- Blessing 1. We moved into our house December 13; we were blessed with new friends to help us move. Would you believe that is a first? Charles and I have always moved at awkward times and suddenly, often taking the load on ourselves. What should have been a hard weekend's worth of back breaking work was done in just 8 hours. That includes emptying our apartment, emptying out our 2 storage units, and moving it all across town and into our brand new casa. Our neighborhood is lovely, quiet, protected as can be, and super friendly. We live in the cul de sac, which makes for lots of socializing with the neighbors. Bella has plenty of kids her age to play with as well. We have already gone on a double date with our neighbors and shared a babysitter - wonderful time. Great dinner out, fun drinks, lots of laughs, wine and conversation into the wee hours, and no one had to drive home!
- Blessing 2. Just 2 short weeks after moving into our house (and barely setting up shop), we were blessed to spend the holidays with Jen, Louie, Nathan, Tim, Beth, Josiah, Z & G, and Jake. Having four kids under 4 was entertaining, to say the least. Louie's sister and family also joined us for Christmas dinner. It was wonderful to spend our first Christmas in Texas, in our new house, with family. The kids were so incredibly adorable.
- Blessing 3. Elin's first birthday. In her first year she has blessed us with all sorts of warm fuzzies, filled us with love, love, love, and great, great memories. She is awesome. We celebrated her bday while all the fam was local; I wish I had a picture of all of us crowded around her singing - no wonder she had a frightened look about her.
- Blessing 4. My mom was able to come visit shortly after the new year. I always love it when Mom comes to visit - it's such a privilege to give her new experiences and show her different parts of the country. It's my giving back. We got to celebrate her birthday with her the day she arrived. We got to spend a lot of time together, took in movies, shopping, dinners. And, of course, there was a lot of eating Filipino food. Had to take enough in to hold me over until the next time. That reminds me to take some out of the freezer for tomorrow's lunch...
- Blessing 5. Bella's four years of life. My mom, Elin and I took Bella out on her actual birthday to a bouncy house for a couple of hours. My mom, Elin and I also bounced and felt like kids again. We went to lunch after and delighted in Bella's amazement as the crowd of restaurant servers sang Happy Birthday. She must have told every single person we passed that day that it was her birthday. We celebrated her bday on the 21st with her classmates at a fun indoor playground. She felt so special and everything went great - in spite of all my stress & worry. Lesson learned: book a party place months in advance.
- Blessing 6. Church. Our church family. They have really just made us feel at home here.
- Blessing 7. Work. Gainfully employed. Good jobs, flexibility, pays the bills, and we pray before meetings.
- Can you tell I'm running out of steam?
- The point is, we feel so blessed. God is good all the time.
More bullet points, this time on the girls:
- Elin is taking 8-10 steps now; I could probably say she's walking, but she's still pretty wobbly. She seems to prefer crawling; she gets where she needs to go faster with fewer bumps and bruises along the way.
- Bella is hilarious. Last night we went to family swim and I really saw her swim for the first time. She's amazing.
- I've been horrible with Elin with regards to eating. I'm pretty sure Bella was eating with a spoon by now. With Elin, I've been unwilling to deal with the mess that self feeding would entail, so she's maybe held a spoon twice. Oops.
- Bella got a two-wheeler with training wheels now. She was so excited about it and couldn't wait to get it out. The first time we took it out, we got all the way down our street before her first wipe out. She was looking for acorns and pedaling and started going down a steep driveway. I had Elin and couldn't react fast enough. Poor thing! She hasn't really wanted to ride it since.
- Elin has this personality that just commands attention. She lures you into her little games by giving you her winning smile, flashing her tiny teeth, letting you glimpse that adorable dimple on just one side... then she plays with you. Makes you chase her only for her to crumble into a fit of giggles as you begin your pursuit.
- Where in the world do my girls' socks go? Why can we not keep track of them?
- My girls are severely overdressed in Texas for the weather. I can't get it through my head that in February in Texas it may be 70 and humid. I keep sending them to school in fleece hoodies, sweaters, jeans, shoes... while other little girls are going to school in sundresses! Yikes!
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