A New Do for the New Year!

So my hair hasn't been cut since right after Gianna was born, and it was in major split end city!! I love short hair, I always have, I also get bored with the same hairstyle and so this has definitely been the longest I have gone without cutting or changing it!

So here is the new do!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I just love seeing and hearing the kids expressions as they see all the presents that Santa left for them, and realize the milk and cookies left the night before are now mostly gone.

It warms my heart to see their smiles and hear their laughter. It is such a joy to celebrate Christmas with children. It's as if you get to relive it all again through their eyes, and remember once again what it was like to believe. I guess the best gift though is believing the true gift of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ.

I spent a lot of yesterday thinking about Mary, and what it must have been like for her as she went into labor. I remember the joy and anxiousness I felt when I was in labor for the first time with Ava, and I was in the comfort of my home and then the hospital. I wonder what she thought when that first contraction hit. Did it happen along that long, bumpy, uncomfortable ride from Nazareth to Bethlehem? What were this young girl's thoughts when she realized the place of His birth would be in a stable. And then what did she think, what did they say when they first laid on eyes on our savior. This precious baby sent to save us all. So perfect, new, and wonderful laying in a filthy manger. As she looked in his eyes and rocked him, did her heart burst with love, not knowing it would break to see him crucified on the cross so that we would all be saved?

As a mother, I just cannot fathom something so huge. It is such a great task to carry a baby and give birth. You are filled with thoughts of wondering "Are we ready"?, "Will he/she be healthy?", "Will they know how much we love them?" "Can we give them what they need?" For Mary, who was so young, not yet married, and told she had be chosen by God himself to carry and give birth to Jesus. It just leaves me speechless, and full of emotion.

It makes me full of emotion today watching my children, and making sure they know that this day is not about Santa, presents, good food, or decorated houses, but it's about that tiny baby laying in that manger sent for all of us, for our salvation. Thank you Lord, that you love us that much, that you love us enough to send your son, only to later watch Him die, so that we will live. I honestly don't know if I would be able to do the same thing with my own children. Thank you for the best Christmas gift. We love you.

Here are some Christmas Eve pictures, the kids with the cookies they made for Santa and them watching him move on google earth (they loved this).

Guitar Hero!

Okay so we are a bunch of dorks in this family. We love guitar hero, it makes for fun times. Steve's friend was nice enough to let us borrow it and now the whole family is hooked! Mateo loves the guitar and often plays it while Ava dances, it's too funny. Here is my sweet little man rockin it out!