Holidays 2013

 Happy 6th Birthday sweet Emma Claire!  We had a fun Christmas Sleepover, complete with a North Pole Breakfast with Jolly entering!  All of the girls wore Christmas PJ's...we ate pizza, decorated Christmas Cookies, and watched a Christmas movie.  My sweet girl was the first one asleep, but they all crashed around 10 pm! So much fun!

 HMLAT-303 complete with Santa flying in on a helicopter!  They had Christmas music, bounce houses, hot donuts, smoothies, lattes, and big lunch! Also Santa gave all the kiddos presents, Abby got a stuffed elephant which she immediatly threw across the room. (She hates stuffed animals) We gave it back to Santa so he could give it to someone else! 

 Fun times with great NC friends now living in Socal with us!  Together we have 13 kiddos....they had so much fun too!

 My sweet girls outside of our church, North Coast, military Christmas brunch! So much fun! I won a gift basket!

 Our first boat parade at the Oceanside Harbor!  It was so much fun to see all the boats lit up for Christmas!  Next year we will walk!

 Amazing EFMP Christmas party....Look at these awesome gifts the kids got!  So blessed to be apart of an organization that helps Special Needs families!  And we won a $50 visa gift card!

 This is the best Santa ever!  We randomly stopped at a restaurant on our way to Riverside, there was no wait, and he promised the girls he would bring them a book signed by Santa....and he did it! :)

 Hiking in Riverside with some highschool friends, so awesome to connect with friends and family during the holidays!

 Christmas Eve hiking in Escondido...It was 75 degrees, and my girls hiked 3 miles! Whooohoo!  They are awesome!

 Christmas....had a great family day...Abby still doesn't understand Christmas, but she had a happy day.  Just didn't like the big sisters waking her up at 6:30!

 This year the girls got, Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.....Steven insisted they need headlamps for camping and hiking!

 My sweet girl loves her matching puzzle game.  She uses this at OT and it helps her use both hands together, matching, and coordination!

 My handsome husband with his new Thunder shirt! We are Thunder obsessed!

Gracie and Emma got to pick out one doll together at the American girl store.  This was a sweet present from my grandpa! They did a great job working together, not fighting, and picking out Kit!  She looks like Emma with blue eyes and freckles across her nose.  We also had to get Kit's dog, Grace!   We surprised the girls by going to the American girl store in LA.  They were shocked and thrilled to be there!

First Field Trip, Pumpkin Carving Party, and Squadron Trunk or Treat!

We LOVE living on base, the community is fantastic, and we have awesome neighbors!  It is so nice to be able to let your kids run all over the neighborhood playing with friends, and I love chatting with my girlfriends in the evening!  We decided to have an excuse to get together and have good food, so we planned a pumpkin carving party! 

 Gracie decided to dress up in her 4 year old Halloween costume...She is crazy!

 We found this sensory chair for Abby at a yardsale and it is AWESOME!  She loves to spin in it, and loved having other kids spin with her....so great to see progress on her social skills!

 Abby and our neighbor Caden with their pumpkins. Daddy did a great job carving Tinkerbell! Too bad, the marine layer that comes every morning caused them to rot and mold within 2 days.  Boo hoo!

 The lovely ladies of Garibaldi Ct.  Most of us our newbies, having moved this summer, but I've already made great friends!

 Abby is now in an ASD focus preschool, with 10 kids.  It is incredible....it is very structured, ABA focused, and has 4 teaches aids along with a teacher and numerous therapists that work with the kids.   We went to the pumpkin patch with the preschool, and Abby had a great time!

 She loved riding the train with her Mommy!

 Cutie Lalaloopsy at Daddy's trunk or treat!

 Emma is the American Girl Josephina....and Gracie is a Cat Belle princess....here with their BFF Peyton!

Another one of Abby, She is the cutest!

First Day of K and 1st Grade

My sweet girls on the first day of school 2013!  Gracie is in first, and Emma is in Kindergarten.  We actually switched them to Faith Lutheran Schools after 2 weeks, because we felt like they needed the small class sizes and Christian education.  It is a fantastic school, and we know this is where God wants them now, even though it may not be a long term decision!

Friday Fav: Oct. 25th

These are things I want to remember about the girls this week....

Emma: Can God do the splits? 

Emma: If the tooth fairy is real, did God make her parents?

Emma: "Sorry mom, the scissors accidently closed on my hair."

Mom: Did you know Juliana is moving in 3 weeks?
Emma: Yes, she's moving to Georgia.
Gracie: Not Georgia, Emma, Japan
Emma: Well I knew it started with a J.... :)

      Abby asked her first question this week.....this is a huge milestone!  Abby is great at requesting items...I want ___. Can I have ____.  Can you __?  and she can label items....I see ___, It's a ___.  She has never asked, What is it? Where is it? Who is it?  basic questions a toddler will ask.....so this is a huge milestone that she asked, "Where's Junior?" when looking for her veggie tale figurine.  She was looking around for it, and asking appropriately. So excited to see her gain a piece of language puzzle. 

     She also had a great day today in ABA.  She got a Little People play yard set, and took her Lalaloopsy across the bridge, through the tunnel, down the slide, and with no prompting, picked up her doll and put it in the swing and said, She's swinging!  Huge!! Pretend play is super hard for Abby, she doesn't understand it, she doesn't watch other kids do it, it is not motivating for her at all.  In fact, she usually screams and tantrums when we are trying to get her to pretend play.....so it is amazing that she was initiating pretend play tonight on her own! So exciting!

Gracie and Emma Baptism!

I've taken a break from blogging for a few months, because I felt like I had no time to spend at it.  From Abby being in a ton of therapy, moving cross country to California, getting settled, starting new therapy, starting new schools...changing schools 2 weeks later, and finally Abby starting new preschool last week!  Since, I finally have 3-4 hrs a day of no kid time, I'm hoping to keep blogging, mainly for myself to record the sweet memories of my family!


The best thing that has happened in our family so far, and the most important is that Gracie and Emma made the decision to commit their life to Christ.  We have been talking about the decision to ask Jesus in their heart, and commit their lives to following Christ since the girls were babies, and at different times....with us, at sports camp, at church...the girls said that they wanted to become Christians.  Steven and I have always prayed with the girls, and talked to them, but haven't felt like they really understood the whole concept of Salvation, until this summer.  We got a card from our new church, North Coast Church, and they said, the girls made the decision to follow Christ at church....and we felt like for the first time, they understood what they were doing, and the decision they made for Christ.  Gracie and Emma also expressed their desire to be baptized and tell the world the decision they made for Christ! My parents were planning on visiting for Abby's birthday, and our church was having a baptism service.  My dad, who baptized me growing up, was able to be apart of the service and the coolest thing was that Steven got to baptize his girls!  Praise be to God!

 
 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Sweet Family!

I miss my family....I love my military family, church family, neighborhood family, but when you have a love one that is sick, you really wish you could be there with your immediate family!!  Prayers are needed for my sweet grandma tonight!

Back to blogging! Before and After Pics!

I'm back to blogging, going to use this post to keep myself accountable with meal planning and workouts of the week!

Since Septemeber, I have been using My Fitness Pal to help lose some unwanted pounds! This tool is fantastic, it really helps with being aware of mindless eating that I was doing, and planning your healthy food choices! I would recommend this to everybody....super easy, and free!

Before

look how little and sweet Gracie was.....she still is little and sweet

after....minus about 50 lbs from the before pic..I feel like a new person!

We also have changed our diet to Paleo ish.....clean eating diet, and loving how we are feeling!  I'm giving Abby and my big girls, as much nutrient dense food that I can, along with supplements to try to help her with brain development.  Some of the theories on why the diet GF/CF and high nutrient diet works, is that it helps them focus, clear the head, heal the gut, so they can get more out of conventional autism therapies.  I really think the diet makes a huge difference!  Our healthy lifestyle change is really all about health, but the bonus is that I have lost weight, and feel so much better about myself.  I've lost 20 pounds since Sept, and 60 since my highest post pregnancy weight.   

I'm going to try to post some meal ideas every week, so we can be more prepared...I would much rather eat healthy food at home, and even if it may be a little more at the grocery store, you can easily save by not eating out!!

Meal Planning:
M - leftovers, with sweet potato fries baked, salad, fruit salad
T - Chicken, bell pepper kabobs, chicken sausage for the girls, green beans, and fruit
W- breakfast for dinner at church, eggs/bacon/sausage, I will have to resist the biscuit :)
Thurs-BBQ chicken pizza on sweet potato crust, big salad, fruit
Fri-potato/kale soup....saw a good recipe
Sat - Dinner out
Sun- leftovers!

Workouts: Love Fitnessista.com, doing her winter shape up week 2....moving the schedule around some since I was sick on Sunday
Sun: Rest
Mon: TAC with Amy at TT....killed me
Tues:Workout #2 + Elliptical HIIT
Wed: Rest
Thurs: Workout #2 + Hills
Fri: Tabata class if I can get Abby into CDC or Insanity DVD
Sat: Workout #2 + Treadmill HIIT + Ab Burner

Love all her workouts, I've pinned a ton of them! 
Going to try to post weekly to keep myself accountable!