Father's Day, 5 month boy, 2 year old girl

Aaron Rio at 5 months; always ready to smile!

Jaci Claire on her 2nd birthday

A bruised lip and food on the face, but still beautiful at 2:

This photo is titled, "I can't hold him any longer!" (he's 17.5 lbs now)

Jaci with her doggy cake

Father's Day 2010. He would look just as good with another kid on his lap next year, wouldn't he?

Daddy wanted to snap this photo of Aaron's "chub" on our way to the hotel pool!

A picture that captures Tessa's unbridled love for her baby brother. She sometimes actually hurts him with her kisses, unable to hold back *ALL* that feeling! Tessa captured this feeling with words pretty well this week when she told me, "I want to marry Aaron when he grows up!"

mmm, lilacs!

Aaron and a doll friend

The girls at Georgetown Lake on Sunday

I love how you can see from the rocky lake bottom up to the blue sky in this photo! (That's Jaci with Daddy trying out his new float tube for fishing!)

Do you think we're over the weight limit for the float tube?

before & after

All in a day's work: Mom and I started weeding to put in some annuals, and one thing led to another! We ended up re-landscaping the space surrounding the fountain!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We managed to have an absolutely wonderful couple of hours with Grandpa & Grandma visiting our little place this evening!! Here they are with 3 out of 4 (Tessa was napping).

We miss you Grandpa Aaron! (Would be 4 generations):

Aaron with the sun hat / Jaci-gave-me-a-kiss-after-eating-frosting-look:

start of summer

Our 3 beautiful daughters, all ready to go!

Mom is here visiting, so we took advantage of an opportunity to photograph all 6 of us. Can't wait to get some professional shots, hopefully next month! (I need to talk to Elissa about that!) :) So here we are squinting in the sun (not complaining ~ we haven't had much this year) with the brown hills of Anaconda in the background!

Mom with the girls ~

A self portrait, 'cause we're still in love after all these years!

Tessa on her first day of preschool!

A friend in town is hosting a small pre-school for 4 year olds 2 days per week for a few weeks this summer. The location is 1 block from our house, so it is an ideal set-up for us. Tessa gets to do something without being in Ella's shadow, and Ella and I get some good one-on-one time to do higher level schooling! We will be officially done with Ella's kindergarten year June 30.

We're loving the sunshine, and ready to get outside! It's time (finally) to plant some annuals, and get the yard looking colorful! God bless you and keep you ~ a.

Tessa is 4!

Thank you everyone for happy wishes for Tessa. She is a beautiful child, and we're so thankful to be celebrating 4 years of having her in our hearts and home.

This one's for you, Gramma Mary...

Tessa with birthday cupcakes, served at the party with friends...

A PICTURE WORTHY MOMENT: I had 3 out of 4 kids sleeping at once yesterday!!! Ahhhh, the peaceful feeling......

The Barbie cake ~ it turned out ok, other than the fact that the cake "dress" wasn't tall enough for Barbie's legs, and I learned you can't remove Barbie's legs without breaking them, and this is Tessa's favorite Barbie...

... so the cake was cute at first (when I took these photos)... but after a few hours of sitting in the fridge, she collapsed. We're eating it tonight anyway!

4 months

Time to post an update of Aaron. He was 4 months old yesterday, so here are a bunch of photos I've taken over the past 2 days. What you can't see is the sound this boy puts out! He's pretty vocal! When in a good mood (pretty much all the time), he goes around squeaking and squealing and making exclamations in high pitches. If he is set down somewhere and wants mommy, he begins to mildly complain, and is very patient, until I pick him up. Then, immediately the leg kicking excited squeals come. I'd compare them to a baby piglet or a baby foal's neigh. Only cuter. Hopefully I'll get that on video to show him later.

A profile shot: lightly reddish tinted fuzzy head, just like Ella & Tessa had.

In my opinion, he still looks the most like Adrian, Adrian's dad, Adrian's Grandpa.
But in this photo, he totally reminds me of my brother Paul when he was a baby. I'll have to see if my parents agree...

The bumbo is new to Aaron this week (thank you Pam!) We all love it!

... a bit sleepy...

...and sporting mommy's favorite jammies. They're just so soft and cuddly, worn by my soft & cuddly baby. Oh, did I mention he's 16 1/2 pounds now? Yeah, not such a small baby anymore, but still extremely cuddly. More so than any of our girls were!

Mother's Day & Only Child

Here's what Jaci does with QTips when I'm not looking ...

(and a peek at our new kitchen floor!)


My kids and I on Mother's Day. Adrian treated me to crepes for lunch (mmmm... his specialty/all of our favorite!) Mother's Day is funny to me because it's impossible to define and properly honor a good mother. On the other hand, I'm thankful for my beautiful children that have made me a mother, and for their cute gifts on the day the rest of America celebrates. And once again, I'm inspired to live every other day of the year with Christ as #1, so that when my children are older, they will rise and call me blessed (Proverbs 31).


A few weeks ago, I had a really bad day. One of those days when it seemed that everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did. (Except we didn't land in the emergency room, and we were all alive at the end of the day; for that I should be thankful). That day, I wrote a journal entry, ranting about everything that went wrong. And continued to go wrong once I thought the day couldn't get worse. I'll spare you the details, but was urged by my husband to share the last paragraph:

"There were many, many times today when I had the thought, "I wish I only had one child". And I'll be honest. The only one I wanted was Aaron. He was sleeping part of the time, and the part when he was awake, he was smiling at me. He would coo and giggle and had no idea about the hardship I was facing. He was NOT whining, complaining, or making a bigger mess of the house. And every single time I thought it, the Holy Spirit followed with the thought, "I'm glad God never felt that way!" He never did. It would make so much more sense for him just to have one adorable son. These other children of his ~ well, they always cause trouble, get themselves dirty; they are ungrateful and needy and whine even when all their needs are taken care of. He had every right to only stay in perfect relationship with this one Son. The one child who fulfilled all his desires as a Father. But God's whole plan revolves around wanting to be in relationship with us -- though sinful, though dirty, though stupid and frail, He loves us!! I feel soooo loved, and I believe that is the ONLY way I am able to extend love despite all the hardness that has wanted to pound my heart today. There are plenty of people surrounding me (I'm referring to adults, not my children) who are NOT immersed in grace and touched by God's love, and that's why they aren't extending it. But they are miserable people! I want to be full of grace, and full of love. Thank you, Lord, for making this a possibility in my life!"

Today I heard the news of my friend, Jessica Ramey leaving this earth. (Like the bumper sticker says, "Cancer Sucks"). I am saddened and stunned, tearful and torn. It was just the other day I was pleading with God in prayer - Jehovah Rapha -- the God who heals-- to heal her. Now she is gone. This experience is meant to lift all of our eyes to the Creator of heaven and earth. He alone can comfort, and he doesn't withhold any good thing from us. Refreshed perspective: life is a vapor, and I shall put more emphasis on Him than on life!

catchin' up with life

It's Spring!

Carrying Jaci around in the sling before we got the new Mei Tai and backpack. She especially likes to be close to me when I'm making dinner, so this allows her to be close and my hands to be free. Aaron often falls asleep in the Mei Tai and has the longest nap afterward-- feeling so secure and fetus-like in there! We're looking forward to getting outside and carrying our babies on hikes as the weather gets warmer!

Homeschooling is going well! After Ella expressed her boredom with the math curriculum we were doing, I casually mentioned to a friend in Kalispell that maybe I should begin giving the lessons in Spanish. So I have! It's great fun, adds a bit of a challenge, and accomplishing two subjects at once! Tessa asks for a reading lesson every day, and I'm hoping Jaci will be done potty training at the end of this week. I absolutely love the freedom I have to school my kids at home. Nobody else could love my children like I do!

The kids learn more from what I DO than what I say. That truth inspires me to take care of myself, my relationship with God, and do anything to avoid the hypocracy that so often yields rebellion.

All in a day's work: nursing & giving Tessa a reading lesson.

Like father like son. Adrian bought me a Nintendo set like the one I had when I was a kid. Aaron seems especially interested in the colors flashing on the screen. I love how this picture captures that all have a similar expression on their face as they watch Mario run around! I love, love, love my family.

Keeping the kids in the right sized clothing for the right season is a full time job around here! This is my pile before it went to the basement for storage. We are so thankful for many family & friends who have given us wonderful clothing for all our kids!

After I noticed that Jaci had already grown past some shoes that I had from Ella/Tessa, it was time to take the plastic bags full of little girls' shoes and make them more accessible. I bought a shoe organizer that is designed to hold 10 adult pairs of shoes at WalMart for around $7. Then I divided each compartment by sizes; girls shoes on one side and boys' on the other. Now it will be much easier to find the next size when I need it! Mr Aaron already has a nice collection of cute boy shoes too! Whoops-- my husband doesn't like me to use adjectives like "cute" regarding boy stuff. Can't think of another word though.

Easter Sunday photo shoot.. kind of impromtu... didn't get one that's great of all 4, but I still enjoy capturing my kids just how they are!

Aaron has been pushing himself up with strong little arms. We're amazed by him!

And yesterday when I pondered the thought that we should worship the CREATOR and not the CREATION, I realized that applies to kids too -- I absolutely adore my kids and like to gush about all of their individual stages. I love to watch them grow and learn and develop. That's probably an ok feeling, being a mommy. But when I do, I should always remember that every heartbeat and every way they amaze me is thanks to the God of heaven -- he formed them in my womb, and HIS awesome creation continues as they grow!

****

We had some beautiful warm weather last week, so took advantage of it with lots of bike riding and outdoor play. After a months of preferring her scooter and balance bike (small bicycle with no pedals), Ella just TOOK OFF with riding her bike without training wheels on Thursday. She's just as excited about it as we are!

THREE MONTHS ~ Aaron Rio is:

still super easy going and smiley

still sleeping peacefully through each night

handsome as ever

grabbing toys & mommy's arm during diaper changes

extremely ticklish, with a cute little giggle

fun to play games with
over 15 pounds!

...Don't you just want to pick him up? :)

This week Adrian is in Vancouver and the girls and I are living on plywood floors. By next week, we will have new floors in the kitchen/bathroom, all new plumbing, and a rearranged laundry room. I'll post pictures of that later...

Thinking about 1 Corinthians 13 ~ in my own words ~ even if I do everything "right" and don't have love, it is all worthless! My choices include how I worship, how I parent, how I devote quiet time to the Lord, how I eat, how I exercise, how I run the house and life and manage time ... oh, there's something to consciously choose every day. Of course I make choices based on what I think is best. But LOVE should rank higher than all that. And when I look around, I see many ways that the enemy is 'winning' in relationships among Christians. That wretched lion of a devil is creating division, and causing friendships to dissolve over disagreements. I, too, disagree with many choices of people around me. However, I am called to love despite that. When Christ asked us to love, he knew how difficult it would be for us, and he whispers, "My Grace is sufficient..." Please reconcile any division or unforgiveness you find in your life.