Happy Birthday, Perfect Baby! And, a TON of pictues!

So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him." 1 Samuel 1:20

Samuel Christian,

The name Samuel means, "asked of God." It's so appropriate. When Judah was only a few months old I told my mom (your Nana) that I wanted another baby in May. When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't want to wait that long and I wanted you so badly to be born in April. You were born on April 30th, the perfect day. It was also the last day of Encounter, which was appropriate. I know that you will be a great man of God, a soul winner, a leader and father of the multitudes, you will be a great Pastor and preacher. You are anointed, young man. Just like the prophet Samuel in the Bible.

There are two things people are always commenting on: your smile and how you are such a happy baby and your strength. Already, your little personality is coming out. I know that you will always light up a room when you come in, with your smile and your joy. You will also influence many people and do great things, with your strength. You will be a leader. You will make the right decisions, even if it's hard and unpopular. Your joy and your strength will be such an amazing compliment.

You are my sunshine and the one my heart loves. I was so happy and thankful that Judah has been a Papa's boy (with me being pregnant and you being born when he was so little), but I absolutely ADORE that you are a Mama's boy! I know you both love us equally, but I love that you want ME to hold you. You want to cuddle with ME. Oh, little boy, you are incredibly amazing. I want you to always know that you truly are asked of God. You were the one we longed for. You are the most incredible blessing to me, to our family, and most of all to God.

Love,
Your Mama


The stretch mark was totally worth it!


You've always been beautiful. You've always been perfect.


Now this one makes me tear up. Samuel- 1 week, Judah- 18 months


We love our monkey! 1 month


Asleep in the sling at Turtle Bay 1.5months


On Papa's old quilt. 3.5months


Almost 4 months- Brother Love!


5.5 months- Learning to sit


All Smiles. 6.5months


Along for the Ride. Getting a Christmas tree with Judah's friend, "Big Sam." 7months


I'm not so sure about you, Santa. 7.5months


Ready for the tub. 8 months


Swinging! 10.5months


As Laura likes to call you, "The strongest man in the world" (And such a climber, too!)

And a few recent ones:

Back to Blogging and a G12 Conference

Phew! It's crazy that I've been gone from blogging for so long. I miss all of you! I've been doing my best to keep up with blogs, but haven't had time to comment. We moved into our house on Saturday and have been busy unpacking and arranging everything, then we were out of town this weekend. We drove down to Sacramento (a little less than 2 hours away) on Friday night, then back that night, then back again Saturday morning, and back again Saturday night. Judah stayed with my inlaws both nights, but since Samuel has never spent the night away from me, I was a little wary of leaving him for two nights. We decided to bring him with us Friday night and leave him with them on Saturday night. We got to their house this morning at 10:20 to pick the boys up and had to be at church before 10:30, but as far as I know they did great. Tomorrow is Samuel's birthday. How crazy is that?

We went down to Sac for a G12 conference at a Russian church. The conference was absolutely AMAZING! The first thing that blew me away was coming into a Russian church (where everything was done completely in Russian), with a Spanish interpreter (G12 is based in Bogota, Columbia so most things are done in Spanish), and then everyone from Zion wore headsets so that we could hear in English. I love the G12 vision because you can be with a Russian immigrant and a Colombian citizen and all be like-minded and living for the same thing. We all love Jesus, we want to win the lost and make disciples, we're all focusing on building into women (or men for the guys) and seeing them walk in freedom and destiny.

I cannot put into words what I experienced this weekend. They talked a lot about breaking off all of our worldly attitudes (carnality, religiousity, etc..) and being a person of integrity, of vision, and of power. On Saturday night they had an altar call and I went down there and got on my knees. I literally could not stop shaking (not obviously, almost like I was cold, but I wasn't). I could feel the Holy Spirit instilling in me vision and annointing to disciple the amazing women in my cell group. Sometimes I feel stretched thin and overwhelmed, but I know that is defeat and defeat is not from Jesus. Jesus has has give me, "a spirit of power and love and a sound mind."

They showed a little video clip of their church in Bogota. Since January 11, 2007 almost 12,000 people have been saved. I'm sure most of us American Christians are familiar with crusades where thousands of people are saved and a few months (or even weeks) later almost none of them are accounted for. With the G12, because it's all done through cell groups, every single one of those people are accounted for. They're all going to cell groups every week, have gone to to Encounters to recieve inner healing and deliverance, and then will be discipled and taught how to live a victorious Christian life through the school of leaders. The last Encounter in Bogota had a million people.

If you're looking for a church (I know a few of you are) I highly recommend checking to see if there is a G12 church in your area. You truly will not regret it! One of the girls in my cell group, who grew up going to church in another city said that Zion is, "more real than any church I have seen before." Tommy Teney spoke at one of the meetings in Bogota (their church services are in a coliseum that holds thousands of people, and there are at least 7 services every weekend!) and he said, "I've seen big stadiums full of people before, but there is something different about you guys." (And some other stuff I can't remember. Laura, maybe you can help me out here? ha!)

the treo post

Right now I'm posting from my treo. Our internet and phone was turned off on Thursday and hasn't been turned on here. They were both supposed to happen on Sat. so something got messed up. It's taking me forever to type this on my little tiny keyboard, but I just wanted to let you know we're in our new place and love it. It only took us a little over 2 hours to move and we're almost done unpacking. Yay!

Goodbye "Old House"

We move on Saturday. Yay! Judah is with Ellie today, so I'm busy packing. Judah was sick on Thursday (with a fever, but no other symptoms. Weird.) and then Samuel got it yesterday. Today he's feeling much better, but just resting and taking it easy. Remember, click on the pictures to take you to our flickr account and a BIG version of them.


Goodbye! On our walkway out in front of our apartment.


In front of the complex. The pool's right behind him. We'll miss that!


Posing with the sign. He's so cute!


In front of the driveway. We took these pictures during Samuel's nap.


Samuel LOVES to give kisses!

Dream Book, Blog Edition

A *dream book* is something that most people in our church have. God, of course, is not a genie or Santa, but he does want to BLESS us! Just like I love to bless Judah and Samuel, God wants to do that for me. When I tell somebody something I want (like Eric, maybe) instead of saying, "I want some ice cream," I'll say "I want a small yogurt from Jon and Bon's. Half cookies and cream, half marble fudge, with chocolate chip cookie dough on the side." So, when we live with the expectation of God to bless us, we should be specific about what we want. God, being a good Father, sometimes knows better than our lowly expectations, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have them.

So, here is my Blog Edition Dream Book- some things I'm wanting now:


A really cute, great fitting, Spring/Summer dress like this one from Anthropologie


A new twin bed for Judah. We like this one from Ikea and like the price, too!


Eric and I need a new bed, too. We like this one from West Elm, except in chocolate, not honey.

More Ramblings, Easter, Sleeping Update, and the GYM

Judah is not only talking SO clearly and SO much, but he's also singing. One of my favorites is Jesus Loves Me. He sings it like this, "Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible this I know....Jesus loves me...." And repeats those over and over again.

Right now Eric is on the phone with PG&E switching it over to our new house (duplex). We're getting excited about moving. Jenna, Justin, and Elliana are moving this weekend and we're moving next. People keep asking us if we're all packed up and, well, we haven't even started packing. Whoops! I keep telling Eric that we need to get boxes and start packing, but he thinks that we should wait because we need to use all of our stuff in the next week. Last time we moved (9 months ago) my mother in law and sister in law, Jill, did sooo much packing for us. We were totally spoiled by that, so this time we need to get our booties in gear and start packing!

I know this is all total rambling. I haven't blogged in 5 days and I thought you all deserved a blog, but although I have lots of ideas for good ones, I can't just seem to type them out.

Easter was fun. Jill and her husband Brandon and Eric's Aunt Lisa were here, so we hung out with them, Eric's parents, and his grandparents on Friday and Saturday. Saturday morning we went to Farmer's Market with Laura & Mark. And then on Sunday we went to church, out to lunch with my dad, then my mom, sister, and Grams and Bill came over for dinner.

My camera ran out of batteries right as we were going outside on our way to church. This picture is right before that happened:



Samuel and Eric in the downtown plaza

Oh yeah, an update on the sleeping thing...
My firm (yet loving) husband decided that it was time for the kids to sleep by themselves and through the night once and for all. Samuel's night time routine is: I nurse him, give him his vitamins (at night), then give him a kiss, holding him in a cradle hold (like I did with Judah for at least 2 years), say "goodnight" and lay him in his bed. He'll cry for a few minutes and then he's out. If he wakes up in the night (which has only happened once since we started this) he'll fuss just for a few minutes and then go back to sleep.

With Judah we tell him he CANNOT get out of bed. If he needs a drink of water or another kiss we come to him. The first few nights he cried (and being the coddling mommy that I am I would give into his whims, which only made things worse. I learned my lesson), but now he knows that he can't get out. He'll talk and sing to himself, like when he was in his crib. The only difference is the STUFF that's in there. There's barely any room for him. But, at night I sneak in there and put it all right next to his crib.

In order for Samuel to sleep well and for me not to give into him as he stands up and looks at us, Eric and I are sleeping in the livingroom until we move.


On our new "bed" in the livingroom


Looking at an egg

Oh yeah, last thing. I have been going to the gym every free day I have and getting Samuel acclimated to staying in the childcare. The first time they had to come get me, but every time he gets better and better. I can check on him through a window and I'm so proud when I see him happy and playing! I think he's definitely more of a Mommy's boy than Judah was and I'm happy it worked out that way for both of them. Judah was VERY much (and still is!) a Papa's boy, which was good when I had Samuel. He wanted Eric all of the time. During the first few months I had to give a lot of attention to Samuel, but now Judah wants Mama more. The point though, was that Samuel seems to be liking the childcare now and Judah always has. He runs in there, takes off his shoes, and says by to me. He has so much fun playing with all of the kids! Not to mention, I really need to go to the gym more often. I feel so good when I workout, I need this motivation to go.

New Found Freedom

I've mentioned before that Judah is now sleeping in his "big boy bed." What this big boy bed consists of is his crib with one side taken off. Don't worry, it's made to do that. It's a 3 in 1 crib, which converts into a toddler bed, which converts into a twin size headboard and footboard. It had little pieces that go on the sides, so it's not just a blunt end, but nice and rounded.





Since moving into the big boy bed, Judah has some new found freedom and he just doesn't know what to do with it. Judah has always been such an amazing sleeper. As a baby we would lay him in his crib, he might fuss for a few minutes, but then he'd go to sleep. As a toddler we'd lay him down, he'd talk and sing, and then quickly be fast asleep. All the sudden, with bars no longer around him, he is anxious to do get up and play. Like a man just released from jail. Or, a dog who escapes out of the yard.

One thing I like to do is lay down with him. When you lay with him (which I learned from my mother-in-law and my mom, by the way) he falls asleep fast. Really, really fast. It was less than a minute today. But, is that teaching him horrible habits? Because we have to lay with him each and every time we want him to fall asleep. That drives Eric crazy. But, the flip side is not laying with him. And, when you don't lay with him he doesn't go to sleep. He'll play and play and completely skip his naps (we've done that several times). Or, at night, he'll play and play for hours until it's after 10pm and we finally lay down with him. Who knows how long he'd stay up if we didn't give in.

You see, that's the problem. We'll lay down with him at the beginning, get frustrated because he won't fall asleep and get up. Then, he'll play and we'll get frustrated he's not asleep and go back and lay down with him. If there's one thing I'm consistent about it's my inconsistency. I honestly don't know what to do. I keep thinking if he was in a regular twin bed or toddler bed and not just his crib he'd sleep better. If he was in a room he couldn't get out of (his room is technically a den, with a folding door, so we can't just lock him in it. We've tried and he can escape every method) he'd sleep better. What to do?



And, Samuel's sleeping...oh my. I know they're both great sleepers, but I'm just being really inconsistent. Sometimes I'll let Samuel cry it out. Sometimes I'll nurse him to sleep. Sometimes I'll let him cry, not be able to stand it and go and get him up and nurse him. I guess this blog is my confession time. If I was to read someone else writing this I'd be like, "It's so simple. Just be more consistent!" And, one more excuse I use, that I'll wait until we move. Should I wait? Should I get them sleeping good now? Should I just let Judah skip naps and stay up late until he learns to stay in his bed? Have you done this before? What worked for you?

------------------------------------
Today, in the middle of trying to get Judah down for a nap on his own, I went in his bedroom to check on him. He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't in his bedroom playing. Although, the closet light was on. I opened the door and found him sitting in the corner. Funny boy! Oh yeah, and I also forgot to mention how much STUFF he wants in his bed now. Today he has his regular crib sheet, his new Wiggles twin sheets, an afghan someone made for us for our wedding, the A's blanket my dad got for him, 4 pillows from the livingroom, and his new (adorable!) Pottery Barn quilt that my mom got for him.

Since turning 11 months (only a few days ago, on the 30th) Samuel has learned to say "Nana" (which is what he calls my mom, rhymes with Donna), clap his hands, say "woof woof" for a dog, and "meow" for a cat. Smart boy, I tell you!

Meme

I've been tagged by Liz. List 5 things that you've never revealed on your blog.

1. I am really, really silly. Yesterday I went shopping with some friends for 13 hours. Towards the end I started to get tired and the silliness came out. I can't believe I actually did my Steve Urkel walk. What was I thinking? Although I talk in funny voices, do dances, and basically just act silly all the time with my family. (Don't let the seriousness on the blog fool you.)

2. My favorite color is pink. I loved pink as a little girl, until in junior high, it wasn't cool anymore. I changed my favorites to blue and green, until about high school when I went back to pink again. I like bright, HOT pink.

3. There have been lots of things I've wanted to be when I "grow-up." From when I could talk until Judah was born and I realize all I really want to be is a mom. These things include a pediatrician, the president, a psychologist, news reporter, police detective, city council member, and missionary to Africa. The thing that's stayed the same though, is I've always wanted to be rich (still do! know it's coming...).

4. I'd rather hang out one-on-one or in small groups. It's hard to get to know someone in a big group, although I hang out with girls in big groups all the time.

5. One of the things I miss most about having roommates is sharing clothes. These days I'm limited only to what I have in my own closet.

(*edited) I'm going to tag anyone that wants to do it!

Like, I mentioned in #1 yesterday I was shopping, literally, ALL day. We left at 8am and got home after 9pm. All together 10 girls went and we had SO MUCH fun! I got some new jeans, cream colored flats, plaid shorts, a purple tank top with a little knit flower, a plaid orange & white strapless dress (that I'm going to wear next week for Easter), new turqoise 400 count bed sheets, wiggles sheets for Judah's big boy bed, some things for Samuel's birthday party, and a brown bikini. I got all of that stuff from Ross, Marshall's, and Old Navy (except the party stuff), so I got some GREAT deals. Yay!
At 6pm we still hadn't even gone to the mall, but Laura and I were tired and wanted to go home (remember, we got there at 10 just as the stores were opening). We did leave, but not without a stop at Ross #2. Craziness!!! I wore my jeans and shoes today and can't wait to wear/use everything else. It always feels good to get some new clothes. Especially when you really need them!

(*edited) We have had some amazing sermons/messages/prophetic words by our pastor, Pastor Scott Vallance. As always, but the past two weeks have especially resonated with my spirit. Or, I really, really liked them. If you're interested, you can listen to them by downloading the sermon or through podcast. They're all great, but again, especially last week and today. Listen to them in that order. Zion Worship Center: Downloads