La Vita E Bella

He is Here

They played this video in church today. I loved it. You must watch it, and be touched.

Giving Thanks

I am thankful for my amazing husband, fantastic kids, awesome family, wonderful friends, and all of God's provision. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams.. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

xoxo, Me

The Countdown Begins

So, anyone else totally freaking out that Christmas is exactly a month away? I feel like this holiday season totally snuck up on me. Minimal Christmas shopping has been done (although we will be definitely having a minimal Christmas this year), and I haven't even begun our Christmas newsletter! Normally, I wouldn' t be stressing so soon, however, the kids and I are flying into California on December 10th and won't be returning until December 22nd. So, I really have to have a majority of the items on my to-do list crossed off. On top of this, Thanksgiving is in just a few days. The house has to be decorated. Christmas cards have to get out. My parents will be here December 6th until the 10th, Olivia gets dedicated on the 7th and Lucas turns TWO on the 18th. Oy. I better get it together! In other news, I've been playing single mom since yesterday morning. Trei and his mom flew into Arizona to help pack his sisters place up and move her to Reno. They have been driving since 4am this morning. What troopers. I've missed Trei though. Honestly, his help with the kids while he's home is invaluable. I look soooo forward to him walking through the door at the end of the night. When he didn't last night, I had to pump myself up for another few hours alone. Lets just say....when it was bedtime, I was one happy mama. Well, I had more for this post, but Olivia is awake and we have a doctors appointment to get ready for. Check back soon for another exciting update :)

Love, Me

A Terrible Two and a High Maintenance Diva Baby

I have been busy. I guess there is no better way to put it. My days are filled with lots of tasks and responsibilities, and at the end of the day I'm so tired I fall into bed without a single blink of an eye. Lucas and Liv are consuming a majority of my time. I'd have to say that the past few weeks have been very challenging for me as a mom. I honestly find myself struggling to keep it together at the end of the day. Lucas has officially entered the "Terrible Two's" and is testing me (what seems like) every moment of the day. In order to stay consistent, I feel like all I do all day is instruct and discipline. It's a never-ending drama. I love that kid, but he can wear me so thin. He is so smart, and so intuitive - and as an infant - it was cute. But as a toddler, it means I have to be EXTRA aware of everything he is doing. If he's not getting into every single drawer/cabinet/room he's not supposed to be in, he's torturing this little sister or spitting juice all over himself, or throwing his food on the ground, or pulling all the books out of the shelf, or opening the refrigerator and grabbing at whatever food is in his sight. It's annoying, and time consuming, and makes me just want to tie his chubby little hands together and glue him to the highchair. Olivia tests me in other areas. She is less independent than Lucas was as a baby - and so much more high maintenance. She is officially crawling on all fours, and getting into everything as well. Only difference is she really only plays on her own for a little while before she wants me. or Trei. or anyone else who is capable of holding her. She can be playing so peacefully with a toy and then see me, and it's all over. She drops that toy, and crawls at 80 mph towards my feet whimpering as though she hasn't seen me in 100 years. If I pick her up she's happy as a clam, but I get nothing done. If I don't pick her up, I'm forced to listen to the "death scream"....and sometimes I'm forced to just give up on my plans in order to save myself from that awful sound. Now granted, some of this probably stems from the fact that her brother loves to make her sweet little life miserable, and part of me is looking forward to the day that she gives him a taste of his own medicine :) See what I mean.

Keep reading.....

I ♥ iChat!

Living 500 miles from my family can be a difficult thing to stomach at times. Thank God for technology, for with it, I am able to stay in touch visually with my entire family (each one owns a Mac, complete with webcam and iChat!). As you can see, it allows Lucas to be daily reminded just how crazy his Aunt Katy is :) No, but seriously, I am truly grateful that we can atleast see eachother and that Lucas and Olivia can interact and communicate with their grandparents and aunts and uncles afar.  In fact, anytime he gets a glimpse of my computer, he begins to name off our family. Grandma, Grandpa, Katy, Kyle and Michael. He knows, that he gets to talk to them while sitting at the computer with me. Although it's a pretty crappy replacement for REAL interaction - I'm definitely thankful for it's existence. Because like I said, Lucas can be reminded of the craziness that runs through his veins!

On to other news, we here in Reno are doing really well. Trei is STILL searching for a job. He has kept busy working for his dad, but we are most anxious for him to get a "real job". He is interviewing for a position right now, so all the prayer we can get for favor and direction would be awesome. As we are daily reminded by Trei's dad (and many other wonderful supporters), God has a great plan for us - and He will lay it our for us in due time. We are leaning heavily on that, and know that He has everything under control. I've been busy with our two crazy kids, as well as assisting Emily Loftus (www.emilyloftus.com) on photo sessions. The plan is for me to begin working with her while building my own clientele base...I'll go more into this later. But I've been learning alot and am extremely excited for the opportunity. As some of you know, I was recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Although, it was an inevitable diagnosis....I was a little more than sad to learn that I was, indeed, a diabetic. I spent a few hours in the emergency room on Halloween night for glucose levels in the 600's! For those who may not know, the average glucose level is around 120 - some cases in the 600 or 700 range can cause kidney failure and blindess. I am very lucky that my bloodwork showed no catastraphic effects, but am waiting to see a specialist for a more detailed diagnosis and treatment. I'm optimistic though, and know that I will be okay - because I'm dedicated to keeping myself healthy for decades to come :)

Well, I need to sign out for the evening. I will attempt to be back sometime tomorrow for a better update. But I won't lie...I'm tired!

Love, Me