Highlights of 2012

I know I’m a bit behind on the End-of-Year posts. But it has been quite a year, so I hope better late than never. Maybe that should be the new name of this blog…

1. Baby!

Without a doubt, the top spot goes to our sweet daughter’s birth. Michaela Joy born in May of this year. I love her more than I ever could have imagined. It has been a life-changing experience in the best possible way. If you’re married and on the fence about kids, DON’T BE! Children are such a blessing! She is such a blessing!



2. Daddy!

This may be cheating a little as it is an ongoing event and it goes along with #1, but another highlight has been seeing my husband as a dad! I’m not even being biased here: He is the best dad and a better father than I ever imagined he would be! I mean, I knew he would be a great dad, but seeing those dreams come to life before my eyes has been wonderful. He is loving and patient, yet adventurous and fun. She knows she is completely safe with him and that he has her best in mind (even if her little 8-month mind can’t put that into words quite yet…). It has been an awesome picture of what our relationship with our Heavenly Father is and should be like. It truly is amazing!



3. Family!

We have been so blessed with opportunities to spend time with both of our families so that they could meet and get to know Michaela. Both parents spent time with us right after she was born.



June: We flew to El Paso to visit my husband’s parents and granddad.


(this pictures is actually from our Christmas visit… I couldn’t find the one we took with him in June)

July: Then we flew to CA for a wedding and Michaela met her uncles, aunt, great-grandparents, and lots of other relatives. HUGE highlight was also finding out we will welcome a niece/nephew in Feb 2013! My brother and his wife are just 6 weeks away from their due date.




Another HUGE highlight was welcoming a new niece (River Grace – just 10 days older than Michaela) and new nephew (Micah Thomas). In September, we spent a weekend in the Dallas area
where Michaela met her new cousins on Tim’s side of the family.



Nov-Dec: Then we spent time with both sides of the family for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Lots of travel makes for a sick baby and (hopefully) good future immune system, right?




4. School & Work!



Not many people would put an exclamation mark behind those two words, but we’ve had some exciting changes on those fronts! I know it was one of my few posts earlier, but I’ll say it again: Tim was promoted to Captain this year! He also started his MBA/MHA through Baylor (Army-Baylor) here in San Antonio. Sic ‘em Bears!

UPDATE: One of the biggest highlights came when we found out his internship will be in Modesto, CA next year!! I couldn’t be more excited to spend a year close to family! We are so blessed to have this opportunity as part of the military where you rarely (if EVER) get a say in where you go next. Wow. I still can’t believe this is true. California, here we come!

5. Extracurricular!

In our world, extracurricular really just means ‘sports.’

This year Tim helped coach the All Air Force basketball team to their 6th straight gold medal in the Armed Forces Basketball Tournament. His shoulder injury and school schedule kept him from playing, but he enjoyed coaching just as much. Almost.



I completed my post-baby fitness goal of running my first (and likely only) half marathon. Yikes. It was a great experience, but more exhausting than I expected. Now that we’re a couple months passed it, I can look back with a little more fondness. Who knows? Maybe that running bug will come back and I’ll want to do another one… not likely though. All in all, it was a good experience and one that I am grateful for! I did enjoy the training and learned a lot from it.



6. Travel!

My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this year! They wanted us to join in on the celebration, so we all (minus my brother and 8-month pregnant sister-in-law) went to Kauai. Traveling that far with MJ wasn’t easy, but the trip was so worth it. This was definitely one of the highlights of the year! Happy 30th anniversary, Mom & Dad!




There you have it! I’m sure I missed lots of highlights, like my friend Liz and her son coming to visit (why didn’t I take any pictures??). It was a full year, that’s for sure. Looking forward to 2013! I’ve got some goals and things on my heart for this year. Hopefully I’ll get around to sharing them with you soon… like before the next New Year.

Blessings, y’all!

4 Months and Another Birthday to Celebrate!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I cannot believe how fast she is growing up! We have a 4-month old. Wow.
You can also see I am not one of those moms who has her act together and takes adorable pictures of her child in the same outfit or with the same background. At least we have pictures and at least they are correctly labeled. Maybe by the third child I'll have my creative act together.

• Stats: 99% for weight, 89% for height. (17 lbs....) She’s a big girl! If it’s true that fat is good for a baby’s brain development, we may just have the next Einstein. Her chubby cheeks and leg rolls are just about my favorite thing in the world!
• Milestones: She rolled over from her back to her stomach! She only does this over her left shoulder. I’m hoping this is just further proof we have a lefty on our hands. She also giggles all the time, mostly at her dad. We are borrowing a jumper seat from some friends and she LOVES it.
•  Activities: She made the trip to California to meet my side of the family – uncles and aunt (who happens to have a fabulous blog – read it here), great grandparents, and lots of great aunts/uncles and second cousins. She also just traveled with us up to the Dallas area to meet her cousins! This was a big event and so fun to play with all of the little ones from age 2 to 10 days. Non-stop entertainment, that’s for sure! I don’t know what it is, but watching babies interact is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. And last, but certainly not least, she just experienced her first trip to Sea World! This is kind of a big deal with my family. SeaWorld and I go way back.                   

My older brother and me - Sea World San Diego circa 1989

I will definitely be posting pictures of MJ’s big summer very soon!

Until then, Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mom! I am so very thankful to have you as my mom! Thank you for putting up with me and being a wonderful example of a wife and mom who loves the Lord. I will certainly try to be the kind of mom to Michaela that you were to me! I love you!

Summer Updates

Hey there! Long time, no see! I know I’m still lacking in the consistency department for this blog, but it has been for good reason:

1. Our sweet little daughter will only be a newborn once. I’m trying to soak it all in. I would much rather have post-bath time snuggles with her than sit at my computer for another 30 minutes. She smells a lot better. But seriously… I cannot say it enough. These 8 weeks have flown by. Nothing makes you appreciate time like being a parent and I want to enjoy every single second of it.




2. It is camp season! As you may remember from this post, I work for a Christian sports camp – Still Water Sports Camp – and we are in the middle of the busiest time of year. It is wonderful! Unfortunately I haven’t been out to any of the camps yet, but I cannot wait to go to the next couple sessions. Girls volleyball. Check out this video for a little taste of camp.

3. Tim has had quite a bit going on too. Promotion. Transition into Grad School. Classes for MBA and MHA in one year. It is going to be intense. Time with him is limited and precious too!



Michaela chose the best times to cry – when everyone was silent/at attention and during family pictures. She just likes to be the center of attention, I guess.

We also recently visited Tim’s parents in El Paso! Our next adventures include a trip to California for my beautiful cousin’s wedding. I cannot wait! I’m excited to meet her fiance and have my whole family meet Michaela!

That’s all for now. Time to enjoy some more MJ-snuggle time before bed.

She's Here!

So I know I'm a little behind on this one... For the few of you who actually read my blog, you are well aware that we already had our baby. Better late than never, right?

Michaela Joy was born on May 2, 2012 at 10:46pm. She was 8lbs 12 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We could not be more excited! She is a constant blessing and we are trying to soak up every precious second, knowing that even this season of unexplained crying and sleepless nights will be gone soon enough. Next thing you know, Tim will be walking her down the aisle and I'll be crying wondering where the time has gone. Maybe I'm being a little dramatic and maybe it is the postpartum hormones... but seriously. Time goes by so fast. We are just trying to take it all in and give thanks to God for this precious gift.

I have been reminded of that country song a couple years ago: "You're Gonna Miss This." Maybe it is lame to relate life to a country song, but the message is a good one. We don't want to just look forward to the next season of life because this one may seem difficult. Each season is a gift from God to be treasured and used to bring Him glory, no matter how uncomfortable it may seem at the time. And I don't want to look back and wish I had just enoyed it. This is such a precious time!!

All that to say, we are learning a lot as new parents. The sleepless nights pale in comparison to the joy and love we have for sweet little MJ. Being a mom is the best. As my dad said, it is amazing how you can go from never seeing someone before in your life to loving them far more than you love yourself. It's so true. The love a parent has for their child is amazing. How much more amazing to think about the love God has for us as His children. I still can't comprehend it, but being a mom gives just a glimpse of that awesome picture.

That's enough for now. We'll save other parenting thoughts for other posts.

Here are some pictures...

Speechless.

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

On our way home!

Mothers and Daughters.

I love this picture.

1 week.

2 weeks.

3 weeks.

I'm such a sucker for this pose.

Love these two more than I can say.

Soli Deo Gloria