backyard photo sessions

It has been foggy every Friday morning (or as Lyla calls it, "soggy").  I am so looking forward to warmer days of sun dresses and sandals!  Travis did not make fashion friday today because he was kind enough to stay in his jammies and help me get the kids ready instead.  But, you never know...I might just be able to sneak a photo of him in later today.

Cody: anchor print onesie from the children's place, light blue buttoned shirt from target, grey pants from gap, shoes from livie and lucca.

Lyla: birdcage print shirt from gap, jean jacket from gap, striped leggings from the children's place, and pink sandal flats from gap.

my cutie pie kids!
 

Me: Indian headress shirt from jedidiah, green skinny pants from target, and strappy heel sandals by dolce vita for target.  Sorry that I look so miserable, I'm really not!  Maybe I was contemplating why my thighs are so huge?  Sheesh, no wonder my brother always called me "thunder thighs"!

time for a change

I have been thinking about changing up my hair color to a light to medium brown.  I know that the ombre look is probably over by now, but I like it when it's subtle.  It also means less maintenance which is always a plus for me.  I'm leaning towards the color on the left. 

our little AWANA cubbie

Tonight was 3rd quarter awards night at AWANA.  Check out Lyla in her Cubbie's vest with all the patches she has earned!  We're so proud of Lyla for memorizing her bible verses and reciting them every week to her teachers.

And look who came to awards night...baaba, grandpa, and auntie trisha!  Trisha was here for her spring break trip this week, so we got to spend some time with her.  I snapped this photo during worship time.  Lyla was really enjoying herself.  She was so excited she could hardly sit still the whole time.  Lyla got called up to the stage at the very beginning of the night to share a testimony.  Darius said she came up a couple weeks ago and asked for prayer because she was sick.  The next week she went up and told everyone, "Jesus healed me!".  It was so sweet.  She had absolutely no problem with speaking into the microphone in front of everyone.

Lyla did win a prize as well.  She got a little goodie bag filled with games, candy, and stickers.  At the end of the night, she even had a chance to recite her verse for this week, "Love your neighbor" -Galatians 5:14.  She earned another patch for that gem!  That vest will be filled up in no time.

new business cards

FRONT

BACK

boom.  mustache madness.

simon is one!

Yesterday we celebrated simon armour's one year birthday.  Here are my favorite pictures from the party.  We ate Hungarian goulash and a marshmallow covered cake in honor of the little man.  All photos by kata christian.

Big sisters sophie and sylvia help simon with his cake.

Cody dressed up for the party.

Little girls patiently waiting for cake.  Lyla, Sylvia, Nia, and Emilia.

Future Home of the World's Greatest Mustache

Cody in his dogwood t-shirt, gap skinny jeans, and black chucks.  Isn't he handsome? 

 Travis in his hat purchased in Japan (but made in the USA), Soul Collective shirt and boots, Heritage vest,  "James" jeans from Crate, vintage 80's tie, and vintage 60's belt.  I love this look.  It's just perfect that he posed in front of this random Mercury that has been parked in the Bible College parking lot.

Me in h&m dress and patent black coach heels.

Lyla got to spend the night with Baaba and grandpa last night, so I did not have a chance to capture her look today.  Hopefully we will make up for it next week!

countdown to my college reunion

A few of the teammates on my freshman year IM softball team, "Penthouse Players".  Taken in the Spring of 1999!

The theme for Picnic Day 2012: "Then, Now, Always"

My 10 year college reunion is only 30 days away!  It's hard to believe that I graduated from UC Davis a whole decade ago.  So much has happened in the last 10 years, but then again it feels like it was just yesterday that I was eating lunch on the quad or rushing to get to class in Wellman Hall.  A few friends and I decided to organize a very casual and flexible reunion itinerary for the annual Picnic Day weekend where other alumni could join us as they felt inclined.  Travis and I will be driving up to Davis with Lyla.  I am really looking forward to our mini road trip and for the opportunity to reminisce the good old Aggie days with my husband and daughter.

How He loves us!

I started to write an email to my friend to introduce her to cody because she has never met him.  It was turning into a novel, so I decided to blog about it instead.  I could gush on and on about my kids.  I love my children and I am completely amazed at how two totally different and unique individuals could both come from my womb.  I look at them everyday and marvel at the diversity of God's beautiful creation.
 
Cody has a wonderful personality.  He is a thinker.  He is very flirtatious and mischievous. He has a special smile he likes to give where he looks at you and drops his chin down and grins. He is very sweet and loves to cuddle. He will often walk off and play for a few minutes and then come back for a hug or to hold my hand, and then he wants to go back to playing. Cody is fascinated by Lyla and follows her around watching everything she does. He thinks she is hilarious and laughs at everything she does. It is obvious that he really contemplates his actions before he moves on them.  He listens when we say, "NO" (certainly a blessing for a parent!). When he chooses to speak a word, you can tell he has been thinking about it and practicing it in his mind before he actually says it aloud. He just recently started saying "book", "cookie", "lyla" and "mine".  He says them all perfectly and clearly.  He even combined two words today when he was telling on Lyla for taking his cookie!  He said, "cookie da mine!"  Amazing.  Having said all of the above, what comes as something of a surprise is that Cody has the worst temper I've ever seen! When he gets upset, he often will try to hit himself or bite something.  But the anger passes quickly like a flash in a pan. He is also very curious and inquisitive...he will carefully pick up a block and try to place it where it goes. He can quietly play by himself without requiring a lot of stimulation. I see him being an introspective kid that is always content with what he has. Until he hets angry, then watch out!  He will need time to cool off and return to the situation.  How different he is than Lyla!

Lyla is a dynamic person and a complete joy to be around.  She has been so outgoing, self-assured and independent from birth.  She never needed a cuddle with mom or any kind of reassurance of love. She waves goodbye casually when we leave her in the care of others...even if she doesn't know them!  This was always a blessing when she had a different babysitter every saturday, but also made me wonder why she didn't have any separation anxiety from her own parents.  I wondered if she even cared about her dear old mom and dad.  To Lyla, strangers are just friends she hasn't met yet.  She is quick to walk into any room full of people and say, "Hi, I'm Lyla!".  Lyla requires constant attention and stimulation from people. She will completely disregard our attempts to discipline her if she thinks her actions are worth the inevitable punishment. Saying "no" to her is futile. She doesn't hear anything when she is intent on doing something. Lyla has never had an interest in puzzles, but she has such a knack for manipulation and scheming (puzzles of the human variety). She can make almost anyone fall in love with her. She is a social butterfly and melts hearts within seconds.  Lyla is so smart.  She is already learning how to read! Her letter recognition is nearly perfect now and she can sound out simple words when prompted. She amazes me daily with her sense of humor and her sassy attitude. I picture her growing into a difficult teenager who fights me with her strong-willed nature, which unfortunately she inherited from me.  I also see her stepping out in faith to do incredible things for God's kingdom.

Both of our children are wonderful and I am so grateful that they are mine!  I love them with all my heart in completely different ways.  When I think about how much I love my children, it amazes me to think that God loves them more.  Even more incredible, God loves me that much too.  Me?  Even before I became a believer, He loved me?  Yes, He is our Father in Heaven who watches us all with that same adoration that we have for our children.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life". -John 3:16.  A friend at a recent bible study brought up the concept of reading that most-quotable and famous bible verse with a new approach, with an emphasis on the word "SO".  If we could only comprehend what that kind of love is like...if we could only wrap our minds around that kind of sacrifice, we would all fall on our knees in complete awe of our Creator!  He. SO. loves. us.

my, how they have grown

I have an obession with comparing pictures from year to year to see how much the kids have grown.  Check out the picture I took on saturday of lyla and cody for st. patricks day...

...Compared to the picture I took last year (cody 3 months)...

...Or how about this adorable picture of Lyla from st. patricks' day 2009 (6 months)?

surprise lunch date with travis

Travis and I had a last minute lunch date at five guys burgers, so we took advantage of the opportunity to hold a mini fashion photoshoot outside the burger shop. I am sure that wasn't weird at all for anyone who was watching us! Here I am with my brixton hat, h&m blazer, GAP tank, and Hello Kitty purse.

Travis in his forver21 shirt and suspenders, dickies pants, and vintage shoes.

The brand of these shoes is "Bert Pulitzer". He just brought them home from his trip to Virginia. They were his Uncle Ronnie's shoes and he was blessed to inherit these after his passing.

just the kids

We just can't seem to get our acts together in the morning! After a very rough night of sleep with cody waking up every hour on the hour, we were rushed again this morning. So, here you have fashion friday with just lyla and cody.

Lyla in her long-sleeved h&m shirt and bright purple gap jeans. ballet flats from zara kids.

gap jean jacket for our chilly weather!

cody in his cowboy style h&m onesie and corduroy trousers from zara baby. "hank" shoes from livie and lucca (purchased from zulily).

"I don't want to raise a good child"

A friend shared this article with me on facebook when I posted a photo of Lyla's incident report from AWANA. Lyla had to be disciplined with a time-out because she wasn't listening when she was told three times to hold onto the rope like all the other kids were doing. Lyla can be so stubborn when she doesn't want to obey (which is about 99% of the time). This article is so encouraging to mothers of strong-willed children. Please read if you are one of those moms!

March 15, 2012
I Don’t Want to Raise a Good Child
by Lysa TerKeurst

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NIV 1984)

My daughter, Hope, is a senior this year. And she decided her senior year should be adventurous and a little out of the “normal” box. A lot out of the box actually.

She withdrew from traditional school. Applied with the state to homeschool. Enrolled in online college courses that would allow her to get both high school and college credit simultaneously. And planned to spend the month of January serving in Nicaragua doing missions.

This didn’t surprise me really. Hope has always liked charting her own course. This thrills me now. But it didn’t thrill me so much in the early years of raising this strong-spirited child.

When she was really little I was scared to death I was the world’s worst mom, because Hope was never one to be contained. And I honestly thought all her extra tenacity was a sign of my poor mothering.

One day I took her to the mall to meet several of my friends with toddlers to grab lunch. All of their kids sat quietly eating cheerios in their strollers. They shined their halos and quoted Bible verses and used tissues to wipe their notes.

Not Hope.

She was infuriated by my insistence she stay in her stroller. So, when I turned away for a split second to place our lunch order, she wiggled free. She stripped off all her clothes. She ran across the food court. And jumped in the fountain in the center of the mall.

Really, nothing makes the mother of a toddler feel more incapable than seeing her naked child splashing in the mall fountain. Except maybe that toddler refusing to get out and said mother having to also get into the fountain.

I cried all the way home.

Not because of what she’d done that day. But rather because of how she was everyday. So determined. So independent. So insistent.

I would beg God to show me how to raise a good child. One that stayed in her stroller. One that other people would comment about how wonderfully behaved she was. One that made me look good.

But God seemed so slow to answer those prayers. So, over the years, I changed my prayer. “God help me to raise Hope to be who You want her to be.” Emphasis on, “God HELP ME!”

I think I changed my prayers for her because God started to change my heart. I sensed He had a different plan in mind for my mothering of Hope.

Maybe God’s goal wasn’t for me to raise a good rule-following child. God’s goal was for me to raise a God-following adult. An adult just determined and independent and insistent enough to fulfill a purpose He had in mind all along.

Today’s key verse reminds us we are training children so that when they are old they will not turn away from Biblical principles, but rather implement them in their life-long pursuit of God. Remember, the things that might aggravate you about your child today, might be the very things when matured that make them great for God’s kingdom tomorrow.

I’ve certainly seen this in raising Hope.

I don’t know what mama needs to hear this today. But let me encourage you from the bottom of my heart with three simple mothering perspectives you must hang on to:
1. Don’t take too much credit for their good.2. Don’t take too much credit for their bad.3. Don’t try to raise a good child. Raise a God-following adult.

And all the mamas of fountain dancing children said, “Amen!”

sweet home winchester

Almost nobody knows where our hometown of Winchester is located. It's a very small, old town and we live at the southernmost end of it. All the pictures I've compiled below are from either wikipedia or city-data. We have actually had only one occasion where we needed to go in to town which was to visit the post office and pick up our mailbox key. Other than that, we just drive through Winchester on our way to Palm Springs or Apple Valley. I thought I would share about our itty-bitty little town here. After all, It's only fair that I represent our current neighborhood because I just posted about our old beach hometown of Encinitas.

According to the 2010 census, the population of Winchester was actually 2,534. Winchester experienced rapid growth in french valley (where we live) during the housing boom in the early to mid 2000s. Information courtesy of wikipedia.

Here's the post office where we had to go pick up our mail key.

The Winchester "town center" consists of a florist, a market, liquor store, and bar. Like I said, pretty small town.

Another view of the Winchester town center.

Probably the most notable building in the city of Winchester is this one below.

Yup, that was it. You just got the tour of downtown Winchester, California. Hope you enjoyed it! Everything we do as far as work, church, play, shop, eat, entertainment, etc. happens in either Murrieta or Temecula. Even our schools are zoned for the Temecula Valley School District. That was a huge must for me when we were house-hunting! This just may be the first and last time that I talk about Winchester. Now you know why.

yelp if you like travis mitchell

I am a yelp-er. I love to go on yelp if I'm in a new area or if I just want to try something new. I also like to write my own comments so that I can help other people out. As with any other review site, you have to be careful to take it with a grain of salt. Typically, the people who write them are super angry and venting their frustrations. Also, it's tough because yelp filters a lot of the reviews and only leaves a small handful on the page, so you have to go to "filtered reviews" to see everything. Every once in a while I like to read Trav's feedback on the Element Salon page and see what people are saying about him. Nothing but good news. Just thought I would share some here...

1/15/2012
I love Element Salon! The atmosphere is great, and everyone is so nice. My hair is hard to color, and it's hard for me to find someone who gets it right. I usually end up with a head full of brassy, gold hair. Travis is awesome, and the colors are beautiful every time. He's the best - that's why I drive an hour to see him.
-Michelle D.

11/17/2011
If you live in the Temecula/ Murrieta area and you want to have awesome hair, you should go to Element Salon and ask for Travis Mitchell! Travis has been styling my hair for over a year now and he took my hair from boring brown to a red giving it depth with low lights. He takes his time, making sure you love your hair! You can tell he has a passion for what he does. He's super funny too! I have recommended him to friends and people I work with and they love his work too. A wash, cut, and style is about $50. WELL WORTH IT!
-Jamie L.

10/14/2011
This is a great salon...But Travis Mitchell is AMAZING! He really takes his time and has interest in my style. I recently decided to change up my normal (but really pretty) dark brown color, I really wanted magenta streaks, I know that sounds a bit crazy for a late 20's woman such as myself, and I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I decided to go with it. Travis did a really pretty golden brown, and 3 magenta highlights. And WOW it looks so good! The placement of the magenta looks so nice, not cheesy at all. I highly recommend Travis to anyone, even if you're not going for an intense color ;). Oh and his cuts are spot on too. He literally is the only stylist I have ever had that the cuts turn out to be exactly what I want or slightly better.
-Carrie H.

8/31/2011
It all started with the worst hair cut I have EVER had (at another horribly bad salon)...I literally left the salon in tears. But, (dun-da-da-duuuun!) Travis Mitchell at Element Salon came to my rescue and fixed me right up. First off, how adorable is this guy? Love his look and vibe. He was so fun and caring. He listened to my bad experience at the previous salon and talked me through what he wanted/needed to do. I could not be happier with my hair. He gave me a gorgeous highlight, cut and style. Seriously, this guy is amazing. I will definitely be referring everyone his way. Thanks, Travis!!
-K.T.

3/4/2011
Went to this salon after finding it on yelp. I really wanted to find an awesome stylist who would listen to me but also give me feedback and an opinion. Well I found just that in Travis. He's amazing! I went from hair to the middle of my back to up past my shoulders. I was super nervous especially going somewhere new. He took what I said and made it even better than I imagined. He is a total perfectionist and took his time in getting it just right. I can't say enough good things so just go see him for yourself. Cut was $50.
-Emily C.

You can also go to Element Salon's website and read Trav's bio here!

encinitas - our old hometown.

We had a very short and very wonderful trip to encinitas on sunday. We made the one hour drive down just to have lunch with our good friends, the hartegans. Ryan and Sarah are always such fabulous hosts. We had no idea we would also have the unexpected treat of meeting Rylee Larson for the first time! Can't believe she is already 6 months old and we are finally meeting her. She is a little doll baby...so sweet and mellow. Kelli and Sam are definitely blessed. Here are the kiddos getting to know one another:

I definitely got in some quality time with this little angel. Those soft little feet!

We had just a few minutes after lunch to grab coffee at e street and walk to HOME (a store that carries used and new clothing). I used to spend many hard earned dollars here while working at nixon...it's less than a block away from nixon headquarters. Here's our fun family picture by the backdoor of our favorite Encinitas store.

And before we knew it, our short visit in encinitas had to come to an end...but we'll be back again soon. Look at how Lyla adores her buddy, Ry-ry. He is her second choice for her future husband (after daddy of course). I've had to explain to her on numerous occasions that he's already taken! Haha.

yet another reason to give me baby fever.

I wish that I was either engaged to be wed or pregnant so that I could use one of these precious invitations. It does make me consider that our 10 year vow renewal ceremony doesn't seem so far off anymore...and Cody does need a little brother! Hehe. These are dangerous thoughts.

These invitations are all available to be customized and purchased at kellimurrayart on etsy. The best part? My beautiful and talented friend kelli designs them! Be sure to check out all of her other wonderful pieces of art, too. I just adore her feminine style with all the soft colors and sweet images. It really speaks to my girlish nature.

Here's the vintage garden wedding invitation:
Adorable bunny and blooms baby shower invite:

Sweet little baby bird shower invitation:

Woodland baby bear shower invite (cute for a boy or girl!):

I really love your peaches

Our lovely peach tree is in full bloom! I can't wait for this beauty to be full grown and producing some sweet peaches. It will be heavenly.

This tree is only about 3 feet tall right now and the peaches that grow on it are small and hard, but they smell sooooo good.

the first of a series: fashion fridays

I noticed that I've been on a blogging kick lately, sometimes getting in two posts a day! With the notable increase in blogging activity, I decided that I need to have a little more structure to my posts and I came up with the idea of creating a series of weekly posts that I will feature every friday. I will call it "fashion fridays", and I will snap photos of our family in outfits that I deem particularly fashionable. Lyla will most definitely be the star, but I think I will include the rest of us from time to time. Cody is getting to an age where he is not out-growing his clothes every week, so I can start investing a little more money into his wardrobe. Travis has always been super stylish, so I can count on him to give me some good photo ops. I figure this will give me extra incentive to put together some trendy looks for myself too! Here's to a new beginning...happy fashion friday!

Here's lyla modeling her new dress from h&m.


Cody and daddy. I wish I could have captured a better picture of cody's cute outfit. He looked like a little j.crew model in his button-up shirt, khaki cargo shorts (both from target) and his livie and luca shoes. We were rushing out the door for work, so this was the best shot I could get.

I will plan better next week and allow time for a photo session and not try to squeeze it in as we're walking out the door!

weight loss challenge

I mentioned in a previous post that I was involved in a new year challenge which consisted of a group of individuals each creating their own weight-loss goals. We even created a private page on facebook where we could post pictures, meal ideas, articles, words of encouragement, etc. The 8 week contest ended on March 6, and I am happy to say that although only one person met and totally surpassed their goal (she lost 23.6 pounds!!!), everyone still did a fantastic job! My personal goal was to lose 10 pounds. I was able to lose 7.2. As a result, I am now able to fit into all of the clothes in my closet including my favorite pair of jeans! I purchased these true religion jeans as a reward when I lost my baby weight after Lyla was born. I can finally wear them again...which makes me a very happy mommy. If anyone else out there has a few pounds to shed and needs some ideas, I highly recommend starting a group of people who will encourage and hold eachother accountable. I know I wouldn't have been able to stay motivated if I didn't have my girls (and those weekly weigh-ins) to help me! The following "before and after" pictures are terrible, but I thought I would include them anyways.

BEFORE

AFTER. Any difference???