A Special Valentine's Day

This year the kids and I woke up to find this in the kitchen!

The kids got a sweet book from Daddy and a Dora book from Mommy along with her favorite snacks.  Natalie also got a rose and a precious card to which she responded, "Ah how sweet," after I read it to her! I got some new sewing tools and my favorite candy bar (score!).  We had a card and daddy's favorite candy waiting for him when he woke up a little earlier than us=)

BUT the special part of the day was getting to spend it with my sister and her family!

They were passing through on their way to West Texas and only stayed one night so I wanted to make that night fun and special....

As you can see, we had a delicious dinner and dessert!  My nephew, Evan, was beyond excited about the dessert. He made sure that everyone saw it and knew what it was!

The kids all ate really well (yes, even my child) and had fun at their own table!

After dinner we decided to open a few more presents. Brian and I got Evan and Audrey a little gift to help them on their long road trips and Mimi and Poppi sent gifts for the kids as well.  Evan opened his card from Mimi and Poppi to discover some cash and as you can see from the picture, he was thrilled!  The older three all got some cash and a Valentine mailbox with cards to decorate.  Since none of them are in a classroom this was a fun activity for them to "pass out" Valentine cards.  Joaquin got cash too, but he was more excited about the squeezy food pouches that came in his gift sack. He downed one immediately!  

Natalie really enjoyed this and wrote several cards to family and friends. Too cute! Thanks for the fun, Mimi and Poppi!

A couple of days before Valentine's Day the kids received a package in the mail from Grandma.  I wasn't able to hide the box from Natalie so we had to open it then=) I'll admit I was a little excited to see it too!

Grandma sent the kids a new book (always a crowd favorite) and some new slippers for Natalie. She thought they were so cool.  Joaquin really enjoyed his card and new shoes which were too cute for words!

Thanks Grandma for making Valentine's special for the kids=) Smiles were all around.

I'm so thankful for family. Not because of the gifts but because of how much they love my kids. What a blessing!  And so thankful to get to love on my niece and nephew for Valentine's Day this year!

Happy Birthday, Joaquin!

This weekend we celebrated Joaquin's 1st birthday! I cannot believe a year has passed but boy am I glad! It's not that I didn't enjoy his first year of life, but from this point on it just gets more fun. No more bottles, no more formula, no more crawling. I get excited about this because I see how much fun NJ and JZ have together now, and I know it will be so much better when he's walking, talking and interacting more! Fun times ahead. I also envision some knock down drag out, hair pulling fights. Joaquin will now scream at her when she takes something away and I just know as much as he loves "touching" her hair, it will become a weapon later. Natalie has met her match folks. She's going to have her hands full with this little brother. Ha!

On to the party.......
My friend, Kayla, came up with our Mustache themed party and we ran with it. I had way too much fun with this one, and since it is all the rage right now there were a million ideas on Pinterest for it too. So my disclaimer is that there are no original ideas in this party! I did, however, create an original wreathe! I was quite pleased.

My friend, Shelley let me borrow the chalkboards and those were a ton of fun. I will definitely be investing in one or two of those babies.

I love having his stats on the board for a quick overview of what he likes and other tidbits about Joaquin.It made for perfect decor!

Once I found the invitations that I liked (etsy.com), I went with the red, blue and gray chevron theme and colors (hence his outfit). From there it just got more and more fun planning for the party.

Our centerpiece included a monthly picture frame along with the book I created to tell Joaquin his adoption story.

Party table

Wipe your whiskers after you eat a sandwich

Wet your whiskers at the drink table

Don't forget your party 'stache!

I also added his scrapbook that I frantically completed to show his first year of life through monthly happenings!

Then we had a little fun at the photo booth...

We could NOT get Natalie to participate in this activity, but my niece and nephew sure had fun with me!

JZ only half-heartedly participated=)

And then there were some serious photos with family. At least NJ participated correctly in some of these=/ sheesh, that girl. Hate not having my sister and brother-in-law in these, but I guess that's life. I can't make it to Evan and Audreys either.

Now that all the proper pictures had been taken, it was time to devour the cake. The rest of us devoured the cookies to which I JUST realized I never got a picture of.....Darn!  I made neck tie and mustache cookies and they were too cute. Joaquin got his own cake to eat....

It took him a second to realize it was ok for him to make a mess and eat it (normally he jumps right in). Once he got a taste, he was all in. Here's what was left! We cut him off.

He also thoroughly enjoyed his ice cream, but that's no surprise.

After yummies, we took it to the living room to open gifts.

The family were all asking what to get Joaquin and I was no help to them. Being so close to Christmas I just couldn't think of anything he needed or that I wanted him to have so I left it to their own ideas and he got the best stuff!

A talking rocking giraffe (not a horse), a scooter, new pjs, hooded bath towel, books, a new Bible, bilingual toys (loving that), and even NJ got a couple things from Grandma and Mimi.

The Lord gave us another beautiful day to celebrate a birthday so the kids had a blast outside running around and playing.  It could not have been more perfect!

Therefore, I took advantage of the moment and snapped some of these shots and voila! A perfect photo.

But there was also an 'accidental glad I caught this' moment:

It's over the top cute!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet Momma's Boy!

We love you, Joaquin Zavien.

Advice from a Mom

So I've posted a little on this topic recently, but it has just really been on my mind a lot so I felt the need to elaborate......
This is for all my friends both single and married who do not have children YET.

 Three ideas on how to prepare yourself and help others.

1. Serve in your church nursery.

Whether this be a weekly thing or filling in as a sub, just do it.  This is important for a couple of reasons.

a. It gives you an opportunity to get to know the workers that will most likely be loving on your children one day. You want as many people in your church to know and love your children as possible. It will benefit them as they grow and will work as your allies.  

b. You have an opportunity to learn more about the stages of growth in children so you will know what to expect for your own. What is normal and what is not.

c. The church needs you to serve.  What's a better place than where your children will be growing and learning the love of Jesus.

d. You will learn to appreciate the workers and what they do week after week.

e. It helps ease your husband into caring for children=)

Ok enough on that one. How about the next idea.

2. Keep your friends kids!

a. This is what I posted on before but it's so very important. Especially to those like me with family too far away to help as often as you would like.  Your friends will LOVE you for this and let's face it....they will owe you one when your kids come around!

b. Date nights can be expensive without paying a babysitter. Have you seen movie prices lately?! Good Grief!  Imagine how much more you are spending this evening when you pay a sitter for a few hours for multiple children. Sheesh. 

c. The last reason this is a good idea is because it gives you practice (similar to the first idea). You get a chance to mess up on someone else's kids! ha!   Seriously. The more you are around them and caring for them, the more prepared you will feel when yours come around.  It drives me crazy to see a woman awkwardly holding a baby because she has never babysat or been around kids. This is not natural!

d. It helps ease your husband into caring for children and what it will really be like=)

3. Hang out with your friends who have kids.

I know some folks who completely avoid hanging out with their friends with kids because it's too painful or they can never get away. Don't do this!

a. Offer to take dinner (order a pizza) to your friends' house and spend the evening there with the children; hanging out, playing and observing.  Spending time around others in different environments gives you a chance to learn how you do or do not want to discipline your children; how you do or do not want to speak to your children; how you do or do not want to handle this situation or that. Do you get my point?

b. This time also allows you to be a part of conversations regarding general childcare, what to do when they are sick, how to handle situations like bedtime routines, potty training dos and donts, etc. You will wish you had all this when you have yours. It's like reading a book but getting to see it first hand. Ask questions on how they handle certain situations. When you are in the trenches, you will have a repertoire to pull from!

c. Your husband will see what an evening will look like=)

I'm sure once I post this I will think of a million more tidbits but for now this is enough!

Thanksgiving con't

Ok these are all the pics I wanted to include in my Thanksgiving post, but had technical difficulties. Brian saved the day so I could share the cuteness some more.

Love the look on her face here. 

She was such a good poser for once!

Don't you want to eat him up?!

Love this picture of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids have funny looks on their faces but at least they were looking!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2013

This year Thanksgiving was spent with Brian's side of the family. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend to be in the woods at his dad's house. The table was set beautifully with tons of delicious food. Brian's dad is a really good cook and did a fabulous job!

My brother-in-law, Lance, took the turkey frying job and what a job he did! We all commented on it being the best fried turkey we have had. Oh I can still taste it! So moist and yummy.

Natalie had a wonderful time because there were dogs! This child is obsessed, people.  She asked 101 times to go outside to see the puppies. Amos and Patton (sister-in-law's dogs) just loved all the attention though! She kept telling me to take a picture of her with each puppy. Some were more cooperative than others=)

She also enjoyed Daddy pulling her around in the wagon.

My father-in-law has a new pond at his place and Natalie thoroughly enjoyed going down to feed the fish or throw rocks in the water. I think she had the most fun watching the dogs swim in the ice cold water!

When we weren't outside, we were finding ways to entertain inside since they were still sick kids.  A nice big box did the trick for awhile. These are always more fun than what came in it anyway, right?

Aunt Michelle got Natalie a bracelet to decorate for her birthday so we saved it for a Thanksgiving project they could do together. Too fun!

As you learned in the post about Joaquin's 10 month pictures, he doesn't sit still or cooperate AT ALL when it comes to pictures so we have quite the collage of bloopers=)  Natalie was finally posing so well with a nice big smile AND was looking at us but the little stink just wouldn't.

Poor girl just has her hands full with her little brother! ha! I love her annoyed looks in these photos.  She tried so hard to contain him.

This is a great pic of Brian and his mom with the kids aside from JZ. Poor thing just wasn't feeling well at all. None of us slept well over this "break"

My sweet pea! She was in a rare" pose for the camera" mood this day!

I have a few more pics but my computer is not allowing me to download them correctly so maybe they will come later. 

We had a wonderful time with family this year. Brian and I were most thankful for the date night they allowed us Friday to eat at my favorite Hibachi place, Fujis! Oh how wonderful it was. I was also thankful for the day of shopping with Michelle. It was a much needed day out for me. And we got a lot of shopping done which is also much needed!

10 month pics

Oh my! This boy is a fun-loving 10 month old, but he is wearing me out. Just taking these monthly pictures stresses me out lately. He will not sit still for any millisecond of time as you can see. He is either eating the plate, pushing it off, pulling off his sticker, eating his sticker, rolling over or just plain leaping off the couch. I mean seriously. It's comically frustrating. I finally decided I didn't care if I got one picture with the plate & shirt showing AND him looking at me. And just forget trying to get him to show off his teeth.  He has 7 of them, by the way! At this point, NJ had 2=)

Look how nicely she is holding her plate and looking at mommy. Girls are so calm. Boys are so not!

This month he has had a lot of new personality traits come out. He loves to play peek-a-boo and hide behind curtains or blankets draped over something. He will get behind it and wait on me to say, "Where's Joaquin?"  Then he will peek out from behind it grinning so big. It's quite precious!  He will even try to put a blanket over his face to play. 

He is walking behind his little push car and stroller very nicely now. He wasn't real interested at first, but now he feels so free!  He is getting a little more brave when he lets go of something and can stand unassisted for a couple seconds or more.

When Joaquin gets tired he brings his arm up by his nose and rubs it ever-so-lightly. Or he just holds it there by his nose for a bit. When I'm rocking him he does the same. It's like he is saying, "Whew what a day."  What he doesn't know is that I am saying the same thing!

Sleep. He fights it hard still. I feel like I'm in a wrestling match most times. The newest thing is putting him down. He will be asleep until he touches the bed and then, BAM!, eyes wide open and crying. I will do this at least 3 times for nap or bedtime and it is maddening! I've shed a few (or many) tears over this taking so long and me not having ANY time to do anything.

He still loves to eat and has tried a few table foods like bananas, avocados, mashed potatoes and carrots.  He still throws a fit every time he is put in his high chair but adding Cheerios to our repertoire has helped immensely.  The boy just loves to eat.

Unfortunately for me and all others trying to care for him, he is still "momma clingy."  The other night he screamed and screamed while he was in the kitchen with me (I was trying to fix dinner). The minute second I picked him up he stopped. Ugh!

Thank goodness for that sweet face and bashful smile he gives so freely! Love this precious gift, but he is giving me a run for my money=)

Holiday Happenings

While with family this weekend, my sister-in-law asked me what traditions we were starting with our kids, and that got me to thinking about my list I made last year. I haven't shared this year's (hopeful) Holiday Happenings so here goes!

1. Brian's work party at a local restaurant

2. Christmas Concert Date Night at Verizon Theatre to see 'The Tour' with Christian artists. I'm super excited about this!  Each year I want to do something "Christmasy." We've done The Nutcracker, Trans-Siberian Orchestra & the Dallas Symphony. Did I mention FREE babysitting thanks to my folks?!

3. Loading the family up to hunt down our favorite Christmas tree at the local farm. My folks will be helping us out with this one since I have a gimp hubby this year. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

4. Helping out at a local church ministry for Foster Families

5. Making 3 dozen Christmas cookies for our adoption agency to deliver to Pregnancy Resource Centers they partner with

6. Local high school Christmas Band concert for Natalie to enjoy (and maybe JZ).

7. Another date night thanks to our wonderful church for providing FREE childcare for 3 hours for our Sunday School class. We will be using FREE movie tickets earned by my husband for his hard work as an engineer. Thank you, L-3!

8. Visiting The North Pole of Texas in a city nearby. We wanted to go last year and never put it on the calendar so it never happened. This year it is scheduled! Check it out. www.northpoleoftexas.com

9. Christmas light looking around the area with cookies and milk!

10. Possibly a day of Christmas crafting with a sweet friend and her two precious kiddos.

11. Christmas Baking Day Tradition with friends.

12. New Year's Eve will be spent with friends and 7 kids! 

How will you be spending your holidays?