Brian and Joelle

Well well well….it looks like our household is going to get a bit more lively with the addition of our baby boy.  We are so excited to meet the little guy this November-December.  It’s hard to imagine anything different than what we already experienced with one child….but I know that children are a total blessing and gift from the Lord so we eagerly wait knowing our home will be filled with more joy (and trials!)….and diapers.

Emmelia is slowly understanding that a new little person is going to be moving in and we pray that she takes to him lovingly….I think we can train her to change a diaper by December.  The little guy will be totally stoked in 15 years when he gets to hang out with all Emmelia’s girlfirends! On the other hand, Emmelia is sandwiched between her cousins Tre & Zeke and her little brother (Fransisco?) so I don’t think she’ll be hurting for attention….and Tre & Zeke can pound anybody that treats her in an unworthy manner at school  (or even looks at her wrong).

The top three names for us so far are :

Pierre

Steve

El Guapo (or El Magnifico…it’s a tie really)

Thanks for your prayers and support!

El Grove’s

Well, it has been a while since we blogged on our site….this news is prompting us to get back into it! We are expecting another baby! This baby is due November 30th, Joelle is already 3.5 months along and counting….we are so excited! We are going to find out what it is and will know in the next month or so. Emmelia is excited to be a big sister, at least to the point that she is able to comprehend it so far. She is two years old and such a joy, she makes us smile every day. It is amazing how much she is growing up and changing, we are very excited that she is potty trained…just in time to have another one in the house in diapers (one at a time to save the budget!). We know some of you already knew Joelle was pregnant by how big she already is, but we thank you for allowing us to tell you in our own time. Boy, the second one really pops out early!! We appreciate your prayers as all of us prepare for the new addition to our family. We will be updating our blog monthly until the baby comes, then we will be giving you weekly updates. So, please keep checking in with us.

Well, sorry we have lagged in getting new photos posted for about four months now…..we have been very busy with our ever-growing monster. She has changed so much since her first birthday, soaking up our every word and action to learn, grow, and change. She is so attentive and it is time that mommy and daddy clean up their acts to prevent mimic disasters! Since her birthday, she has learned how to walk well, run, and use more sign language. We are enjoying being able to communicate with her: “I’m hungry” is pretty common for this little one. Although, I have to say that her eating habits are more fickle than we anticipated. One day she loves it, the next day she hates it, well, maybe she’ll eat one bite….or just chew it to spit it right back out!  It can be frustrating at times but somehow she is getting what she needs because she is growing. She is now in her big-girl car seat, which really didn’t solve the car seat distaste she has, oh well. Oh, and she has grown some hair folks! Yup, we are putting her hair in the two smallest pigtails you have ever seen….but they are pigtails! She pulls out barrettes whenever mommy puts them in but mommy keeps on trying. There are a couple of photos on here of Emmelia and her new friend, Leighla. We get together with Leighla and her mommy for Friday playdates and these two are quite the combo. She LOVES the park and when daddy throws her around in the air. In fact, she has a temper tantrum when daddy gets tired and stops tossing her into the air, hilarious! She loves books and loves being read to, we read the Bible every night before we go to bed. She has to be outside at least 60% of each day so that she can discover bugs (see photos of her playing with a worm from the garden). We got to visit the flower fields and go to the beach with some of our good friends, Becky, Josh, and Brett. What a fun day that was (see photos). There were lots of ladybugs on the beach that day, they were landing all over us. Does anyone know why ladybugs gather at the beach? We can’t figure it out…

Emmelia got to see her great grandparents for their 60th wedding anniversary celebration. Isn’t that amazing? And, she gets to visit her other great grandmother from time to time on Sundays after church. How blessed she is to have her great grandparents here to enjoy her.  She still spends the work weeks with Grandma, Papa, Nana, and Nono. We will never be able to express our appreciation for their love and servants hearts for our little girl. The relationship that has developed between them and Emmelia is priceless.

She has been having so much fun with her cousins, Tre and Zeke. She follows them around and is determined to participate in all of the activities that they do, even if she isn’t developmentally ready for them yet! They are so sweet with her and give her kisses all the time. Check out the photos from our most recent trip to the Wild Animal Park, too funny! She loved the petting zoo and making all of the noises when she saw different animals. We hope that you enjoy looking at all of the photos we have posted, sorry again about the amount of time that has gone by since we last sent out an update. Rest assurred that Emmelia is keeping us busy and growing way too fast for us. Can anyone stop the time so we get a chance to enjoy it? Oh, one more huge announcement…..Emmelia has a new cousin in Atlanta! My brother, Dante, and his wife, Beth, had their baby son 6/13/09, Luca Teri Walter Fenolio, born at 2 (something) am, 6 pounds 10 ounces, 19 inches long. Everyone is home now and doing well. We wish we could see him in person, it is a bummer to live on opposite coasts.

Parenthood is a trip. What a challenge and what a gift at the same time. Such a tool for God to use to refine and to bless. Praise God. How amazing it is to relive this life through your child’s eyes…..to see their wonder and amazement when they see something for the first time is inspirational. How quickly we take God’s creation for granted. I love having kids, it keeps me humble, tests my patience, and keeps my perspective in the right place.

Goodbye baby….hello toddler.  It’s a fun transition to watch your baby become mobile and more interactive with you….but at the same time…it is really sad to leave the baby stage.  I can’t believe a year has passed us by so quickly (she was born on February 28th…24 minutes away from being a leap-year baby).  We haven’t blogged in quite some time obviously….but she has changed a lot in the last two months.  It was a blessing to watch her take the first steps of her life….screaming with excitement as she went.  Her laughs are intoxicating….her smile is as bright as the summer sun.  She is so incredibly animated and does very little without fanfare.  It is difficult to not blow all of our  money on outfits for her because there’s so much cute stuff for her to wear…but both grandparents are doing a great job in that department.

But with the changes also comes difficulties.  For example, she used to eat anything we put in front of her…but now….dinner time especially has become a challenge.  Watching your kid defiantly throw food on the floor makes you realize that your sweet little cupcake daughter is a sinner like the rest of us.  Joelle is constantly trying to figure out what to feed her and most of the time she’ll find something that works….but usually only for that night.  We’re also transitioning away from the bottle and she hasn’t taken well to that either.  She cries and screams because we put her milk in the sippy cup….but soon she’ll catch on.  After we settle that issue, we move on to removing the binky cold turkey.  That should be a fun week.

Joelle and I began going to a parenting class about a month ago (it lasts 9 weeks) at our church to seek wisdom while she is still young.  I believe that God has a means and a method to proper parenting and I’m so glad that we’re investing the time now.  The information given in this class is absolutely foundational for any parent.  Yes, the information is based entirely from the Bible….and it works.  For those of you interested, all of the content is available free online at www.parentingministry.org with Pastor Craig Castor.  We could not recommend this information higher.

Emmelias birthday dinner was a blast.  She had both sets of grandparents there with mom and dad.  We were bummed that Harry, Shannon, Tre, & Zeke couldn’t make it because they were sick.  I made pizza for everyone and then Emmelia gingerly made her way through the starberry cake mommy made for her.  It was a charming cake….complete with ladybugs made out of raspberries and blueberries.

Enjoy the photos.  Here are a couple of videos also.  One is of Emmelia playing in the sprinklers, another is us at the pool, and the other one is her first birthday (which is a long video).  Neither are hilarious, but fun to watch nonetheless.

I’m sorry….but I can’t figure out why I can’t embed the video into our website.  You have to copy and paste the link…..

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8682611439531392340&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3444846801660030785&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8097225962086683306&hl=en

So much to write about it seems.  Christmas, New Years, the freakin’ Chargers.  Seriously…how can a team be 8-8 and still get in the playoffs?  Well…after their embarrassing loss to the Steelers I know why they were 8-8.   Don’t get me wrong…I love the Chargers, but it’s more of a love-hate.  Anyhow, hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!  Joelle and I enjoyed a fantastic time with our families and of course it was so special to have Emmelia with us for her first Christmas.  She didn’t have a clue what was going on but she definitely had a good time ripping up tissue paper.  We were blessed to have Joelle’s brother Dante and his family (his wife Beth and their little cutie Sierra @ 2.5 years old) stay at our house for a week or so from Atlanta.  Emmelia and Sierra met for the first time and they had so much fun together.  We are sad they are gone….there’s nothing better than the sound of laughter from children.  We took the tree down last week as it was very dry and brittle….as if being the first week in January wasn’t a good enough reason.  Emmelia was so cute with the tree…always trying to reach for the lowest ornament….she loved all the little lights and grunted continually in adoration of them.  She had her first picture taken with Santa and didn’t even try to rip his beard off.  With all the family in town (from Joelle’s side) the week went by like a blur.  Ironiclly, the day everybody left I got really sick and layed on our couch for three days…happy new year to me.

Are we seriously at the end of the year right now?  What the heck happened?  Did I just come out of a coma or something?  How is it that we’re already putting our Christmas tree up and decorating the house?  How is it that I’ve already devoured all of the Thanksgiving leftovers?  How is it that the Chargers suck this year (I know…that answer is quite obvious).  Is anybody else wondering how we got here so quickly?

Yes….it has been a long while since we’ve blogged (bragged?) about our little monster on the internet…but have no fear….the Christmas edition is here!  She is equipped with 8 teeth now, the ability to crawl at incredibly normal speeds, and a supernatural gift of reaching into octaves that Mariah Carey could only dream of. Things are changing so rapidly with her that it is hard to keep up…much less soak it in and enjoy it.  Her little outfits are so cute and tiny.  Her little giggle….holy moly…her giggles are absolutely PRICELESS.  She is a really good eater too….she’ll mow down her breakfast in less than 5 minutes and it’s not a trivial amount.  We tried to give her turkey on Thanksgiving but she didn’t take to it that well.  She does manage to grab her little puffed rice snacks and feed herself which is kinda cool….but you can’t really leave anything laying around that you don’t won’t slobbered or chewed on.

So, we got our tree up last weekend in record time.  Not without difficulty though.  Joelle had to have this 8′ noble fir tree because it was apparently mismarked as a 5′ to 6′ at our favorite Home Depot around the corner.  So, I did my best to man-handle that bad boy into the house and get it set plumb.  Getting it set plumb was the hard part as it was so stinkin heavy that I couldn’t just dead lift it straight up and jamb it down into the stand (of which is undersized for this size tree anyway.)  Keep in mind that it is set on top of a 2′ high wood box so Emmelia can’t grab it.  So then it kept tilting over and came close to crashing down a couple times….but I prevailed.  It is in….and we got a beautiful tree at a great price.

We are excited this year to have Joelle’s brother Dante and his family stay with us for awhile during Christmas.  We don’t see them but maybe once a year and our little niece Sierra is getting so big….and they’ll get to meet Emmelia for the first time

The pics below are of random events…beach day….Thnaksgiving, Joelle’s birthday, my dad’s birthday, decorating the Christmas tree, Emmelia in a pink elephant pool that I got on Amazon.com for $5….enjoy.

Merry Christmas to you….and thank the good Lord for giving us a sure hope and an incorruptible inheritance through our Saviour Jesus.

8 months old now and her personality is being revealed everyday it seems.  She has an amazing power that is like a drug….cause when she smiles….it causes my stress and problems to disappear.  While she is not my God and my happiness in life is not dependent upon her….she sure does add a heck of a lot of joy to it.  The gift of children is truly amazing and truly life-changing.  At 8 months we’re only scratching the surface I’m sure….but I am in awe of her and especially of the God who made her and entrusted Joelle and I to raise her.  I know there will be tough times ahead….but I absolutely love being dad.

She is so mobile now….crawling all over.  She actually prefers to walk but she can’t balance herself quite yet and gets very frustrated about it….and she’ll let you know it too.  She learned how to wave last week and now has 4 teeth I think…but maybe 6.

Halloween was actually fun this year….we stayed home and passed out candy to the 125+ kids that came to our door.  We put Emmelia in her ladybug costume and paraded her around to some of our neighbors before it got dark… she had fun.  When we came home, I sat with her on our porch swing and she passed out for 45 minutes on dad’s shoulder.  I was in heaven.  To top it off, the sunset was spectacular and the weather was incredible.  Joelle’s mom and dad came over for dinner (Joelle made a yummy beef stew) and my mom and dad plus brother and his family also came over later in the evening.  It is always a treat to have loved-ones together.  I couldn’t believe how many kids came to our house though.  Last year we had about 35….which is why I severlely underestimated the amount of candy this year.  Very few kids had gorey costumes which was refreshing.  A highlight certainly was the adults of the neighborhood who dressed up…although it was probably just another reason to drink.

Get a load of these photos…she is amazing.

Wow…what a difference a week makes!  Our little girl is now crawling around the floor….but only when she really wants something.  She still prefers to stand up and dance around.  Since daddy has come to a stopping point with the yard…we have more family time on the weekends which is so much fun.  Last weekend we took her to the beach for the first time.  I love so cal weather….75 degrees and nobody on the beach!  She was a bit afraid when we brought her to the water….but other than that she had a good time.  We also went to Stu Miller’s take-it-up-the-tailpipe pumpkin patch with her and we met my brother and his family for some great fun.  As usual, I’ll load a video later.

Just about any day now our little 7 month old Emmelia will be mobile….scootin’ around all over the house and exploring every corner…pulling on knobs…and knocking stuff over.  We set her down in one spot right now and make sure that we have a minimum 3′ radius clear zone because she’ll roll around and inevitably whack her head on something.  To our surprise last night though, Emmelia grabbed daddy’s shirt while I was laying next to her and she pulled herself up to standing in one motion.  My eyes got big as I looked at Joelle in disbelief of what I just saw. 

So, in light of our monster goin’ mobile soon, Joelle and I turned the couch 90 degrees clockwise in an attempt to ‘box’ her in the family room.  In theory this is a good plan but I think something will get lost in reality….as usually is the case.  This also means that daddy is going to have install all those annoying cabinet locking devices that are supposed to keep kids out but actually serve a much larger purpose which is to frustrate the parents (just an observation at this point).

I can’t express how much fun she is.  She is so animated and so vocal.  I am noticing how she increasingly watches daddy….she studies me.  Not only that, I see that she wants my attention.  Honestly, it is a bit unnerving to know that she will be so heavily influenced by me and mom, our actions, our conversations, our body language, our habits.  Mom and me have a lot of growing to do.  It is such a great privilege though to be responsible for loving and disciplining this little life from God.  Nobody else has this honor except us for her life.  It is very exciting.  So, Joelle and I are absolutely loving this stage in our lives and in our marriage…because we know she will one day be gone (not to mention think mom and dad are geeks).

Enjoy the pics.  The video below is Emmelia laughing at Joelle playing with a stuffed ladybug-thing.

 <object width=”425″ height=”350″> <param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/VlH4IowRY0Q“> </param> <embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/VlH4IowRY0Q” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”425″ height=”350″> </embed> </object>

Today was a special day for us.  Joelle and I dedicated our little Emmelia to the Lord at church today.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with this, allow me to explain.  As Christians, we believe that Emmelia was created by God and that He has given (entrusted) her to us as a gift and that we are solely responsible (and privileged) for her upbringing and for disciplining her.  When we stand in front of our congregation with the pastor it is symbolic that Joelle and I recognize that she belongs to the Lord and we are ‘dedicating’ her back to the Lord.  It means that our desire is to raise according to God’s word (the Bible) and to teach her about His insatiable love for her.  It also means that we need the prayers and support of the church because it is difficult to raise children to reverence God in such a perverted and decived generation such as ours.  So, today’s dedication is basically a commitment for mom and dad to raise her in the love of God.  We have some photos here and I’ll upload a video when I get it edited.  We were worried that she would freak out in front of 700 people but it turns out that she was ok.  To have so many family and friends there at the service (and at our house to celebrate) was very special to us.   Joelle and I are so blessed.

There are also a handful of photos for the month of September.  She moves around a lot and we’re expecting her to crawl any day now….but I’ll admit that I’m ok if she puts it off a bit longer :)  Mommy and daddy need to baby-proof the house first.

love you,

B

That sure went quick.  At least Joelle and I have been taking ample amounts of photos and video….ok maybe it’s a bit more than that, but not by much….well maybe a tad bit more….how many photos can I fit on a tetrabyte anyway?

Our little munchkin is so much fun….she is so inquisitive, so alert, and soooo fussy sometimes.  She definitely will let you know when she is not happy (either that or she’s trying to tell me she wants to go shopping).  As you can see in the photos, she sits up all by herself now (although she prefers to stand) and has two little teeth on the bottom that apparently are very sharp.  She loves the bouncy swing and can play in that for an hour or two just entertaining herself and making gurgling sounds.  In fact, she actually likes the pool now too.  She also has a wonderful attraction to her feet and will mercilessly cram both of them in her mouth whenever possible. 

 We’ve included a video below of her first time eating food (other than rice cereal)….yummy yummy peas.  Watch carefully as she gags on the delicious taste and texture.

<object width=”425″ height=”349″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/8fqm8JO91_g&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0×234900&color2=0×4e9e00&border=1″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/8fqm8JO91_g&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0×234900&color2=0×4e9e00&border=1” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”349″></embed></object>

while I endeavor to write a new blog every Sunday night and add new photos…..sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Time just marches on…….

We’re at the 5 1/2 month mark now and loving it. She is a joy to be around now and quite frankly, we just can’t get enough of her. Her baths are so pleasant now…she just sits there like a little buddha. She sucks her thumb occasionally at night when she sleeps which we’re not too stoked on….but we’ll deal with that later I guess. She gets to spend more time with her cousins Tre and Zeke these days and they absolutely love her….it is a joy to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised is she tries to boss them around when there a bit older though…..even though they could just sit one her because they’re probably triple her weight. Joelle is taking advantage of emmelia’s hip brace only having to be worn at night now by dressing her up in all the adorable little outfits that we received from friends and family. This past week we introduced her to the bouncy swing, her new high-chair, and eating rice cereal from a spoon. I feel sorry for our next kid who probably isn’t going to get near the photo documentation that emmelia is getting. As far as she is concerned, Mom and Dad are the paparazzi.

Here’s the video of her first spoon feeding….

<object width=”425″ height=”344″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/TuMh4Xt2TyQ&hl=en&fs=1″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/TuMh4Xt2TyQ&hl=en&fs=1” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”344″></embed></object>

ok….so she really is a totally different baby now…except for when she’s at the pool apparently.  Wow.  She is quite vocal in her protest when even getting near the pool….and I mean getting near the fence to the pool.  It was so incredible that people in the pool and around the pool actually stopped their conversations to see what the screaming was all about or if we were beating her or something.  It was comical for us….but Joelle had to leave within minutes because it was just too embarrassing.  But boy does she look so cute in her little swim suit!  Unfortunately the video doesn’t capture the total freak-out scream session…but check it out anyway below…

<object width=”425″ height=”344″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/NxOL3Nvquhk&hl=en”></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/NxOL3Nvquhk&hl=en” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”425″ height=”344″></embed></object>

Brian

My oh my how things have changed….for the better folks.  I know we’ve blogged the challenging times over her first three months and expressed our chaotic and often insane feelings….but a new era is apparently here….hopefully to stay…or at least until she’s 14 when she’ll hate us for no apparent reason and think we’re the stupidest people on the planet.  Our screaming, crying, no sleeping, cholic baby has finally morphed into a smiling, happy, gurgling, good-sleeping baby.  Still bald and beautiful though.

We can’t believe how she has changed…and yet are SOO grateful that she has.  Thank you all for your prayers as they were instrumental.  Funny though, as Emmelia has changed so much in her personality….I think Joelle and I have changed even more.  It was really rough for us and on our marriage…much more than I ever anticipated….almost as if a wedge had come between us and our blissful union.  But, God is good.  God is faithful.  God is merciful.  I believe that He hand picks our children and their personalities out of the millions of sperm that are racing for the finish line and He gives us what we need…not necessarily what we want.  Sure, everybody wants an easy baby (and we’re still miffed at all our friends who have easy babies!!!!) but that’s not what the Lord had for us.  I look back now and see how He has used this child in the first three months of her life to reveal things in me that need to be changed…..attitudes, priorities, and selfishness…to name a few (not to forget compassion and empathy).  Yes, getting married can reveal just how selfish we can be….but it evaporates in comparison to having a child….and we only have one right now!  I feel stronger after going through the rough times (and I know there’s plenty more throughout life) and I feel more connected to my wife.  Let me write down just how amazing my wife is as a mom.  She is SO prepared and organized with Emmelia it makes me joyfully proud to watch her fill her role as mommy.  Let me say that I believe a large part of the reason Emmelia has changed is because of Joelle’s dilligence with scheduling her and keeping her on track with naps, feedings, bathing, etc.  Joelle has shed many tears with this little girl and been overly frustrated on countless occassions….but she stuck to it with the tenacity and determination only a loving mother could exert even there was no evidence of fruit from her efforts.  In the midst of it all, she never stopped cooking dinner and caring for her husband.  Truly, God has blessed me

 So, it’s been awhile since we’ve posted a blog and a lot has happened as is the case with all of you I’m sure.  Joelle started back to work last week after having 4 months off (praise the Lord) and that was a rough one.  I can’t imagine being with your daughter for four months 24/7 and then have to go back to work….it broke my heart as a husband and father.  Hopefully it will be part-time (2.5 days/week).  But, the good news is that God has blessed our lives so much that we have grandma and grandpa Grove watching her and nana and nono Fenolio watching her while Joelle is at work.  It is so much fun to watch the grandparents go gaga over her.  It is incredibly comforting to know that she is in good hands.  In fact, there’s nobody else I’d rather have her be with.

Little Emmelia has certainly found her mouth and shoves both hands in there on a regular basis.  Her little gurgles are the cutest thing ever….accompanied by drool.  She is turning into the litte slobber monster too as I think her teeth may be coming in soon.  My favorite thing so far is when we have family time on Saturday morning and we go in to get her out of the crib and she sees our faces….her smile is priceless…there’s just nothing to compare it to.  Any morning for that matter…she is very happy in the mornings.  She has laughed two or three times so far and we can’t wait until she figures that out…it is amazing. We try and tickle her but she just looks at us like “what are you doing?”.  It is really scary how in-love with her we are…..inexpressable.  I can’t get enough of her little body, little sounds, smooth skin, drool.  She even snorts when she sleeps!  I’m kinda wondering when she’s gonna get some hair (besides the mullet she sportin’ in the back) but I guess that’s normal.  She also is quit the little fart machine…taking after daddy of course.

Joelle and I (with nana and nono Fenolio) spent this last weekend up in San Jose for a family wedding.  Yep….you guessed it….we flew up with our little monster.  Praise God she was an absolute angel….sleeping angel.  She did so good the entire weekend.  I wish she could understand what a treat was because I’d give her one.  Most of these photos are of our trip this last weekend over the 4th of july.  The wedding was outdoors in the Santa Cruz mountains surrounded by redwood trees.  Joelle and I agree that it was the best setting we’ve ever seen for a wedding.

Anyhow…..here’s some pics for ya’ll…and some video…..(click on the link below and make sure to reduce your window size for the video for better quality)

much love,

Brian

<embed id=”VideoPlayback” style=”width:400px;height:326px” allowFullScreen=”true” src=”http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=8107369526359136254&hl=en&fs=true” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”> </embed>

So, we went to the orthopedic doctor this past Monday with high hopes of Emmelia getting her brace taken off with no such luck. The challenge: she still has to wear it for three more weeks full time and then three weeks 12 hours per day. The blessing: her hips are getting better. So, we are thankful but also bummed that this harness is still a part of her life. And, on the materialistic side of it, she has so many beautiful 3 month clothes that she will never get to wear L But, we praise the Lord that He is faithful. 

It is so fun to watch her grow and see the world for the first time. What an amazing walk this parenthood thing is. The joy is never-ending and the love is immense. I got this overwhelming feeling the other day that it was all going just too fast and that I will miss these days all too soon. We are trying to soak up each and every moment and praise God for His handiwork.