It's Your World...

We're all just living here, right Lainey Bug?? Good thing you are THE cutest, sweetest lil' diva I've ever seen.

Our baby girl turned 3 last week and we celebrated her life all weekend! First, the night before her big day, Lainey kissed her bottle days goodbye! She picked out a special cup to drink her milk out of and she was given that cup on her birthday. She hasn't looked back since. She was ready, just attached and we didn't care to take that away from her. Until now:) (Shhhh, don't tell her but we would have totally given it back to her if she'd had cried about it;))

Bye Bye Bottle!

(The night before her birthday, having her last bottle)

We started the day off right with birthday donuts! And lots of sprinkles!

(In her princess garb, of course.)

Then off to sushi for lunch! The girl loves "sushi beans" and Lydia!

Lydia LOVES Lainey and made her lunch celebration so special.

Just whipped cream. Lainey's favorite.

Brother getting in on the fun!


After sushi, we killed some time "shopping", waiting for Nat to get out of school.
It was fffffreezing, so Peter Rabbit needed to get in her coat.

Time to open presents, then we're off to the big surprise!

All Lainey wanted was a Snow White dress.
As you wish, My Dear...

And for the big finale...

ICE at the Gaylord!
Everyone gets a parka!
(you get a parka! you get a parka! you get a parka!)
This year's theme was Grinch and Who-ville.

WOW!

So fun.
So cold.
9 degrees.

Nana got to come with us to celebrate!
She bought Lainey this baby doll...
who was cold, of course, so in to the coat she went!


Did I mention that everything is made of ICE?!

That is a big ICE slide she just went down.
Brrrrrrrrr!!!
What a good mama!

We had one last surprise for Lainey for this wknd. She got to go to OK with us to see our family there! It's been almost a year since she's been able to go so we were beyond excited we got to all go as a family this time.

Blowing out candles at NaNa's, with a little help from T!

oh my gosh, did that dog's hair burn????

Seriously, NaNa, you might want to check that!

The Party Girl is all partied out!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRECIOUS LAINEY!

You have rocked our world and we are full of HOPE and EXCITEMENT as we catch glimpses of your future.

WE LOVE YOU,

"toot toot hiney"

(and the girls would be giggling right now if they read this!)
Toot and hiney are very funny words around here!

An Expensive Life Lesson..and One for Free

I had all kinds of quips for this post and lots of pics too...but I'm not feeling it at the moment. I've been overwhelmed with gratitude for the mercy God has shown us this past week.

So, after the dr decided to move forward with surgery, we began trying to emphasize a couple of things to Natalie. First, never ever put a stinkin' coin in your mouth. She knows this but now it's an "AH-HA!" moment, the light bulb came on. When your kid is safe after one of those life lessons, it's such a FABULOUS way to learn, don't you think? Expensive, but worth it. Maybe. Ok. Nevermind. No, yes it is totally worth it. And look at His protection over Nat while we were away...that phone call could have been so different, but the quarter lined up perfectly and slid right down.

Second, prayer...I'm such a grateful mommy tonight...we prayed. Kev and I, as a couple at night, as concerned parents, we cried out to God to show us mercy and help Natalie do this without surgical intervention. Then, with Natalie, we would pray simple prayers asking God to touch her tummy and move the quarter out. With every cramp and stomach pain, we'd ask Him again, to do something.

So, Monday morning rolls around and it's time for surgery. They take one last xray right before they are to begin. And what do they find? Hello quarter in colon, making it's way down all of a sudden after 9 days in the belly of the fish. My heart dropped when the nurse called out, "CANCEL!" I was so relieved...then overwhelmed with what God had just done.

After taking goofy pictures in the car on the way home from the surgery center, it hit me again. I then turned to Natalie and excitedly said, "NATALIE! Do you remember us praying over and over that God would touch your tummy and move that quarter?!" She smiled real big and shook her head. "Girlfriend, He totally answered our prayers and MOVED IT!", I said. I reminded her (myself) how BIG He was, how He made everything, the mountains, the stars, all those trees she was staring at on the way home, and He made her too. And He came down to touch her tummy so she wouldn't have to have surgery. I told her she must be pretty important. She said, "I know! He loves me a lot." Amazing. She was not surprised at all. Excited, but not surprised. Hmmm...I, on the other hand, was surprised.

I felt like a parent thanking a movie star (or a hired princesses at our princess party) for taking time to say "hi" and make my kid feel important...I just keep saying thanks to Him for taking time out to show Himself to Natalie, to me, to Corban, Natalie's little friend, who was so concerned and asking God to take care of Natalie. Of course He showed up! Why am I so surprised?! Natalie needed Him, she asked for Him, she got Him. The Creator of everything, and she got Him! I'm not sure who needed that life lesson more.

He is good. He is involved. He wants to be involved. He wants to rescue us and sweep us off our feet. Oh yes, He does. Our Prince...I wish I could have wrapped my brain around this a lot sooner.

Here's our little piggy bank, in the waiting room.

She chose Zoe the Zebra (who is a boy, BTW)

to make this trip with her.

And here we are about to see what God was up to...

And here's the proof!

A few short hours after taking this pic, Nat delivered her baby.

Poor thing, she needed an epidural.

I pulled out all of my doula/nursing skills I could find.

It's all good now.

This Too Shall Pass...Hopefully.

We had such a fun, romantic trip to the wine country last weekend. It was full of rest and relaxation... (and please put a big fat record scratching noise right here!!!)

***

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

...this cute little quarter was making it's way

into cute, not so little and way big enough

to know better, Natalie's mouth.

Now it's getting a little R&R of it's own in Nat's stomach, and after 8 days, it's not coming out. Well, it's not coming out the old fashioned way anyway. Tomorrow morning, Natalie will undergo surgery to get this now very expensive quarter out. No cutting, thankfully. She will undergo an endoscopy. And full anesthesia. Ugh. She's never even had an IV. We're trying to have fun with this and keep the topic "lighthearted". We're total fakers.

As Nat stared at the xrays Friday, she regretfully said, "Man, I shouldn't have put that quarter in my mouth." On a side note, when you ask Natalie how she got so smart, she says with a shrug, "Must be the breast milk!" (She started that a very young age, it still makes us laugh.)

We're thinking it's time for our girls to get a job now!

"WILL WORK FOR FOOD"

Day Three: Must Detox

So on day 3, Mama needed a break from the vino.

Apparently, I am NOT a wino.

***

I like wine and I find this hobby very interesting and appealing, but after 13,678 cabs, merlots, blends, chardonnays, zins, they ALL taste the same. I'm sorry. I said it. I don't taste the layers of tobacco, vanilla, cherry, and blackberries that have been aged for 5 years in a medium toast French oak barrel. I never did and I don't know if my palette will ever be sensitive enough to be an expert. It sure is fun trying to figure it all out though! And we can swirl with the best of the winos.

***

We decided to give our taste buds and brain cells a little break today...we took a drive down to Muir Woods in San Fran to see the Redwoods. This was Kev's first time to experience these giants and he was super excited!

It was CCCCOLD!!!

No, I was not appropriately dressed.

This sucker was huuuuuuge!

And this isn't the biggest one out there...

Yep, that's me, the teeny

weeny white speck at the bottom...

Kev and I had a moment in the forest...

God is BIG. No. Bigger.

And this is Uma Thurman's backside...seriously.This is a nice cowardly shot I took but she was moving too fast and acting too inconspicuous for me to react. Heck yes, I would have stopped her...she was tall, beautiful, and sporting cute pearls over her hiking gear. The pearls made me look twice. Not so inconspicuous, Uma. They totally gave her away.

Then back to Napa, where the smell of grapes was thick in the air!



This is the machine-equivalent to stomping grapes... It's no "Walk in the Clouds".
The romance of grape stomping is gone.


Speaking of romance...


...back to V. Sattui for a picnic out on the lawn.

These desserts were perty good.


So was the wine...I know, I know.
My stomach was not happy about this decision but it's Napa.

After lunch, we visited our new friend from dinner the night before at the Frank Family Vineyards, then on to Sonoma for some shopping.
We listened to some classical musical at Kev's suggestion thinking that it would help restore the brain cells we killed all weekend. We tried to fit in a little bit each day in the car. I think it helped.


I love my honey and our weekend alone was incredible! We are so ready to get home, though, and love on our kiddos. We are refreshed and ready to pour into those cute little souls again.

M W A H!

...back to reality we gladly go!

Day 2...L.A. in Napa

Day 2 of our get-a-way was full, long, and wonderful.

We started off with a tour at the giant wine maker, Beringer...

do you SEE what time tastings start around here???

This winery was 1 of about 4 that survived the prohibition. "How did they survive?" you ask...they were the official supplier of wine to the Catholic church.

And that's about as religious as this place gets;)

Kevin serving up the breakfast of champions!

It was pretty early...weird but nice.

Tim, our tour guide, taking us out to the vineyards...
we sipped on 3 or 4 different wines as walked the grounds and learned about wine.

Then he took us into the tunnels, where they used to store the goods.

We sat around the table in the caves and learned so much...

Getting wine straight out of the barrel...that barrel costs a minimum of $1000!

We may be in the wrong business...

Leaving the caves, a little lady took our pic
so we could have a pic together that's not just arm's length away.
Thank you little lady.

So, we saw the movie "Bottle Shock" and were mildly entertained.
It definitely peaked our interest in the history of the wine country so...


...we visited the famous Chateau Montelena.

The barrels aren't pretty but it's CRUSH time...
most of the vineyards are harvesting their grapes now.
This is the winery that put Napa on the map when,
for the first time ever, an American wine beat the French wines
in what was called "The Judgement of Paris".

It was cool to see the place after watching the movie

but the experience was entirely underwhelming.

Then on to Francis Ford Coppola's place...

I was so excited to revisit this place since last time

we were here it was SO gorgeous but closed!...


and then we pull up and see this...what??

COMPLETELY under construction and the tastings

were being done in the back...in the garage.


As you can see, parts of it were still B-E-A-utiful.

do you see the tiny gold statues?

A closer view of his Oscars...

We ended up having a fun time at Coppola's place afterall.

Isn't it funny how good wine makes things better:)

Then it was dinner at Mustard's Grill, where we ended up sharing a meal and great conversation with a manager of a boutique winery in Napa and

a sweet Christian couple from Atlanta who looked real familiar.

(Were they in "Fire Proof"??

We will see when get home and watch the movie again;))

***

Stay-at-home Mommy of 3 little ones away on vacay trying to recover

+

wine...allllll day...and I mean alllll day

=

a gooooooood night's sleep!

And one more day to go...