::the cove::

we just finished watching this movie. it is staggering and eye opening. it will lead to a change of heart.

you really should watch it.

check out the trailer and then go rent the movie.

the cove

lovely...

thank you so much to everyone who made lily feel so very special on her 3rd birthday.

she had a great day and was showered in love by you all.

thank you.







to kick off lily's morning, we had coffee cake with a candle in it. i guess i must have confused her a bit because i sang happy birthday to her before she ate it. then, for lunch and dinner (at mellow mushroom) she was adamant that our prayer before each meal be "happy birthday" sung of course with her hands together, head bowed and eyes closed. love it.

and after a whole year of being "two," she had a little trouble remembering exactly how old she was! :)

happy birthday, sweet girl!

three years ago today, ryan and i held lily in our arms for the first time.
it was the most amazing moment of my life.

i can hardly believe my little bundle is turning three today!

happy birthday, lily!
we adore you with all of our hearts. you bring so much joy, spunk, excitement, wonder and love to our lives. you have made our lives so much richer and we cherish every single thing about you.
we thank our Father every day for the amazing gift He has given us in you.
we love you so very much!!!

happy third birthday, lily!!!!

(photo courtesy of lisa henry smith photography)

for the love of the honey bear...

last night at dinner, we had honey on the table. and EVERY time one of us picked it up, finn would burst into laughter. the bear didn't have to come anywhere near him and he would just go crazy. so, you can imagine how he acted once we finally brought the little guy near his face...



and seeing as lily is about to exit the two's, we thought we ought to talk to her about her upcoming birthday celebration.



(note lily's scraped face. she took a huge fall yesterday - coffee table vs. face. then this morning, lily had her first trip to the dentist after round two occurred - kitchen table vs. front teeth. the dentist thought things would turn out ok in the end but we look a bit country right now with two scratches and a front tooth that is pushed WAY up into her gums and turned to the side. yikes! good thing she is pretty tough!)
video pre-tooth incident

go horse!!

small successes...

i did it. i created something with my own two hands (ok, so actually, a sewing machine did the bulk of the work, but my hands were involved.)

both have some major flaws (ie. up lily's rear it says, "fabric created especially for jo-ann fabrics"...oops...i sewed the skirt inside out and didn't think to flip it right side out to check on progress until the end! lesson learned!) but, despite the imperfections, i am pretty excited. hopefully i will keep on learning.

so, thanks, mom, dad and kathy for a great christmas gift! (i'll repay you with "lovely" items created from home!)

beautiful.

this weekend, whit and i were so fortunate as to travel to denver to meet our beautiful new nephew, griffin.

i have always adored ash and jose, but to see them parent this tiny bundle of joy made my heart overflow with even more adoration for them both. it comes so naturally to them and it was such a gift to get to watch them parent griff.

it is amazing how your heart can grow and grow to make room to love another new member of the family so readily.

my heart already aches for griff and my sisters so much.

thank you for a wonderful weekend, ash and jose. i am so glad that we get to share this wonderful journey of parenthood with you guys.

and ash and whit, we need to rectify this distance problem ASAP! :)
i love you guys!!

::delicious::

sew...

the ladies at jo-ann fabrics intimidate me.
seriously.
i am really intimidated by them.

i am absolutely clueless about all things sewing and such, as my last real experience in this realm was in 7th grade home-ec with mrs. hart.

however, i REALLY want to learn how to sew and be all domestic.

my dear friend kristi gave me an old sewing machine years back and i have been fruitlessly trying to learn how to sew on it. on one occasion, i took it into jo-ann fabrics and asked if they might be able to help me. the woman behind the counter laughed a little laugh and told me it was not worth my time. but, i was not deterred. i spent many an afternoon trying to figure the thing out. however, i was all confused by bobbins and thread and little pieces that remained unrecognizable to me.

much to my excitement, this christmas, my mom and dad and kath gave me a beautiful new sewing machine complete with beginners manual!! i am really excited and i hope that i will make them proud with my creations.

but... owning a sewing machine necessitates a trip to jo-ann fabrics. i am not one who is ashamed to admit that i do not know something. but, for some reason, admitting that i know nothing about sewing seems to cry out that i am not the housewife i wish i was. i have no problem admitting to a mechanic i know nothing about cars, or to the computer guy on the other end of the line that i don't understand the words he is using. but, admitting that i don't even know what kind of thread i should buy makes me flush immediately.

so, last night, i walked into the fabric store and fumbled my way around for quite some time. i let my ego get the best of me and felt too foolish to ask for help. i tried to check out with a product that you can't actually buy in it's entirety and again felt a fool. but, i was determined i could do it. i made it home and realized i was missing several key sewing items. but, i wasn't going to let that stop me!

so, here they are in all their glory.
two simple little cloth napkins.
please don't look too hard because they really are quite ugly!
but somehow i find them beautiful.

sweet dreams...

::sweet memories::

we had a most wonderful trip home to celebrate christmas with our families. we were overwhelmed by the ways our parents and siblings support us, make time for us, take care of us, and love our children endlessly. it was a perfect trip and it makes us long evermore for our families.

this christmas at 100 willow was everything i could have dreamed it would be (minus the guzman clan), but it was certainly a little bittersweet, as well. at the end of this month, my family will move on to a new house. i am incredibly excited for this adventure and i will forever cherish the memories at the bend of willow road.