a little joy

february 8, 2010

2 days earlier than we planned, little charlotte monroe joined our family.

before she was born, when i would pray for her, the word 'joy' always came into my mind. little did i know that would be the perfect description for this precious baby.

from her first day of life, charlotte has been pure sweetness.

easy, happy.... the kind of baby parents dream of.

i cannot even believe she is one year old today. where has the time gone? i feel like she was just born. just swinging in her baby swing all swaddled up. just all curled up on her daddy's chest.

but now she is an easy-going, friendly little love, pulling up on the couch,

pushing her baby stroller, and waving her hands at everyone.

eating anything you put in front of her

i have treasured every second of these 365 days. knowing she was our last has caused me to frequently pause and just try to soak in the moment. hold her closer. smell the baby smell. listen to her sounds. feel my finger inside her little grasp.

little charlotte, we were a great little family of 4.

but we had no idea how incomplete we were without you.

we adore you.

we promise to protect you

pray for you

encourage you

and love you with everything we are.

happy birthday, baby girl.

thank you for filling our family with joy.

posted by mommy

a contest, a tradition, and a rainstorm

when jackson was just a baby, we realized that new years morning no longer consisted of sleeping until the crack of noon and laying around watching movies the rest of the day. (a great start to the year, i might add). instead, you are up when it is still dark (regardless of what time you went to bed the night before), while the majority of the world is closed for the holiday. we wanted to do something fun, so we put our 9-month-old baby jackson in the car and headed for the zoo. too tired to make breakfast, we stopped for some pancakes at the only place open, McDonalds. new years day is pretty cold, so after the zoo we stopped to warm up at starbucks

while enjoying our last red cup of the season. little did we know this was soon to become an

annual tradition we would look forward to.

awhile back, we asked for you to vote for us in a contest a local photographer was holding. everyone was amazing and we won! thanks guys :) the photographer, mariano friginal, offered to come along on our annual new years day tradition. we thought it might be awkward, but it was actually super easy (we would be great on a reality show... got accustomed to the cameras right away!) and fun. the weather was dark, grey, and stormy. but a little rainstorm couldn't keep us away!

mariano just posted pics on his blog. check them out... we think they're pretty great. thanks mariano, and thanks to all of you for voting.

see you next year at the zoo- you know it's already on your calendar.

disneyland!

what's better than going to disneyland? free disneyland!!!

several months ago, jeff had a band come play at wsm. the guitar player, aaron, and jeff hit it off. aaron's wife turned out to be sleeping beauty at disneyland (did i mention this was my dream job?) and offered to get us in to the park. of course we jumped at the idea! so on january 10th, we surprised the kids (we didn't tell them what we were doing until we were parking- they were so excited!) and enjoyed a fun-filled day in the happiest place on earth.

i love disneyland. passionately. i could seriously go there every month. at least. going as a parent is so amazing.... i just love watching my kids experience the sights, the rides, the characters. it was a great day.

family picture with minnie mouse. the park was really empty, and there were tons of characters walking around. the kids would go running when they saw one :)

our kids are toy-story-crazy, so seeing buzz lightyear was truly a highlight for them. it is so sweet how they are just in awe that they got to meet the REAL buzz!

we had just gone the week before to see 'tangled' with gramma. all bella wanted to do was see her. she even told every other princess that she was going to meet her... can a princess feel like chopped liver? daddy was the hero and waited in the very long line to meet rapunzel and flynn rider. they were really sweet and the kids got to talk to them for a few minutes.

flynn was amazing with jackson, getting him to make all these silly faces. i love the pic above where they are pointing at the girls and the girls made sweet faces.

jackson showing flynn rider his "smolder"

a fan favorite... the dumbo ride with daddy.

alice in wonderland and the mad hatter. i say creepy but my kids loved it.

our sweet friend stacey came along with us for the day (her hubby was on a mission trip to thailand). it was great to have her with us. i love charlotte in this pic checking out mickey. you can almost hear her saying "what in the world is that?"

our kids are CRAZY for it's a small world. it was still decked out for christmas, which was pretty amazing. we rode it A LOT. but we didn't mind :)

having stacey meant jeff and i got to sneak away for a quick ride on space mountain! yipee!

it was such a fun time. the big bummer of the day was my new camera lens breaking :( so most of our pics were taken with iPhones. can't wait to go back!

posted by mommy

the bruised tutu

3 years ago, we received a very special gift.

isabella kristan entered this world on november 6, 2007. weighing over 9 pounds, she made her presence known from the start. she hasn't stopped since.

we immediately fell in love with our little girl. she enchanted us with her sweet disposition, her lovely lips, and those rolls she was born with and never quite lost.

she smiled early, and her days have been full of laughter and giggles. she is silly... always looking for a laugh.

she loves fiercely. people, animals, cookies.... she is passionate about life.

she is also a bit dramatic.... she is usually either laughing or crying- both of which come from the depths of her belly. there is very little in between for bella.

she loves to explore and do new things. as a baby she was into everything. she is the child to color on the walls and finger paint with her ketchup.

she may be the grubbiest little girl we've ever met. she is constantly covered in dirt, food....if she can get messy, she will.

she can also be rough and tumble. there is always a bruise somewhere on her body. someone suggested we call her the "bruised tutu" since she can often be seen wrestling in a dress.

she loves sweets. intensely. she's never met a cookie, cupcake, ice cream cone, or candy cane she doesn't like. i will find her hiding in the pantry sneaking something sugary at least once a week.

she is wildly independent. convinced she can do everything by herself. in her mind, there is no difference between her and her big brother. she is a "big girl" and telling her differently makes her very angry.

she LOVES her little sister. if she cries, she sings to her and gives her a binky. i often find her sitting in charlotte's crib, giving her toys and telling her "stories". she wants to feed her, change her, bathe her. i'll regularly look in my rearview mirror to see them holding hands.

and how she loves her brother. as much as they fight, she is passionately devoted to him. she thinks he is SO funny, and wants to say and do everything he does. and he takes care of her and protects her bravely. their little conversations and spontaneous hugs just melt your heart.

she loves to sing. she sounds like a drunk sailor, loud and off-key, but she is so happy. bible songs, songs from the radio.. she is not discriminating. just don't let her know you're watching or she'll get shy.

she loves jessie from toy story. coloring. helping in the kitchen. painted fingernails. reading books. the park. psalty. board games. mommy's lipgloss. princesses. ketchup. the color pink. her blanket and sleeping with stuffed animals. singing songs softly in her ear. snuggling after a nap. telling you her memory verses.

she is a girl that knows what she wants. as maddening a trait as this is in a 3 year old, i am glad God made her this way. i recognize how valuable this will be as she grows up, especially if what she wants is Jesus and to follow Him.

what joy she brings to us every day of her life. i cannot believe she has already 3, but i also can't remember life before her.

she reminds us to live with our own passion, to love deeply, and to laugh at everything. to feel the hurt and experience the joy.

oh isabella, how we love you.

oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up

just stay this little.

oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up

wish it would stay this simple.

i won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart

and no one will desert you

just try to never grow up, and never grow up

(taylor swift)

-posted by mommy

professional photos by the amazing cori derksen (derksenphotography.com)

Don't blink....

bella at the aquarium- november 2008- 12 months

charlotte at the aquarium- november 2010- 8 months

bella at the aquarium- november 2010- 2 years 363 days

they grow up before you know it.

costa rica

i was thinking the other day that i've known my husband for almost half my life. that's a long time.

he is pretty amazing. he won't tell you that....well he may, but he would be joking around, whereas i am totally serious. he has been doing youth ministry since he was 18 years old. that means for half of his life. there are a lot of people that look at what he does and may look down on him because he works with students rather than adults. people that think all he does is go to movies and play chubby bunnies. but i know better.

i have had a front row seat to what God has done through my husband. i have had the immense privilege of watching young men and woman place their faith in Christ. deepening their relationships with their Savior. serving Him sacrificially. obviously not because my husband is amazing but because God is amazing. and God has chosen to use him to be in the lives of these students, and he has been obedient to that. he is so passionate about young people having vibrant relationships with God. what greater calling is there than shaping the future of our church, our country, our world?

currently he is in costa rica on his first global missions trip. they are working with students international doing various projects. you can read their blog on The Well's website. he is with an amazing group of students and it sounds like God is already doing great things. i admit that i am so jealous. i've never been a rough-and-tumble sort of girl, but recently God has been stirring in my heart a desire to possibly participate in some global missions, something new for me. but i will have to wait a few years.... i'm not sure taking a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 5 month old along would really accomplish much! :)

i miss him like crazy. it is so strange to not get to talk. even when days are crazy and we don't get to see each other, i know i will usually get to at least see him at bedtime and we can catch up about our days. being in another country means no cellphones, bad internet, and a time difference. but i know that what he is doing is so important- it makes the craziness of 3 kids for 9 days totally worth it.

thanks to everyone that has loved, supported, and prayed for ME during these days. i have felt covered in prayer and my heart and sanity has stayed fully intact :) i could use another set of hands, but we are good. people have been so sweet to invite me and my 3 crazy children over... i'm not sure if they know what they're getting themselves into!

so please continue to pray for jeff and the wsm costa rica team. pray for our little family that is here. and pray that monday comes quickly for me, but not as quickly for jeff. he has work to do.

the 2010 wsm costa rica team

almost 5 months

tomorrow charlotte will be 5 months old.

i can hardly believe it.

i feel like i was just in the hospital, holding her for the first time. taking in every perfect little piece of her.

now she is smiling, laughing, playing with her feet.... becoming such a baby instead of an infant. there is something so different about raising a baby and knowing it is your last. with every milestone, i realize that we will never again hold a little newborn of our own. i drove past a maternity store and it just hit me that i will never again know what it is to have little feet kicking me from the inside.

something about that changes every part of this experience for me. rather than getting frustrated when having a little baby is hard, i feel like i am just cherishing every single second of charlotte's life. from giggles, starting to put everything in her mouth, spit up everywhere, and being woken up in the middle of the night.... every moment is so precious.

it helps that she is simply the best, easiest baby i have ever met. she is happy, sweet, and just loves you to give her attention. what a precious blessing in our lives.

so, sweet charlotte.... slow down. don't grow so fast. i want to hold on to every little second.

xoxo

mommy

and now.... some pictures!!!

here she is at 3 months... hard to get a smile yet!

at disneyland when she was 3 months... not the best pic, but her outfit was super cute :)

4 months & starting to hold her head up so well!

loved so much by big sister

first bathing suit... gotta rock the bikini!

and that hair.... it is wild!

her smiles just melt your heart

in san diego with our high school students at camp

4th of july with big sister... she slept right through the fireworks!

just today at lunch. love that precious little face.