Mr. Luke is 8 Months

My precious little newborn Luke.

And today he's 8 months already! The way he looks at me just melts my heart. His sweet, little, innocent smile makes me so happy. He's all about pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, scooting around for what he wants, laughing at his sissy, and most of all LOVING his baths. He just splashes all around and will grab for anything in sight. His favorites are the foam letters, oh and of course he laughs and just looks up when sissy washes his hair, even if she does wash it six times during one bath. He is such a good napper, and is loving bread right now. He eats anything that comes his way, and has two little teeth on the bottom. We love him so much. Happy 8 months baby boy!

Ho ho ho

Well I think at least one of us will be in our Christmas pictures for the next couple years. The pictures without us were hilarious! They kept taking turns screaming.
Savi is having so much fun learning all about CHRISTmas. She is all about her Bethlehem Town book and her nativity scene that her best bud Emily gave her. She wants to know all about everything. Of course she also is having so much fun making Christmas crafts too. We have many more to do, she just loves craft time!

Just a little self-reflection

I am continually reading and striving to be a better person, which naturally causes me to do some self-reflecting. I have two precious babies whom God has entrusted me with, and I want to teach them well. I have loved ones, friends, family, neighbor, students and so on who are going to be affected by me and my words and actions. So for what it's worth, it was on my heart to share some of my findings.

Are we too concerned about others? Really, are we paying too close attention to others and what they're doing, criticizing, tearing them apart-I can't believe they did this and that and so on? We should be using that time and energy to pay attention to our own walk. People will make mistakes, we're only human. It's not our place to judge or pick apart. When we do this, who is it that we're comparing to, are we putting ourselves on a pedestal and putting our ways as the comparing bar? The bible says, 'Brothers, do not slander one another.' James 4:11. A slanderer is one who speaks against another. Slander begins in the mind.

Our words should be wholesome, for what comes out of our mouths is a direct reflection of where our heart is.
Think before you speak.
Tame your tongue.
Words hurt.
Be someone who builds people up, not tears people down.

Oh I could go on and on...for what it's worth!

'Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips' Psalm 141:3.

Our Little Luke

Almost 8 months.
Loving his grandma.

My sweet boy. His little personality is really starting to come out.
He's all about clapping his little hands!
I just look at him, start to sing or smile at him and there he goes, I just love it!

Our precious boy...

Chilly nights, fun family times

It was sooo chilly when we picked out our Christmas tree.
Our tradition is to make hot cocoa and bring it with us. Savi is all about her own
little cup now too. 

All bundled up to see the tree lighting in Orange.

Luke had fun too! All bundled up and warm, he was content and cozy.

We dared to go out to eat before getting our tree with these three little monkeys.
We were cracking up at the caution sign (because of the cup of water
that 'fell' onto the ground).

Yes, Savannah loves putting bubbles on brother's head.
He absolutely loves bath time, so bubbles make it that much more fun :)

Fun with our fire family. Savi just looked so big here playing with Cambria.

This was the kids' Christmas party at Mike's work. An amazing family and story
from a call that Mike went on about a year ago. God is good, well amazing actually, that's all I can say! 

Tunnel Vision

I'm really working on not living with tunnel vision. I picture literally driving in dark, straight tunnel full speed, not looking side to side, and not slowing down. I know this seems a little weird, but really, it's what life can get like if we are so fast paced and focused on us and our needs and wants and desires and priorities. If it was our last day, how would that feel? Maybe I should make a bucket list :) But I want the list to be God's, Mike's and my babies, they are my absolute world. I want to cross off their bucket list and know that I'm fulfilling the desires of their hearts.

I don't want to not do the little things that make a difference to others, strangers, family. I want to water souls with cheerful words, help others, give a hand, put myself aside, be the cheerleader for Mike to be the amazing man that he is (ok not literally, but I guess I do still have it in me) make my babies giggle and get giddy with legs that move all around because they're so excited.

Last night at church Savi wanted so badly to go to 'big church' after I picked her up from childcare. I said no because it was late, but I gave in and to see her face light up when I said we could absolutely melted my heart. It made me take a step back and think...what is 20 minutes? If this was either of our last days, I would know that her sweet little soul was so incredibly excited by such a simple thing. We went in and ran all around, I chased her up and down stairs and she giggled and glowed. I was in a tunnel when I went into the night, I even told her earlier in the day that we wouldn't be going into big church. I'm so glad I got out of the tunnel and was able to brighten her little life and moment.

There are so many other things I could write about, but it's just a good reminder that when we step aside or back to think about others' feelings and desires, we can brighten someone's world and mend their heart. I hope I'm modeling this for my babies when we do things for others. I hope to teach my babies to not have a selfish heart, but a serving and loving heart that thinks about others first. I know this was all over the place, but it's what was on my heart today.

I'm blessed and so very grateful!

A few of my hopes...

In this life here on earth, I hope I do a few things and a few things well.

I hope to...
honor and respect and love my husband
put others' needs before my own
teach my babies to not sweat the small stuff
be a person who's worth listening to
be a woman of God
be bold
be sure of what I know
keep learning
be pure
be uplifting
laugh a lot and make others smile
nurture my babies
teach my babies respect and good manners
teach my babies to respect the elderly
bring souls out of darkness
keep myself active
stay in the Word every day for as long as I'm here
sing
remember that we are all made different and to his likeness
remember that I am always being molded and shaped
remember that life lessons happen all day every day
reflect
be open
let my babies know that they are loved and a priority
get on the ground and play with them, build with them, be silly and crazy with them
truly not worry about what others think
be righteous
have a tamed tongue
always be a hard worker at whatever task is at hand
strive to become more wise
lead more women's groups
give hope to the students that come in my path
let my husband know how happy I am to be home with my babies
make time for making memories
not get caught up in the busyness in life and forget our purpose here
love my husband
be spontaneous
stay organized
tell certain people the things I would want to tell them if they weren't here tomorrow
live each day like its our last day here
live a life that is pleasing and worthy of Him
be a Proverbs 31 woman
laugh and smile every day
pray
be trusted
have charisma
not judge
not care too much about what doesn't matter
LoVe

Little Luke

I just got my first tooth everyone!!! Finally, it came in. 

I love this little look. He seems to do it quite often, and he just melts my heart when he does. I guess he's a little doctor in the making??? This is what he chose out of the box to play with.

He's got the strength to crawl, it's right around the corner.

My loves in the morning.
We love our cuddle & reading & singing time. 

Savi's Silly Sayings

Lately Savannah has been cracking us up with the words that come out of her mouth. It is such a neat feeling to know that I get to know my babies so well and so deeply. I love hearing what she's saying because it tells me what her heart is feeling. I hope I remember some of these sweet and silly things she's says. Here are just a few. And you've got to remember her little voice too.

Dancing With the Stars was on (she's all about dancing these days, well watching anyway) and I asked her if she wanted to be a dancer someday. She very certainly nodded her head yes, then said, "With Daddy Mommy." Her dance partner will be daddy...Mike loved that one!

We're singing, Apples and Bananas and she says, "Like my apple at home mommy!!!" Then when we got home (3 hours later) she ran to the fruit bowl and started munching on an apple.

We were reading her alphabet book-letter A and she said, "Alligator, a, a, a." Then looked at me and said, "Alligator bite me mommy???" She saw his teeth, then said, "Alligator monkey." It took me a minute then Mike figured out it was from a song during story time that is about an alligator trying to get the monkey.

She will spot a cross from a mile away and start saying, "Jesus Mommy, Jesus."

Savannah who do you want to pray for? "Nana mommy." Every night many people get prayers, but nana's is every night and always first.

If I say something is big she says, "Big like me?" and puts her arms up in the air.

She says, "Big boy" to Luke.

I'm forgetting so many right now, but these are the few that are coming to mind over the last few days.

One more, now when we're at the store she looks for the door that is- auto-o-MATIC! That's how she says it.

Oh how she amazes me in all that she thinks, and knows, and is able to verbalize.

Happy Halloween!

You want me to do what???

Our 'Ballerina Princess' was so excited to see Bellahanna.

Football Boy.
He was so cozy and happy as ever with daddy.

She picked out her costume from head to toe.
The headband, wand, purse, her dress of course, and her
ballllet shoes. 

Mr. Luke with his cousin. She is such a natural with our babies.

The fam

Where's all the candy???

Family Time

Pumpkin Carving.
Savi was so intrigued about the seeds and how they were goooeeeyyy.
Luke was pretty excited to just cruise around the backyard and
watch Rock run around.  Mike is such a patient daddy, he loves to teach
Savannah, and oh how she loves to learn!

The wheels on the bus go round and round! Yes, this is our
morning singing time. Luke just watches me jump around and
laughs at me, and Savi helps me out by doing the hand motions.
I love being silly with my babies. I realize we are just a little crazy, but
I love seeing them giggle and laugh. It brings back fun, silly memories of things my
 mom and dad used to do with us. Laughing is good for the soul!

My girl, yes, she picked out her dress, and chose which shoes she would wear.
She is such a little cowgirl at heart.

Wee! Papa with Luke and daddy with Savi.
We took a family trip to Yucaipa last weekend, we had such a blast!
We stopped at the playground that the Diersing boys and Sarah used to stop at
when they were younger on their way out to Riley's Farm. It brought back so many memories
for them, they all were a bunch of kids, playing on the old toys. 

Love this picture. Daddy's little girl. She's a mama's girl for sure, but oh how she
holds tight to her daddy. We are always teaching and talking, exposing them to
much. She was listening to him teach her about the trees and rocks that were off in the
distance. I love that she loves to learn. She is such an observer and looker, she was
taking it all in. Later she'll ask me about it, oh she's so smart.

And this was the caterpillar that everyone was climbing and jumping off of as
if they were 10 again. It was hilarious seeing all of them, yes including papa, in
playing on all of the toys. I can just picture what all of them looked like as kids
running and jumping all over this. Our family is so neat, I'm blessed, we're blessed!

Of course, we had to end our day riding on a pony. This girl loves her pony rides!
What a great week/weekend.
Make these memories, have family time. 

Our Babies, Our Loves

Mr. Luke. He was almost 6 months in this picture.
He absolutely loves 'riding' in the Bjorn. He is a looker, and just loves
taking it all in. He giggles and gets those legs kicking when he's excited about something.

This pretty much sums up my girl. She is content as ever hanging out and
just soaking it all in by herself. Forget the jumper, the pinata and kids at our
cousins 1st birthday, she was happy with her Minnie and balloon.

Yes, this is the infamous Rocky! She thinks this is 'her' pony at Irvine Park. We
go and ride on him about once every two weeks. She will wait patiently until
Rocky is available to ride. She goes around the area three times and loves every minute of it. She holds on so tight, and
cracks up when he goes pee pee. I love to see the sweet, closed mouth, peaceful smile
that she has when we're here. What a special time for us!

Oh my little man! Look at hose legs, he is eating so much right now, and I think
it's pretty evident! He loves to read in the morning. Our meeting place with the kids is our bed in the
morning. It's such a fun time. The kids get up, and the fun begins. We read, we have singing and dancing, and story
time, and laugh, and giggle, and tickle, and sing Sesame Street songs...it's so much fun! Luke can turn the pages now, so he thinks he's big stuff. Sometimes he stops to munch on the page, but eventually he turns it.

Oh it's so cliche, but this time will and is slipping by so fast, and we try to make as many memories and fun times as we can with our babies. We love to see them smile, and teach life lessons, and shape and mold them, instill beliefs, traditions and values in them. We try to thank the Lord each and every day for our family and the health that we have been given. We are building a  'home' for our babies, and I hope this home, wherever we are, is filled with love, and laughter, and structure, and peace and comfort, and God.
Thank you Lord for all you have given to us!

LOVE

Our move has shown us much, but above all else we have drawn closer to the Lord. We are part of an amazing church, with a passionate pastor who preaches the Word. We are a part of a marriage group as well, and it has been so enlightening and strengthening for us and our relationship with the Lord. 

Just thought I'd add a pic from a special day a couple months ago.
Our babies' dedication to the church.

A friend and I had been speaking about the word 'love' and what it truly means to love someone. Are we loving and showing love to others as Jesus did? Not just a feeling, feeling warm and fuzzy, being nice to special people, but as an action? Are we truly putting the needs and concerns of others above our own selfish desires and needs. Are we faithfully being aware of the goodness of others before ourself? Love is so much more, are we taking 'self' out of the equation and acting selfless as Jesus did? A few verses to read...

Love in Action

 ⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

 ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.^[c] Do not be conceited.

 ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d] says the Lord.

Our Little Pumpkins

Savi held on so tight to her brother. Luke just went with it.
We had a family date to the pumpkin patch on Wednesday.

the little things

I find myself more and more getting emotional about the little things that happen each day with our babies. What might be nothing to an outsider just melts my heart and reminds me how truly blessed we are. I love seeing Savi and Luke develop into their little personalities.

To name a few...
the way Luke giggles when daddy kisses his back
how Savi is such a mommy
how Savi would rather give her baby doll a bath, clean her, wrap her with a blanket, put lotion on and hug her more than anything else right now
the way Savi yearns to be close to me
the way Luke watches everything we do
how Savi giggles at things that we think are funny, what a sense of humor she has
the way Luke needed our TLC this past week

They are such a joy!

Updates

 My little man-he's moving onto 6 months already! He is such a happy boy. He's loving his little food net, especially sucking on grapes. He eats whatever comes his way, taking after his big sis so far. He lights up when he sees her. Savi has been extra giggly lately and he just loves watching her.

We went to the lake for a couple days with our good friends, Tom and Lisa and their daughter Chloe, and the kids just had a blast! It was a nice, relaxing trip where we had no agenda and just enjoyed the water and  family time.

Technical Difficulties

I was having a problem signing onto our blog for some reason, so I finally recovered the info. I needed. I had much to say in the last few weeks, but now I can't remember it all. That's why I like blogging. I don't always remember everything, so we can look back at the blog to go down memory lane :)

My Loves

I need to sit down and upload some new pics, I just haven't done it yet. So, I guess I'll just write about our night...

Little Luke is such a sweet little guy. He wakes up from his nap and just smiles so big at me, it melts my heart. He looked around as he was waking up today, then as I was staring at him, he realized I was there and got the biggest grin. He is such a happy baby. He holds his feet, and loves to be tickled. He stands up holding onto things?! He'll fall if I leave him long, but man he's getting big! He loves watching his big sissy. She moves all around and his eyes are glued to her, I love watching them together.

Savannah is such a little mom. Luke took a really long nap, so it felt like just Savi and I days again tonight. Mike was gone, the house was quiet with just the two of us. It brought back some really special memories and times we've had. She is such an independent girl, who loves my company and I love that. She sat there and dressed her baby, changed her diaper, laid the blanket out (perfected it of course) and got her a binky. Then she had to strap the baby the proper way into the swing and put the swing on. Later once it was bath time she not only had her brother to wash, but her bath baby too. I have a picture of the three of them in the bath together. She washed that doll like it was a real baby. Even put lotion on and used Q tips as I did the same to her brother. It's amazing how much she watches and copies what I do with her.

I love my babies, they're my world!

The Remaining 6 of Time Management

7. Ask the half time question. What shortcuts would I take if my life depended on doing the task in half the time?
8. Use a timer. Try to beat the clock.
9. Do the worst first. One of my favorites! Do the most dreaded task first, that way you'll keep that heavy cloud of dread from hanging over you all day.
10. Read daily on time management. 5 minutes a day will help to motivate you. Read these if you need to get started.
11. Say no. Make your schedule. Let it be Plan A. Try to follow your plan by saying no to yourself and others and sticking with Plan A.
12. Begin the night before. (LOVE this one too). Some of the things you can do the night before.
Plan the next day
Plan the next day's meals
Select, lay out, and prepare clothes
Clean up the kitchen
Run the dishwasher
Set the table for the next meal
Tidy up the house
Prepare lunches and meals
Defrost meat
Sort the wash and get a load going in the washer
Put things you need to take with you by the door (one of my favorites too)

All these little steps begin to snowball. You'll find energy and enthusiasm to keep moving. Slowly, but surely counts :)

Good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best!

Time Management

From an author that I admire and have learned so much from...

Twelve Tips for Time Management (each goes into more detail but I'll try to sum it up)

1. Plan in detail-the more you plan, the better you manage and the more you achieve-morning and night.
2. Deal with today-what you are today is what you are becoming.
3. Value each minute-it's priceless or worthless-depending on how you use it.
4. Keep moving-a body at rest tends to remain at rest, and a body in motion tends to remain in motion.
5. Develop a routine-horizontal planning. Try to put as many tasks as possible into a routine.
6. Exercise and diet-It's a way of life-it gives you energy and the health you need.

That's it for now, I'll try to add the other 6 another time.

Savi's Latests

baby dolls & their diapers
pinkalicious
storytime
baths with Ry
watching snakes on tv
abc songs
horsies-nieghssss
mommy's bed to read before she goes to bed
still likes a little elmo in the am
jumping
running
saying elbow
salami
juice
ice (otter pops)
choo choo trains
counting
to explain size everything is either mommy, daddy or bebe size
the moon
knowing where everyone's mommy or daddy is
kissing her babies
washing brother in the bath
fixing things with her fake screw driver
money in the waterfountain
Mr. Robert at church
Toy Story 2
cats
Rock-o
throwing the ball to Rock-o
watering the lawn
treats for going tee tee
finding the mouse in Goodnight Moon
addi
being loving
doing the right thing
brushing her teeth
mimicking mommy & daddy
being our angel

Granddaddy Time

Mr. Luke loved playing with Granddaddy.
He's always been good at making others feel special...
I love seeing how it's trickling down to my babies.

Learning and coloring with Granddaddy.
He will always try to steal some sugar from any
little kiddo in sight.

aNiMaLs GaLoRe

On Tuesday we went to the Irvine Park, one of Savi's favorite places. We
can always count on a peacock greeting us at the car.

This was a moment I will always remember. She is pretty
much in love with horses, and she told me from the moment
we pulled up that she wanted to go on the horse.
I figured she'd be too scared once she got onto Rocky, but she absolutely loved it.
She in no time let go of my hand and had such a sweet, serious, peaceful look
on her face the whole time. She thought it was hilarious that he had
to stop to go pee pee. What a special time! Oh, and I got a great video too :)

The next day we went to Rancho Las Lomas. Kara was so
sweet to take us on a little tour looking at all of the animals.
They loved it! We even got to see the zoo keeper feed the white tigers
horse meat. Rylee and Savi got pretty close to them, we told them they
were just real big kitties.

They were so focused watching them eat.

Checking out the birdies.
She picked a lime that she didn't want to let go.

We also got to watch this big guy eat.
I'm so grateful that I'm able to home with my babies
so much to teach them and make so many memories, it's what it's all about.