What?! I have a blog?

Yes, it has been over a year since I blogged about anything. Just as I wrote the title to this blog post, Selah woke up from her nap and I thought, "this is exactly why I haven't blogged!" On my last blog post I had just found out I was pregnant with Selah (I didn't say it on there because I was still, well, adjusting to the news) and Nathan had just turned 1. Now, we have a house full of business and joy...Lily is 4, Nathan is 2 and beautiful Selah girl is a big 7 months old. (steve is even feeding her carrots in the kitchen as I write, while Lily is Selah's own personal cheerleader..."good job Selah! aren't those good carrots?"...) This past year has been one of adventure, trials, new things beginning and old things ending....it's really been quite a roller coaster, and I am pretty sure we are still on the ride :) In June we made the decision that I would stay home with the kids full time. With 3 kids under 4, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea of being at work full-time. I know lots of women do it everyday, but the thought of it ripped my heart out and we decided we would do what we had to in order to make it work. And so, I began the hardest job ever, as many of you have experienced. Selah was born September 18 and has pretty much been the easiest and happiest baby that has ever existed. Talk about a blessing. What would I have done if she was a fussy, needy baby?! Loved her just the same, but no one would have wanted to be around me...ever :) On March 25 (our 6th anniversary!) we had our last church service at Crosspoint. After 19 years as a church, the elders and church body came to the conclusion that it was time to be done. That last service was full of memories, sadness, peace, and knowledge that the Lord is in full control of our lives and our daily happenings. He is our provider, comforter and KING...and I am learning to submit to that more than ever. Now we are on the job hunt and enjoying our (hopefully) short-lived time of having TWO parents at home full-time. We aren't sure where God will take us on this journey for a job, but we are thankful for His provision and ever mindful that He is always at work within us. Today I read a great blog post (that you can read here ) It reminded me that my time as a mom is now, in the present. We have lots of hard days. Lots of days that seem unproductive and meaningless. But, to my kids they aren't meaningless! They are an opportunity to learn, to grow and to be loved, and to love, one another. So, I'm going to work on that. Being present and loving fully. Maybe I will blog more too...maybe.

Aren't they cute?!

not very good at this anymore...

Apparently I forgot how to post on this blog, because I know it has been forever! I think it is because I always feel obligated to put some pictures on each post, but I am really bad ( about as bad as posting) at loading the pictures from my camera to the computer. I know it seems like a simple task, but somehow it becomes really hard to do consistently! Anyways, I have gotten past that for now and figured I would just share some things that are going on in our life...

--Nathan turned ONE!! We had a party for him on superbowl Sunday (which I felt was appropriate since I was in labor during the superbowl last year) and he turned one on February 8.
--Nathan spent his first birthday covered in a rash from head to toe. Apparently he is allergic to Amoxicillan. He is currently on his third antibiotic for an ear infection that won't go away. It's been a long month of sickness for poor Nate.
--Lily is officially potty trained!!!!!!!!! We embarked on that adventure at the beginning of my Christmas break and she did great. It took about 2 weeks to feel fairly confident in her being potty trained. but overall, it was a good experience for all of us. We are now happy to just be buying one set of diapers!
--We got to take a trip to Disneyland with my parents right before I went back to work after Christmas break. We had a blast and Lily, especially, really enjoyed herself. Her favorite rides were Dumbo (with Grandpa!) and It's a Small World.
--Nathan is walking! (and trying real hard to run!!) He started walking around 11 months and hasn't looked back. He is a man on the go and definitely helps us get our daily exercise in. He is always trying to keep up with his sister, which recently involves climbing things and dancing.
--Steve just got back from Jr High Winter Camp at Hume Lake and next weekend will take the High School-ers up there as well. He is taking his biggest group of students in a while and God is doing some really cool stuff through the youth ministry at Crosspoint.

That's all I can think of for now...and Nathan and I finished the muffin we were sharing (he stole most of it) and he isn't really into just sitting in his high chair watching me type =)

sweet lily

Here are a couple of videos to show our little Lily's artistic side:

Avila Valley Barn

Today we got to spend some time all together as a family. We went up to Avila Valley Barn to feed animals, eat roasted corn, take some pictures and pick out a pumpkin! Our kids are awesome and we had a great time...

wow..2 months, really!?

Ok, so it has almost been 2 months since my last post. And that wasn't even a real post, I just put pictures of my adorable kiddos up =) Being a mom of 2 is tiring, and busy, and wonderful...but busy!! I decided I won't even try to catch up from all the things that I have missed, but I'll just start fresh (to ease the pressure!). So here are a few things that we have been up to:

Our summer was great! I loved loved loved being home with the kids again and I enjoyed every single moment! We had high school and junior high camp for church. We went to "Family Camp" at Lake San Antonio and had Nathan's first camping experience.

Our wonderful friends, Sarah and Omar De La Torre, came to visit us for 2 weeks from Mexico. It was so great to see them and for them to get to know Lily & Nathan.

We went to Palm Desert for vacation with Steve's brother Marc, his wife Tanisha and their little man Travis. We had so much fun roasting in the 100 degree weather, swimming in the pool, visiting the zoo and feeding giraffes.

I started back to work about a month ago and Steve went down to part time so that he could stay home a little more with the kids! It has been a bit of a transition, and I definitely miss being home, but we are getting into the swing of things...and I know that Lily and Nate love being able to play with their daddy more!

Lily is going to be 2 1/2 this month and is a precious joy! She loves Dora & Diego, the park, her friends, drawing, dancing, being silly, talking about everything and just having fun in every way that she can.

Nathan is 7 months old in 2 days and is getting so big so quick! He is crawling and pulling himself up to stand. We can already tell that he is going to be much more daring that Lily--he has taken several nose-dives already! At his doctors appointment a few weeks ago he weighed in at 19 pounds!! He loves food, clapping and climbing on his sister =)

one lucky mama

Man I have some cute kids!

my first project!

Steve got me a sewing maching for my birthday.
I love it!
I've been wanting to channel my inner creativity and am usually most inspired to make cute little stuff for Lily. It's way more inspiring than making something for myself. That seems backwards =) Life as a mom, I suppose...Anyways, so I found this tutorial for a cute ruffley skirt made out of a tshirt at Sew Much Ado And it turned out adorable! It is a little rough around the edges, as it was my first project, but Lily loves it, and it fits her...so what more can I ask for!!



Oh, and Lily let me put her hair in a ponytail again! I love it...I just can't get enough!!

our cute little man

I mean really, isn't this the cutest little boy you've ever seen?? I know I am a little biased...but he's so handsome!

Easter & Baby Shower

On Easter weekend we headed down to Camarillo for our sister Tanisha's baby shower. Baby Travis is due the first week of May and we can't wait to meet him!!! Tanisha is a ridiculously beautiful pregnant mama and we had lots of fun showering her with love and diapers =) I got to make a cute name banner...an idea I stole from some much more creative friends...and it turned out super cute!


After the shower we got to spend some quality time at Chipotle with our beloved DuBransky family...I think we counted there were 18 of us! Nate was lovin' on his uncle Marc and Auntie Tanisha and sending good vibes to Baby Travis.

That Sunday was Easter and we kind of hung low and relaxed a bit. We went to church, made a couple of Easter "buckets" for Nate and Lil, had a little easter egg hunt in our front yard (she would have never found the eggs in our backyard!!!) for Lily, and had dinner that night with Steve's parents and Dave. It was a lovely day.

happy smiles

Our little man is in full smiling swing now! His little smile is so cute and sweet. And, he was 7 weeks old yesterday!! So, we decided to snap a few pictures of ourselves:




We've been getting slightly adventurous lately. By adventurous I mean that we went on our first walk by ourselves in the awesome double stroller down to the farmers market last week, and today we took over the thrift store to find some cute clothes for the kiddos!


And, just so you don't feel deprived of Lily photos (after all, she is darn cute!!!), here's our little princess:

Lily turns 2!!

Yes, it's true...our little girl is two years old! I can hardly believe it, in fact, I keep saying that same statement over and over, "I can't believe Lily is already 2!" She is so much fun and brings such joy to our lives. She is a little chatterbox now and finds so much fun in just living life. Instead of having a birthday party, we decided to take Lily up to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the weekend. Steve's brothers, Mike and Tom, along with their families (Auntie Bev, Auntie Barb and cousins Kiana, Corryn, Jadon and Gabriel) joined us. We were also met up there by my cousins Cindy and Steve who live close to the Aquarium and treated us to a wonderful tour, along with brownies for the birthday girl at their house afterwards! The weekend was tons of fun, Lily loved all of the "fishies" and penguins and had a great time getting to touch starfish and crabs and kelp. Here are some pictures from the weekend...I'll try not to overwhelm you, but there were a lot of cute moments!!

Lily and cousin Jadon playing "catch the fish" in the kids play area.


Lily and cousin Kiana jumping on a trampoline in the "splash zone"


Daddy and the birthday girl.


Nathan hanging out with Uncle Mike.


Jadon and Gabriel admiring the fish in the "Kelp Forest."


Me and Lily touching starfish.


Our family of four outside the Aquarium.


Our adorable 2 year old on her actual birthday (in her cute new shirt from Uncle Mike, Auntie Bev, Corryn, Jadon and Kiana!)


Lily on her new tricycle!!

5 weeks old already....

I remember from when Lily was itty bitty that time with a newborn goes by fast, but wow! Nathan's first month of life has just flown by! Maybe because we are busier chasing two kiddos around now, but it really seems like we just came home from the hospital. Nathan is growing and growing and is getting cuter everyday (not that he wasn't already the cutest little boy we know!). He started smiling at us this week and there is nothing that melts my heart like those first baby smiles.
Lily is doing great. She is such a smart, funny and amazingly articulate little girl. She will be 2 on Sunday....wait, what??!! My little princess is going to be a 2 year old! So crazy! This weekend we are going up to Monterey to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for Lily's birthday in leu of a party. We are excited to get away, have some family time and enjoy Lily. A few of Steve's brothers and their family's will be joining us and we anticipate a great weekend.
Here are a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks of Lily and Nathan!! (Beware...there are a lot of pictures...bear with me!!)

Daddy and Nathan getting some much needed rest.


Lily showing us her "silly face."


Mommy and her little prince.


March 6, 2010...Steve & Tom celebrating the one year anniversary of a successful bone marrow transplant!! Tom's wife threw Tom a surprise 1st "re-birthday" party...with a pinata and everything!


This picture is not posed at all...Lily wanted to "feed" baby just like Mommy feeds Nathan and got all of the "supplies" herself. Too cute =)


Nathan posing on his 1 month birthday.


First smiles!!


Big news!! Lily let me put her hair in pigtails for the first time!! (I had to bribe her and they only lasted about an hour, but it was a start! and she looked amazingly cute...)


Like father like son...Nathan sitting in Daddy's favorite chair this morning.