Prayer Request

This is my friend Tracie and she is having an MRI tomorrow because she is having eye pain and vision loss. I am asking you all to pray for her.

What?

So, at church on Christmas Eve while I am singing away, Ryan turns to me and says, "I think you should get your nose pierced." What? Was that God speaking to you? Where did that come from?

On the way to his Grandmother's house he elaborated a little more. He said nice things like it would work well with my nose shape and that he had been thinking about it a lot.

Anyway, I let it pass, because most of the time with Ryan, things pass, but this one didn't.

So, on the way back from the museum, Ryan brought it up again but this time said, "So, we should go get your nose pierced tomorrow."

I never told him I didn't want to. I always laughed it off. Did I want my nose pierced? I had never really thought too much about it. I think it looks nice on certain people but I never thought about it for myself.

So when we got home from the museum, Ryan popped in a movie and I had to run some errands. Grocery shopping, setting up paint supplies, and doing a little more research on this piercing thing.

I decided to do it. I love my husband and his happiness is one of the most important things to me. If it didn't work, I could take it out and it wouldn't really be obvious.

When I got home, Ryan was shocked as were the kids! Ryan loved it and the kids seemed to like it as well.

So now, I have my nose pierced. I am still getting used to this.

Mally's Surprise

Mally's favorite place to go is the Kohl Children's Museum, which is right outside of Chicago. She shakes with excitement when we walk up to the entrance. I must say, the museum is really cool and has rooms full of interactive activities for children. Whenever we go, we are always there for a while, especially the baby room!

We asked Mally what she wanted to do for her birthday and of course, she chose the "baby museum." Unfortunately, her museum was closed to the public on New Year's Eve. So we decided to go the day before.

For Mally's birthday, typically spend the day with Maritza and Valerie, then spend the night with our immediate family. This year, we had the same plan, only one day early. So after she got her four shots at the doctor, we headed off to the museum...only she didn't know that her friends were meeting us with a cake!



She was so excited to see her friends. It was so special. Maritza made her a wonderful cake and we had a great celebration.






The day would not have been the same without the love of our friends. We are so lucky to have you all.

Mallory Vivienne is 4!

At 7:21pm tonight, December 31st, my little baby girl turned 4. I know that she is no longer a baby, but it is hard for me to let go of her. She has accomplished so much in her 4 years of life and she is such a blessing to our family. Just this year she has learned to read, she has really developed an artistic side. She enjoys making pictures for her friends as well as mine! She continues to be the sweetest daughter and sister that a family could ever ask for.

While we napped together today she wrapped her tiny arms around my neck, kissed me and said, "Mommy, I love you as big as the universe." One of those moments that I will always treasure.

Below are some pictures from her previous birthday celebrations and a video that I found from her birthday last year.

This was taken on her third birthday at Jose's. At first she was a little nervous about the whole singing/sombrero thing, but she embraced it after a while.



We celebrated Mally's second birthday at home with a party to follow on a later date. This was taken at home. I love her sweet little smile in this picture.



This was Mally's first birthday. We stayed home with the kids and had a blast. They ran around the house and danced all night. Mally was so little but could really run. It was so fun to watch.

Meyer's Belt Test Updated

I am so proud of Meyer. Meyer passed his belt test, which really, I don't know what he would have had to do not to pass, but he did. He practiced and tried his best and I am so proud of him for that.

This was a big step for Meyer and I have to admit, I was a little nervous that he would not go through with the test. My fear is that when it was his time, he would get nervous and decided not to go up and test, but he did it!



It was fun being there. Bradley was there along with some of his other friends. After the test we went to McDonald's with our neighbors whose daughter was also testing. She also goes to school with Meyer and Mally.

Snow Day

Here in Racine on Friday, we got a lot of snow. A whole lot of snow. It was our first snow day of the school year so we brought our dog Oscar and the kids outside to play.



The snow almost came up to Mally's belly, and it came up to Oscar's neck. The snow wasn't the best packing snow so spent most of the time attempting to run, then throwing snow for Oscar.



After we played outside, I took Meyer to get his haircut, then we went to decorate cookies at a friend's house before Meyer's belt test. It was a great first snow day.

Tai Tai's New Hair Style

While my dear friend Maritza went to Canada for a much needed girlfriend visit, I got to take Tai Tai (her daughter) to get her hair styled for the first time ever! It was really fun for me. She was so excited to have braids in hair with beads. It was wonderful. I just love that little girl. She was excited to give me some sassy poses and when we returned to school she was eager to show off her new style to all of her friends.