felt sorrowful for the way I snapped at him, for my selfish desire to put such un-godly things before my family, before my little boy who just wanted some attention. Well he got my attention and so did God!

I didn't finish what I needed to and I am ok with that. I had an amazing time talking to my little boy about my love for God and most importantly God's love for him, for His Creation, for all of us, each and every one of us even when we turn our backs on Him and live in sin. This is a moment that I will cherish for a very long time and it is a moment that I hope will have an impact on my little boy. These are moments that money, power, prestige, title can not buy. These are the moments that I could have missed out on if I had chose the worldly ideals of what being a 'successful' mom, wife, person, is. God is amazing and provides incredible wake up calls during times when we really need, when I REALLY NEED them.

I am humbled and grateful for this stab to my heart, for this reality check, for this time to reflect on what my most important job is at this stage in my life. I am also reminded of how much I do love God and need to make more of a conscious effort to show that, and live it, especially for the sake of my children. I am a sinner and I am broken, but Jesus forgives me and washes all of my sins away and the grace and mercy he offers me is beyond anything I can put into words! I did apologize to Zech (and to God) for my inappropriate behaviour and will probably have to apologize many more times throughout my years as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and child of God. To conclude, I have to ask just like my little boy did---do you love God?