Happy Birthday Mimi!

A perfect Sunday celebrating the most beautiful, important, wise, thoughtful, lovely woman, full of so many special graces, and one of my very best friends! 

What a fabulous time we had sharing each others company and a feast of a meal (dad's all-time classic steak dinner) until our tummies and hearts were content.

Mimi was gracious enough to share the spotlight with a certain little one who gets just as, if not more, excited for everyone else's birthdays as she does her own (assuming she can help blow out candles and open the gifts) Here she is thinking of the perfect wish...

1...2...3...

And blow!!!

A little harder, Spicy.... "No problem, I've got trumpet lips!"

And a funny moment when we all discovered Nini & I picked out the same card for mom!

Mom,

you are the pillar of our family and our spiritual journey and successes! Your steadfast faith, prayer life, acts of charity and unending love are gifts I hold tight to and appreciate with all of my being. I pray to walk in your footsteps of being a wife and mother who love with the love of Jesus. 

Happy 62 Years and here's to an amazing 63rd!

B is for Boy, C is for Caleb

We've been seeing a lot of this little guy lately which is definitely adding to my excitement and increasing the anticipation for a little boy coming into our family.

I can only dream he will be as low maintenance and easy going as this special tot.

 It's so fun to watch the dynamic change with a third in the mix and one of the male species. I see even more balance, shall we say, in my future, (namely a sibling strong enough to defend himself from the 1st-born's passionate playfulness. I guess it will be awhile for that although this weekend another male cousin of less than a year clawed & climbed all over Spicy and yanked on her hair so hard that caused her to surrender her will like I've never seen before.) Balance, I say. God knows what He is doing.

On the other hand, I've also gotten a glimpse of daddy's potential for rough-housing and wrestling that has me a bit scared. 

I'm so thankful for the bond these 3 (& soon to be 4) are forming. It's something special and it's a blessing for my children and for me.

How we love you, Caleb J!

The Baby Blues

It's been a little over a week since we found out that TreSoto is a boy! 

I think the reality is sinking in.

Big sis is sure ready for another newborn at home.

She has been very interested lately in carrying around her  "baby brother"

It's so neat to hear her speak of him and witness her excitement for another sibling and her heart of gold.

(I just hope his nose isn't so pronounced. tee-hee)

 About a quarter of Sweet's closet has already being taken over by both new and used clothing in varying shades of blue.

And mommy is having a ton of fun researching nursery ideas, starting with a possible color palette.

As for names, we're still thinking and praying and listening but it'll be tough to find one that Daddy likes better than Soren Charles. 
After 2 of his favorite philosophers.

Any suggestions? 

What are your favorite boy names?

Happy Valentine's Day

Thanks to a sweet friend's invitation, we celebrated V-Day by attending a mini-retreat at a local church which consisted of 3.5 hours of food, fellowship and fruitful marriage advice for an incredibly inexpensive price.  Absolutely perfect for the busy, young family on a tight budget!  To add that extra special touch, we picked up some Starbucks latte's and walked hand in hand to drop the little ones off and head to our event!  Ironically, the speakers turned out to be the beloved, highly esteemed, extremely intelligent but more importantly, Spirit-filled & wise man we seek out for counsel and his just as awesome wife. They are simply amazing because they are open vessels for God and He clearly speaks through them! It was so fun to meet some new people and simply see a (big) room full of married couples of all ages, ethnicity's and backgrounds all striving for thriving marriages!
We learned a lot and we laughed a lot.
(By the way, if I've peaked your interest at all, do check out their book, Thriving Marriages by Dr John Yzaguirre, PhD & Claire Yzaguirre, MFT. It's sooooooo good even for single and engaged people!)

What an inspiring (& practical) way to celebrate our Love! 
Daddy and I are both excited to put to practice many of the challenging and powerfully wise tips we received!
(& I'm super excited to listen to their parenting series on CD I picked up!) 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

From our family to yours.

And for a brief history on why we celebrate Valentine's Day and where it came from, click here.