Love is all you need

Holy Cannoli what a December THAT was! Woooo E!
  Spending two full weeks with the in-laws can set a girl back a bit. Our schedule seems to have just gotten back to normal after our whirl-wind of a trip with the boys to Texas a few weeks ago. If you've seen FB pics of our time away, you might have noticed the massive cold soar on my bottom lip.  It goes without saying, traveling with two boys under the age of three is no grounds for a stress free expereince.  The boys did great on the flight, but once we landed we were in the car a LOT and spent LOTS of time with twenty plus extended family members.  Weaved into our tightly planned schedule were lots of sweet memories made.  I will say, I learned A TON about living moment by moment and the peace that comes with enjoying the small stuff all along the way. Once I completely threw the kids schedule out the window,  I enjoyed handing the baby off to affectionate family members and felt greatful to be able to leave Caleb play with his four older boy cousins, all of which he adores.  All in all, we had a nice time.

We drove to see the Alamo and the Natural Bridge Caverns near San Antonio. We spent an evening in downtown Fort Worth for some Christmas festivities and spent hours at a brand new four-story high science museum in Dallas. We also drove out to a ranch to visit my brother-in-laws family in Gatesville, where we saw some sweet tractors! Christmas with the Peruvian side of the family was incredible and the New Year celebration was even better.  The highlights for me were the fruity beverages, dancing with my hubby,and eating twelve grape at midnight signifying a wish for each of the months of the new year.A little side note to anyone who is thinking about traveling with little ones, and plan on spending a significant amount of time away from the home or hotel of temporary residence, bring the white noise maker everywhere you go!  That little gadjet saved Carlo and I a bunch of headaches trying to get the boys to sleep in a new place far away from their comfort zone. Oh, and bring a comfy outfit or two and easy on and off pj's are a must! ( for the Kiddos, Rebecca;)


So our warm Texas get-away was definitely not warm.  In fact it snowed on Christmas morning! Crazy! A total surprise and blessing in disguise. My sweet,nephew Nathan prayed and trusted God that it would snow and we all got to see that prayer answered! You should have seen the look on the Peruvians faces, priceless.




So the goals for 2013 haven't really settled in yet....Im thinking I need to get busy on Josh's scrapbook ( I only do the first year events)...and probably should finish Caleb's first year too.(thanks Ale for helping jump start that goal, again;)



Last week Caleb and I visited a potentially great fit for pre-school in the fall.  I need to call in a couple of weeks to see if there is a spot available for him.  He is super excited... so am I! The next thing on my list to do is look into gymnastics class for him so we can make it through these long winter months indoors.

             
Josh is officially one year old and I think I am still in denial about it. He gets cuter everyday and continues to melt me everytime he puts his little head on my shoulder when we are meeting someone new. So funny how different my boys can be from one another.

Also wanted to say, THANK YOU, once again for all the support and prayers through-out that first week in January when my dad had to have open heart surgery after his small heart attack.  I am pretty sure I was going on pure prayer and adreneline that week.  That Saturday night the 5th, was definitely the first bittersweet moment of the year just chillin' with my mom, dad and brother in a tiny hospital room in Green Bay. Praise the Lord for His peace and protection through out the whole thing.

Looking ahead, I am ready to celebrate the 'love month' with Carlo.  He purchased a Groupon for some sweet dance lessons for us and I cant wait to get started.  Hopefully, more to come on that.

Enjoy these frigid days and don't forget to cuddle up closer with the ones you love.