It's a...

GIRL!!!!

She's healthy and we are so thankful!  3 girls in just over 3 and 1/2 years :).  They are going to be close, and we pray they'll be the best of friends.   God give us grace to raise them to love Him and each other!!

Here's the 20 week baby bump (at 6:30 in the morning...guaranteed I'm bigger after breakfast) ;).  But feeling pretty good these days...and feeling very blessed!

breaking up the norm...or trying to

As it is February, the dead of winter, we are all a bit antsy around here and aching for ways to break up the norm...

I've started trying to cook things I usually am scared of...and let's just say, I'll probably go back to what we usually eat!!  This week nothing seemed to turn out right :(.  Livie asked me on Friday, "mom, are you making more yucky meat for supper?".  :( :(

The snow was a nice surprise this week...Chad stayed home part of the morning on Friday to clear the drive and play a bit.  The girls loved it...

Emma just kept eating it...literally shoveling it in!

Making a "daddy-sized" snowman :)

A week ago Livie decided she needed to give herself haircut.  How did I found this out??  I caught her standing in front of the mirror at Norris Lake with scissors in her hands and a chunk of her bangs in the sink.  My reaction probably scared her, but I was like "What are you doing?!?!".  Glad I caught her when I did though!! The damage was really not that bad.  Praise God :).  

I kinda knew it was bound to happen someday as this little girl is always finding an excuse to use my scissors.  And I guess she just "found" some out there and decided it was a good idea to go ahead and give herself a little trim.

Here's her hair before:

And after:

Other ways we're trying to break up the norm are playdates, swim lessons, getting out with family and friends, having more people in...

Life is kinda calm right now.  Well...ha...let me rephrase that...our big picture is calm ;).  Nothing too big is going on...besides the suspense of our new baby on the way.  You know what I mean though?  Chad works, I stay home, the girls aren't involved in much cause they're still so young...so our days are just what we make of them.  And while the days do fill up...some days it feels like "what is God doing in our lives right now?".  The big picture is pretty blurry.  

He has challenged us to get more involved in our church family, more intentional with what goes on at home, and more purposeful in prayer for our future and what God would desire for that.  

We know these next few years are going to go SO fast.  Soon we'll be a family of 5.  Then there's going to be school...maybe more kids?...maybe (fill in the blank)???????  We don't know much.  But I'm thankful God does.

For now, our desire is to be thankful, faithful, purposeful, and constantly give back to God what we've been given (specifically relationships, where we're at, what we do, possessions).  Easy words to say, not as easy to do :(.  Especially in the dead of winter when all we want is some warm weather and a beach to play on!!  Just kidding.  Kinda ;).  

But if anyone is up for a playdate, call me and come on over!!!  We'd love to have you :) :).  Seriously.

valentines

"By this we know love, because Jesus Christ laid down His life for us." 1 John 3:16

cousin love

pucker up Crosby ;)

"well, if he's not going to come to me, i'll just make him!" - Emma's thoughts ;)

Valentine's day was kinda fun this year.  I'm usually not into this holiday, but for some reason this year I was really looking forward to it.  This seems to be becoming a trend for me (regarding holidays) lately.  Maybe it's because it's the dead of winter, we're all a little stir crazy, and there was a reason to do crafts and cookies with the girls?!?  

We by no means did anything extravagant ;)...just some homemade cards and those Nestle valentine cutout cookies that all you do is put on the cookie tray and bake for 10 minutes! :) But it was fun.  As we were making cards for all her cousins, she kept asking, "But where's my card mom??".  I had to assure her over and over that she would get something.  Silly girl.

In the midst of this, we had some good conversations about how it's only because of God's love for us that we can love others.  I love how when I talk about heart issues with Livie, God convicts my heart at deeper levels to make me realize my dependence on Him.  I guess I don't have it all figured out ;).  Not that I ever thought I did!  

Anyway, this definitely happened this valentines day and made me realize more fully that I CANNOT love others without Him.  My relationship with Him must be first...and when it's not, well, my relationships with others will suffer.  So, while Livie is learning "the right answers" to heart questions...God is growing both of us.  I love that.

So, this valentines day we got to spend the evening with our good friends Brett and Liv.  Chad and I, along with Traever and Andrea, got to have one last evening with this awesome family before they leave for Thailand indefinitely.  So bittersweet.  

They have blessed us so much as friends the past 4 years...but longer than that if you want to count girls and boys camps ;).  Yeah, there's an age difference between us - but that never seemed to matter!!  These kids are ROCK solid and I honestly have learned SO much from them and had SO MUCH FUN too :).  

We will miss them terribly as they head off to do the work of the Lord overseas...but we put them in God's hands and hope to keep in touch via skype and FaceTime :).  

Silly us that we didn't take a picture that night...but thankfully I have these two from a going away party  at our place back in January.  Love them.

the girls' latest

Here's the latest on these two girlies...

Emma has been talking a lot more in the past month.  And well, we thought she was a funny little girl before...but the talking has made her even funnier :).  While her favorite (or most frequently used) word is "no"...some of her other favorites are..."tack" (snack!)..."Emma's"..."padi" (paci)..."bantie" (blankie)..."teez mama" (please mama)..."teez dada" (please dada).."chary dada" (sorry dada)..."dink" (drink).  Here's a little snip-it of her saying "no":

Yes, she is very passionate about her paci...and her drinks and snacks for that matter.  The other Sunday we went to pick her up from nursery and the workers that day had named her "snack-master" because she was so obsessed with her snack (and everyone else's too!).  Oh my.

Mid-January she came down with bronchitis :(.  Poor little one.   She had to have been feeling awful cause she just wanted to be held and snuggled all the time.  Not a bad thing all together...it was some good bonding time for me and her :).

Lately too, she's been showing us this "scowling" face.  Lol :).  It's like she's saying "what in the world are you thinking?!?".  She definitely understands a lot ;).

One more of Emma...just cause it's cute :).

Livie is pretty excited about the baby growing in my belly.  But she is convinced  it is a girl :).  So funny.  I think this started when one of her older cousins told her that it was, in fact, a girl??  Haha.  We find out February 26th, and I'm so excited for that day to come!!  We really don't care what it is (honestly)...it will just be nice to know.  God has created this little life, and whether it's a boy or girl doesn't matter to us.  He knows what we need!  And what Livie needs too ;).  

And as my appetite has come back this month, she has been the one by my side in the kitchen.  Whether it's to help me eat a snack or even to make a meal...she loves to be a part of whatever is going on.  She's always asking, "mom can I help?" :).  One more thing about Livie with food...I can't hide much from her.  If I "secretly" eat a piece of candy she's like..."mom, I smell something...did you eat some candy??".  Seriously?

Her passion for music and dancing continues as well.  Last night Chad asked her to sing a song for him and she just started making up something completely random about "love" on the coffee table.  No shame at all ;).  Her current favorite is "Mighty to Save" and she can belt it out pretty good :).

She had her first visit to the dentist a couple weeks ago.  She sat and watched me get my teeth cleaned first and then gladly got into the chair for her turn.  Funniest thing about the visit was that while she was mostly compliant with everything they asked her to do...she wouldn't say a word...or give a head nod to anything.  So while she's all shameless at home...she's pretty shy in public still.  Her favorite part was picking out her "sparkly toothpaste" at the end :).

For Christmas, Alex gave the girls this BIG roll of paper with washable markers...they LOVE it.  And I  love that they love it too :).

AAANNNDDD...we have a new nephew!!  Thatcher Tyndale was born on January 29 to Traever and Andrea.  He weighed 8 lb. 1 oz...and I still can hardly believe that because Andrea was so small this pregnancy :).  We think he's pretty cute :).

highlights of the season

Yeah...two months later and I finally get around to blogging again.  I hate to say that this is going to be a regular occurrence, but I've had a good excuse for the long pause this time :) :) :)...

Baby #3 due July 15, 2013!

As excited as we are about this little baby (and we are REALLY excited!!)...the past three months have  been a mix of emotions.  With the holidays, events, traveling...I've just felt exhausted and nauseous through it all.  Not fun.  And with those wonderful pregnancy symptoms, along has come all kinds of emotions I don't need to mention.  

God has been gracious though.  First, by giving me Chad...who often would come home from work, jump in to help with the girls, and make supper too (without him we would have been living on frozen pizza and eggs for awhile)...yuck.  Second, by allowing me to get a lot of Christmas stuff done in early November (before pregnancy symptoms set in).  I think that Andrea was "nesting" at that time and her urgency to get things done spurred me on too ;).  SO nice.  And third, to give me such a love for these two that in spite of how I was feeling, I still was able to enjoy, love, and take care of them!

Okay, well some days it was a little harder ;)....

Here are our Christmas pictures...taken by me in the backyard :)...I have a great appreciation for professional photographers after trying to capture some decent shots.  Merry Christmas 2013!

Still feeling pretty good mid November.  Notice not only my smile :), but my coffee as well!  Livie stole my camera for this picture :). 

Daddy lovin'...

 Cousins playing on the stairs at Grandma Neukomm's...

We always knew Emma was a snuggler, but the older she is getting it seems the more and more she just snuggles up to anyone and everyone...she can be sooo sweet.  And so ornery too!  Don't let these sweet pictures fool you.  This little girl has a mind of her own and thinks she knows how to get what she wants ;).  There's been many teachable moments the past few months (to put it nicely) :).  

And Livie has started to love to "create" things.  With toys, coloring, crafts, play-doh...you name it.  And all the while, she's just in her own little girly world.  Love to watch her imagine and play...

When they are together...there's almost always laughter.  And with the laughter there's almost always crying too.  Oh, they have a lot to learn, but I'm so glad they have each other as sisters :).

Moving on.  Chad celebrated his 34th birthday in November.  He's the first to say that he's getting old ;).  To celebrate, I told him I would go hunting with him during shot gun season.  Afterwards I just had to laugh at how different we are!!  He had the time of his life...sitting in a blind for 4 hours watching nature with me ;).  Haha.  I, on the other hand, was so antsy the whole time!  But it was good to go with him, get in his world a bit, and see what he gets so excited about with hunting.  Okay, honestly, I still don't see it :(...but I'm glad I got to go.

Here he is getting all set up for a big hunt.  And no, he did not pose for this shot!  So serious...haha.

 Our homemade blind for the afternoon.  I know, I know...he's so talented :).

To celebrate his birthday with his family, we went to Osaka grill on a Sunday afternoon.  And when we went in...Santa from Grand Prairie just followed our group in.  It must have been the 15 kids we had with us :).  He wanted to know what we were there for, and we told him it was Chad's birthday.  So naturally, he wanted Chad to sit on his lap while we all sang him "happy birthday" :).  Haha...it was so funny!  It ended up being more like a "half-kneel" on Santa's lap :).  Livie just kind of stared at him like, "who are you and are you trying to do with my dad?".  Yeah, haven't told her a lot about Santa...

 She wasn't too excited to sit on his lap either :).

This year, we decided to go get a real tree for Christmas.  Alex came with us to get one for his place too.  Turned out to be really fun!

Our tree choppers...

When we got in the car to go home, Livie asked, "Alex got a tree and I got a tree, but where is yours, Daddy's, and Emma's?".  So cute ;).

Every year mom always makes Christmas cookies...it was fun to be a part of it this year with our "big" girls.  

Livie and Adalai loved decorating the gingerbread men and eating leftover sprinkles and candies :).

At the end of November/beginning of December, Chad and I left our girls with my sister and took a trip out west to LA with some friends to visit Chad's cousin, Jon.  While we LOVED who we were with, LA was quite a disappointment :(.  Rain, cloudy days, 50'-60' weather.  Ugh.  And the worse part was we kept hearing it hadn't rained in like 10 months!!

Jon, who lives there, made the most of it by surfing the big waves :).  They were bigger than this picture lets on...

We did see Stevie Wonder!!  

Jon always says that he was Chad's "first wife" (as they were roommates for awhile).  So this is a picture of Chad with his two wives :)...me and Jon.

 After 3 days in rainy LA, we decided to head south to Palm Springs to at least experience some warm weather.  Got to visit Joshua Tree National Park.  Awesome place. Even more awesome if you rock climb (which, of course, Jon does too!).

The Joshua trees were like something out of a Dr. Suess book...

After 5 days away, it was good to get back home to the girls...

In December, Livie celebrated her 3rd birthday!!  We had a "pink" birthday party for her...everyone was supposed to wear pink and all the decor was pink.  She LOVED it.  

 Even Neiko showed up wearing a sparkly pink dress!!  Awesome...  Yes, he is a boy...but wouldn't he be a really cute girl??  ;)

She came away with quite the stash of gifts...

The morning of her actual birthday, she asked for pancakes for breakfast...and ate with her new horse and purse (which she did not let out of her sight for days!).  Per her request, we also had pancakes for supper that night :).  The life of a 3 year-old...love it.

She's become quite the little bike rider with her "big girl" bike.  I love that she can ride it in the basement for now...this summer should be fun though.

Birthday girls Livie and Aunt Michelle :).

The first big snow of the year...the girls were in awe as it came down.

Emma was not as excited to get all bundled up :).  She kept spreading her legs apart so she could just stand!  Haha.

 But as soon as they got out and went sledding with Chad, they LOVED it.  So fun!

And while we had 9 Christmas events/parties/family things...Christmas morning was pretty calm.  

While we had a lot going on during this advent season, I probably enjoyed it this year more than any other year.  It wasn't everything that went on...or even or blessed news of being pregnant.

Instead, it was the reality of what God did in giving us Jesus...and it was just VERY REAL to me this year.   And such a reason to celebrate!!!

I'm so GRATEFUL for Him and how He has worked and is working in our hearts and lives.  May He continue to grow us this year, 2013, for His glory as we seek to serve Him!