A Tad Late

well, i gues this is a bit late now, haha!  i really did write out all these smiles last tuesday, but i wanted to post pictures with them and my computer has been giving me problems when i try to download pictures.  i apologize.  finally i'm sitting down to post the smiles sans pictures.  i'm sure you'll enjoy them, but of course it's not the same without those cute little faces...hopefully i'll get that figured out soon!

1.  the Bible.  i'm so thankful that God and His Word are the same yesterday, today and forever.  psalm 139 has been on my mind a lot recently.  it's so amazing how God knows us inside and out...everything little thing.  it's amazing to think that even before he formed us in the womb, he knew exactly who we are...wow!

2.  lunch with friends after church.  it was nice to relax and fellowship and let the kids play.

3.  making progress on the sweater i am knitting for nadia.  i have been wanting to knit a sweater for quite a while now, but have just been scared to try it.  so far it seems to be going really well and i am so excited about it!

4.  answered prayer.  i mentioned in my previous post a possible job opportunity for jonathan.  well, he redid that one part of the testing and did not pass.  we were a little disappointed, but at the same time we know that it was God letting us know this wasn't the avenue we should be pursuing.  on the other hand, we're still trying to figure out just what it is we should be doing...so please say a prayer or two for us if you think of it.

5.  a visit from a dear friend on friday.  one of my best friends, joheather, came out to visit for a few hours.  it was so great catching up in person.  i've missed seeing her and it has been quite a while since we'd been together.  i'm so thankful for her and her friendship...she's definitely a blessing! 

6.  decorating for winter/christmas with the girls.  we haven't done much, but they were so excited to put up the little tree we borrowed from my mom.  liberty is enthralled with christmas lights...so i put up a couple strands.  now the girls just can't wait for the snow so they can play in it.  it seems like everyone around us is getting snow, but we still have none!

7.  visiting with great-grandma and papa dick.  the girls and i went with my dad to see his mom her significant other (who happens to have been my great uncle by marriage on my mom's side...crazy, eh?!).  the girls really enjoyed playing with great grandma and papa dick.

8.  this picture of libbs and leila...apparently they are re-purposing my knitting needles as drum sticks.  poppy would be so proud. :)

9.  libbs showing off the dress i made for her.  i really need to start on leila and nadia's!!

10.  watching my nephews on monday.  it made for a houseful, and was at times crazy, but the kids all had so much fun together.  i love those boys.  and while they all played i actually got a few things accomplished...like making a picture frame wall hanging thing with pieces from an picture holder i had (something i'd been wanting to do for months). 

11.  and one more for good measure...watching an old christmas movie on tv with the girls last night.  we had popcorn and they got to stay up a tad past their bedtime.  they loved it.  and i loved that they were enjoyed a christmas classic that my sister and i used to watch every year.  so fun!

12.  and another  that i just can't leave out...kisses from my sweet girl nadia.  she is loving to give kisses recently.  it's just so precious and i want to remember it always.  she gets this huge grin on her face, grabs my face with her little hands and gives big baby kisses.  i'm so in love with her...with all my girls, really!

13.  bonus...we just received a package in the mail from jonathan's parents.  it contained leila's birthday gift (a baby doll...are you surprised?), an outfit for each girl (super cute outfits, i might add), and jonathan's favorite coffee beans.  thanks dad/mom/poppy/gree!!!  we love you!

It's Been Oh So Long!

i can hardly believe it's been over a month since i last blogged.  where in the world has the time gone?!  i'm not sure how i go so behind.  it could have been the taking care of 3 little children.  it could have been the crafting.  it could have been the laundry that never seems to go away.  it could have been the trouble i've had downloading pictures recently.  it could have been all the thinking and wondering going on inside my head.  probably it was a bit of everything.  regardless, i'll try to give you a brief update here today.

~ there have definitely been lots of smiles going on around here.  lots of funny things said by the girls, lots of giggling, and lots of time together.

~ i've been doing a Bible study with a sweet lady from church.  it's been very interesting and has been opening my eyes/heart up to the Bible in a way they never have been before.  God's Word really is so amazing.  it never changes and it is full of SO MUCH truth!  sometimes it almost seems overwhelming, but really it's just so exciting to still be learning amazing things all these years later.  perhaps i'll share more in another post.

~ i've definitely had a lot of thoughts and questions swirling around in my head regarding our current job/financial situation.  it seems like we're always going through something in this area, and i'm ready to stop worrying about it.  it seems like every time a good opportunity presents it's self, it falls through.  it's very disheartening.  it's definitely an area i've been learning to daily place at the feet of our Lord and trust that He does have a plan for us. 

~ to go along with the above thought, there's the thought of possibly having to leave michigan yet again.  i love michigan.  and i don't want to move away from my family and friends yet again.  this is the 3rd time we've tried living in michigan, and it just never seems to work out.  maybe God is trying to tell me something?  it's a struggle for me.  there is a possible job opportunity for jonathan out of state right now...he's done the preliminary testing.  he passed everything but one part and now they are trying to figure out how he can redo the one part (they came to michigan to do the testing the first time).  so, be praying for us, dear family & friends.  pray that our hearts will be open to God's guidance no matter if it means staying here or moving away again (with this possible job, or any others). 

~ nadia took two tiny steps on her own yesterday!!  i couldn't believe my eyes.  i think she still has a ways to go before she really starts walking as she is still fairly wobbly (which this mama doesn't mind!!).

~ we had a nice thanksgiving.  we had my sister & her family, my mom & kevin, and my dad over and had a good time visiting and eating yummy food. 

~ today the girls and i are planning to put up a little tree and a few winter decorations.

~ we thought we came up with a great plan to encourage libbs to poop on the potty, but it only worked for the first day.  i guess the good part was that now we know she CAN poop on the potty...she just WON'T.  it's very frustrating...but i guess we have to wait it out.  we've tried seemingly everything else. 

~ daddy and libbs went on a daddy-daughter date this week.  always a good time for the girls.  i think jonathan is taking leila out today.

~ we got 100 photo christmas cards for a mere $6.38!!  we only had to pay shipping by using some coupon codes online.  i was really excited about this deal (i posted about it on my facebook page, but the deal has expired now).

~ i've was introduced to a new fiction author a while back by a friend, and this author's books are fabulous!!  his name is charles martin, and i've read all of his books now. seriously, they are sooo good!

~ i finally finished knitting jonathan's socks (i started them right before nadia was born).  i ran out of the yarn i was using and had to improvise, but they are still  comfy and warm :)

~ i made my first dress.  thanks to my gram for helping me through it!  this one is for liberty.  i'm planning on making matching ones for leila and nadia (it's just hard to find the time with 3 kiddos running around!).

~ that's all i can think of right now.  obviously more has gone on since over a month has gone by...i'll try to keep up on updating from now on.

~ and here are some pictures from the past month (although i haven't uploaded any thanksgiving or later pics).

Twelve Smile Tuesday

1.  christmas in october.  my grandpa & grandma w. have their christmas in october because the leave for florida in early november.  it was fun to see lots of family.  there are so many little kids running around again.  unfortunately i only took 2 pictures...can you believe it?!

2.  all dressed up.  my girlies all dressed up for the party.  and yes, leila and nadia are on the coffee table.  it's the perfect place to take a picture sometimes b/c they will actually cooperate if only for the incentive of being on something that they aren't supposed to be!

3.  this picture.  one morning when jonathan was getting ready for work, libbs and leila came in our room wanting to sleep with me.  since it would be time to get up soon anyway, i let them.  when i woke up again, this is how they were sleeping.  isn't it precious?  and actually, they were holding hands before i grabbed the camera.  love it!

4.  pumpkin bread.  yum...i just love pumpkin!  i made the pumpkin bread for the christmas party.  this week i'm planning to make a black bean & pumpkin chili (thanks to my sis-in-law sarah for the recipe!). 

5.  ephesians 4:32.  a verse that has been speaking to me this week. 

6.  candy land.  liberty got a candy land game for her first christmas from jonathan's sister bekah & family.  we finally pulled it out to teach liberty to play.  she's slowly getting the hang out of, but she doesn't have a lot of patience for getting to castle!

7.  dinner with friends.  we had dinner with tj & angela last week and had a really nice time.  angela and i have been friends since 2nd grade...crazy, eh?  they have 3 cutie kids...arianna-5, santino-2 1/2, and isabella-7 months.  they made delicious homemade pizza, and we made a chocolate chip pumpkin cake (see the pumpkin again?  yummy!).

8.  leila's slow progress to sleeping better at night.  it's very slow, but it does seem to be getting better.  the first half of the night is fairly rough, but lately the second half of the night is much better.

9.  liberty's memory.  seriously, this girl can remember the craziest things.  like cars.  if she sees the type of car we have when we're out and about, she'll point it out and let us know that it's a car like ours but it's somebody else's.  just the other day we were leaving target and parked next to our car was a red toyota corolla.  well jonathan's parents have a red toyota camry.  liberty immediately pointed to the car and said, "look daddy.  a car like you mama's in california."  and when i was telling her about the family christmas party the day before, she was asking which grandparents i was talking about.  i told her it was my grandpa and memaw's daddy.  she immediately said, "yeah, grandpa & grandma w.'s" (even though i hadn't used their last name in weeks).  she amazes us all the time!

10.  teeth.  nadia's two bottom teeth are starting to come through now.  well, one has broken through, and the other is starting to.  no pictures b/c you can't see them real well yet, but i thought this picture i got of her looking through my cookbooks was too cute to pass up :). 

11.  leila vacuuming.  the other day she kept pointing out the tiniest things on the floor wanting me to clean them up.  finally i told her to just vacuum the floor.  the silly girl actually got the vacuum out and unwound the cord!  i plugged it in and she said, "i do it myself." (her new favorite phrase).  i did help her out some.  this girl loves helping me do anything around the house...cleaning, cooking, laundry...whatever it is, she's my little helper, and apparently the one who points out anything i still need to do!  (please note that i did dress her that day...she stripped herself!)

 

12.  my hubby (who just loves when i take surprise photos of him, i'm sure!).  he's wonderful and i love him.  pray for him, for he has a lot in his mind and on his shoulders.  pray for us, really.  we're just trying to figure out exactly what God wants us to be doing.  and pray for us to continue to trust that God will provide for us and take care of us. 

Ten Smile Wednesday

here i am late again.  i thought i better get this posted before i get too far behind.  not a lot of pictures of liberty this week...a few times she told me not to take her picture.  what's up with that?!  anywho...it was a good week. 

1.  nadia is starting to stand on her own for at least 30 or more seconds.  she'll get to playing with a toy (or in the case of one of these pictures, memaw's dog), and just let go of what she's using to stand.  i can't believe how fast it is happening.  i tried to get some good shots for photographic evidence...these were the best i could get.

2.  a mops harvest party/playdate.  it was fun hanging out with all the mamas and kiddos eating yummy food and doing crafts with the kids.  we have a very small mops group...about 6 of us usually.

3.  pumpkin cookies.  i found this recipe and the girls and i made them for our mops party.  they are delicious!! 

4.  while at the mops party i was looking around to check on my 3 girls and found leila under this kitchen cart "nursing" her baby doll.  so cute!  i love how maternal little girls are...especially knowing God made them to be just that way at such a young age. 

5.  another leila smile...this girl loves to dress up!  and i love that in the first picture she is wearing a boot that was her daddy's when he was a little boy.  and in the second pic she is wearing mama's shoes...way too big, but so much fun.

6.  a smiley nadia.

7.  this baby picture my mom found of me.  she is always going on about how much nadia looks like me (especially certain facial expressions).  she says sometimes she wants to call nadia "rebecca" instead.  i couldn't find a good squinty faced photo of nadia to compare, so this will have to do.

8.  this pic of leila and i that she begged me to take.

9.  baby legwarmers.  i've seen these online quite a bit and finally whipped some up for nadia.  i think they are so cute and her legs stay warm when i put dresses on her.

10.  a pic of libbs because i just can't leave her out.

11.  and last, but certainly not least...a girls overnighter.  some of my dear college friends and i got together for a night.  there were 6 of us that were able to make it.  we spent some time walking around frankenmuth, ate at the bavarian inn, enjoyed the hotel's hot tub, and walked around the birch run outlets.  all in all, it was a wonderful time!  i miss those ladies!