Thursday, January 31, 2013

E's first birthday!

(Beware - long post and picture overload alert!)

I can't believe our little monkey is a year old! It feels like we were just bringing him home. Although the "fog" of the first few weeks does seem like ages ago...someone told me recently that God does that on purpose so you'll have more kids. ;) Being a mommy has been the most difficult but most amazing thing I've ever experienced. Way better than I could have imagined before having my own little man. 
Anyway, back to the point of this post! Yesterday, E officially turned one but we had his party this past Saturday. I did a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme from the children's book by Eric Carle. I had so much fun putting it together and we absolutely LOVED having all of our friends and family here to celebrate. 





We ate all the foods that the caterpillar eats in the book with little labels made from the pictures in the book. 




The cake table: 


                                      



All the credit for the cake icing goes to Marcos' Meme Jan who saved my cake disaster ;)
My friend, Kara, made this chalkboard sign which was adorable! I made the photo banner of some of my favorite pics of Elias growing up this past year. 


Giant caterpillar on the ceiling!


E got a bajillion presents...that little man is way too loved :)





He wasn't really sure what to make of the whole singing and cake-eating thing...












But he got the hang of it eventually :)

The party favors were these cute little buckets, playdough caterpillars, coloring pages, and the antennae headbands everyone wore during the party. 



Aunts and uncles with their antennae...



And of course the birthday boy himself...the only decent pic we got of him all day except when he was stuck in his highchair! He had such a great time playing with all his new stuff and all the kids! I don't think he stopped moving all day!



He has been the greatest blessing that we ever could have imagined. This past year has been so full of joy thanks to this little cutie. Happy birthday Elias! :) A big thank you to everyone who made his day special!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Mail organization!

January has been deemed my "project month". Meaning, all of those little projects I've been wanting to get done but haven't, well supposedly they are getting done this month! One of them being a solution to our mail. Mail has this weird way of ending up everywhere in our house...in piles! So here's our solution




This pretty little guy from Hobby Lobby... half off!

Those two bins are gonna get labeled "IN" and "OUT". When mail comes in, its going to be sorted through and any mail that needs action (bills to be payed, papers need to be filed, etc.) will go in the "IN" box. Everything else gets thrown away right then! Then a few times a week I'll go through and deal with everything in the in box. The "OUT" box is pretty self-explanatory...outgoing mail :) So hopefully no more mail piles! Also, the key hooks are a plus, cuz this is hanging right in our entryway. See?


So, after we hung it up, we went to get the mail and go through a trial run of how this should work. The little man helped us get the mail. :)


Success! Works great mom ;)

More projects to come!
Maddie

Come Away

I recently read this quote by C.S. Lewis and it keeps playing in my head because it has so much truth in my life,

"The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job of each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in."

How true is that?!

It seems like every single morning the first thought that pops into my head is "what's today?" or "what do we have to do today?".

How different would my day be if every morning I shoved all that out of my head and started my day off with the right perspective. A verse from Mark comes to mind,

"HE said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest a while.'" ~Mark 6:31

When I first discovered this verse, this is what I wrote in my journal, "This is essentially what 'quiet time' is about - resting from the battles of sin and this world and just experiencing sweet communion with Jesus. It is so important to life."
Jesus knew that His disciples needed to rest. Rest with Him. And He knows that we need that very same thing. I need to start my day by resting in Him. Only then will that "other...quieter life come flowing in".  

"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him" ~Psalm 37:7

I want my day to start by reminding myself of His greatness. Reminding myself that my day belongs to Him. Reminding myself that nothing on this earth matters if I am not bringing Him glory. 

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." ~John Piper

Satisfied in Him. Not rushing around as soon as I wake up trying to fulfill MY plans for my life. Rest in Him. Satisfy myself in Him. Come away with Him and rest. 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Hi! I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now and just have never sat down and done it. So, I thought a new year was the perfect time to start. Through this blog I hope to be able to document our life for myself and also keep family and friends updated on our adventures in this foreign country known as Oklahoma! There will be a little bit of everything, from the latest house catastrophe project, to something cute baby E did today, to what the Lord is teaching Marcos and I about life. Day by day. Although, most likely not every day, since I will probably not ever be that organized. Since this is my first blog, it may be a little crazy at first as I learn the ropes of this whole blog world. 
My husband, Marcos, and I have been married for almost two years and have an amazing little boy, Elias, who is about to be a year old! We are currently finishing up a major remodel of our first home...and we lived to tell the story! (So some of my posts will be flashbacks from house projects and showing before and after pictures of the house.) Marcos works as a jet engine mechanic and I am a stay at home mom. We are seeking God's direction for our future and prayerfully considering missions as an option...so stay tuned :) 
We love our life and our daily "adventures", which could mean running across the parking lot in the freezing rain under one tiny umbrella to buy groceries, but hey it makes life interesting!

I'll leave you with a few current(ish) family pictures :)



Ice skating for a Christmas date (sorry for the quality)



The day we got our Christmas tree...


Modeling for Fisher Price...or just playing in the backyard :)

Until next time!
Maddie