Another Day Done

Today, I got up and got a few seconds of quiet time before Saige woke up. I sort of got myself dressed before it was time to get Julia up for school. Lydia woke up to Saige yelling for Julia to get up. I got the girls dressed, fed, and Julia loaded up to hop on the bus in my regular 30 minutes time frame. After Julia was on the bus, I laid Saige down for a nap, and Lyd colored while I did dishes and then finished getting ready for the day. (Saige drops this nap some mornings, but some mornings she still needs it.) Lyd got to watch a show after coloring, and I laid beside her. The babysitter came around 10, and Saige woke up. Saige got a bottle and cuddles, and I left for a few hours. I drove to the office, and then drove to Champions Real Estate school for a presentation. I came back for a mentor meeting, and then got some work done. I got home as Julia was getting off the bus. I changed clothes, and the girls and I walked to our community pool to put our feet in. All three girls LOVE the water! We walked home, and I got a few more emails sent while the girls watched a show and Saige played and ate baby puffs. When Dave got home, I started dinner, and we ate as a family. Julia laughed hilariously at Saige spitting spaghetti on the floor, and Lydia spent a lot of dinner time in the bathroom. The girls had to be done eating dinner early for playing with their food instead of eating. They are about to get baths, say prayers and get in bed. Dave and I usually hang out, read, or work after the girls are in bed. We usually stay up too late. Then we go to bed and start it all over again. And that's it. Another day of my daughter's childhood is done. And when we start tomorrow, it'll be Saige's first birthday! Woohoo!!

Almost ONE!

Hello! We have been in our new townhouse a little over two weeks. We still have boxes everywhere. Unpacking is a pain! And, you know what, Saige is turning 1 in a week and a half! In 1.5 weeks, Saigie will be ONE! I am so proud of her! She started saying "loveyoutoo" and talking on the phone. She puts a phone up to her ear, and says, "Yes". She hasn't taken her first step yet, but she is getting so, so close!

We are planning to have a small little get together with our small group for Saige's birthday. We plan to have her little party here in our town home. So, that puts a lot of pressure on us to get some boxes unpacked and our house in some sort of order. I really hope we can get a lot done in the next few days!

I feel sad that Saige's 1st birthday party will not have the same amount of planning and thought put into it that Julia and Lydia's 1st birthday parties did. But, life is so very different now than it was when Julia and Lydia were babies. Hopefully we will still get some good pictures, and hopefully Saige will still feel special when she looks back at them. I will most definitely do my best!

We are already planning our summer, and are very excited about what's coming up. We will be meeting my parents in Dallas to go camping, we will be dropping the girls off with the Grandparents, and Dave and I will be flying to Maine for a second honeymoon, we'll go swimming, VBSing, playing and spending a lot of fun times together. I can't wait for more time with family!

Thanks for reading! Hope you are looking forward to summer too!

Loving Easter and Switching Homes

Since Dave and I have been married, a lot of our moves have come around Easter time. And, here we are again....

Loving Easter and switching homes.

First I'll talk a little about the "loving Easter" part...
   We got to spend Easter in Bartlesville with my parents and Dave's parents and his Step-sisters family. We dyed Easter Eggs and had Easter Egg hunts, and talked about why we celebrate Easter. The Easter bunny visited Sunday morning, and the girls went to church dressed up like little precious moments dolls. Dave and I were refreshed when we got to see some old friends.
  We drove by the house we first owned. We also drove by the second home we owned.....so many memories. So many blessings and hurts happened in those homes, and in Bartlesville. And, for the first time since we moved away almost four years ago, when we visited that small little town, it didn't feel like home.

   Now for the "Switching homes"....
   We don't know what God's plan for our family is. We are just doing our best to take things one step at a time. Right now, we feel that next step is buying a town home. This will be our 4th house purchase, but our first time to buy a town home. It is sad that we will go a little while longer with out a yard and enough space, but we will make due and have fun.
   Sometimes,  A lot of the time I wish that Dave and I would have been able to buy one house, and stay there for years and years. I wish the girls could have all three come home from the hospital to the same house and that we would be able to make that house a home with our own personal touches. But, that hasn't been the case for us. A few tears have burned my eyes as we pack up again this time. It feels like we just unpacked these things! This will be our 7th move in the almost 11 years that we've been married. But, with each move, God has been faithful. We have learned more about Him and grown closer as a family. We were never promised this life would be easy. But, He does work all things together for the good of those who love Him!
   I hope you all had a happy, happy Easter!!! Love, Amber

P.S. My wonderful husband and 2 of my very sweet daughters just came home with roses for me. I am so blessed!

In Case You Wanted to Know

Dave and I bought a town house. You might wonder why on Earth we would be moving again. Well, first of all, we didn't want anyone's address books to be kept too neat and tidy. And second of all, when we asked our landlords about staying at our current town house, they said that we could stay if we signed another one year lease and paid more rent. It wasn't an unreasonable request, but it wasn't what we were hoping for because we don't really dig this place. Being an agent myself, I was able to find out about a town home that hadn't come on the market yet. Dave and I took a look at it and signed papers before it hit MLS. (Home inventory is so low right now!) We have some things we want to do to the place, but that's the same with just about every home we've purchased. --I'm thankful.

(Disclaimer: I'm making this sound like it was easy as pie. But it wasn't. I also made it sound like I didn't have an issue with taking an enormous step of faith. But I did. A lot. --It took an uncomfortable amount of trust in God and then in Dave that allowed me to relent and do what they wanted me to. It was hard, but I did it. God is so very good and faithful. I am humbled by his grace every day.)

In other news....

Julia lost another tooth! That's 2 so far. She's much better at pulling them out then I ever was. It grosses me out just thinking about it! We are staying up right now, waiting to let the Tooth Fairy in.
Also, Julia is a very good reader. She really started reading well over Christmas break, and has been progressing by leaps and bounds ever since! Dave and I can't spell things to each other in an effort to be secretive anymore. Cripes!

Lydia is fiesty, smart and always up for a debate. I wonder if she'll become a lawyer someday...
She is going into Kindergarten next year! I'll have two kiddos getting on the bus. Can you believe it? I barely can. The crazy thing is that Lydia is tall and skinny now, just like Julia is...just like a kindergartner. She really lost her baby look this year. :/ Good thing I have another one....

Saige is so sweet and growing so fast. In just 1.5 months, we will be celebrating her first birthday! She can stand by herself, but no first steps yet. I tell her that she is not allowed to take any first steps unless Mommy is home. She's obeying so far.
She is learning a lot of new words and some sign language. It gives me such joy the first time our kids start to use the signs correctly!! She signs more, please, and all-done. Kids and their learning capacities never cease to amaze me!

All of my sweet, beautiful girls have such different personalities! I love watching them mature and grow. Don't you?

Thanks for reading my rambles! <3 amber="" nbsp="" p="">

St. Patty's Day

Dave and I were engaged 12 years ago on St. Patrick's Day. So, we celebrate by wearing green. I usually try and make a fun, Irish dish. But, this year, we went to church and then I did an open house and showed homes instead. Dave is so supportive of my career launch!

Because St. Patrick's Day was a Sunday this year, Dave was home to remind me to wear green. I would have totally forgotten the holiday all together had he not been home. (This is usually the other way around...) His reminding me made me remember the day he proposed even more... That morning, I got up and got dressed. I had taken the opportunity to sleep in because Dave and I had a date planned in the afternoon and he was working. I lived in the dorms at what was then Bartlesville Wesleyan College. When I remembered later that day that it was St. Patty's day, I changed my clothes into something green and then fiddled around. I think I read or did homework or the like. 

Dave was working as a teller at Arvest bank, and his shift was over at Noon. He called to tell me his drawer wouldn't reconcile, which meant I would be waiting around until he got it all figured out. Being a teller myself, I knew that it could take a while to find the missing money. So, I waited. And then I waited some more. And then, finally, around 2, Dave came to pick me up. (Little did I know he didn't even go to work that day at all.) Dave proposed to me on the land by our church. I don't remember him driving me there, but I do remember fireworks going off after I said yes. Since fireworks are a no-no in Bartlesville city limits, the next thing I remember is Dave saying to me, "Hurry, we gotta go before the cops come." 

We got in his huge white '66 impala, and then went to a little gathering at a friends house. It was such a blessed an interesting day.

On March 17th 2001, Dave and I were so young when we took that giant leap in our lives. But God has blessed us abundantly. My life is nothing like I would have pictured it on that day.  I guess I always thought things might get easier instead of harder and more complicated. Although, I never could have guessed the goodness that the Lord has blessed me with either. If you would have asked me then if I would have 3 daughters and live in Houston, I would have adamantly declared that it would not be the case. But, I am thankful that it is. We are right where we need to be. 

Happy St. Patty's Day! I hope you didn't get pinched. -Amber

10 Months!

Saige turned 10 months old on the 8th.
She is sweet and happy and so ver adorable. She started saying "no,no" and doing some of the sign language we've taught her. She stands on her own, but hasn't taken her first step yet. She is such a joy!

Lydia

My Lydia is such a smartie. Look at what she did all by herself while I was doing real estate stuff at my desk! She's amazing!

Tooth Fairy

(Tooth Fairy: this was written 2/17, but I've had some problems with blogger lately. )

My Julia lost her first tooth! I am at the Keller Williams Convention, but Dave was on the phone with me when she pulled it out!!! Isn't God good? I didn't have to completely miss the event.
Dave: " Julia's tooth is really loose. Oh it's really wiggly it's, IT'S COMING OUT!! It's OUT!
Me: Screaming at the convention: "Yay! You go girl!"

I guess Dave and I have to figure out this tooth fairy thing out...NOW!

100 Days!

Julia celebrated 100 days at school today. We had the homework assignment of attaching 100 items to a vest we made out of a brown paper sack. (Some of the vests were very pretty and well planned out. Our vest was not. It was still pretty, but it was obviously done by the hands of a sweet little kindergartner. The stickers, pasta, and beans were attached in no particular order although carefully counted.) The kindergartners then had the pleasure of having a parade. They walked around the halls and gym saying "hooray, hooray today's 100 days!" Dave and I both got to go to the celebration with our little Lyddie and Saigie in tow. It was a lot of fun.
However, it wasn't without the usual craziness of our Stewart bunch. I brought the younger girls with me to the school because Dave had taken Julia to already and planned to meet us there. The girks and I were running late (as usual) and probably looked crazy running in to the school to watch the parade. Saige got to sit in a stinky diaper the whole time we were at the school because she did her business on the way to the school and I didn't have time to change her. I also didn't realize that she was stinky at first, and didn't bring in the stroller because of our lack of time. Holding her and smelling her stink the whole parade was undesirable for Dave and I, but I think we are getting pretty used to inconveniences. All of these little happenings are what keep life exciting, right? Regardless, I hope we are making the kind of memories that last. God willing! -Amber

Y'all

When Dave and I moved to Houston, we noticed that people say y'all even more than the people we knew in Oklahoma did. It seemed so foreign to me. I thought it was cute, but so hick. Then, Dave did something that sealed our fate forever. He vowed he'd never say it. No matter how long we live in this crazy, huge city, he said we would never say that word. Well...the vow has been broken. And, can I just tell y'all something? I love saying it now. It's so much easier than you guys, all of you or the group of you. It rolls off the honky tongue, and tells people where you live. So, here we go, one step closer to full fledged Houstonian. 

Good night y'all. -Amber

A New Year!

I've obviously fallen behind on blogging...but I have a goal to do better the rest of 2013!
Our year started out with a bang! We came back from Wyoming, then traveled to Muskogee for Stewart Christmas. We had a wonderful and very quick visit.

Dave and Saige at Stewart Christmas

Julia eating just crackers when there is a vast array of delicious foods = her new norm.

Lydia opening her new bowling ball and pins at Stewart Christmas. She plays with it all the time.

Also in January, Ruth and Don came for a short visit and Dan and Christie also stopped by for a weekend. All 5 of us love having family in town. Thank you all for coming.

Saige is amazing us as she is only 9 months old but is practicing walking. She pulls up on everything she can. She loves applesauce and smashed bananas. She can wave, and she just started clapping yesterday. She says "Momma, Dada, Bye-bye, uh-oh, baby and ba-ba (for bottle). She is a lover of people- just like her sisters. She loves to suck her little thumb at bed times, and the way she pulls her little blanket to her face while sucking her thumb is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Lydia is getting to be such a big kid and is so anxious to start school. Having Saige around makes me remember how little Lydia still was when we moved to Houston. She was only 13 months old at the time! She had the cutest little natural bob then. Now she has pretty much dropped her naps and keeps asking me when summer is because she can't wait for her birthday, swimming and summertime. You never know what hilarious random thing she'll say or do next. Keeping up with her wears me plumb out.

Julia is having tons of fun at school. I still think 5 days a week for a kinder is too much, but she is adjusting well. She loves when I come volunteer at her at school so I do that as often as I can. I got to go with her class to the zoo this last Friday. What fun! I loved seeing her with her classmates. She is so outgoing, energetic and overly-confident. She is also very helpful at home these days.

Dave and are still hanging in there. We love our crazy, hectic, and fun-filled lives. We are planning a getaway to Maine this summer. It's an eleven-year anniversary trip because we celebrated our tenth anniversary just 3 days after having Saige was born. I am so excited to go on a vacation with my hubby, but already a little sad to leave my girls. It's the great dichotomy of motherhood! I can't live with my kids, but I most definitely can't live without them!

Viewing the seals at the Houston Zoo

The cutest little prairie dog ever

Petting Zoo

The lovely Stewart girls in mid January

Thanks for reading y'all! Love, Amber

Christmas Cheer

Like I said in my before post, we had a great Christmas! December flew by so quickly that it is almost a blur. I wanted to re-cap a little on some of the things we did last month.

Julia at the Bus stop

 Julia had Pajama Day a few days before school was out. She was so excited to get to wear these pj's to school, that she counted down the days until it was Pajama Day. Doesn't she look cute? Two days later, Saige and Lydia and I went up to Julia's classroom to enjoy her little Class Christmas party. I was shy to go with my extra kiddos, but Julia really wanted me there, and I really wanted to be there...so I went. It ended up working fine to bring my littles along. A few other parents ended up doing the same thing. Lydia had a great time playing with the classroom toys and acting as if she were part of the class. She even got to have a cookie and hot chocolate with the rest of the kids. It was so sweet.

That evening, we made sugar cookies of our own and then that weekend, we packed up to go to Wyoming and see Aubrey and her fam. We flew out on Christmas eve, so I told the girls that we would bring this special reindeer food to let Santa know where to find us. That reindeer food worked like a charm!

See the glorious snow?

 The flight to Denver (you have to drive the rest of the way to Wyoming) was eventful, and did not dissapoint in leaving me with a story to share. After getting through security and checking Saige in because she's an infant, we got to our gate with about 10 minutes to spare. The two older girls did pretty well obeying and sitting where they were supposed to, but we had one stop in New Orleans, which made for a bit of a long flight for us all. Right after take off in New Orleans, Dave and I decided to sit beside each other for a minute while Julia and Lydia played a game in the seats in front of us. I had asked for some coffee from the flight attendant, so I had that sitting on my tray table in front of me. Lydia decided to reach back between the seats to hold Saige's hand. In so doing, she dumped hot coffee on my lap. It wasn't hot enough to burn me, but I was sopping and embarrassed. There was so much coffee spilled on me, that it was pooling in my seat. Gross!!! It looked like I hadn't made it to the bathroom in time, but that the color of my accident was brown! All I could think was...."I have to sit like this for 2 more hours?" Alas, I am still alive.

Christmas Cookies and a note for Santa

The Hazelet's Tree on Christmas morning

 While we were there, we also got to snuggle Baby Madelyn and the adults took turns going to see movies. Dave and Andy went to see The Hobbit and 007, and Aubrey and I got to go see Les Miserables. Her and I also got to go get our hair cut.

Lydia and her stocking on Christmas morning

 There were two sad parts about our little getaway though. One was that after Christmas, everyone seemed to get one kind of a bug or the other. Julia started out sick with respiratory stuff, and then Aubrey, Andy and Lydia got some kind of a stomach bug. I also came down with what Julia had, and then Julia got a really bad stomach bug 2 days before we left to come home. Dave started feeling a little under the weather the night before we left, but at least Saige didn't get it. I was hoping that the warmer, humid Houston air would soothe my screaming tonsils the minute we got off the plane, but instead of helping very much, somehow I got a horrible stomach bug the day after we got home. Thankfully we are all feeling better now!
The other sad part is that I lost my wedding ring. I wore it to go work-out, so it got separated from my other rings. I'm still hoping and praying it turns up at Aubrey's or in my luggage.

Sweet Baby Madelyn

Isn't she sweet?

Julia holding little Madelyn

Julia was sad to only get limited time with Madelyn because she was sick a lot of the time.

Saigie sleeping on me on our flight home

All in all, we had a great December! Saige got two teeth last month, and Julia discovered just today she has her first loose one. She is so excited! Life is whizzing by, and I can't wait to see what 2013 holds in store! -Amber

A White Christmas

We are having a beautiful time with family. Santa came and left presents, and it snowed on Christmas Eve! We've snuggled with my new niece, had snowball fights, watched Christmas movies, eaten Sugar cookies, had a lot of coffee and a little hot cocoa, and eaten tons of delicious food.

If Aubrey and I lived close to each other, we would: work out together, watch each other's kids, try new restaurants together, have lunch, plan birthday parties for our kids together, shop in Denver and outlet malls together, and watch our kids grow up together.
But, since we can't do that right now, we will have to make the most of our time together. I am so grateful for that time!

Pictures of our trip are to come! I hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas and plan to have a Happy New Year! -Amber

So much to say, so little time!

The month has been packed! A few things that have been going on with us: Celebration at Houston's First Baptist, a small celebration for Julia's Birthday, a Christmas visit with Granny (Dave's mom), milestones and fun, fun, fun!

Singing along at Celebration at HFBC

Cold morning at the bus stop

 My truly Houstonian second born was mad this particular December morning because she was cold. She originally had her hat pulled her over her face because it was cold, but I told her that she had to keep her hat off of her face while walking on the street. It made her very sad to have to expose her face to the elements. When we got to the bus stop, she pulled her hat over her head for a long time. But, I guess she wanted to see what was happening at this point, and was just mad.

Granny came for a visit, and she came bearing gifts. The girls got some beautiful gifts. Granny also made the girls little ponchos that she made herself. They are so cute!

 Last Sunday, the girls got to wear their new Christmas outfits.

I can't get this second picture to delete. So, you get to see her in all her cuteness twice.

 Julia had a little birthday get together instead of a party this year. We took her, Lydia and two of her friends to a Barbie movie. The girls loved watching "The Princess and the Popstar" while eating popcorn, drinking lemonade and then cheese quesadillas. So fun!

My big girl, Saige, is sitting up! She is definitely mobile these days! She can't sit up with out supervision, but she is doing great.

So besides all of this great stuff, Dave and I also went to my work Christmas party, and I won a '46 TV. How fun is that? It's about the same size as our little townhouse living room and we love it.

Merry Christmas to you all! Love, Amber

Julia's 6 Today

We started Julia's 6th birthday with balloons in her room. I ate lunch with her today and brought cupcakes to her class. 

Cupcakes and Balloons at school

 After school, Julia and Lydia watched a movie until Dave got home. We went to chick-fil-a for dinner and birthday ice cream, and then we came home to open presents.

Princess sweatshirts, pajamas and dress-up dress from Grandma Christie and Grandpa Dan. Julia was so excited she squealed!

Thank you Granny! I LOVE it! 

Dave and I got Julia a princess Microphone

We also got her walkie talkies that look like iphones.

Mimi and Papa sent cash for Julia, and she is really looking forward to getting to spend it. We also got to skype with my sister and her family before the girls got their baths and got into bed late.

Julia never ceases to amaze me. It is a dichotomy to me that God blesses us with kids that are so like us, and yet still perplex us so much. Julia continues to act more grown up, and I love seeing her be the person God made her to be. She actually thanked me for putting balloons in her room this morning. I was very surprised and proud that she recognized that balloons in her room were a gift from Dave and I, and not just a normal expectation.
Julia is still extremely outgoing and is always ready to help in unlikely ways. I plan to do a food drive with our little family this year to benefit our community, and our family. Dave, the girls and I plan to go door to door and ask people for canned food to give to an organization in our community called The Faith Center. I think that doing this can drive will help us all, but especially the girls get their minds off of presents for them, and think about the needs of others. --I share this because when I told Julia about doing it, she was so excited. I think it combines her two greatest passions: meeting new people and helping others. I can't wait to see how she uses those gifts when she is an adult.
Our sweet Julia is funny, intelligent and a blessing to us, and hopefully, to others around her. I just wish I could convince her to stop getting older! I love you Julia bean!

Love, Mom