WW: DO NOT leave children unattended!

...one of the many reasons you cannot leave children unattended when there is water in the tub... I answered my phone, two feet away from the bathroom door, said, "I'm giving the kids a bath." and then heard Austin, "MOM, Nayeli's in the bathtub!"... I was ready to give her a piece of my mind, but I couldn't stop laughing.

I Heart Faces: Halloween Dress Up

 "Dan Bakugan"

Austin looking at himself in the mirror, admiring the costume his Gramma J got him while she was here visiting.

To see more cute trick-or-treaters and whatnot visit I ♥ Faces!

I'm gonna miss this...

I'm going to miss getting away with wearing a hoodie to keep warm for the next three/four months.

I think she might miss it too.  Those big, bulky winter jackets are so restricting.

:)

Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely autumn!

Friday Photo Flashback: Halloween 1992?

I am FINALLY getting a chance to post after a week of not.  I have been preparing for visitors and just enjoying all three of my sweet kiddos.  Kheaven is a month old now!  I can't believe how fast it went.

Hope you enjoy this flashback!

My brother and I as Raggedy Ann and Andy in costumes my grammy made for us.

Several times we dressed opposite each other for halloween.  Thinking back it was fun, I'm not sure I felt that way back then though.  :-P

The creepy vampire behind us is my dad.  :-)

Good times!

I'm Gonna Miss This... Babies

I'm going to miss my babies being small enough to look like this when they randomly pass out on the couch...
(Austin and Nayeli pictured below, before Nayeli was even a month old.)

I'm going to miss them randomly falling asleep as well...

But when they're bigger they might get in the way if they just fall asleep anywhere...

and they may be harder to wake up and impossible to move at that point.

(Kheaven and Nayeli pictured below...  before Kheaven is even a month old.)

OH, I bet I'll miss it anyway.  :)

For more missable moments go see Pam's blog and as always feel free to leave your own!

Friday Photo Flashback: Virginia

I love this day!

Back when I was 18, shortly after graduating hs, starting college, getting engaged, then dropping out of college I moved to Norfolk, VA.  What can I say, I was a little... to say the least, crazy!  I had wanted to live in VA since I was a freshman in hs and to me it was the bees knees that I had the chance to ACTUALLY do it!  Not too much hesitation from me, I knew I would go back to college so off I went!  Not too long after I was married, and a month after that I was pregnant with my oldest, Austin!  My grandparents came out for a visit about a week after I found out I was pregnant...  bringing the rest of my belongings that I had left behind when I went away from home.

So here I am, all of 19 years and two months old, in front of my very first apartment on Flowerfield Road.  It was a five minute walk from the ocean, a ten minute walk from a wonderous botanical garden, and the perfect place for a dreamer like me to be.  LOCATION I have to say, was probably the best of my "situations" at the time, but like I said, I was a dreamer.  ;-)

I had what I needed and to me that was enough.

This was back when I thought Bob the Builder had all the answers...

"Can we fix it?!...  YES WE CAN!"
(Hey, that sounds like Obama!..  lol, he must have watched Bob a few times himself. :-P)

The tiniest kitchen I've ever known.  It was okay though, I lived off of burritos and cookies.  SUCH a healthy diet for a pregnant young lady.  :-P

The driving range was a wonderful place to let off steam and keep those arms looking tone.

And Virgnia Beach...  just around the corner and over the bridge from where I lived...  One of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  It's not the place for everybody, but when sea shells and the ocean are a couple of your favorite things, oh it hits the spot.  It also helps that I was a wannabe city girl from the very first time I recall seeing a skyline and forward. 

Norfolk: Population 234, 440

VA Beach: Population 433, 746. 

Gotta love those big numbers. 

Forget the fact that I heard gunshots every so often from my apartment...  I didn't care!  Yes, I cared for the people who were being shot at, but I was at home in my heart.

Despite those large numbers and the excitment of the hustle and bustle freeway driving brought...  my favorite places were those that were just mine.  I treasured "magical" moments on walks from my apartment to the Little Creek Branch of the Norfolk Public Library, the quiet of secluded/abandoned beaches... 

These were my favorite things in Virginia, places it was just me and God.

And lucky me, God IS wherever I am Virgnia or not!

Thankful Thursday and 4 of 52!

Today is the first time I'm participating in Sonya's Thankful Thursday over at Truth for the Journey. 

I am thankful for SO much, but right now the following is what is specifically on my mind!

1.  I am thankful that Kheaven's cirumcision went well today.  I was so nervous about it and I am so grateful it is done and there were no complications.

2.  I am thankful for my family doctor.  I have been reading the book "Gifts" for the past couple of weeks, and their are so many families who find out about their child's diagnosis of down syndrome in a less than desirable manner.  I am very lucky to have the doctor I do.  He was very compassionate while telling me of Kheaven's DS markers, and he was very positive when the outcome came back that K does have DS.  I feel so very blessed because of the way he has reacted to it all, especially reading about how a lot of others were treated when they found out.

3.  I am sooo thankful that I have family coming to visit tomorrow!  and yet more family coming in a little over a week.  :-D

4.  I am thankful for all the new friends I have been making...  online, offline, everywhere!  I am thankful there are people in the world I can relate to on all sorts of different levels.  I am thankful I have the chance to meet and interact with these people.  This week I am especially grateful for the friends I have made who are specifically my age and who are in similar places in their lives.  :-D  Yay!

5.  I am always thankful for the life I have with my children.  The other night while Kheaven was asleep I had the chance to wrap my arms around both Austin and Nayeli as we cuddled and watched the Santa Clause.  I am thankful that my children are so cuddly and lovey, and I am thankful they have a long enough attention span to let me hold them for almost an hour.  ;-)  They're all so wonderful! 

One more thing I'm thankful for...

It's really too bad that it's sooo apparent how much I'm lacking sleep.

Actually, it's how much I look like I'm lacking sleep. 

Kheaven's only been waking up twice a night for the past few days! 

Hallelujah!

I Heart Faces: Excited!

This week for I ♥ Faces excited theme I thought I'd pull this picture I took of Austin a few weeks ago out.  He was SO excited to find fallen leaves and he and his sissy had so much fun scooping them up and throwing them around.  I'm afraid Autumn may have skipped us this year.  As you can see he's in shorts in this picture, there really weren't THAT many leaves on the ground, and on Saturday we got SnOw already!  :-S  Oy!  Maybe it will get warm again for a little bit...  Just for Trick-or-Treating???  Maybe?  ;-) 

For more "excited" faces go to I ♥ Faces! While your at it submit your own! ;-)

Friday Photo Flashback: Grandpa

Grandpa
I met him when I was four or five...

He is one of the funniest guys I've ever met.
He can yell loud, and has from time to time.
He was always playing basketball, or hunting, or fishing, or working on TVs.
I love him.

On his wedding day.

...I didn't get to see grandpa last time I was in WI visiting.
He was in the hospital.
He had just had his 5th heart attack.
They were trying to figure out what to do.
I wanted to see him, but it was a short visit,

time and transportation were issues.

Grandpa and Grandma summer 2007,
The last time I remember seeing grandpa look really healthy.
He's older than any man in his family ever lived to be.
Even though his heart (the muscle) isn't strong,

it (in the metaphorical sense) is good.

He's going to go to heaven,

and it will be good.
I wasn't sad when he got sick,
because I know he'll be okay.

But now, after a stay in the hospital, they have sent him home to be under hospice care...

There's nothing they can do.

I know he's going to heaven.
I will miss his laugh though.

I will miss his yell.
I will miss him bombing people with wrapping paper at Christmas time.
I will miss his hugs.

I wish he could meet Kheaven.

I wish the kids would have a chance to know him and be "picked on" by him like I did.
They'll have my dad, and my dad is a lot like his dad, my grandpa,

so I guess a big part of him will live on...

Even in me a little, as I can yell with the best of them, especially at sporting events!
And, I have no problem bombing people with wrapping paper.

52 Weeks: 3 of 52

On Thursdays post a picture of you and one or more or your children at Carin's 52 Weeks Challenge.

This week enjoy a picture of our madd family!

Thanks for posting that video Jen, I can't wait to show my son when he wakes up!

Wordless Wednesday: Tummy Time+

Well, almost wordless.  Less words than normal?..

For MORE "Wordless Wednesday" stop by 5 Minutes for Mom!

Tummy Time

^A poor pic of my little K-Man a little upset from being on his tummy... 

Or maybe it was all the joyful screeches coming from his all too hyper siblings

that put this sour look on his oh-so-sweet face.

+

Seems like they're playing nice together...  Right?

But then there's a shift in the mood... 

Austin is holding Nayeli back.

She wants to drive into the bowling pins,

that Austin worked so hard to set up all in a row...

He can't allow it.

OH NO!  Open palm!!  The look on her face!!

The look on HIS face!

...

Oh dear.

Whatever shall we do with these littles???

Hitting is NOT okay!

(The night went on just fine, incase you wondered. 

She apologized,

they took turns bowling and running over the pins... 

Oh my little darlings,

how I love them so!)

I Heart Faces: My Favorite Things

No contest at I ♥ Faces this week, but a grand opportunity to open up a little bit about some things I ♥!  You can too!!  ;-)

I wanted to do this post this morning, and then I started thinking about my favorite things.  I would be at the computer for hours, possibly days if I decided to share all of my favorite things.  LIFE! is my favorite thing! There is so much in it that is exciting and wonderful and I am so blessed to have the life I have!  I can't take a picture of life, but in the following "short" list of my favorite things you'll get an idea, a very small idea, of some of the things that make my life wonderful and my heart sing!

My Favorite Things

God
I love knowing I am never alone,
and that I don't ever have to worry because God has my back!

My wonderful Children, as if you didn't know!
I feel so lucky and honored to be a part of
and an influence on their lives
and what they may be like in the future.  :-D

Children in general. 
They see things as they are and don't judge!
I think every child deserves the chance to grow up to the best of their potential.
I hope that when my own little ones are bigger and have friends over to the house that I am everyones "mom."  :-)

Church retreats/Christian concerts/
Being around people who understand how much I love God and why,
and who feel the same way!

Autumn!!!

Such a beautiful season.  I love the others as well it's true,

but Autumn is here and I welcome it with open arms, a big rake,

and a bounce in my knees to jump in all those awesome leaf piles!

♥Camping♥

I haven't been camping in a couple of years, but I LOVE it,
I cannot wait until the next time I get to camp again!

SwInGiNg!

Such a free feeling to feel the wind brush past your face.
And when you look up you feel like you can touch the sky!

♥

Bowling...  and Feet! 
But really, I love feet, no idea why, I just do!

Asian Decor
There just seems to be something magical/mystical about the style.

Singing/Dancing/Performing :-)
Oh, I guess just positive attention in any form.  ;-)

Modeling
This goes back to that attention thing.  ;-)

The Beach...  The Ocean...
The sounds, the smell, the life.  Little creatures to be caught,
treasures in the forms of sea shells and sand dollars.

AND one musn't forget chasing seagulls.
:-P

Sunsets.
Like the bow on a present,
a beautiful sunset is the perfect finishing touch

for a day full of all of my favorite things!