Isabella's "Abilene" birthday party

Since we will be in the middle of our move and living in a hotel room on Isabella's "real" birthday we decided to have a party today so that she could celebrate with some of her friends. Knowing that our house would be A MESS by now we thought it would be best to have her party somewhere else, so, The Grace Museum was perfect. The Grace has a great little kid's diner along with an awesome kid's museum that is very hands on. Isabella's favorite part is always the ambulance that you can pretend to drive and all the big blocks to build with. After the kids were done with the food and cupcakes off they went to play!



The kids chowing down.



Isabella blowing out her candles after singing Happy Birthday. I was just glad she didn't cry this year like she did when she turned one and two.



Isabella with Emily.



Isabella eating the icing off her cupcake with a fork.



"Hey, you mean I don't have to use a fork?"



Lucy, a doctor in the making.



Hi Noelle!



Lucy saying, "I thought you had the directions!"



Nathan and Benjamin



Hi Nathan!



Isabella playing with Mrs. Weems



Isabella and Nathan working hard!



Isabella told me when we got home, "Mommy, I had a wonderful time." She is growing up WAY TOO FAST!!

A Week in Houston

It seems like we've been doing non-stop traveling the entire month of February. We just returned from a week in Houston visiting Steve's family. It was wonderful spending time at Steve's Grandmother's house where Isabella enjoyed playing with Grams & Great Grams, swimming in the hotel pool, eating some great food, having a blast at Cheryl and Michael's house, and most of all celebrating Steve's 40th birthday (a bit early). The kids did well considering they were really off their schedules. By the end of our trip, though, poor Jack had an ear infection. He's on the mend now, which is a blessing.



Bella and cousin Zoe just jumping around



Aunt Pat holding Amaya



Daddy and Jack



Silly Bella smile



Steve's birthday cake



Daddy and still silly Bella



Grams, Great Grams, Jack and unhappy and tired Bella



Jack looking up with a smile at cousin Christian



Isabella found a new electronic toy she likes, cousin Matthew's Nintendo DS

And so it begins...

Steve received his orders today...well we all did. The kids and I to Indiana and Steve to the desert. We've scheduled our household goods move, so we will be officially "homeless" starting around March 10th. Steve's actual report date is mid-April.

Before now the year deployment was something I put in my mind as a really distant event...but now that we have orders it makes it all too real for me. To be open and honest I've shed a lot of tears today. I will miss Steve SO MUCH! It breaks my heart to think of Isabella and Jack without their Daddy for a whole year. I have no doubt, though, that the Lord will guide us through this journey.

The Love of My Life...

Eight years ago today I married my best friend! Steve is the most wonderful husband and father. The Lord has truly blessed me!

A Hill Country Weekend

Since we are in complete denial that we only have 3 weeks to do A LOT, we headed to Austin for the weekend! We had a wonderful time in gorgeous Texas Hill Country. Steve's cousin Lori and her husband recently purchased a great property and had an open house on Saturday. The house and property have amazing views! It was great seeing all the Great Aunts and Uncles before we move. On Saturday evening we had the best dinner in Texas....the Salt Lick. Just thinking about the brisket, ribs, potatoes, etc makes my mouth water! If you're ever near Driftwood, Texas you have to go!



Views from the house




Uncle Ruben and Uncle Efriam



Uncle Josh



Bella and Jack with cousin Josh's daughter (yes, Jack is starting to sit up on his own)



No family gathering would be complete without the Armendariz Uncles and music!



Hi Cheryl!



Bella with some of the other Armendariz cousins



Finishing up a great meal at the Salt Lick



Most of the Austin clan at the Salt Lick



A bedtime story at the hotel...and trying to keep Jack from eating the book



This is Bella's REALLY BIG GIRL bed

A Valentine's Party!

We had a wonderful time this morning at a friend's house where we had a Pre-Valentine's Day party (Thank you Becca!). Isabella had so much fun with her little friends from church. They painted, decorated cookies and exchanged Valentine cards.


Getting ready to paint



The kids had a blast painting the hearts!



Isabella showing one of her favorite Valentine's cards, Veggie Tales of course

Bella's friend Jack

Isabella's friends McKenna & Noelle

Isabella and her "show your teeth" smile

All the "big" kids, as Bella put it



The kids had fun pushing each other around in the little red car. This was Isabella's turn...

Isabella and Lucy jumping around

A tired little boy. You can't see his onsie very well with him in the car seat, but it says, "hunk-a burnin love!" It was the only "manly" Valentine's shirt I could find for a boy.

always.have.extra.batteries

This is our timeline from last night:

1:15 a.m.: beep, beep, beep
1:16 a.m.: crying (Jack)
1:20 a.m.: beep, beep, beep
1:21 a.m.: crying (Jack)
1:22 a.m.: beep, beep, beep
1:23 a.m.: Jeannie: "Is that one of the fire alarms?"
1:24 a.m.: beep, beep, beep and more crying (Jack)
1:25 a.m.: Steve gets up and gets the ladder from the garage
1:26 a.m.: crying (Jack)
1:27 a.m.: Steve: "do we have any batteries for the fire alarms?"
1:27 a.m.: Jeannie (while feeding Jack AGAIN) "ah, I don't think so."
1:28 a.m.: Steve, on flooded roads, heads to the store to pick up batteries

ALWAYS have extra batteries for your fire alarms...because inevitably they will always start beeping in the middle of the night.

How did you spend your Superbowl evening?

We spent it watching Isabella go crazy in the ducky bathtub and Jack finding "freedom," all while trying to pay attention to the football game. Um, you say...

With all her new Christmas presents, Isabella still enjoys playing with things that aren't really toys. I had this tub out for Jack and she claimed it as her possession. She had a blast! She rocked back and forth singing Row, Row, Row your Boat and laughing hysterically.

Jack realized that if he rolls over consecutive times he'll actually get someplace. What was his first destination...the ottoman. I walked into the room to find him chewing on it. Wait a minute...your sister never did that! He was also probably trying to get away from his crazy sister in the ducky bathtub.

serious.life magazine

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published the February issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is free, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/