September

Here are a few fun things that happened this month!
Gavin started Preschool! He absolutely loves it. And the hug that comes along with "Mommy" as he runs towards me at the end of the day is the best part. Well...the break is nice too. :) Its funny how school has changed him. He is more disciplined and gets it when he has to wait his turn! So nice.




We bid farewell to Scotty. He is off to begin college life at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We are so thrilled for him but will miss him terribly. We will miss hearing the piano and constant ukulele playing and Gavin will miss his favorite playmate!



Dinner with The Young fam! We met to celebrate G-pops & Uncle Sean's birthdays. Dinner was so great, but the bowling afterwards was even better! We love our family so much!!!



My poor mom has been having health problems for 2 years now. This week was especially tough with 2 trips to the ER. We were so glad that she was ok and wanted to just spend some time with her and show her we love her. We tried to make it relaxing as possible. Gavin and I made Oatmeal cookies and served them on the "good" dishes. Gavin and Nanny played Where's Waldo around the house for about an hour! It was so much fun! We love you Nana!



This is Gavin on Picture day, Grace with her favorite toy right now, and Bo with his beautiful new smiles!!




I also came across my new 'life verse'...

Underneath are the Everlasting Arms.
Duet. 33:27B

Thank you Lord for an amazing month.

My turn

So today was one of those days where It felt like I took care of everyone but myself. If your a mom, I'm sure most days feel like that...today was especially draining. So hear I am, its 11pm and I'm having a pity party. I'm racking my brain as to how I could've done this day 'better', how I could've taken care of myself along the way. So I'm tired and in my pity party I say, "So who is supposed to take care of me? When is it my turn?"
I know I sound 4...I mentioned pity party. yuk.
I need to unwind, so I grab the remotes, which happen to be resting on my bible. And I know that what I really need is my bible not the TV. So I decide to read a few verses before I unwind in front of the TV. :) ha
I open God's word and just like it promises...it always delivers, it grabs me. God grabs me and as I'm reading a Psalm, I'm humbled. I feel the embarrassing selfishness melt away. Nothing like talking to the God of the universe to give you a little perspective.
That song comes into my head...
I lift my eyes up to the mountains
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from You
Maker of heaven
Creator of the earth
Oh how I need you Lord
You are my only hope.
You're my only prayer.
So I will wait for you to come and rescue me
Come and give me life.

I bow my head and realize this is "my turn"
He is the one to take care of me.
101 verses flood my mind of all the promises God has made to love and take care of me.

Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those that have a broken heart

Psalm 139:10
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;

Thank you Lord. May I always run to You first to give me what I need, so that I can serve those you've given me.


P.S.
Thought these pics of Josh and the kids were too precious! What a great dad!

Christmas Portraits

My business partner Becky and I are doing Christmas Portraits again this year! Last year was such a success and SO much fun that we couldn't wait to do it again!
Please pass on the news to anyone in the Orange County area!!!


REFER A FRIEND!

2 months old

Psalm 92
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

5 How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!


11.5 lbs 24.5 inches
A healthy and happier baby boy!

A fun day

My friend Shanna rocked the playdate today. She is so creative. She showed up with fresh veggies & fruit for a paint playdate and the results were adorable. The kids had so much fun. Then after hours of laziness, mommy and the boys had a bowling date that Gavin had been anticipating & begging for for weeks! Nana stopped by too! What a treat. P.S. Tustin Lanes has Kids Rock N Bowl every Friday from 3-5pm for $8 including shoes. I think we'll try that next. :)

Fragile

Ephesians 3:20&21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Real life.



Well, today I was going to blog asking for prayer for Gracie's upcoming surgery. However, after a long appointment with the plastic surgeon, a decision was made that there will be no surgery right now. Apparently Gracie is not big enough for her cleft pallet surgery. It felt like a punch in the gut. This surgery is something we have been eagerly waiting for, but as the day drew closer I have to admit I wanted to take her and run. So, half relieved, I moved on to the next order of business. How do we grow her? You know, you take your child to check ups and no matter what happens you can always celebrate their growth and oh how exciting it is. When I heard that she gained only OUNCES in 3 months, I wanted to cry. Seriously...ounces?? It felt like we all got a big fat F on our report card. Except this F stood for Fragile...Grace's weight, Grace's eating, Grace's mommy. Fragile and helpless, I am quickly reminded that my God is not. This was not her time to have surgery. For some reason this wasn't best for her right now and thank God the surgeon was willing to step back and notice it.

So, this is how God works. And I love it. Needless to say, this was a hard afternoon. I made it home to Gavin, my mother-in-law had so graciously taken him 'back to school' shopping. Can you believe that? Anyway, I see her and burst into tears...I mean, I could not get it together. Randomly my neighbor drops by and offers to take Gavin for a little bit. I gladly say yes, and can't believe the timing. So, Josh quickly makes his way home from work, my mother-in-law feeds Grace, while I nurse Bo in tears. Not 2 minutes after Josh gets home, we get a knock at the door. Someone from our amazing new church(River 47) was at the door with a hot meal. My jaw hit the floor. So my mother-in-law scoots out the door, we put Grace to bed, Bo in the Bjorn, and we get a quiet dinner to ourselves...completely provided by my Jesus. He saw us and knew we were Fragile, and He met our needs.
It really felt like one little miracle after the next.

So, today, Grace got a new accessory. A pump. This will pump food into her tummy at night, while she sleeps, so we can get more calories into that little body. God is the only one who can grow her. I completely trust that He will and that her surgery will come at the perfect time. I praise Him already.

Cousin Camp

Ephesians 3:19 ...to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Every summer we look forward to cousin camp. In fact this year Gavin said, "DaisyDylan&Isaac" so much I was beginning to think it was one word...one child. :) It was a fun week packed with activities and most of them revolving around water! This year the Goff 5 were down for 9 days!! We had pool days, went to Sea World & Legoland, & camped at Mission Bay in San Diego! Seriously...it was a blast! With a new one in tow...I have to be honest most days I felt about 3 steps behind. But, my family was incredibly gracious and helped me out so much. It was our one trip this season and it definitely made our Summer!! Well, this...and Bo! :)




Beautiful sisters.

Nana is in heaven...surrounded by her grandkids!

A cherished mommy moment! :)

Starla & Isaac


Daisy is clearly not into this ride! Ha

6-28-2010

Genesis 16:11
The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.





It was a moment I will never forget...
When my children came in to meet their new brother and our new family was together for the first time. I was in heaven! I can't describe the feeling...I literally wanted to jump out of bed, grab them all in my arms and dance. You must have crazy endorphins after giving birth. :) I thought I was going to burst...look at my face. Haha

the One who sees me

Genesis 16: 13
She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."

This verse describes exactly the conversation I've had with God this week. I'm nothing...but His. He sees me. I still can't fully grasp how the Alpha & Omega, Beginning and the End, First and Last, would care to see me and meet my needs but He does.
I can't begin to describe how blessed I have felt since Bo was born. God brought people...precious people to come along side us on this new journey called "3 kids". So here are some of our angels, our village, if you would:


My amazing mom ran errands, did laundry, watched Gavin, fed Grace, and a million and 1 other wonderful things including lots of hugs, love, and prayers.

My wonderful mother-in-law, Patsy, also fed Grace, played with Gavin, cleaned, and listened, loved, and prayed.

My precious friend, Christine, while home from school felt God leading her to offer her time to help friends in need this summer. Knowing that God put it on her heart to help ME brought me to tears. I am honored to have a friend in her and so blessed to be around a woman that loves Jesus like she does. The entire Babcock family blessed us tremendously.


My dear friends Sally & Joy each brought me my favorite treat, strawberries, in the hospital. They also came and took Gavin for playdates, offered up many prayers and called with encouraging words. I love these women.

Gaylynn is a woman I have looked up to for years. She follows and serves God with an amazing attitude. She lives it...really lives her faith. She encouraged me so much this day. She watched Gavin so I could take the babies to a Dr appointment. She made it a point to encourage me to fill my time at home with studies via pod casts. She brought tears to my eyes as she shared with me what God was teaching her. Im so grateful for the time she carved out for us.

These wonderful friends brought dinners & gifts & watched my kids so I could rest. They were incredibly thoughtful and I loved spending time with them.


Jessie gave Gavin private swim lessons for an entire week. Even on her birthday!!!


Super Dad!

There are so many more that I didn't have pictures of...but you know who you are...(Chrissy, I can't believe I don't have a picture of you from even 1 of our visits :(.)
Found a couple...

Josh's best friend (K-now), Brad & his wife Lauren had Nolan just 2 weeks before Bo! Thank you Lauren for the yummy oatmeal cookies! :)

One of my dearest friends, Chrissy & her son Cody came by with gifts for everyone. What a treat to spend the morning with you. Thank you for the constant calls & prayers! Love you.

My dear friend Clarice was down from NorCal to see Bo. :) This was my first night out for a girls night+Bo. It was a treat. Love you!

Thank you Jesus for seeing us. Thank you for your kids that served you by serving us.