Back to the daily grind

I've been "gone" for over a month...and while I wish we were at Disney the entire time...it was only for a week.  But what a wonderful week!  We has lots of fun, got little sleep, and made wonderful memories.  Phil and I even had a few "mini-dates" going on rides while my mom played with the kids.  After we returned home we all needed a vacation from our vacation! So we took it easy.  My in-laws were great and took charge of Thanksgiving...we showed up with pumpkin pie and whipped cream, ate, let the kids play, and went to bed early.  PERFECT!

Phil returned to work after 2 weeks off, and it's been an adjustment for us all.  The kids are enjoying getting "back to normal" with daily trips to the park and play dates.  But, every morning, Hailey asks if it's the weekend yet...and Dom follows him to the door with the saddest puppy dog face-which is really rather cute, and sad.

I'm most grateful this year for my family and our good health.  It's easy to take for granted until we're faced with illness or other medical complications.  And secondly, for friends.  Over the past 8 months, God has placed some really awesome women in my life, and instead of getting too mushy, I'll leave it at that =)

Happy Advent everyone! I pray this is a fruitful Advent season for all of us as we prepare for Jesus' Birthday!  I'll be following up with a fun little Advent project my sister-in-law is going to help me finish(hopefully) next week-but don't hold your breadth...might be 2011 before I get another post and pictures up!

Hailey was so proud to "ride" by herself!

Beach Retreat

Last Monday, poor Hailey got bitten all over her torso (not sure what bit her) and had an allergic reaction-she was a trooper though! Those went away by Thursday.  On Friday, she was stung by a wasp-again, it was cured with a smoothie! Kids really are quite resilient, so I'm learning. I was hesitant to leave the kids overnight to go on this retreat after the week we had, but Phil was awesome and encouraged me to go-yes, he's great!
This "retreat" was at a gorgeous beachfront penthouse, and about a dozen women came and went throughout the weekend.  It was perfect! Very laid back, lots of food, pool/beach time and good ol' talking into the wee hours of the night. I brought Dominic with me to stay the 2nd night, and although we slept little, it was worth it.  Friendships take time.  And with two little ones, play dates don't really allow me the time to do too many "getting-know-you" conversations. Or it's interrupted and you can't get past the usual niceties-i.e. "how old are your kids?" and then it's "mommy mommy I have to go potty!!".  So this weekend really helped me get to know a great group of women I hope to become closer to.
A few quick tid-bits from our week:

1. Dom's officially walking! It took a few weeks from those first steps, but now he's able to get from room to room on foot! He's also babbling like crazy, and signing "more" "please" and "all-done"-what else could a boy need to say?!

2.  Hailey was so excited to leave this morning, she took it upon herself to dress Dominic.  And no one got hurt ;) I came out to find him sitting still (won't do that for me!) while she was desperately trying to snap the two snaps on his shirt.

3.  We took our first trip to the Naples Zoo on Thursday, and we really enjoyed ourselves!  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera...but will be sure to get some pics next time!

Here's a pic from the beach retreat:

"What does it profit you to give God one thing if He asks of you another? Consider what it is that God wants, and then do it."  Saint John of the Cross

Getting Started

Since our move from San Diego, Ca. to Naples, Fl. I've embraced the world of blogging.  I've really enjoyed reading blogs, mostly of other Catholic Moms, a few I know personally, but mostly of beautiful women I'll never meet.  I've found so much inspiration in my vocation as a wife and mother.  I'm not sure where my blog will lead me, but I look forward to having a chronicle of our lives for our children.  Please excuse any incorrect grammar/misspellings.  I pray my words bring smiles, laughs, and encouragement!

We've been in Naples for 6 months now, and it took hosting the kids Birthdays at our condo for me to finally finish unpacking...sad but true.  Knowing my in-laws and some friends would be over spurred us into a real cleaning frensy!  When we moved, Phil only had 2 days off between jobs, and one was spent flying cross-country.  So, those first few weekends were spent getting settled, unpacking necessities, and attempting to make the transition as smooth as possible for the little ones.  Inevitably, there were a half dozen boxes left in the dining room that wouldn't fit in the closets or storage unit accross the hall.  How we ever fit everything into our 700 sq. foot apt. in Cali I'll never know...this place is about 1200sq. ft and feels like a mansion! So the said boxes ended up in the corner of our dining room...collecting more junk on top.  Needless to say, I had to do some packing/re-packing, and purging of a few things, but everything is officially "put away"! Whew! Just in time for birthdays-which meant presents...and more organizing.

We spent two wonderful weekends celebrating birthdays.  Hailey, Dominic and Phil's Birthdays are all two weeks apart, so we combined them into two days of parties with each of our families.  It was extra-special for my family to be apart of this, as we've been living in California for the last three years.   Phil's family lives there part of the year, and we enjoyed many celebrations with them, and really took advantage of most of his family being nearby!  And we grew very close to our friends, who became like family to us!  However, there was always an ache in my heart, for especially my mom, who I knew missed so dearly being there for birthdays and holidays.  So this year was as close to perfect as I could have imagined.  Dominic actually took his first steps towards MY Grandmother at Hailey's party! Thank you Jesus for giving us all that special moment...I'm tearing up just thinking about it.




Dom taking his first steps at the Grandparents' house



Grandmommy, Uncle Billy and Hailey with her princess cake

After this post, I'll be doing a little back tracking and reminiscing how we got to where we are today...hope you enjoy reading about our journey as much as I do writing about it!

Today is Respect Life Sunday, so I'll leave you with this:

"The true measure of civilization, a universal and permanent measure which includes all cultures, is its relationship with life...and the unborn." (Words of John Paul II, the Great)