Take a hike!

It's good for the soul....
We just took the girls on a hike in the hills behind our house.  The sunshine, fresh air, and family time were just what I needed.

At the entrance to the trail

We found a few sticks....

The girls and Brian looking at animal tracks

Skylar saved a piece of dried mud :)

Then, the sticks turned into baseball bats...

That little tiny person is Skylar

This girl...sometimes it feels like she's turning 15 instead of 9.

A few of the tracks we found....we guessed they were coyote prints

These look much more like mountain lion prints...

Reagan's favorite.

The loves of my life.

him

I'm thankful for so much.

My family.

My home.

My God.

I could go on and on about each and every one.  But today I'm thankful for him.

He is my rock.

My better half.  

My heart. 

He knows how to make me laugh, how to make me feel important, and loved.  

He is *adored* by our three blessings. 

He's an amazing dad! 

You won't find someone more honest or harder working.  

He also happens to be incredibly intelligent, rational, and level-headed.  

He makes sacrifices and plans ahead so I can live my dream of being a stay at home mom. 

He's introverted and quiet around people he doesn't know well.

That makes us a good team. :)

He leads our home spiritually and I am secure knowing that his relationship with the Lord is solid. 

He prays with me and for our girls each and every day.    

It's just a bonus that he's so handsome and his gaze still makes my heart race.  

He also happens to know exactly how I take my coffee.  

I am so thankful for him.

Happy Birthday Honey! Each day with you is a gift!

Daddy-o

I am so blessed to have a LOT of incredible fathers in my life.

My grandfathers
I had two grandfathers that loved the Lord, prayed for me, with me, and gave selflessly for years.  My Papa (dad's dad) passed away a year and a half ago.  I still think of him often and thank the Lord for his example in my life.  He used to call and ask if he and my nana could take me out to lunch when I was in college (they only lived 30 minutes away), and when they arrived, he would take a "quick look" at my car to make sure it was taken care of.  Of course if anything needed fixing, he took care of it right away and always left my tank on "full." What a blessing he was.

My other grandfather is 92 and no longer lives in Southern California near us.  But I know he still prays daily and is available whenever I need to call.  He has always been the spiritual pillar for our family and even at 92, he embodies that role.

Both were shining examples of family love, and commitment to marriage.
I'm so glad that my girls got to know both of my grandfathers.

My dad
Even though he made us eat meatloaf with too much nutmeg in it when he first started cooking, he has come a long way and is actually an incredible cook. :) I call him with my food dilemmas frequently.
He loves his family and gives so freely!
He's an avid sports fan, and is the luckiest man alive when it comes to Fantasy Football! (ha! love you dad!)
He's madly in love with my three blessings and that brings me more than joy than I can put into words.
He took the first plane he could after Reagan was born in Virginia.  Love at first sight.

He's stubborn and outgoing and hilarious (I know...the apple didn't fall very far from the tree...)
Thank you Dad for all the love you give!

My husband
I know my husband is an incredible father, but what I love is when others point it out to me as well. I love that others can see it too!

He's a very "involved" daddy and loves all of his girls so much! I'm so grateful for his example to our family.  He works tirelessly, with a great work ethic, leads our home spiritually, and has successfully turned our girls into sports fans! :D
His smile still melts me.
I love you honey!

God bless all the fathers today! In a time where the term "absentee father" is used frequently, thank you for sticking around and leading your children in the right direction.

Happy Father's Day!!

Precious Hands

I know, two posts in one day! But I almost missed out on this weeks theme at IheartFaces!

This weeks theme is all about "hands on" and doesn't have to include a face.  It's just a bonus that mine still does have one!  And isn't it the sweetest little face?  This is Reagan, at 3 days old.  She was a month early so she was teeny tiny.  I love how giant her daddy's hand look next to hers....

Head on over to I Heart Faces and see more "hands on" photos!

My funny Valentine

We don't make a big production out of Valentine's Day at our house.  Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be reminded how much I am loved, but our gift to each other in the last few years has been not spending money on gifts that could go to something else.  We exchange cards with heartfelt words (that I save, and he tosses a week later).  His card for me this year made me cry.  Admittedly that's not hard to do, but still...it was special.  I gave him a sweet card too but it had to contain some silliness! Anyone watch "Modern Family"?

What Valentine's Day does, is remind me of the weekend that we got engaged.  We had been dating for 8 months, but had been friends for almost 2 years.  Of course we waited until we were 3000 miles apart to start officially dating.  He was working in Virginia and I was working in California.  We saw each other about every six weeks (I was a pro with priceline and it was pre-9/11 so it was easier to fly, and he was able to meet me at the gate...I miss that part.  But I digress).  In our conversations prior to my "Valentine" weekend visit, he had been talking a lot about having me move out to Virginia after my contract was up so we could at least be dating in the same state before we got married.  It wasn't my ideal, but I understood his reasoning.

I was not able to get a flight out for the actual Valentine's Day because it was mid-week and I was still working.  So I waited until the 15th and flew out to Virginia.  We had plans to go to a nice dinner the following night in Shockoe Bottom (a historic part of downtown Richmond) after he got off from work. We had a fantastic dinner (in which we discussed when I would move to Virginia, where I could live, what kind of job to look for etc.) After dinner, we walked through the cobblestone streets and he said he wanted to show me one of the oldest hotels in the area- The Berkeley. I think he made something up about a view or a rooftop deck or something (can't remember).  I just know that it had started to rain and it was nice to get inside.  He went to the elevators so I followed.  He got out on the top floor and walked to the end of the hallway where he pulled out a key and opened the door.  I walked into a huge, beautiful suite with roses and a small treasure chest.  He said it was my Valentine's gift so I opened it.  Inside were tons of little white strips of paper, folded in half.  I pulled out the first one and it said "I love you because you're amazing." Each one had something similar on it.  "I love you because....".  At the bottom of the chest was a piece of paper that said "Will you marry me?" on it.  In the shock of it all, I didn't process it right away.  We had just spent an hour discussing how we were NOT going to get married right away! So, rather than jump up and down and say "yes" I looked at him and said "Are you proposing?!" Storybook stuff I tell ya! I'll spare you the details of the crazy weekend after he proposed (a water main break, an employee smoking pot in our room, a hotel change, two room changes, and being evacuated from a movie theater because a shoe store was on fire next door).

Nine years later, I don't think I could love him more.  He works harder than anyone I know.  He's an incredible daddy to our blessings.  He loves the Lord and prays with me daily.  He lets me be me and loves me in spite of my flaws (it helps that there are so few! hehe).  He knows how I take my coffee.  He is a great cook! And he makes me laugh like no one else.  It's just a bonus that he's so stinkin' handsome too!

Get out!

I've been told numerous times that it's important to go on "dates" with your husband.  I think it's equally as important to get away overnight without kids.  With little ones (especially nursing ones), it's not always easy to carve out the time.  It's not that my husband and I don't love spending time together, it's just not always easy to put our needs ahead of our children.  In the parenting class that we took at church while we were expecting Reagan, they said one statement that has always stuck with me:
"To be a good mother, you must be a good wife" and the same is true for men, "to be a good dad, you must be a good husband."

Some might see that as archaic. I don't.  It basically says that I CANNOT neglect my role as a wife, if I'm going to succeed as a mother.  Sometimes moms (and dads) just need to get out of the house.  Alone. In the chaos of life with kids, it's easy to get tired and not connect with your spouse.  You forget to say "I love you."  The only hands you hold are your children's in a parking lot.

When we lived with my mom and dad, we tried to go out and eat occasionally, but then my mom got sick and it was harder to find a sitter.  Plus, I've been either pregnant or nursing for 5 years, so that's hampered our attempts.  :D Honestly (and sadly), it just wasn't a priority.

So it had been a long time since we had even had a meal together, and almost FIVE years since we had gone away overnight.

But, I'm no longer nursing (Yay!), and my mom is healed (Praise God!), and she only lives 45 minutes away.  So, in the midst of trying to figure out a good gift for my husband's birthday (that happened to fall ON Thanksgiving this year), I had the brilliant idea to surprise him with a weekend away since he would have Friday off anyway.

My dad helped us secure a hotel with his timeshare rewards, and my mom agreed to come stay all weekend at our house.  I told him that we were going out for dinner in Newport Beach the day after Thanksgiving to celebrate his birthday.

My mom arrived on Friday morning (and of course we had to hit a few Black Friday sales), and then Brian went to get new tires on his car.  He wanted to get the tires done before we drove all the way down to the beach.  It worked out perfectly.  While he was getting new tires, I packed our bags.  I threw them in the garage under a blanket and did my hair and makeup.  When he got home, he said he needed to shower quickly before we left for dinner.  While he was showering, I took the bags from the garage and put them in the trunk.  We said good bye to the girls (and I grabbed his phone charger on the sly and shoved it in my purse) and took off for "dinner."  After we got to our hotel, I told him that I wasn't taking him to dinner at the Marriott, but that we were staying all weekend. He was completely surprised!

We had dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant on the water, and realized that we were done eating in less than ten minutes. It's amazing how quickly a meal goes when you don't have children with you!

The funniest part of the weekend was that we watched two movies in the hotel and they were both kid movies!

Even though things weren't "perfect" (gotta love the untimely arrival of Aunt Florence), it was nice to just exhale and enjoy each other's company.

We drank coffee in the morning, and walked around the beach.

We held hands.

We had uninterrupted conversations.

It was a weekend of rest, and we decided we would not wait five more years to get away again.  We came home refreshed and ready to be parents again.

The girls had a great weekend with Yaya and she loved the quality time with them.  It was a win-win situation all the way around!

If you haven't been out with your husband in a while, make it a priority.  You won't regret it.

The view from the lobby

This tree was not there the day we checked in but they transformed the lobby while we were there!

It was so beautiful and made me want to head home and start decorating!