Portland, here we come!

Tonight we leave to go to our favorite city, Portland OR! We will be spending the next week there with family and friends. We can't wait. Our best friends who moved up to Washington early November will be coming to visit and we will be spending tons of time with James mom, grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. And Chloe will have so much fun with all the little ones that are around. We will hopefully see a few more friends that used to live in San Diego and moved up (or back) to Portland. It is so nice to know we have have friends already when we officially move up here!

We will even try to squeeze in some time to check out some other apartments, in case the ones we love will not be available when we are ready to move.  I love apartment hunting, especially when we get to explore new areas.


We are staying with James mom and she doesn't have very good internet connection, so I will not be on the internet much. I wanted to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can't wait to get back on here and see all the pictures from your wonderful holidays!

Baby E update

So I am now 16 weeks pregnant. I haven't had any morning sickness at all and have been so lucky to have a rather pleasant pregnancy this time around! Other than the lack of energy (which seems to be getting back on track more and more lately) I feel great. Well, except for my sciatic nerve that feels like a shock running down my back and leg. I feel like my bump is big already, although I hear you start showing much earlier with your second child. I am glad it definitely looks like a baby bump because I hate when you are in that in between stage where you don't really look pregnant, you just look fat. I am over that now and definitely have  burgeoning belly. :)

I can't wait to feel this little bug move pretty soon. I am not gonna lie, other than the belly I don't really feel pregnant and it sometime doesn't seem "real" to me. I think that will change once I feel the baby moving all around. It will be magical I am sure, just like the last time.



James and I are not sure if we wan to know the baby's sex this time around. We want to make this pregnancy different than the last time. We want to make it special. If we do end up finding out the sex, we decided we are not going to tell anyone. We want it to be a fun surprise for everyone. I think we want to try and do something different with Emery so that he/she is just as special as Chloe. We have to make up our minds soon what we want to do because the big ultrasound is on Jan 12. I can't wait! I am so excited just to see the little babe!

We haven't started belly pics, but we will do that very soon and I will start posting them up on here. :)

I tell you what though... I have a feeling its a boy.... although, that is what I said last time too...

Family Photo Time & Chritmas Card

Our friend Trish took some amazing photos of our family while James Moms and sisters were in town from Portland. We took them at our favorite place: Balboa Park. And we even had them done in time for our Christmas cards! We needed some new photos with Chloe being older and looking completely different then when she was 6 months old. I love her facial expressions in these! Chloe even got some special pictures with her Auntie and Grandmas.

 

 

oh and we ordered our Christmas cards from Tiny Prints. We LOVE them. We always have either a funny picture or a funny message on our Christmas cards. This year we decided to go with something subtly funny in the message. We promise, we are not conceited. Here is what they look like: 

Our Dear Friend.

So this past week has been a tough one for me....
We had a friend who we knew from church. He had joined our small group for a while and then switched to a mens only group. We still saw him all the time at church functions and on Sundays though and he was so sweet and genuine.
 
Last Monday (Dec 12) he had dinner with his family and then seem to dissapear. No one knows exactly what happened to him since then. He had work on Thursday and never showed up. He was a 40 year old man who lived on his own, so when no one hear from him from Tues and Weds no one thought of it, but when he didn't show up to work, his family filed a missing persons report. On Friday morning, they found his truck at the base of a really advanced hiking mountain. Search and Rescue teams went searching with search dogs  and helicopters on Friday and found nothing. James along with others from our church and community, along with our friends family and the Search and Rescue team went out again on Saturday and still found nothing. On Sunday more people went out again searching. The search is looking grim with more and more days passing and the really cold mountain weather making it hard for someone to survive past a couple days. The mountain has many different trails and our friend could be anywhere. This past Monday was going to be the very last attempt by Search and Rescue to find him.




This Monday (Dec 19) we got a call from our pastor, who had been there for every search party. He said they found him, our dear friend and he was not alive. I had a feeling that would be the case because of how long he had been missing and was sort of prepared to hear that bad news (even though I knew God could have granted a miracle and he could have been alive, I just didn't feel in my heart he was). I was sad, but happy that he is with the lord and that he was at least found so his family wasn't left to wonder. However, I was not prepared for the rest of the news. When they found our friend, he had a gun beside him and it looks like he shot himself. As of right now, they are claiming suicide until the autopsy report. This through me for a loop. I don't know anyone who took their own life. I am not sure how I feel about when you commit suicide and what happens to you in the after life. I have prayed about it and am leaning on God and looking to his Word to help me find answers in this. It was hard to know that he felt something so sad that he wanted to end his own life.

The worst part is is that God put him on my heart for the last 2 weeks to reach out to him, but I was hesitant because I was a married woman and didn't want to send him the wrong signal by calling or texting. I was wanting to wait until Sunday to talk to him, but didn't see him the Sunday before he went missing because I was in with the kids and I didn't see him by churches end (later to find out he hasn't shown up to the last 2 Sundays).  I didn't really push James to reach out to him either. I think I took it hard because I felt God pressing me to reach out and I hesitated. I know that I can't blame myself and God is helping me with peace on that, but it is still hard for me.


I just ask that you all pray for my friends family. He was really close to his family and spoke of them often and had dinner with them every week. Pray that they seek God in this moment of hurt. Pray that his friends and family do not take the blame or have any "what if I did this..." type feelings. Pray that God works in this tragedy to create a something good.

Holiday meal when your on budget

My friend Sandee wrote an article for Yahoo Voices about how to make a holiday meal on a budget. She spent less than $50 to feed 6 adults and had more to spare! I thought I would share the post with you all, hope you can get some tips from it! Sandee is a sweet and gorgeous stay at home momma to two adorable little boys and she lives in Southern California. We met through James friend and old band mate. She is a doll and a great hostess!

"On a budget for a yummy holiday dinner? I can share how to make a delicious, mouth-watering meal that your guests and your pocket will love while adding a little festive chic."...  Click Here to see the rest of the post. 

Speaking of Holiday Meals... I finally get to participate in PIE DAY with James' mom and her family up in Oregon this year! I am super excited. All the ladies of the family get together before Christmas to make pies and desserts for the big day. They cook and laugh and share stores and I am so happy I get to finally be there for it this year! This is a family tradition for them and I can't wait to be a part of it every year once we move up there!    

DO YOU HAVE ANY FUN FAMILY HOLIDAY TRADITIONS?

10 fun facts

So continuing on with this 10 fun random facts thing...

41. My family owned a horse when I was younger, like 5 years old younger. I have some vivid memories of him, especially one where he kicked me really hard because I accidentally scared him from behind. We had to give him up because of the cost of board and upkeep, but I wish we could have had him while I was a little older. It would have been awesome to learn how to ride a horse like my mom (she was in barrel racing).

42. I am a dog kinda person. Not just any dog though... the big loveable ones like Labradors. I love the ones that like the snuggle and play with you all the time. And they are big enough for me to feel protected by them (no offense peanut).


43. I used to be a dancer. I was in jazz dance, ballet, ballet folklorico and more. I took most of these classes through the local community center or through school. Even in high school (up until I was a senior) I was on our dance squad. I LOVED it. I would come home every day and stay in my room and would stretch and practice dancing for hours. It was fun and a great workout.


44. I love figure ice skating. It is just so amazing how people can be so graceful on something so slippery. I love the fast past twirls and the beautiful costumes and the fun music. It's dancing on ice and I wish I could have learned how to do that when I was younger... Although there really isn't that many ice skating rinks in San Diego to learn at.


45. My Birthday is TODAY.  That is about as factual as I can get. And as much as I love my birthday, (just like anyone does, I am sure) it is not so fun being only 5 days before Christmas. When I was younger no one would come to my parties because they would all be out of town for Christmas or we would be out of town for Christmas. People always tend to forget my birthday too because they are so excited to be so close to Christmas. I remember for my 21st birthday I went to Applebees by myself and sat at the bar by myself to order my first legal margarita because all my friends had Christmas shopping they still had to do and they sort of forgot about it. Although, we did celebrate it with a big night out after Christmas.

46. I love the band QUEEN. Seriously, most creative band EVER. Every time I hear one of there songs I get a huge smile on my face and just want to dance in the most ridiculous way ever. I would have LOVED to see them live. I even got Chloe the Queen Rockabilly baby cd because I wanted her to love them too. So many of there songs can be an anthem for my life and would make a pretty awesome life soundtrack.

47. I prefer Coke over Pepsi. Pepsi is so sweet and I can feel the sugar on my teeth every time I drink it. Although I don't love coke either because it is much to acidic for me. I am a Dr Pepper (or more rather Mr Pibb) kinda girl. And don't even get me started on Root Beer. Barqs Hast Bite is the best, hands down. And yes, I always call it Barqs Has Bite even when ordering it, it's a habit.

48. I can't sit still and listen to a lecture, I just fall asleep. EVERY TIME. I was notorious for falling asleep in high school and in college. I even was asked multiple times by teachers and counselors in high school if I had narcolepsy or a sleeping disorder. I don't, its just that I can't sit still and not do anything, I am much to add for that. And no matter how hard I try, I can't stay awake. I start to see double and then BAM. Next thing you know, I fell asleep and hit my head on the chalk board behind me or my head fell out of my hand and my face slams on the desk. Both of those things happened to me on a regular basis. This hasn't been a problem since I don't attend school anymore, however, I did fall asleep recently in a very long work meeting where we were all just sitting around listening to our boss for a couple hours. He just laughed it off though and attributed it to  us having a baby that wakes up in the middle of the night. whew.

49. I am pretty much an open book. However, I am starting to learn that not everything needs to be shared. I mean, I don't share everything, but I will answer honestly if you ask me something. And I really have no problem talking about my past experiences, good or bad. I open up a lot, but I realized being so vulnerable has its downsides too.

50. Speaking of 50.... For the longest time I thought there was 51 states. I mean, since I was a little girl up until middle of college. How can I be so dumb, I have no idea. Never really talked about the states that much to really notice I was wrong. I know now there are only 50, but boy was I ever so sure for the longest time it was 51.

Chloe's Birthday Pictures!

So, this is about a month late, but here are the photos from Chloe's 1st Birthday Party. 

We celebrating with friends and family. Family came in from Oregon and Arizona to help celebrate with us!  We were blessed with Beautiful weather (about 80 degrees that day) and were lucky enough to have a great birthday at the park.

Chloe had a special outfit made by yours truly and her Memaw. We made a pink skirt with a yellow and blue flower on the side, and then we cut out a "1" and sewed it to her onsie. She wore rainbow striped leggies and her favorite bright yellow shoes. I tried making her a hate, but she hates anything on her head right now.

 

 

We used Birthday Parade print outs from Hostess with the Mostess. She provided beautiful and fun (and FREE) PDF of colorful circus animals.  We used the color scheme from these printables to create the rest of the birthday party. We created yarn poms, felt pennant flags, tissue poms and put up streamers. 

 We pretty much handmade everything. Including all the yummy snacks. I made her smoosh cake, complete with neon rainbow colored cake :) We made the cupcakes, the chocolate dipped marshmallows and cookies, fruit with the Schmitz family's famous special fruit dip. We decided to keep the food light with just desserts and snacks. I even found this great circus cricut cartridge to cut out all the cupcake toppers

     

 

 

 

Chloe was very apprehensive with her cake. I think she was still in shock from everyone singing happy birthday to her. (she had a "doe in the headlights" kind of look when we all were singing).

 

 

She didn't get as messy as we thought she would

 We were so blessed to have so many family and friends come to celebrate with us. Chloe also received some amazing gifts and she was so excited about them all!

Chloe loves her Grams

you can see the neon pink and turquoise cake I made.

 

Chloe LOVES to read!

My Grandma and James' Mom

All the cousins together on James' side

we put mustaches in all the goodie bags for the kids.

Chloe really started to understand how to "open" her gifts.

 

 

All in All it was a great time with family and friends, celebrating the little girl who means the most to me. She had a blast and so did we. Thank you again for everyone coming out from all over to celebrate with us! We love you all!

 

Let's play catch up!

Hello Ladies,
I am back from my leave of absence! Well, back for the next few days, then on Holiday Break until the beginning of the new year. But, I just didn't want to wait that long to say hello and catch up with all of you! I have been a very busy (and tired) little bee around here.

Chloe has been a major challenge for me lately. Motherhood is lovely, and I LOVE having my little baby around, but it is challenging for me. I have had to work on my patience every day. Chloe just wants me ALL THE TIME. I can't cook, I can't eat, I can't clean, I can't get dressed or ready in the morning, I can't even sit and rest for a minute without her crying for me. It has been exhausting. James is a great help and we take turns doing everything so that Chloe can have someone to play with, but boy is it hard! Thank the lord my mother takes her on Wednesdays so we can focus on our bible study that we lead. I think that was the most challenging of nights when she used to be with us for that. One of us would always miss the group and have to stay in her nursery with her. I do love all the time we are having together though. I think she misses us so much when she is at the sitters and that is why she wants us all the time when we get home.

Work has been super busy! Since the day after thanksgiving, it is a mad rush around here to make sure orders are finished and shipped out in time for Christmas. This week should cool off a bit though, so I can blog! yay!

In my absence, I was sick for about 2 weeks straight! I had a terrible chest cold that I had to stay home for and then James and I both has a stomach virus. It got so bad that we were so sick we couldn't even take care of Chloe properly so my mom had to take her for a weekend. We literally didn't even get out of bed (except for the mad dash we had to make to get sick in the bathroom every 30 minutes). It was so bad! :( We are over that hump now, but it still takes a little while to fully recover.

We celebrated my mothers and my birthdays over the weekend, it was so much fun! We went to Roadhouse grill for meat and potatoes (which I have been craving!) and then went back to my parents house to do an early Christmas since we won't be here for it.

We have had a couple holiday parties we were actually able to attend. I love the holiday season, it is my favorite. It was nice to celebrate with family and friends and get into the holiday spirit.

We had to say goodbye to our small group. We decided to not lead it next year due to the baby coming and the fact that I will be out of town for most of January and February due to traveling for trade shows for work. We were sad to not have group anymore, but we still see them all from time to time and we see them every Sunday at church. This will be the first time that I can remember not being in a small group, but I know that once I get back from all that traveling and we get settled again, we can look into joining another one, but we are going to take a break from actually leading a group.



There is so much more to catch you all up on, but I will make them separate post as to not bore you too much! Hope you are all doing well and can't wait to read up on everyone's blogs!

oh and I am going to say I am sorry in advance for all my blog throw up that is about to happen!