Christmas 2010

If you know us well, you know that Miles and I adore Christmas, and everything about it. We cannot WAIT for Thanksgiving to get here to put up our lights and decorate. Naturally we are anxious to pass our love of the holiday on to our kids. We tried very hard this year to help Miles V know what is going on. We had fun teaching him about Santa as well as teaching him the REAL reason we celebrate; Jesus's birth. Well, my husband who is an incredible Clark Griswold at decorating the house last year purchased an inflatable manger to go in our front yard. When we put it up this year we talked to Miles V about baby Jesus, and everyday when he saw the lights in the back come on he wanted us to take him outside to see "Baby Jesus" up up up! He is so adorable, and we had a TOTAL blast with him this year! Next year will be doubly as fun when Max is old enough to know what was going on!

During the holidays, I introduced Miles V to what USED to be my favorite Christmas song. "I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas." I say used to because after hearing the same song 14 times a day, it kind of grates on you. :) But it gives him such joy that it is hard to say no.

We hosted our annual Christmas Eve dinner, and it was perfect! Prime rib, twice baked potatoes, sweet potato casserole, broc & cheese casserole... mmmmm. This year, we dearly missed our sister Amber, Charlie, and our nephew James. But, hopefully they will be here next year, and we did get to Skype with them on Christmas day!

Here are a few pictures to enjoy from Christmas Eve!

Santa called Miles V on Skype. It was the coooolest thing! You know Santa, always up on the latest technology!


The whole gang!






Our precious family!)


Miles's annual Christmas Eve gift (new jammies!!)




Christmas day, we got up and opened our presents as a family. As always, Santa was too good to all of us! When we were done opening, we got ready, (left a gigantic mess that took 5 days to clean up) and headed to Gma and Papa's house for Christmas #2!!! Santa was toooooo good to us there, as usual! Papa made an amazing breakfast, and we got to "see" Auntie Amber, Uncle Charlie, and cousin James!






Miles Skyping with James :)









Next, we headed to Great Grandpa Chrone and Great Grandma Jill's house for more amazing food, and fun times with the Shivers--Nancy and Jim, and Jake and Clarissa! We attempted to put the boys down to nap there, and we were 1 for 2, getting Max to sleep for awhile. After they got up, we headed over to G-Gma Jean's house for Christmas #3. We enjoyed yet MORE delicious food, gifts, and then headed outside to play a gigantic game of touch football. I have to say it, of course, my team won!!!!

After the boys actually got some sleep at G-Gma's house, we packed up our BRIMMING car and headed over to Mimi's house, where yet again Santa was too good to us. After my very strategic and organized husband packed the last remaining gifts into our car, we headed home to crash into a present/food induced coma. We layed around and did nothing for the next week. Ok wait, that was a beautiful dream I had... we actually cleaned up a bit, and did manage to get some sleep.


Christmas this year, despite really missing some of our family, was amazing. We are blessed beyond words, and I don't only mean with the material stuff. We are blessed with a God who loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us so that we would not have to be separated from Him eternally. And that is truly the reason for the season!!!

Now Christmas is gone, and we look forward to a wonderful 2011. And like my cousin Susie said, Christmas may be gone, but it looks like the hippopotamus song is here to stay!!!

God Bless!

Thoughts...

When we found out we were pregnant with Max, I admit, amid all the excitement there was a tiny shred of dread as well. (Horrible, to admit, I know). Miles V was 9 months old, I felt like I was FINALLY start to get a good routine down, and had started "settling" back into doing life. I don't know why it took so long after I had him to start feeling that way, but it did. I was kinda a mess, and scattered brained for the first 9 months (example, leaving him with my mother-in-law, and forgetting to leave her the car seat so she could bring him home). Yea, that was one thing of many that happened. Anyway, so I was a little apprehensive about adding another baby to the mix. Throughout the pregnancy I tried to do as much as humanly possible to get the house organized (not just clean, but "Ang-approved" organized) so I'd be ready when Max got here. Silly me for thinking my house would ever be up to my standards. BUT, Max came, and yes, the first 2 months or so were sort of chaotic. Miles was home for two weeks, my mom was here, etc, and so we really didn't start getting into a good routine for awhile. But soon enough, much to my relief, Max (my little champion sleeper) not only was sleeping through the night, but had settled into an amazing nap schedule as well. I'm pretty sure his brother, even at 18 months didn't have his routine down quite like Max does now. Luckily for me, part of his routine includes napping at the same time as his older brother... which usually allows me two hours a day (plus more on the days that I decide to get my butt out of bed before the kiddos) to do all that comes along with being a mommy. Cleaning, cooking, planning meals, paying bills, working on Mary Kay, doing laundry, planning activities to do with the boys, etc. And on the weekends it allows me 2 hours in the middle of the day with my wonderful husband. Ah, sigh. Life is good.

My point in this whole post is just to say how bad I feel for doubting adding Max to our family. While when he is awake he seems to be much more fussy than I remember Miles V being, he is an amazing little sleeper, and his personality has had me wrapped around his little finger from day one. Watch out, ladies, he and his brother are going to be heart breakers one day, I think! And I cannot IMAGINE life with out him!!!

May I?

May I just brag on my boys for a few seconds? I was sitting here today, the house was silent, the kiddos were napping, and I was counting my blessings. I looked around at my house, and I thanked God for my husband, who works so hard for our family, who leaves us wanting nothing, and on top of that comes home at night and just wants to be with us. I hear about dads who come home, expect a hot meal on the table and the remote. Miles gives and gives and gives of himself, whether working or being with the kids, and makes our lives so full and enjoyable. (And he does get that hot meal once in awhile!!). I'm thankful that our fridge is full, our car is in perfect shape (if only I'd quit hitting the mirror on the way out of the garage!), and our bills are paid.

Then we have our little Miles. His personality is addicting. He wakes up, asks me to give "Mickey, Bear, and Puppy" hugs, and then says "Miles (pronounced 'Mawles') hug too". He is 22 months old, and his learning capacity is incredible. He counts to 10, can identify each number 1-10 buy sight, can say his alphabet (he skips about 5 letters), and he is speaking in three word sentences. He sleeps all night, naps well, and loves going to church and Costco! His favorite thing to do is sit on the couch with mommy or daddy and Max, and read stories. He could read and read and read all day. Oh, and he poops on the potty 99% of the time. He amazes me.

And then there is little Max. He, unlike his big brother when HE was this age, sleeps all night. He turns into a pumpkin around 7pm, and sleeps until 5am when mommy usually has to wake him up to get some relief (if you know what I mean)! Then he goes back to sleep until about 7am, and wakes up so I can have some time with just him before big brother wakes up. He learned to blow bubbles back to us, smiles like CRAZY, loves to 'stand up', and is the happiest little guy. Even though he is teething and has his moments, he is such an AMAZING joy in our lives!

I'm so thankful for the Lord who has blessed us with everything we need, and so much more!

Halloween 2010

So Max was just born in July, I cannot believe I already blogging about Halloween!How is it possible that 3 months have passed?!?! Well, somehow they have, and we are now into the full-blown holiday season. Fall is my absolute favorite season; even more so after living through the hot New Mexican summers! Somehow, even though it is smack dab in the middle of fall, Halloween has never been my favorite time. BUT, I think that has officially changed this year. We had A BLAST with Miles V! We decided this year we wanted the boys to be in related costumes, but not matching. We originally were planning Batman and Robin, but then we saw a banana costume at Target for newborns, and it was all over. :) So naturally, we got Miles V a monkey costume (although just about every house we went to said 'what a cute little bear'). Thank you very much for THAT! :)

Anyway, we tried their costumes on them a week before Halloween, thinking we could do their photo shoot. Here is how that worked out for us:


If you know little Miles, you know he is so easy going, rarely crys, etc, so this picture truly captures how much he did NOT want to be a monkey.


We took him upstairs, talked to him, and decided to try again. Here was Take Two:




So needless to say, I was a tad bit worried about Halloween. But, we loosened the chin strap on his monkey head, and it turned out to be the most fantastic day!

My husband calls me the sugar Nazi (or is it the juice Nazi? Anyway...).I am really trying hard to instill good eating habits into the boys. So Miles has had maybe two sips of juice in his entire life...he RARELY gets dessert, and I can't remember ever giving him candy. So when he went trick or treating he didn't really understand what candy was. But he still had a blast! Miles and I could NOT get over how amazing he did. He walked our entire neighborhood, and was out for a total of 2 hrs! Here are a few pics to mark the occasion. We are SOOO proud of him and he is such an amazing little boy! (Oh, and he did get to enjoy some of that candy that he worked so hard for!)
Our sweet, adorable, precious Max



Our little monkey





"Geez", Papa, and Mimi were there too. What a blast!!




Our little family:









What a day! Happy Fall everyone... Bring on Thanksgiving!!!

Shiver Fall Fest 2010

Ok, so Miles thinks "Fall Fest" needs a new name. I agree but can't think of one. Angela's Awesome Autumn Extravaganza? That was vetoed as well. Suggestions welcome!! But anyway, last weekend was it. Miles and I started this tradition the first year we were married & living in our tiny apartment in Chicago. Hot caramel apple cider... carving pumpkins... halloween movie, you get the idea! Now that the boys are growing up we really want to nail down our tradition, and this year was the first year Miles V could enjoy it with us. It was a (delicious) blast!! :)

Friday night Miles and I decided to make this amazing pumpkin cheesecake. It turned out FANTASTIC! Here is a link to the recipe...

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pumpkin-cheesecake-with-pecan-praline-topping

The only problem we ran into is that we didn't start it until the boys went to bed about 8pm. As we were reading the recipe, we realized it had to bake for THREE hours (and that was AFTER the pumpkin puree had to "drain" for TWO HOURS!!!) Good thing we have alarms or else we would have had a very burned cheesecake!

Below are a few pictures to document the occasion:
The Crust


The Ingredients



The Mixing...


And apparently I never took a picture of the finished product :( but here is it before it went into the oven. It was AMAZING!!!



The weekend also had lots of other fun things. We went swimming Friday night (not unique to Fall Fest but fun nonetheless...) Saturday morning we took the boys to free craft making at Lowe's where Miles V made a bat, which he proceeded to call an "owl" all weekend (which is fine by me... if you know me you know how terrified I am of bats!!). We carved pumpkins, watched Elmo's Halloween Special, and ate TONS of other good food (Baked Apple Doughnuts, Homemade Caramel Corn, Homemade Broccoli and Cheese Soup in breadbowls...) mmmm delish. Lets just say that previous post about eating well and working out kinda went out the window last weekend. But it was worth every minute with our sweet boys!!

Here are a few more pictures of the weekend. Enjoy, and watch for a Halloween post soon!!!

Making the "owl"


CREEEEPY!!!

Adulthood

Now that my wife has girled up the blog, I think its time for me to post something. Despite all the pink flowers and girly decor of this blog, we really do share it. So here goes...
Adulthood. It has hit me full force. I'm about to be 26 years old with a family, kids, career, mortgage and oodles of responsibility. I've always dreamed of this life. Since I was very young being an adult and having the life I have right now is what I thought about most of the time. It is weird for a ten year old boy to be dreaming about having a dozen kids, but that was me. That life is here now. No, I don't have a dozen kids or want a dozen kids (maybe eleven), but everything else I dreamed of I am living right now.
My wife is everything I ever hoped she could be and so much more. God created her for me and I for her. I don't doubt that my entire life's events led me right to her. I thank God for her many times per day. She is respectful, loving, caring, unbelievably hard working, a great mother, and the best best friend I could ask for. This all flows from her love for God which I can see growing everyday.
My kids have already exceeded my expectations. Miles V is a GREAT little boy and I love spending time with him. Max is amazing and sleeps like a champ. I can't wait to get to know his personality. Its coming out, slowly.
My career is a real pleasure to me. I look forward to going to work almost everyday. It is challenging, rewarding, and an opportunity to be around non-Christians and hopefully show some of the love God has shown me.
Life is great. When I pray, I have trouble being anything but thankful. But God is working in me, still (and always). The responsibility I have as a father, husband, leader and protector of my family is really hitting me hard. I love to be challenged and to have responsibility. It makes me a better man, no doubt. So I have taken to reading about leadership, parenting, being a good husband, and about historical leaders in an effort to be the best I can be. Reading has never been by favorite thing to do. Part of becoming an adult, I guess.
The only thing about adulthood that I was not expecting was my desire for competition. I have always been in sports and the level competition rose with age. It has been almost four years since I have done anything truly competitive and I have come to realize I was addicted to it. I went from the height of my competitive life to bottom in one day. My desire for competition has driven me to want to water ski all of the time. That's competition only with myself, but it is something. I played soccer in a city league for a couple of short seasons but it was too time consuming and took away from valuable time with my wife and kids. It satisfied briefly. I stumbled upon this picture on facebook the other day and I have not been able to get it out of my head.

It was taken right before kick off at the Christian College National Tournament in Flordia, November 2004. It brought back memories of competition and the sent adrenaline streaming through my body. Playing that game was going all out for my brothers in that picture. Every game was that way. How can I get that back? I know I'll never reach that same level of competition again, but my desire for it has surprised me. I played in an indoor co-ed game a couple of weeks ago and got a little taste of it again. It is very hard to repress, honestly. Do I need to coach? Play? Watch it on TV? Take up ping pong? I've even considered running as form of outlet. I ran a half marathon in 1:45 without training and about killed myself, but it was awesome! I pushed myself and made myself do things my body didn't think it could do. That was a great feeling and I want more of it. There is just one problem with this. There is no time for any of it. My wife and kids are too important to me to take time away from them.
In all of my reading the key principle to being a good father and leader is being there. You have to be there. You can't lead from the grandstands and you can't parent through telepathy. My sons need a father there as much as possible and that is too important to let a little stupid and selfish competitiveness get in the way.
Do I ache for competition every second of every day? Of course. But not as much as I want my boys to grow up knowing their father's heart and his love for them. Not as much as I long for their salvation, which I am key too, as their father.
Adulthood is an awesome thing. The responsibility is heavy and I know without God I would fail much more than I do right now. Adults (mostly parents) who don't know God must have a really tough time of it. I honestly don't know how they do it. Knowing God has a plan for my life and that everyday I am exactly where I need to be is my source of contentment, which I have plenty of. I am more blessed than I ever thought I could be and I know God has more for me and my family down the road.

2010 Balloon Fiesta

Last weekend, after sitting in traffic for two hours (its hard to get moving at 5am when you have a newborn and toddler!) we got to the Balloon Fiesta. This seriously is the coolest thing in the world. And our toddler agreed! Here are a few pictures! Enjoy!

From October 2010

No wind--Yahoo!

From October 2010

From October 2010

This is our friend Randy's balloon. He works at Dukecity!

From October 2010

Thats all for now... sleepy sleep time!

Kicking my butt...

Working out. Ugh. Definitely not my favorite thing in the world. Growing up I was always involved in sports, and never had to worry about working out to stay in shape. I love gymnastics and dance, but don't have the opportunity for those things anymore (nor do I think my old body could handle them!). So when college rolled around, my metabolism slowed down (without anyone telling me.. what the heck!?!), I discovered Chipotle. Ahh Chipotle. Pardon my tangent but it seriously is the best place on earth. We used to eat there probably 3 times a week. Not only was it hard on the pocketbook, but one day I looked in the mirror and realized I had two chins. Seriously. And that my pants didn't fit. Um... wait a second! I had heard of the "freshman 15," but no one told me about the "marriage/Chipotle-addicted 30!" So there it was, my first venture into the of working out for no reason but to lose weight. Doing sports was fun for me and never felt like work. The treadmill, elliptical, and weight bench, on the other hand... torture. But I've made a weight loss goal for myself yet again, and so here I go, running every morning while pushing the boys in the stroller, and now working out occasionally with my neighbor.

My neighbor, Trisha and I, tried working out this morning and it started off sort of disastrous, considering we both have two kids. Between the two of us there were four boys.. Caden (4), Jace (20mos), Miles (20mos), and Max (2mos). Play upstairs in Jace and Caden's room? No, that equaled two screaming toddlers. Watch a short movie upstairs in Trisha's room? No, Miles lost interest really fast when he realized it was not Mickey Mouse.. and Jace (who is 10 days older than Miles) soon followed. So they all came back downstairs and played around while we worked out. Trisha's dog, Lady (this tiny little dog), liked to get under our feet.... and between that and the toddlers squishing bananas into the carpet, it was distracting to say the least. BUT I know I got a good workout because a) I can hardly walk I am so sore, and b) I was so tired I needed to lay down when the boys went down today for the first time in a long time.

But, I guess I can feel the pounds melting away--at least I hope it is the pounds and not my muscles just disintegrating from lack of use these past nine months :) I'll keep you posted on how I am doing. I've got the working out "under control", now if I can just avoid the package of brownies that is calling my name from the pantry.... :)

Cooking 101

Lately, I have really had the desire to cook, try new recipes, etc. I realized that I do love the cooking aspect, but my hardest thing is deciding WHAT to cook. So, to alleviate some of the pressure of having to make a grocery list NOW, and to avoid the stress of not knowing what to cook, I decided to sit down and make a monthly meal plan. I did this for September, and it was a LIFESAVER! It took me about an hour to go through my recipes to decide what to put where, but it was sooo worth it.

Here are some things I took into consideration. We lead a small group at our house every Tuesday. No matter what, it never feels like there is enough time in the day to get everything done on Tuesdays, so I tried to make all meals on Tuesdays as quick and easy with the least amount of mess possible. I know we usually have dinner somewhere else once a week. It might be the Shiver's house, Gma Ann who makes us dinner every other Wednesday, or a family night out somewhere. So I usually leave one day blank. And I also tried to have one crockpot meal per week; that way if something came up during the week and I knew I'd be gone for the day, I could put something in the crockpot, thus eliminating the temptation to just swing by and get fast food.

Now I'm on to planning October, and things are a little more crazy. Miles is in swim lessons until 6pm every Tuesday and Thursday, and I am working every Thursday from now on. But I did the upcoming month's calendar faster than last month, and I'm really excited about it (as is evidenced by an entire blog devoted to the topic) :) It really makes life easier. Now, every Thursday (I usually shop Fridays), I just sit down and make a list of all the ingredients I need to buy for the upcoming week. Easy as pie!!! (BTW--I don't know who made that saying up--pie is usually far from easy to make!).

That being said, I have taken a big liking to watching FoodNetwork. I've gotten some great ideas, and filled a lot of October's calendar up with new recipes to try--including Bruchetta Chicken, and Homemade Meatball Sandwiches! mmm!

My dad was an EXCELLENT cook, and loved watching Iron Chef on Food network. He was really into making new recipes and trying new things. I'm pretty sure that I got this cooking urge from him. My mom recently gave me a garlic press that dad bought but never used. And if you eat at my house, you know that I put fresh garlic in just about EVERYTHING. So almost every night I use it and think, "This one is for you, dad!"

Yesterday was a gloomy, rainy, and yet PERFECT fall day! I was reading a friend's blog and she had shared a recipe for Caramel Corn. I decided to try it and OH MY GOSH was it delicious! Thanks Nikki for sharing, I hope you don't mind if I pass it along! See below, and enjoy!

6 quarts popped popcorn
2 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Place popcorn in a large bowl and set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda; mix well. Pour over popcorn and stir until well-coated. Pour into two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans. Bake, uncovered, at 250° for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

And now I'm off to do a little reading, snack on a little caramel corn, and wait for my babies to wake up. Beef Strogonoff for dinner tonight---Papa Miles's recipe. Yummmmy!

xoxo,

To Blog or Not To Blog?

... That IS the question! Miles and I have been trying this blog thing for, well , probably about two years and have successfully completed, lets see, four, maybe five posts? Oh, that does not bode well for future blogging. BUT, since my family is so far away in the midwest, and not all of them are on facebook to see our pictures/family updates, we are going to try the blogging thing once more. So we hope you all appreciate it! :)

Here we are... Max is 7 weeks old today, and we cannot believe it! We had people here until he was four weeks old, so the last two and a half weeks have been our true time for adjusting. Max is doing GREAT! He is such a good baby. He sleeps about 6-7 hours at night without waking up (which is SUCH a nice change from his brother as an infant!). He has such a happy, easy-going personality, and is such a cutie pie! Miles V is having a bit of a hard time adjusting. Before Max came along, Miles was just such a good kiddo. And he still is, but now we have to tell him things several times, he has been hitting, acting up, and having tantrums. So, we are working through it. I am so thankful for our pastor who just recently preached a sermon on discipline, and how good and necessary it is. It really helps me when Miles is in time out for the fourth time in as many hours to remember that I am teaching him, and that this is beneficial for him. So please continue to keep us in your prayers as we learn and grow as parents!

In other news, we put our house on the market this week. It is a very very long shot, but houses are so cheap right now, and we found one up in the mountains that would be a perfect, long term home for us. It is on three acres, just beautiful and twice the size of our house now so it would accommodate our growing family. We continue to pray for God's guidance, and are truly 100% ok with whatever happens. We just enjoy doing this journey together.

Once I learn how to post pictures here, I'll post some, I promise! And hopefully it won't be a month before I get around to blogging again. But no promises!!!

:)