Happy Second Birthday, Sweet Isabelle!

Sweet Isabelle!

Good times never seemed so good!

I've been inclined to believe they never would.

That's my daughter's theme song, and singing it brings a smile to her face.  At seven months of age, I could simply whisper it in her ear, and all fussing would cease.  She has brightened our life so much since her arrival.  Is parenting hard work?  Yes!  Is it worth it?  A thousand times, YES!  (Remind me of that when I'm in the throes of sleep deprivation with baby #2).    

Happy birthday, Sunshine! 

Birth Day, 2008

Birthday, 2009

Birthday, 2010





The Christmas Scrapbook: Mom as Memory Keeper

One of my favorite concepts mentioned in Edith Schaffer's What is a Family? is the idea that parents are memory makers.  Those hot trips to the zoo, the camp outs where it rains half the week (and you're sleeping in a tent!), visits to grandma's house, and Dad's bright idea to drive across the state of Texas, from Houston to Corpus to El Paso, are all the stuff of memories (specifically, those are the stuff of my childhood memories!).

Additionally, it falls on us, as mothers, to be memory keepers for the family.  Dad may (or may not) play some role in this, through helping take and organize pictures, creating slideshows or other fun ideas, but generally it's mom who takes the time to print photos, organize photos, scrapbook, put pictures in frames, and make sure the family Christmas cards are completed and mailed on time. 

I want to be a good memory keeper for my family, but at the same time, I have a balanced and realistic approach to the task.  First, I'm completely aware that I'm no Liz G. or Jansen H.  These are friends of mine who are Super Scrappers when it comes to Scrapbooking.  They take scrapbooking to the level of art, and the results are exquisite.  My scrapbooking is much more basic, and I'm usually working with whatever stickers and embellishments someone has purchased for me as a gift (thanks to my mother-in-law and Aunt Theresa, who keep me well-supplied!).   

I also know that, long term, I could be trying to scrapbook and (Lord willing, should He provide), I could be homeschooling a 5 year old while caring for a 3 year old and a 1 year old.  Yes, that's my life as I see it in about 3 years (I really can't wait to be there!).  Will I have a fabulous scrapbook for each child?  Probably not.  In fact, their baby books may not even be completed, and that's OK too!  But one simple thing I can do to keep memories for my family is create a Christmas Scrapbook.  

Nope, that's not my scrapbook page.  Like I said, I'm not that good!

I got this idea a few years ago from one of my favorite homeschooling moms, who happens to have five children.  She's on my list of "women I'd like to be when I grow up," partly because of her heart for the Lord, and partly because of her excellent organization and parenting skills.  This idea is very simple, especially if you like to scrapbook but can't find the time to do scrap every event in your family's life. 

Start by purchasing a scrapbook on clearance after Christmas.  Mine was at least 50% off at an after Christmas sale, simply because it's red.  Then I purchased several sheets of red and green paper.  I decided that the pages of my scrapbook would be in alternating colors of red and green.  Scrapbook a few pages for every Christmas.  The main goal is to show the high points of your Christmas:  where you spent the holiday, traditions you started, family you saw, and pictures of your family that year.  Isabelle's first Christmas, when she was just 4 days old, only took about 3 pages and very little time to complete.  The next year, I had much more to include, since we made our first ever gingerbread house and traveled to visit two different sides of the family.  In fact, I'm not even finished scrapping last year's Christmas.  But the scrapbook is out on the coffee table anyway, and Isabelle already loves to look through it and see pictures of herself with family.

Like a lot of crafts, I think it's wise to follow the KISS method.  Keep it Simple, Stupid.  If you don't, you'll get overwhelmed and never tackle or complete the project.  One thing I love about this is that it really is simple.  I finally got around to working on my Christmas scrapbook last September.  Even though I was behind, it took just a few days to scrapbook two Christmases.  Now I can think ahead to scrapbook this year's Christmas, which will be a perfect project to work on during those slow, relaxing days between Christmas and before New Year's.  Although now that I think about it, I might be too busy preparing for a new baby.  Seven weeks, people!  Seven weeks, and this baby is going to be here!

Any other ways you like to keep memories of your Christmases?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!  

November Family Update: Our Thanksgiving in Pictures

Gabby, 30 weeks pregnant, Isabelle, 23 months old, and Damian.

We spent our Thanksgiving in Houston, Texas, with Gabby's dad and family.  On Wednesday, one of my dearest friends, Leslie, and I had scheduled a bit of a play date for our kids.  I hadn't seen Leslie since her youngest was around 4 months old.  Since he'll turn four years old in just a few months, we were long overdue for getting together.  The kids played at a great park while Leslie and I were able to talk in person for once. 

Gabby and Leslie.  We were friends in college at Louisiana Tech and bridesmaids in each other's weddings.

Ella, 6, Leslie's oldest and Christian, aka Buddy, her youngest.  Leslie homeschools their children and is a fabulous stay-at-home mom with a heart for the Lord.

Isabelle played in a nice toddler area.  Damian chased her around while I got to spend time talking with Leslie.  The park also had ducks, geese, doves, and nutria (!). 

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Isabelle had a great time with my dad, "Coach," Liz, my stepmom, Liz's family, my sister, Mariah, and several of her uncles.  Dustin and Darren, my step-brothers, were there, along with my brother, Bug, his wife, Heidi, and their new little baby girl, Harli. 

Izzy and Liz, my step-mom.

'Nonc Bug and Isabelle on Thanksgiving day.

Friday, my sister, Mariah, and I hit up the stores for some Black Friday sales.  We did the crazy, 4 am shopping excursion, but we were back at home and in bed again by 7 am.  It was fun and we saved quite a bit of money. 

Saturday afternoon was spent at a football game.  My father is the head coach at a high school in Houston.  They made it to the 3rd round of the playoffs, but unfortunately lost in a very closely matched game on Saturday afternoon. 

Dad, "Coach," and Isabelle after the football game.

I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving as well!  Sorry I've been so slow on blogging, but things have been hectic at home, and since I've been pretty tired lately, I've decided to spend my energy on more important things (like cooking and cleaning). 

The basic family update is that we're doing great, but we're busy around the house and making plans for the new little one.  I'm currently 30 weeks pregnant, which means the baby can safely arrive any time after the next 6 weeks.  Most likely, he'll be here in about 8-9 weeks, hopefully.  I want him to take his time coming so his lungs are nice and healthy at birth.  I had a checkup yesterday and everything looks fine.  The baby is growing well, and I'm feeling well, other than the usual 3rd trimester fatigue.  I do still get sick occasionally, but it's only about once a week.  I also passed out recently (in Target on what my husband calls "Black Out Friday"), but evidently even that is normal in pregnancy.  I learned a few things I can do to try to prevent it from happening again.  But the baby is growing well and so am I.

Isabelle is doing well.  She seems more and more like a little girl to me and less like a baby.  She's learning more every week, especially with her letters, and her latest trick seems to be singing various songs like Able (Baby Bumble Bee) and Row (Row Your Boat).  She's sweet and charming as usual and busy as ever around the house.  She says more words all the time and even said her first sentence recently.  She's trying to put phrases together, like Mommy's purse, Daddy's shoes, etc.

Hopefully I'll have more time for blogging, but with the hectic Christmas season and a baby to prepare for, I'm not making any promises.  If I have to choose between a nap and a blog post, I'll take a nap any day!