a moment of clarity

lately i've been feeling a bit overwhelmed and like i never have anytime for myself and the things i enjoy doing.  notice a theme here?  lots of "i" and "me" going on?  not long after i'd had a little "i" and "me" breakdown, i woke up late that night/early the next morning, to hope crying.  when it didn't subside, i decided to go get her.  we sat rocking in the chair for a little bit before she threw up all over me.  it was alarming, to say the least.  christian woke up and helped get her cleaned up while i cleaned up myself and the residual effects of the vomit.  he sat in the chair with her all night and held the bowl for her to throw up in a half dozen more times.  the next day she still wasn't feeling great.  she was pretty tired and clingy. vance was also having a rough time.  he had been constipated for a few days.  he was in a lot of pain.  i accidentally gave him too much milk of magnesia, which caused the opposite kind of gastric distress.  needless to say, he was pretty clingy too.  most of that afternoon i was holding two crying babies.  luckily minnie was being a little angel, having fun playing by herself and helping grab things for me when needed.  after all this, i had a thought.  this moment of clarity was something i don't want to forget.  i was, again, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, but realized the importance of what was happening.  as i sat back and thought about the day i realized that i was, in fact, doing what i wanted to be doing.  this season of my life is about giving to these sweet, little humans that i love so much. holding them and loving them, even and especially when, i'm covered in vomit and poop, this is what this stage is intended for.  i can choose to love it, or wish it away desiring my own wants and needs.  in that moment, i chose to love it.  i realized that when i make this choice, it will do more for me, than anything else i could possibly be spending my time on. 

a father's love

it has been a crazy 6 months, to say the least.  within a few weeks  this summer moved from logan to heber, had a baby, christian started a new job at BYU and he defended his dissertation at USU.  i am just starting to come out of what I like to call the "newborn fog" where the baby is so tiny and my head is foggy from lack of sleep and hormone imbalance.  as i have been coming out of the fog, I have been reflecting on how many big events happened in a very short time frame. it seems a bit surreal when i think back on it.  so many wonderful things that i am so grateful for took place.  having said that, i have no desire for that many wonderful things to take place in such a short time frame ever again.  christian has been our rock.  i'm so grateful for him.  i've seen that sweet look on his face in the picture below directed at each one of our family members.  if that look doesn't just melt your heart, I don't know what will.   

our sweet baby boy

on august 21, 2015 at 1:43 pm, our sweet baby boy, vance reid sabey, made our family of four a family of five.  what a special blessing to have such a sweet spirit join our family.  we love him so much!  his sisters can't get enough of him.

announcement

 did i mention that minnie wanted a guitar and baby carrier for her birthday?

she told me this two weeks before her big day, after i had purchased all her presents.

nana came to the rescue with a ukelele.  

i decided to try and sew a baby carrier from on online tutorial...and it worked!

i couldn't be upset with her about it. 

because, the truth is, it gave us a great way to announce to our family that..

drumroll....

we have another little one joining our family in august. 

turns out it is a boy!  

minnie is really excited.  she pats and kisses my belly and talks in a baby voice to it.

hope likes to use my belly as a chair to sit on. 

christian is already planning fishing trips with the little guy. 

 we are all as pleased as can be for baby vance to join our family!

"green" birthday party

minnie told me she wanted a "green" birthday party. 

so, we got a little creative.  

she has been enjoying the lorax by dr. suess lately.  

we had a "green" (like, live green, reduce your carbon footprint, etc.) party. 

i didn't get a picture of all our lovely guests.  it was a small guest list with cousins 

and a couple of good friends. 

she loved celebrating her birthday, and we loved celebrating her. 

she is such an important, special part of our little family. 

as you can see below, she was pleased as punch about her special birthday flowers from daddy. 

and, nana gave her an elsa dress and crown that made her year.

valentine's day

we aren't really the romantic types. 

however, i do love me some valentine's day fun. 

christian came up with the best valentine day gift ever:

a bike ride!

the weather was beautiful, so we loaded the girls up in the

bike trailer and took a fun ride.  

hope didn't love it, but the rest of us had fun. 

don't worry, we made it up to her with cookies and milkshakes. 

we were going to take the girls to the bluebird restaurant and get

ice cream sundaes at the bar.  we thought they would think that was fun. 

however, they were both seeming to feel a bit under the weather.

so, we did the next best thing:

pizza!

we picked up a heart shaped pizza at papa murphy's, 

got some ice cream (to make shakes) and sugar cookies at macey's, 

and invited nana and papa over for a valentine's day feast. 

after all the food and fun was over, we put the girls to bed and christian 

and i topped the evening off by watching and episode of 

our favorite british murder mystery show, foyle's war.  

i don't think it gets any better. 

hope was ecstatic about the card grandpa and grandma sent. 

 

that looks like a fairly content face, right?

our little cookie monster loved making a mess of her cookie.

looking ahead

 

is it ever too early to start thinking about possible professions?

hope has been contemplating a few.

budding artist, or food critic?

milk woman or heavy weight lifter?

 

yoga instructor or equestrian? 

ballerina or costume designer?

it looks like she may choose to be a professional cyclist though.

that smile seems to say it all. 

whatever hope decides to do, we know she will excel!

 

exciting news!

minnie got a pony!

hope started walking at the very end of december, 

and riding her bike the end of january.

and.....

christian got a job!

he will start at BYU as an assistant professor this coming fall. 

we feel SO grateful for all the love and support we have had from family, friends

and professors for the last 4 years as he has been working on this adventure called

a PhD.  most importantly, we are grateful to our Heavenly Father who has 

guided, directed and helped us along the way.  here we come BYU!  

new year's 2015

the mucha's came to logan to celebrate new year's eve with us.  

the evening was full of food, princess dresses, games, blowers and lots of "cheers"!

we did our countdown around 8:30 pm, which was perfect for the kids AND the adults. 

heidi thought of all the best things for the kids to get excited about, like dressing up, poppers, party blowers and new year's crowns.  i'd say the evening was a smashing succuess.  cheers to reading, walking, potty training, employment and blueberries! (this is what our cheers included...minnie decided on blueberries.)

 

on new year's day christian and i took the girls on a little hike to start the year of right. 

as you can see, minnie brought belle with her and made sure she was dressed warm.  those skimpy princesses dresses just don't do the trick for logan winters.  hope was elated about the whole experience.  happy new year!

christmas day

presents in sight

getting the goods out of the stockings

fascinated by homemade gifts

...and a candy cane

this year was our first christmas at home with our own little family.  

the girls made it so fun and special. 

they keep us on our toes, but more importantly, they keep our perspective in the right place.  

one night before christmas, christian caught minnie playing with the nutcrackers and her little manger.  when he asked her what she was doing she said she was making the wisemen watch over baby Jesus.

i also found this little creation when i was picking up toys one day.
minnie had carefully placed all the little people manager characters in a row facing baby Jesus.

while the presents and festivities are all very fun and exciting, we recognize the real meaning behind it all.  christiand and i are having fun working on teaching the girls that Jesus IS the gift at christmas time and always.  ironically, as we work to teach them, they always end up teaching us. 

christmas snow

i can't get over how cute hope looks in her snow pants

 

...or how excited she looks to be playing in the snow

 

minnie insisted on pulling how on the sled

 

...the end result being frustrating for both of them. 

 

we built a snowman and named him wonky.

he actually ended up lasting for a long time.

 no words

the snow on christmas day was magical.  it may have been more magical for christian and i than it was for minnie and hope...nonetheless it was magical.  how often is there no snow on the ground the day before christmas, and then a winter wonderland outside on christmas day.  it was breathtaking.

christmas eve

 

my parents did a great job making christmas eve special for the girls. 

i got some pics of it...but i can't capture how sweet they are, and how magical it was for them.