Did it anyway!

Okay, okay, okay.  So call me fickle or whatever you want :)  I KNOW not long ago I posted that we in fact would not be running the Disneyland Half Marathon this year.  But you know what, as time went on we still couldn't let it go and felt awful about letting this go.  This race is what we are working towards and looking forward to and to let it go felt like too much.  

I got up this morning, fully intending to just let it pass by and deal with the sadness that we weren't getting to go.  Well, then around 9:15 I checked my email and got a notice that registration had opened at 9:00.  I was so disappointed and just to punish myself I clicked on the registration button.  Up to this date, Peter and I had discussed maybe waiting a month or two and then registering since in years past it hadn't sold out by that point.  So, imagine my surprise when I got on the website and noticed that Peter's races were already at 90% full and my race was already 75% full.  Yikes!  Guess we had to make a decision, and fast.  Making fast decisions is just not how we roll so this was out of our character!  But in that moment we just knew that we were going to have some serious regrets if we let this pass by.  So by some miracle I was able to get right on there and register.  As I read other comments later I realized just how fortunate we were.  Others were having serious technical difficulty and the registration was closed by the time I completed Peter's.  So I guess it really was truly just meant to be.

We are working hard to find that balance between spending and enjoying our journey through life and saving for our future.  It is sometimes hard to find that place.  As we look at where we are at, we are on the right track and even ahead of the game for most people our age.  We don't really spend much money on ourselves so this is our one big, fun splurge for the year and it will serve as major motivation to keep working our tails off and stay in shape!  So, while I know I don't need to justify our decision's to anyone else I did want to try and explain how we came about this decision.  Dave Ramsey may be disappointed but you know what? I have no regrets tonight!  We are looking forward to the end of August and our very first Disneyland Marathon Weekend!

With all that being said, we came into 2013 with some serious plans and well, God seems to be changing a lot of things in our lives.  We have some very big and exciting things coming up!  Apparently we can never have a year off and take it easy, it's just not our style :)

These Boys

Thought it was a good time to update on our little men!  

First off, we started potty training Eli 2 weeks ago.  He will be 2 in a couple of weeks and since Malachi was ready at around 2 to start we figured why not give it a try.  He is doing so good and I am super duper proud of him!  Almost got 2 out of diapers :)

They are at a really fun (and sometimes very difficult) age.  Being 9 months apart presents some challenges but seeing this special relationship they have built makes it very special!  They are best buddies and that has always been my highest hope for them. I hope they remain close forever!  

They are pretty darn cute little boys!  Love them and all their craziness.

9 Months Old!

I seriously can't believe another month has flown by.  I was super sentimental yesterday and wanted to rock and love on my baby girl as much as I could.  I couldn't believe that it has been a whole 9 months since I first held her in my arms.  I feel like my days of her just wanting to snuggle close to me are almost behind as she will be pulling her self up and standing and then walking very soon.  I admit I am not ready for all that and want to keep her just like she is.  

Sabrina remains the happiest little baby I have ever met!  She is always smiling and has the most precious smile!  She can turn any bad day into a great one!  She is still very much so a mommy's girl and that makes it a little bit hard on everyone else (and sometimes me) but I hope that she will always be my little girl!  

Sabrina is now 16 lbs 10 ounces. She is still hovering right in that 10-25% range. We moved her up to size 3 diapers and she is now wearing 6-9 month size clothes. She's still a great eater and is trying lots of new foods.  I think we can almost be done with the purees.  She is loving PB&J sandwiches and cheese and crackers. She also really loves yogurt.  She is eating (3) 6 ounce bottles per day.

She has always been a great sleeper but is really getting in to a nice routine.  She wakes up around 9-10 in the morning and then is ready for a nap around noon where she sleeps for 2-3 hours.  Then she's up until bedtime at 7.  It is so nice to have her on this great routine.

She is developing more and more everyday and we are learning more about her personality.  I definitely think our April babies have a lot in common.  They are both very loud :)  Sabrina loves her big brothers and they always have her giggling or now she shouts back at them.  She's going to be tough and hold her own!  She also really likes balls, very much like Eli!  She is really good at crawling now (even though she still prefers army crawling).  She can clap and wave and is trying really hard to play peek-a-boo.  She is just perfect in every single way!  Such a little Sunray for this long winter :)

Ethiopian Christmas!

I kind of forgot to post these from a week ago.  January 7th was Ethiopian Christmas.  Now that Malachi is getting older, I really want to start teaching him about where he came from and try to embrace some of the traditions from Ethiopia into our family.  Christmas in Ethiopia looks very different than it does here.  It is one of a few days in a year where families will splurge and have meat (typically goat).  There aren't usually gifts involved and it is a day where you spend hours in church, eat a good meal together, and play games.  In the future I hope to incorporate that tradition and make it a family fun day where we play games and eat food :)

So this was my first attempt EVER at making homemade Ethiopian food.  I know we REALLY Americanized these recipes but I gave it my best shot!  I admit that none of our huge fans of Ethiopian food but that doesn't mean we won't try it a couple times a year ;)  Maybe someday our boys won't opt for PB sandwiches instead!

I started my Injera about 24 hours before dinner.  I later read that if we really want it to be sour, it needs to ferment for 2-3 days, so I will try that next time.  It was definitely not sour enough!   

I also found a new recipe for Ethiopian Honey Bread.  Now THIS stuff was good!  It has a little hint of cinnamon to it that makes it delectable!

            I also made Sega Wat, which is essentially a spiced beef stew!  The Berbere in the slow cooker all day really made our house smell like Ethiopian food :)

Then I made the Injera (kind of similar to how you make a crepe).  It took me a few tries before I figured out how to make the perfect piece, but I got there!

Malachi enjoyed playing with the spongy Injera!

 And then both boys opted for a sandwich instead.  But I thought it was pretty darn good and Peter said it was the best meal I have made in awhile (not sure how to take that.....)

Our precious little Ethiopian!  We love you Malachi and all the fun and new traditions your heritage has brought into our family!  Ethiopia will forever hold a very special place in our hearts and we look forward to the day that we can take you back and show you that beautiful country!

Another Day in the Life

Over the last 2 years, I have enjoyed every 6 months doing a "Day in the Life" post to reflect on how an ordinary, low key day looks for us!  I cannot believe I have been writing these posts for 2 years now.  This will be my 5th installment in the series!  Here are the past ones if you are interested in seeing how DIFFERENT life now is:

1st Installment (January 2011)

2nd Installment (July 2011)

3rd Installment (January 2012)

4th Installment (July 2012)

Okay, so let's start our morning off at:

7AM - This is progress as Malachi has been marching out of his room much earlier these days!  And score - both boys are STILL in their jammies and hadn't emptied out the dresser yet!

We pick up the toys they had taken out, grab some clothing for the day and Eli asks to "go downstairs!"

Mr. E immediately smells awful!  We are actually working on potty training Eli, but he is teething and has some yucky teething side effects right now......... so I may have learned the hard way to give the potty training a rest for a few days.......

                             A little 7AM dance party going on!  This boy has the moves!

7:30 AM - Breakfast is served.  It is usually oatmeal or cream of wheat but one day a week I splurge and let them have cold cereal with toast and banana's!

                                            Then it's playtime............ or not I guess!

                                              9:30 AM - Sabrina wakes up and joins the fun!

                                                                   Breakfast First!

                                                                  diaper change!

                                                       For two of my stinky babies ;)

                                                      Then Sabrina is off to the races!

Grandma stops by for a little  bit and we forget about picture taking.  She helps by feeding Bina some applesauce for breakfast!




                                                 10:30 AM - Snack time for the boys!

                                                         More playtime for Baby Girl!

                           11:30 AM - Lunch for the boys!  The DAILY request of PBJ and orange slices!

Before nap, I offer to read books.  The boys instantly run to the couch and wait for me. This week we are learning about Ducks and read Duck Books!

                            12:00 PM - Tuck my sweet littlest boy into his bed for his nap!

Get Sabrina a bottle and change another diaper!

                                                 Then I get some precious baby snuggles!

                                                              Sweet Dreams Lil Princess!

 12:15 PM - The patient Mr Malachi listened to mommy and waited his turn.  Now we get to work on a little bit of school!  We practice his memory verses and since today is the letter L day we add the sign for L to his signing the alphabet!

                                                       We also make a lion! ROAR!

12:30 PM - Then it is off to dreamland for my sweet oldest little man!  We have learned that napping the boys separately results in MUCH better naps, so I tuck Malachi into our bed!

I come downstairs, do my devotions first!  Dink around online for a bit while eating lunch and then get started on the never ending housework!

And before I know it is 3:00 and the boys, like clockwork are back up!  They start their afternoon with a snack (and diaper change for E)!

                            Then it is lots of playtime.  They LOVE to cook in their kitchen!

                                                                       And be tickled!

                                                                  And shoot hoops!

                                                                       And play cars!

                                      Around 3:35 I hear the princess talking up in her room!

                                    And she needs a new wardrobe (not to mention new bedding!)

                      Eli see's me coming with Sabrina's lunch and sits down right beside her to snack!

                                                   Today she gets cranberry with yogurt!

A few minutes later the doorbell rings and great-grandma arrives with a surprise tray of the yummiest sugar cookies!

                                                     And then it is back to playing for all!

                                    I put Sabrina in her exersaucer while I get dinner started!

Finally it is 5:15 and Daddy is home!  He gets right to work before playing with the boys!

5:30 PM - Miss Sabrina gets her dinner.  Green beans and carrots!

Dinner took a little (or a lot longer) than usual, so it was a very late dinner of 6:15.  For L Day we made Lasagna, lettuce salad, and Lemonaid! Malachi LOVES salad.  Poor Eli was pretty miserable with teething and didn't really want to eat anything.  He just wanted mommy to hold him.  Sabrina was the same way, so it was a pretty miserable dinner for all!

Poor Eli was just a miserable little boy this evening, even with teething tablets.

I finally got him  calmed down and was able to get some fruit down him, but overall he just wasn't hungry today.

With the late dinner, it meant a late bath and it was 7:15 before we even got them in the tub!

Mommy gets Sabrina all clean and then Daddy takes her and gets her dressed.

                           And he usually gives her a nighttime bottle.  It's their Daddy/Daughter time!

                            Meanwhile, I get the boys cleaned and let them brush their teeth!

And do Malachi's hair

                                         And then it is off to their room for lotion and PJ's!

Then I read them 2-3 stories.  We have a rotation of about 5 books they choose from.  Tonight it was The ABC Book and Please, Baby, Please!

By the time we are done reading, Daddy has Sabrina down and he prays with one of the boys while I sing with the other one.  Tonight Eli wanted to sing "Bless the Lord Oh My Soul", so that is what we sang :)

Then it is hugs and kisses and "Love You's" and we switch kiddo's.  Most of the time by this point Malachi is trying to push me out the door.  I turn off the light and Daddy stays in there with them for a few minutes more.

Life can definitely be exhausting but overall, looking back at 6 months ago it has gotten a lot easier.  We are in a really great routine with 3 kids now!  After the kids are in bed, Peter helps me out with some chores around the house before we settle in to catch up on a few tv shows or sometimes we we read books.  Then I get my shower for the day (nighttime shower's TRULY make my life easier!) After my shower, we sit down and are currently reading Beyond Ordinary: When A Good Marriage Just Isn't Good Enough.  It's been a good (and not gonna lie - HARD) book for us to read together!  It is definitely challenging us!

So there you have it - another day in the life!  I love my life and the people I share it with!