Year in Review

Vince and Azure both took gymnastics classes in Oct and Nov. Vince did really well, it made me think that he'd probably do great in preschool in the Fall. 2 or 3 days a week from 9a-12p. I'm gonna pray about it.

Ward Trunk or Treat

Charles is wearing my shirt, jacket, and sunglasses. Kind of disturbing. Crazy that he fits in my clothes, though they are a bit big on me.

He likes to kick me in the jugular while I nurse him.

Vince does a good job of fulfilling both roles as big brother and little brother :)

He sounded this word out all on his own!

Halloween Preschool activity

2nd tooth lost!

My 3 babes looking out on the world.

1st loose tooth- Oct Conference Weekend

Beautiful Fall day at Forsyth

Typical

Got a new spiraler for my half bday. Now we can make yummy zucchini pasta all the time. This is one of our favorite go-to meals with lemon chicken on the side. A perfect lean and green.

Azure wanted to try out Tae-Kwon-Do. It was a lot of yelling and bit awkward for her so this was her one and only class. But, her and Vince can't stop talking about it, even still almost 3 months after the fact. And, they love doing the "moves" they learned just from this one day.

Another lovely Fall day on Bluff Dr. We could stay forever in Savannah if only we could buy a home on Bluff Dr and have a dock and boat in our front yard.

October was the month trying new things. 1st it was soccer at the YMCA. Didn't like the coach. Then, Tae-Kwon-Do. Finally, we chose gymnastics.

He loves flying high "like a bird". Happy to have a membership to the YMCA again :)

Sushi date night. Charles and I have been pretty good about going on monthly dates this year. These were bomb!

With me working now, the house is mostly always a mess even worse than when I wasn't working. Sheesh.

Labor Day at the Army Pool w/ the Saavedras.

Vince is one funny man.

Father/son sandwich time

On the way to the temple. I love that she wants to wear a dress. She read so much this summer. So proud of her!

 And, she helped feed Zeke puffs. If he has something in his mouth, he doesn't scream as much ;)

While Charles and I take turns going in, the kids play in this room at the bookstore across the street from the temple.

Our Columbia, SC temple. We try to go once a month. We didn't quite make it every month, but we did pretty well considering the 5 hr round-trip car ride w/ 3 kids.

My mom sent this puzzle for Vince and he did it all by himself!

I was so impressed! And, he was so proud!

This was the only time I ever vaccuumed with Zeke attached to me in the sling so we had to capture it on camera.

Open house meeting Azure's teacher. What a huge milestone for us!

Late afternoon beach trip right before school starts.

I had a great time at my health coaching convention in Nashville in July and found out this girl served in Bolivia, too with my MTC companion. Always a small, Mormon world. I love it!

She read lots from the Magic Treehouse Series this summer.

Kassidy's baptism day. Charles home teaches her mom and Kassidy asked him to baptize her. We love taking the kids to see baptisms.

Ice cream at Leopold's in a huge rainstorm!

Last day of art camp for my sweet little artist.

It was weird having just the boys while Azure was in art camp. Now, of course that she's in school, we're totally used to it, but this week of running errands with only 2 felt strange.

I miss his curly locks. This boy melts my heart!

He hated this jumper. Think he only went in it a handful of times. Azure hated it, too. Vince was the only one who liked it.

4th of July with the Saavedras. They are our pseudo family. We pretty much spend every holiday with them. So grateful for them!

Classic arch-your-back-skirmy-baby.

4th of July is not the same w/o some sort of flag cake or trifle.

Vince was really scared of these "big fireworks". He stayed in the car and cried b/c it was too loud. This is at Daffin park right down the street from us.

Vince was really struggling and this sweet boy came to help him :)

Our basil did so well this year.

Perfection. Turkey on toasted ciabatta with melted cheese, avocado, tomato, fresh basil, and drizzled with Udo's oil or EVOO.

"Mommy, take a picture of me doing this."

"And, this."

So happy to get his TMNT sheets. Seeing them in May at the Nickelodeon suites was a major event in his life :)

November means Summer one day and Winter the next

On Monday Nov. 18 it was pretty hot so we decided to go to the beach. Zeke thoroughly enjoyed the texture of the sand!

Charlie ran while I watched the kids and then we switched. I was feeling super grateful b/c I had ran that morning in the woods on the Y trail and then got to run at the beach. I love Savannah! Sometimes ;)

This is my new bathing suit that I bought at the end of Aug on clearance. The last time I bought a bathing suit was in May 2006 for our honeymoon. 7 yrs is a long time wearing the same suit- it was falling apart and it was too big since I was about 20 lbs heavier when we got married than I am now.

And, then a few days later I am dressed like this:

We have gotten some great family time in this month. Charlie had both Thanksgiving AND Fri off. That is not the norm for a medical professional on the holidays. We are blessed. He has a really good job. We sometimes wish he could have the same exact job in a different place. Even though we're a bit anxious to move on from Savannah, there is an underlying peace that I feel that it's for a wise purpose we're still here. I think a lot of it is actually dependent on me and my personal growth. I have made a TON this past year. Health coaching has really helped my confidence. We shall see what 2014 brings.

 Isn't Azure so beautiful? Sometimes I can't believe that we created bodies for all 3 of them and I carried them all in my womb. Amazing.

This is Azure's, "No way, Dad. Don't even think about it" face.

They are all at pretty good ages right now. I like our family. And, I love the spacing between them. I think it's perfect. Even with me losing Zeke the first time. This turned out way better than what I planned. Vince needed more time to be the baby. And, obviously I needed that time to heal and forgive. AND, Zeke of course, had to be born on Christmas Day so I could remember this miracle for my whole life and help me to have faith whenever I doubt.

We've been wanting to go to the SCAD Museum of Art since they first opened over a yr ago, so we finally went Thanksgiving weekend.

We also rented The Grinch w/ Jim Carrey and watched it on the kindle. When it was over Vince said, "That was the worst movie I ever watched-ed." "Oh, yeah?" I asked. "Was it too scary?" "Yeah. Can we watch it again tomorrow?" So typical of an almost 4 yr old :)

It was kinda sad getting back into a routine on Monday when Charlie had to go back to work and Azure to sch. Azure kept saying in her prayers that she was grateful Daddy had time off work so we could all spend time together as a family. It felt so nice, like a real holiday, not many things planned, lazy family lounging. I wish we had 3 or 4 day wkends once a month!

Sweet November

It was so nice having Azure home from school on Monday. Her and Vince played so well together. They went out in the backyard and I watched them through the window while I did the dishes. Vince never plays outside w/o Azure. More of a movie kind of guy. Sigh. Even when I try to engage him in a game outside he says he's done after a few mins.

I love to see Azure out there talking to herself and making up some random game. Reminds me so much of me. I realized I haven't seen her do this in months b/c she is usually at sch. I kinda miss homeschooling her. I wish I could find some charter sch or co-op homeschool where she could go just 3 days a week. Maybe someday.

Azure had been asking to go to Oatland Island (a mini zoo) since the summer so we decided to go on Veteran's Day. The weather was perfect. One of those days that I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 of my children. I love those days :)

Sitting on eggs in the nest.

My favorite animal there. Can't wait to get our very own someday. I put Zeke right up to his face and he cried. A little scared I think. Crazy to think that Azure had just turned a yr old the first time we went there. And, there I was w/ 3 kids, Azure almost 6 and a half. Crazy.

Yesterday (Tues. Nov. 12) I asked Azure to read 1 Nephi Ch. 17 on my phone. We have been listening to the Mormon Channel on the way to sch- most of the time Conf. talks, or the audio of scripture or The Friend, sometimes old broadcasts of Music and the Spoken Word (since that's what's on at that time). But, I felt like she should actually read it this time. I stopped her a few times explaining some words and rephrasing things like, "So, Laman and Lemuel might have said something like this to Nephi...how do you think that made him feel?" She was so engrossed in the story and you could tell she felt the spirit. I thought to myself, "It's time to start reading the real thing." We've still been reading out of the Scripture Stories. I told her thank you for reading and that I loved to hear her voice read those words. That is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. This morning when we got into the car she asked, "Can I read the scriptures again?" Huge smile. I'm so grateful that she recognizes the spirit! She knew exactly what verse she had left off on. Hearing her read was the best part of my day.

Today she reedemed her free personal pizza for Book It. Oh, sweet memories. I used to go every month w/ my mom. I love that they still do this.

We had preschool this morning over here. I read "Thank You, Sarah" to them. Probably my favorite Thanksgiving book! And, then we made these turkeys. Their attention span is super short, much shorter than Azure's group when we did this 2 yrs ago. Vince giggled when I painted his hand and fingers for this. I love that boy!

Zeke is now at the stage where he is taking apart this shoe rack and throwing the shoes everywhere. Knocking down the trash can and pulling things out. Sheesh.

 

But, man, oh man, is he cute! And sweetie and snewggly. "God love 'em." As my Nana would say.