A few things I'm in need of...

I lay down to go fall asleep a couple of minutes, but felt compelled to blog while I laid there, awake with thoughts swirling around in my head. Mostly of things I need. Maybe if I post them, they'll appear in my house in the morning. Maybe.

I need my own personal Cinna to make me look radiant and beautiful. (Sam and I finished the first of the Hunger Games tonight.)
I need more sleep than I'll get tonight.
Sam to stay home and hang out with me tomorrow (and study for his test).
To stay focused on the prize.
To feel trusting and comfortable... And confident, it seems. Sometimes I am all these things. Sometimes I'm not.
A really, really good friend who is spontaneously wonderful.

Sleep.

Pictures please!!

So, I totally realize that these pics are from the end of last summer, but they're just too darn cute... I had to share. She's really beautiful, isn't she?



Check out this stud! What a cutie, just like his daddy!! I love my little man :)


Compare this pic with the last one of Baby Samy... totally the same face, right? I tell everyone they look so much alike. It's basically the same kid, different hair. lol.





Silly Ella. She was playing in daddy's super cool safety glasses. Alright! Or like she says, "Aw-white!"


Here's Ella and cousin Levi hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Check out how the further he leaned away, the closer she leaned in. She wasn't taking no for an answer. That boy was gettting a kiss!


These pics are from today. We took a few picture breaks while we spruced up our lawn. Its just so exhausting helping out... whew.



Gotta love this little one...


...She does.


Hope y'all are having a great March so far. We most definitely are.

Words of Wisdom

A patient recently shared some very wise words with me. He was an elderly gentleman in his late seventies who liked to reminisce on the past. He told said, "Be as gentle and kind and active as you can for as long as you can."

I like this very much. I think it'll get a person far in life. And happily so.

Oh, recently one of my best girlfriends send me a link to a website with modest(er) swimsuit options. I've decided not to wear a bikini this summer, because I always feels self conscious around the pool. I just don't like the idea of my body being so exposed. More than that, I don't like the idea of showing more flesh than necessary, because I realize men are very visual beings, and I wouldn't want to give reason for a man's eyes to wander. Ugh, the thought alone creeps me out. Melody, over at Blossoming Joy, commented not long ago about men having custody of the eyes, and that post has made me even more self aware of how I dress and how it affects others, men in particular.

Anyway, I'm really liking this one.
Think I may order it in the next couple of days :)

For the moms out there that might like a little more coverage, Hapari even has these great Tummy Tuk bottoms that help give more support and coverage for not showing skin for the extra self-aware. Here's an example.


Anyway, just wanted to share, because I've found it a challenge to find bikinis that cover well enough to not feel so exposed. I also like that most of the items they have are mix and matchable.

Note: I just saw on the website today that Hapari is offering free shipping until March 15th if you use the code: FREESHIP2012 at checkout. Yay!

So, in other news, our little family is planning a summer getaway to North Carolina to visit our friends, Meghan and Richard! I'm so excited! Meghan is the good friend who referred the Hapari swimwear website to me, and I miss her so much. She's a great friend and an amazing and truly inspiring Christian. I've told her before that she's the first person that comes to mind when I think of the word "gracious." She truly is. Sam and I are just so excited to get out of Texas for a little while and see something new! We haven't done much vacationing since we've been married, what with growing a family and all :)

Ella will also be very happy to see Gavin, Meghan and Richard's son. It's so cute, when they're together, its like they're the best little friends. Here are some cute pics of them from when Meg and Rich still lived close to us.





Well, I guess I'll leave it at that for now. My little loves are just waking up! Off to have a great day with my family!

Ahhhh!

Today has been a stressful of stressful days! I seriously need to stop procrastinating!

I am going to make a resolution, here and now, to stop procrastinating. When multiple things need to be done at once, I will prioritize them accordingly but not stop being productive until I've been even a little productive with the last thing on my list.

I heard this on the radio the other day: Each mom/wife has 900 things on her To Do list each day. Most times only the first two or three things get done, and th rest get moved to tomorrow's list. My list looks a lot like the one they talked about.


i. WILL. do. better.

Lost

So I finally have a chance to write! Can you guess where I am as I type this lovely post? Yep, I'm the lucky gal who gets to sit at the DPS for what looks like will be at least an hour this morning. And that's even better than yesterday. Yesterday it was unbelievably packed. I took the last parking space and had to wait in line fifteen minutes just to get a number to wait in the real waiting line. Waited long enough to get a number and then realized I didn't want to spend my whole afternoon at the DPS and left.

So, what, do you ask, brings me to the DPS?

The day before yesterday I took Baby Samy to the pediatrician because he's been sick: dry cough, sinus congestion, fever, and vomiiting... Prayers please, as he's still sick. Well, after we left the doctor's office, I stopped at the store to buy lunch for my dad and sisters who lovingly watched Ella while the baby and I were out. That's where it happened. That's where I lost my wallet. I didn't even notice until that evening when I needed it again and turned my house, car, and my parents' house upside down looking for it. Needless to say, it was un-findable. And since I can be a very cautious person, sometimes borderline paranoid, I'm assuming it is lost to the world. Super duper bummer. I cried a little and then a lot, but my wonderful parents were amazing with helping me with my little ones and also with looking for my un-findable wallet while Sam was out of town for the day. (I'll write about why he was out of town later, but for now, that's top secret!)

So, alas, I am in the process of rebuilding what I should not have lost in the first place. :sigh:

I do think God has a reason for all of this, though what, I'm not sure yet. Here are the list of possibilities I've come up with so far:

1) Maybe I'm supposed to be at each place (i.e., DPS, banks) for a specific purpose. Maybe God wants me to share His light with the people there, albeit in the beginning it was a little dimmed because of my low spirits due to the whole losing-my-wallet situation.
2) Maybe if whoever found/has my wallet, if anyone, needed the money that was in it.
3) Perhaps He is telling me that I really need to start being more careful about these kinds of things, and maybe, that one way of doing that would be to actually use a purse.
4) Maybe God wasn't too crazy about my old drivers license pic (I know I wasn't), and this was His gentle way of getting me to take a new one. :)

Okay, okay, so maybe not the last one, but maaaybe. God jokes around with me from time to time :)

He cool thing about the whole thing was that my dad came over yesterday morning to watch my little loves while I drove all over town taking care of the stuff that accompanies losing a wallet, when he decided to read a devotioinal from Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado. The Holy Spirit was definitely talking to me through it. The title of the devotional for yesterday said "Do Not Worry"' and the quote was from St. Anthony, patron saint for people like me who lose things all the time. I just thought, "Niiice. Good one, God." :)

So, in other news, (goodness gracious, I can't believe that I haven't posted this yet!) Sam got into PA school! Yay! He actually interviewed on a Thursday and got the letter of acceptance two days later. I told him they must have really been impressed and wanted him in the program for hint have been accepted so quickly :) I'm so immensely proud of him! He starts in May, which means (drumroll, please)............ he will forever be off nights! From his wife, who misses him at night and during the day, even when he's with me (because he's always tired) I feel like shouting to the world, " Wooooooo hoooooooooooo!" So, it goes without saying that I. am. excited.

I guess I'll end this post now, even though it looks like I've got at least another hour after the one I've already waited. I wanted to post pics since it's been so long, but can't upload them here from my iPad. Maybe later. Hope all my blogger friends are well . Happy Wednesday!

Update

So I've come to he conclusion that I pretty much only have time to blog late at night when Sam has gone to work and the little ones are in bed. But alas, that is when I choose sleep over words. I miss blogging though. Perhaps 'll get a chance to squeeze in a post tomorrow with some pics of the babies. Hope all of you had a beautiful Christmas that was centered on Christ :)

Baby Hide and Seek

I was looking through some old videos tonight and came across my favorite video all all time. I'll share :)
This was almost 1 year ago. She was about 8 months old.