Faith like a child...

My Aunt sent this to me. It's really very sweet, and it made me pray harder for faith like a child. 

Matthew 18:3-4 "... I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Remarkable!

Finally, a due date!

I had an ultrasound done on the 27th. The doctor and I have been at odds over the due date from the very beginning. He said around April 7th. I said earlier, like around the end of February to the beginning of March. He said (at the time of the ultrasound) that I was about 25 weeks pregnant. I said I was closer to being between 27 and 30 weeks. So he sent me in for a second in depth ultrasound, which was the one that happened on the 27th. 


ANYWAY...

I was right! =o) The ultrasound technician said that I was measuring at 29 weeks and 3 days, and that being on the lower end of the scale. The radiologist would make the final decision. So, going off of what the technician said, as of today, I am 30 weeks. 


10 WEEKS TO GO!!! 


My due date is March 9th. =o) Another March baby.


Watch the baby end up being born on Feb. 29th. Wouldn't that be something?

Christmas Day 2007

Christmas was nice this year. We picked up the girls in the morning and went over to my mom's. We didn't go anywhere else this year which was especially nice. I did not want to spend the day driving all over southern california pregnant, with three kids in the car. No fun. So at Grandma Robin's we stayed. My brother, sister in law, and niece joined us in the afternoon, as well as Grampa Steve, (Richard's dad). Boy the girls sure made out like bandits this year! All three sets of grandparents spoiled them rotten this year, and they loved every minute of it! They pretty much got everything on their Christmas list, and a few things that weren't. Richard and I weren't able to do much of anything this year, so it was nice to watch the girls excitement over every gift, and know that they were happy. Especially when the pony was revealed. Grampa Steve bought Cassidy the electronic FurReal pony that she's wanted for the last year. It was too big to wrap, and when she saw it in the back of his truck she screamed and jumped up and down! She had the same reaction that Corinne had when she opened up her makeup. I am determined however, starting next year, to find a way to really emphasize the reason we celebrate Christmas, and focus on that. I'd like to start a tradition. Any suggestions? Anywhoo, Richard and I really enjoyed ourselves, even though we seemed to be a bit overwhelmed at times. Why do holidays tend to get so stressful? Probably because we took our focus off of Christ, if only for a moment... We had an early Christmas dinner, and it even though there wasn't enough room at the table for everybody, it was a very enjoyable, yummy dinner. (Right Richard? =oP)-private joke sorry- Thanks Mom for all of your hard work in the kitchen! The turkey was moist and scrumptious, the ham was of course amazing, and all of the side dishes were great! Big success! Here's some pics from Christmas Day.

(I just discovered that if you're having a hard time seeing the pics because they're on the smaller side, if you click on them it pulls it up in a full screen.)

Merry Christmas!

Richard and the Girls

Me and My Girls

She's just a little excited...

Over makeup.

Goofy

He was happy with the paper

The penguin was as big as him!!

Then he found the nose...

Mmmm yummy nose

She loves horses!

He loves the bows.

a musical, "big girl" jewelry box

she got a ballerina doll

Cassidy's pony.

Why did they have to put the batteries there?

If you find this somewhat disturbing, you should've

 seen it in the box!

Christmas Parties Galore...

We got to go to two Christmas parties this year. One for church, and the other Richard's company party. Both are family parties which was really nice. Our church Christmas party was a success yet again, thanks to all the hard work of Jenny, our Pastor's wife, and all of the people who gave of themselves to set up, put together baskets, and other behind the scene's work. It was a great night of blessings, the main one being all of us coming together to celebrate the birth of Christ. This year was especially nice for Richard and I being that this is the first year that we attended CCC's Christmas party as part of the CCC family. (CCC=Calvary Chapel Cerritos) THANK YOU PASTOR DAVE and JENNY for putting on such a wonderful evening!!

Richard's company party was also a night full of fun. The owners of the company put the party on every year and make it a family friendly event. Which is pretty cool, not many companies do that. It was by far the best company Christmas party I've ever been to. Another thing I thought was fantastic about the whole company party, was that the owners did not concern themselves with political correctness. They didn't throw a "Holiday Party". Their invitations didn't say, "Happy Holidays", or "Season's Greetings". It was a CHRISTMAS party. That was a very nice touch, and nobody was offended, because practically all of the employees and their families were there. It was held at Joe's Garage in Tustin, and there was something for everyone there. There were lots of nice cars to walk around and oogle, there was a game room set up in the back for the older kids, with a bunch of arcade games, and such. Then there was a room for the younger kids full of Santa's Elves doing arts and crafts, and face painting. They even had Santa and Mrs. Clause in attendance! (And Santa was the most realistic looking Santa I've ever met!) All of the little kids got a chance to meet Santa, tell him what they wanted for Christmas, and then as they were leaving Santa gave them a gift. That was a nice touch! The looks on the kids faces when Santa handed them a gift was priceless! There was also a dance floor, which my girls rarely left all night. They danced their little hearts out all night, regardless of who was watching them. And let me tell you, for being the "shy" one, Corinne sure had no inhibitions on the dance floor! She commanded everyone's attention, and boy did she get it! I wished we'd had our video camera on us. O'well.

The Wilson Family

@CCC Christmas Party

The Burbridge Family

@ CCC Christmas Party

Santa's Elves painted their faces...

Kai wasn't as excited about Santa

Doesn't Santa look happy? =o)

Gymnastics Holiday Show

The girls had their annual gymnastics Holiday Show in early December. All three girls were in the same show, and all did three different routines. They were all pretty adorable. We have video of all three girls, but they aren't ready to be posted yet. I'll post them at a later date. Here's a couple pics from the show though. 

Cousins

Kai wasn't so interested in taking a picture

Fun Times

Sportin' his first mohawk...

Always in the middle of it!


 

Dress Up Days...

Corinne does not look like a little girl in this picture!

Where did my babies go?

Throw Back to the 80's

If he only knew...

Thanksgiving 2007

We went up to Richard's Mom's house for Thanksgiving this year. We had a pretty lazy day, and took the kids to the park while dinner was cooking. Here's a couple of pics... I'm still looking for the family Thanksgiving pic. Hmmm.... I wonder....

Daddy and Kai

Mommy and Kai

Horse Riding Lessons

Cassidy started horse riding lessons in November. Her Grandpa Steve signed her up, and takes her to her lessons which are located at the El Camino Ranch in Redland, Ca. Quite a long drive, I know. He chose that place because that's where Cassidy's Aunt took lessons as a young girl, so it's sentimental to him. She was so excited! Every little girl loves horses, what's greater than learning how to ride them? Here's some pics he took at her first lesson. 

Seeing her horse for the first time. 

It's name is Cherry.

Grooming is one of the more important parts of her lessons.

She has to groom Cherry before and after each ride.

She doesn't mind it at all.

Mounting Cherry for the first time.

Riding Cherry around the arena BY HERSELF 

during her very FIRST lesson!

She was so proud of herself, and so was Grandpa!

Halloween

We didn't have the girls this year for Halloween so we didn't do any trick or treating. But I did end up getting Kai a costume, more for Daddy since Halloween is one of his favorite holidays. We didn't do anything for Halloween really, no passing out candy... I was kinda bah humbug about the whole thing. But here's the pictures of the kids in their adorable little costumes.

Cinderella, and 2 High School Musical Cheerleaders.

Oh but of course!!

Kai in his little spider costume

Daddy and his "little bug"

Spider Kai

Birthdays

Cassidy turned 6 on Oct. 27th, and Richard turned 26 on Oct. 30th. Since we didn't have Cassidy on her actual birthday this year, and things were a bit hectic, we only had a small birthday dinner for both Cassidy and Richard. The girls however did help me with something big for Richard. He's never had a Halloween cake, and since it's his favorite holiday, that's what we did for him. For being our first time ever making something like it, I think it turned out pretty cool. Richard and the girls loved it, so that's all that matters.

The Birthday Girl

The Birthday Boy and Girl,

Corinne, and Brooke

His first ever Halloween Cake.

My first ever Halloween cake.

The kids loved it, I found it a bit unappetizing.

Just a big kid!

Cassidy's Spooktacular meet...

Cassidy had her second competition her birthday weekend, and she did pretty well, for only her second time ever to compete! It was the Spooktacular meet which is more of a fun meet, than a season meet, so there's not as many gymnasts competing. Cassidy had a lot of fun, and placed 3rd in the vault, 4th on the floor, 4th on the bars, (which was fantastic considering this was her first time EVER doing the whole bar routine!) 4th on the beam, and 4th All Around. She got 4 medals, and was so proud of herself!! I'm proud to. She's worked her little butt off and has rarely missed a practice. She deserved to be in the limelight.

Cassidy and her teammate showing off their team's 2nd place trophy.

Cassidy's first 5 medals

Cassidy and Corinne

Catching Up...

Wow, I did not realize how long it's been since I've updated this blog. Sorry! It's amazing how fast the time flies sometimes! So much has happened since my last post! Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... not to mention milestones with Kai, and changes with the girls! I'll do my best to catch you up with what's been going on. I'll also post a bunch of pics for you to enjoy, and to make it easier, I'll post them in seperate blogs so there's not one entirely too long blog!

Kai's up to something...

Kai. Where do I begin? He's the most precious baby I've ever known! He's so sweet, and cuddly. He has the best personality, and is such a good baby! He's always happy, even after just getting shots! He was not fussy as he was cutting his first two teeth, and was just happy and content as ever. There's definately something special between a Mother and a Son. I am incredibly bonded and close to both of my daughters, but there's just something different with Kai. I don't really know how to even begin to describe it, but if you're a Mother to both a son and a daughter you know exactly what I'm saying. My heart just leaps when I see Kai, and when he smiles, my heart just melts. It's such a great feeling! I could spend all day doing nothing but sitting there watching Kai. He's getting much more mobile now, and is really quite entertaining. He's not crawling yet, but he can definately get around. If he sees something he wants, he's off scooting, rocking, and grunting until he gets what he wants. Usually, what he's trying so desperately to get is something he can't have, and OH! the frustration when that something is taken away! He's got quite a temper too. Especially now that he's getting more active, and playful he throws quite the little tantrum if something is taken from him. He's quite the giggler too, and has possibly the worlds cutest laugh. But I'm Mom, so I'm sure that's an incredibly biased opinion. =o) He got his first black eye yesterday, though it didn't really turn black and blue. He was playing with Daddy at gymnastics yesterday, and his head connected with Daddy's tooth, and it cut his eye lid just a hair, barely bled, and swelled up just a tad. But you would've thought the world had ended with the way that Kai cried, and Daddy's guilt was enough to make Daddy want to cry with his son too.... Too cute. My reaction? He's a boy! It's only the first of many I'm sure! My little squishy faced chub bucket! I love him!

Kids...

Kids are so funny! Especially as they get older and there personalities are very distinct. Yesterday the girls and I were having a pretty good day. Breakfast was smooth, school went well, it was looking like it was going to be a good day. There was some disciplining, but nothing too out of the ordinary. After lunch though, things changed. Why always after lunch? I don't know. I have my assumptions, but who knows why really... Anyway, I asked the girls to pick up all of their toys, clothes, books, and anything else that was theirs in the living room/dining room that didn't belong. So they both looked around at their mess, picked up one little thing, and went off to their room and started playing. I gave them about 15 minutes to get their stuff picked up and at the end of their fifteen minutes, when it still wasn't done they both got spanked. Man, they were upset. They hate getting spanked, and due to recent events they are getting a lot more of them, than they have in the past. (Another story) So after the spanking they did what they were told to do. I didn't really think much of it until later that night when I was in their room getting their clothes ready for later that night. Cassidy has this wipe off board thing that you can write notes on, and erase when your done. Earlier that morning she'd written me the sweetest little note that said, "I Love You MOMMY!" Now though, as I'm standing in their room, that's the only thing lying in the middle of the floor. So of course I look at it. When I do, I just start laughing hysterically!! My little Cassidy, obviously angry with me for disciplining her, erased the love note to mommy and replaced it with, "I DO NOT <3 YOU!" All in capital letters, and the heart a drawing of a heart but in two seperate broken pieces. It was quite a funny sight. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. That is exactly what I used to do everytime I got angry at my mom when I was little. Ha! They sure do follow in your footsteps huh? You just have to be careful what footsteps your making for them to follow in.....
I still get a chuckle out of that...
kids........

Almost Back to Normal...

Things are almost back to normal around here. For the last week and a half it's looked like we just moved in again. Boxes and stuff everywhere! Every corner is full of something. Why? Richard and I decided that since we're staying in our little two bedroom apartment that we had to find a way for it to work with 4 kids. So Richard and I moved out into the living room. We gave the girls our old room, and Kai and the baby will have the other room. We may as well have moved... There was a ton of rearranging, moving furniture, cleaning long lost corners, organizing, reorganizing, packing, unpacking, you name it I probably did it. But fortunately things are almost back to normal. Kai's and the baby's room is pretty much done, and the girls room is also pretty much done. Now all the work left is pretty much just in the living/dining room. We got rid of our couch, and have been looking for a queen size pull out sofa bed or futon, but in the mean time just moved our mattress out into the living room. The funniest part about that though, is that once we got rid of the box spring and just put the mattress down on the floor where our couch used to be, all of a sudden our mattress was comfortable again! We've both been hating our mattress because it felt like there was a big hole in the middle, so that everytime one of us laid down, we'd literally end up smooshed in the middle of the bed. No more! Now, I'm actually considering just leaving the mattress in the living room until after the baby's born. That way I'll sleep comfortably through the rest of this pregnancy. Funny how things work like that. Well, back to work for me. The school day is over, and now it's time for me to kick into high gear and get this place finished! I'll update with pics very soon. I promise!
God Bless

Kai Cut His Second Tooth!!

So Saturday, Kai cut his second tooth! I can't believe it! He woke up in the morning cranky as all get out! I put him down for a nap around 9:30am and he didn't wake up until after 1pm! For Kai that's unheard of, at my house at least. Grandma's, well that's a different story. When he woke up in the morning he only had the one bottom tooth, but when he woke up from his nap the second tooth had cut through, also on the bottom. So now my little Kai has TWO bottom teeth. No more biting Daddy's nose, or chewing on sister's cheeks.... Oh how they grow!

Kai Cut His First Tooth!!

I was getting Kai out of the car today, when he bit my finger. I'm used to the relentless chewing and biting but today it actually really hurt! He cut his first tooth on the bottom left. I'm really excited and saddened at the same time. It's so excititng when your little baby reaches yet another new milestone. At the same time though, it's sad because you know that your little baby won't be a little baby much longer. I'm sure Kai will be cutting another tooth any day now. That's usually how it goes. First one, than BAM! Four. My little baby man won't be looking like a baby much longer. Can't wait to see how much cuter he's gonna get!

Cassidy had her first gymnastics compettion last Saturday, and she did phenomenal! I'm so proud of her. She didn't get scared at all, and did better than expected considering it was her very first competition ever! She competed in three events, The Floor, Balance Beam, and the Vault. The Vault was her highest scoring event, at an 8.1. Which out of 10 is not too shabby. She did great in her floor and balance beam routines. She fell on her butt after her tumbling pass where she had to run across the floor at a diagonal, do a round off cartwheel into a back hand spring. But she got right back up, had a smile on her face and finished well. On the beam she did very good as well. There were some balance checks as to be expected, and she momentarily forgot a sequence in the routine, but recovered quickly and finished with a smile on her face. The whole time she was competing she had a smile on her face. Her face just lit up, and it was quite contageous. The judges couldn't resist and by the time the award ceremony came around she was sitting and talking with rival teams. I had tears in my eyes watching my little baby girl. She's took this challenge head on, and did it with such grace and humility! God truly gifted this child with her strength, agility, drive, ambition, and endurance. It seems as if she was created for gymnastics, physically and emotionally. She's adapted so well to it at such a young age, and is so completely natural, that even her coaches are taken aback at times. I will post video as soon as I upload them from the camera... Just wanted to share Cassidy's phenomenal first competition. Oh and her team won the 2nd place trophy which is actually very surprising because her gym was the only gym to compete such young inexperienced gymnasts. Truly amazing!

Coupon Lingo

I've been asked a few questions about some of the abbreviations I've used in my posting. Sorry for any confusion! It's so easy to type with the lingo because I know what I'm saying. Forgot that not everyone out there knows the coupon lingo so I hope this helps!

SS: SmartSource coupon insert found in Sunday papers

RP: RedPlum coupon insert found in Sunday papers

P&G: P&G coupon insert found in Sunday papers

IP: Internet Printable coupon. Usually requires free software download to print.

Q: Coupon(s)

MFQ's: Manufacturer Coupons

FP: Final Price

OOP: Out Of Pocket

WYB: When You Buy

Trans.: Transaction

Catalina: Coupon that prints out of machine next to registers.

Wags: Walgreens

RR: Register Rewards (what Walgreens call Catalinas)

ECB's: (Extra Care Bucks @ CVS only)

MIR: Mail in Rebate

I will add to this list any I may have left out at the moment. My brain is only half functioning at this moment. My apologies. Do you know of any that I missed that may be helpful?

I love to hear your input!