Jack's first Thanksgiving

Spent the day with my mom and dad and little bro and sis eating, napping, and eating some more.  We also got to spend some time with the in-laws celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas (Thanksmas or Chrisgiving we like to call it).  It was the perfect warmup for Jack's second first Christmas (because let's face it, he and I both deserve a do-over for his first Christmas since he was SUPPOSED to be in the womb last year on Christmas day).  

Next big event on the runway.....Jack's first birthday!!  Eeeek!!!  Can't believe it's only a week and a half away!

Giving thanks. Showing thanks.

We celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family and in-laws.  Considering Jack's favorite activities in the whole wide world are eating and socializing (not necessarily in that order), he truly enjoyed his first Turkey Day!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I couldn't help but reflect on just how abundantly blessed I am, have been and continue to be.

I have the most amazing husband in the whole wide world.  I know in my very soul we were meant to be together and that God made us for each other.  I am a better person because of my husband, not only because of his calming and loving influence, but because he inspires me to be worthy of him and his unconditional love.

I have two absolutely incredible children that have made my life so much more wonderful than I could have ever imagined it to be.  Any mom can tell you how hard being a parent is, but in that same breath they will probably tell you just how worth the work it is.  Nothing humbles you and delights you quite like parenthood, and to have two healthy children that are growing and thriving is just an indescribable blessing.

I have the best job on the entire planet.  For me, nothing could be more rewarding and fulfilling than being a stay-at-home mom, and I am blessed to have a husband that not only supports my job financially, but emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

I live in an amazing home.  Every day I wake up and marvel and the beautiful home we are blessed to live in at such a young age.  It was made possible by my husband's hard work, the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents, but mostly God's grace.

Those are just the biggies, I could go on for days.  With each one of the blessings comes a sense of profound gratitude and indebtedness to God in heaven.  Healthy children, a loving spouse, a beautiful home...none of these things are 'earned' or 'deserved', they are gifts from God.  I have to remind myself of that every day, but especially on this very wonderful Thanksgiving day.  I love the spanish translation of Thanksgiving: 'Dia de Accion de Gracias.'  Day of Acts of Thanks.  Not just a day of saying 'Thank You', but a day of action...a day of doing.  A day of showing God just how thankful we are for his blessings.  What did I do to show God my profound gratitude this Thanksgiving?   Ate a bunch of food and did a lot of sleeping! :)

Luckily the season of Advent is upon us and the time to start preparing for the arrival of our savior.  Acts of hope and examinations of conscience have always been at the heart of the Advent season.  Despite the abundant blessings in our own household, it's impossible not to be troubled by the number of people currently out of work, the number of homes being foreclosed on, and the investment funds drying up.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reported that over 50 million Americans were members of households that struggled to get enough to eat last year...that number included 17 million children.  I think it's safe to say, fear has eclipsed feelings of hope for many Americans these days.  So this Advent, my goal is to show my thanks by giving hope to someone around me in need.  I missed an opportunity on Thanksgiving to act, but luckily I woke up to a new opportunity the very next day, and the day after that.

If you, like me, have been abundantly blessed, I challenge you to give more this holiday season than ever before.  For us that means putting some decorating on hold, and scaling back on our Christmas budget.  It's hard to see the plethora of to-do's and want-to-do's around the house and turn the other way, especially when you know you will be expecting guests.  It's hard to see the perfect gift for someone and opt for something less expensive in order to stick with your tighter budget.  But when those moments strike, I'm going to have to remind myself of the parents that are struggling just to feed their children this Christmas.  I can't imagine the stress of being in such a situation, and the thought of giving a mother or father relief from that stress for just a brief moment is my inspiration.  If Advent is all about acts of hope, then I can't imagine a more hopeful act than one that promises a struggling family that God hears them, and that His love and grace abound for them, even in their time of trial.

Happy Thanksgiving and Thanks-showing!  Love and Blessings,
The C Family

I shoot from the hip.

I'm a straight shooter. I call a spade a spade. I'm scrappy and I don't take kindly to BS, or being taken advantage of. If you mess with my family, you mess with me. I'm loud and opinionated and full of unsolicited advice, and I absolutely pride myself on the fact that I don't let me people walk all over me. You're either going to love me or hate me, but the way I see it is, if God wanted me otherwise, he would have created me otherwise.

My immediate family is more or less the same way. We're loud and abrupt, and fiercely loyal to one another. Family gatherings are always entertaining, and there is usually drama or fireworks at some point, and that's just how I grew up. We embrace conflict as a part of normal familial relations. It clears the air and makes us closer and stronger.  I like to call it the, 'Lather, Rinse, Repeat as needed' philosophy.

You know that old saying, 'opposites attract'? Well, let's just say Mr. C's philosophies on airing family grievances are a tad more reserved. For five years I've worked really hard to keep my scrappy side in-check especially around the in-laws because I've learned the hard way speaking without thinking is like shooting without aiming.

While I don't foresee hanging up my hat or turning in my badge anytime soon, I have some advice for all you fellow quick-draws; happy trails with in-laws are paved by keeping your side arm holstered and your mouth shut.  Remember, their ranch, their rules. So happy trails to you, until we meet again.  Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.

Don't worry, about a king.

Enjoy :)

Possession is 9/10ths of the law

I have no idea where that saying originated, or even what it truly means, but going through the home selling and buying process, I'm getting a better idea.

When we first put our house on the market, I went through a period of time where it didn't feel like it was ours anymore, it just became a showroom we were living in.  Now that we have a contract (yes a contract!!) on our home, these overwhelming feelings of possession are surfacing.

When Little C first learned the idea of possession, it was cute, especially because he would refer to himself in the third person ("carter's blanket", "carter's cup", etc.).  When Little C later started projecting this possession onto things like playground equipment, it wasn't so cute.  I'll never forget a day at the park when he shoved some poor little girl off the slide steps and into the dirt.  "These are Carter's steps!," he yelled at her.  I swooped in as soon as I could to intervene and removed him from the steps he was so fiercely guarding, and I did my best to explain to him playground toys were 'sharing toys'.  With his little jaw jutted forward, he refused to meet my eye the whole time I was talking, and when our little discussion was over, he walked away, I could here him talking to himself under his breath saying, "mine. mine. mine."  It was certainly an eye opener to see how strong this need to possess things was.

Well, I can say, I get it.  I feel just like Carter these days.  Inspections, appraisers, the buyer wanting to move in the second the keys are in her hot little hand.  I find myself thinking, mine. mine. mine!  This house is MINE!  This was our FIRST house.  This is the house I brought my babies home to!  How on earth can this house belong to someone besides us?!

Then, Mr. C, in his very gentle and loving way, reminds me that it's just a house.  A few walls and a roof.  What made it so special is coming with us,  our family.  So, as much as it kills me to turn this house over to someone else, and as much as I can not imagine it actually belonging to someone else, I take comfort in knowing that my home is not a house, it's where ever my family is.

Life Explained with Scientific Graphs.

Just another day at the office.

After some long sleepless nights and 10 clearly ineffective days on an antibiotic, Baby J headed back to the doctor because his single ear infection from last week had became a dbl ear infection this week. Armed with a new antibiotic, we turned our attention to the two showings that popped up that afternoon.  Because the laundry had piled up to the ceiling with the kids being sick, we just loaded it into the car and headed to the laundry mat.  Couple rolls of quarters and a few hours later, I had the 10 plus loads completely knocked out. Once the laundry was done, house was shown and children were adequately medicated, we called in reinforcements.  My mom arrived just in time for me to take Mr. C to the ER with a 105.6 fever. Verdict, pneumonia.  Turns out I wasn't the only one getting run down by all the sleepless nights and craziness. On the upside, we got an offer on the house.  Not a reasonable one, but it was  encouraging.  And the absolute high point of the week was last night when Jack CRAWLED!!!! Grammy noticed when we put his long-legged pjs on and he was on the carpet, his knees were more padded. So look for the little guy to be in nothing but pants from now on in hopes that the four point crawling will continue even on the hardwood!

Jack FOUR PT CRAWLING - WOOO WHOOOO!!!!