The Color Purple

Sadly my least favorite color is purple. Not quite sure why... Maybe because I think it looks awful on me and I have developed this deep dislike for it. So I rarely buy the girls anything in purple. So silly, I know. Anyway, guess what Hannah's ABSOLUTE favorite color is.....

 This last pic is her most favorite article of clothing. She asks me to wear it everyday, and sleeps in it on occasion too.

God made Hannah passionate, bold, and determined. I LOVE that about her! She is a girl who knows what she wants, and will not stop until she gets it! I really admire that. I love my strong willed little girl. Even if I have to buy her purple dresses. :)

12 years

12 years ago today we started dating, and started this wonderful journey together! God has blessed us with more than we could have dreamed. Looking forward to MANY more years! 

The End

Hannah's Prayer

Hannah's prayer tonight before bed.

"Dear God, Thank you Daddy and Mama, thank you Daddy home, thank you Target. Amen."

Swim Lessons

Today Gracie started her first swim lesson.  Starting a little later than I had planned, but better late than never. She is taking swim with her best little buddy, Lea. Having her friend there made her SO much more relaxed, comfortable, and confidant. They both did so well for their first time. SUCCESS!!

4.5 years

Gracie turned 4.5 on April 3rd, and is just growing way too fast. I cannot believe I will have a 5 year old in just 6 months. Sometimes I just feel time is one step ahead of me and I am trying to hold on for dear life. I feel like the days just fly by. I feel like my little Gracie was just a baby in my arms. Now she is 40 lbs and 42 inches tall. UGH!! I cant let myself dwell on the fact that she is growing up, or I will just cry, so I try and focus on what a beautiful little girl she is becoming.
So Gracie is still in school twice a week, but now in preK, 830-12. She is learning so much. She loves her teachers, Mrs. Casillas and Mrs. Navarro. She loves playing with her friends too, Lea, Isabel, and Hudson.
Even though she loves going to school, she has made it very clear to me that she only likes going 2 days a week, and likes being at home the rest of the week.
She loves playing outside, riding her bike or her scooter. Loves playing sports with us. We are trying to teach her baseball, basketball and soccer. Dan loves teaching her.
She takes gymnastics every Saturday morning, and LOVES it!!
She is also still very girly, loves pink, loves to wear dresses and asks me everyday to put her hair in braids. She has figured out how to work the computer quite well. She goes on the disney princess website and can play on there for hours!
She has become very independent. She can get dressed, brush her teeth, use the restroom, get a snack, all on her own, which is a big help to me. One thing I do miss is the napping. Gracie has completely stopped taking naps in the afternoon. Occasionally she will surprise me and fall asleep while laying down, but usually just lays there with her eyes open, waiting for me to tell her its ok to get up. So while Hannah naps, she plays in her room quietly, or lays down next to Hannah for a little rest.
She is such a good little girl and has such a good heart. She is always concerned when I hurt myself. She is always asking how her family members are. She always asks me how work was when I get home in the morning. "Mommy how was work? How were the Mommy's and the babies." So cute!!
She is growing up to be a beautiful girl inside and out. We are so fortunate to call her our baby girl. We do not deserve her. We thank God for her everyday!

On the rings at Gymnastics

 jumping into foam blocks

 Crazy dress day for school

 Getting pretty good at riding her bike

The End

The Lee Girls

Us Lee girls are having a pretty good week. I Can't believe how fast these 2 little babies are growing. Please, STOP growing so fast!!!

 Gracie loves Ryno!


Hannah has a new favorite food.....frozen peas... she is so funny.

Sisters :)

Stir fry kick

Have had this Food network magazine for over a year and finally decided to make these yummy looking stir fry's.  Now, I've tried those stir fry's in a bag, and those are just nasty! After making these recipes, I will never EVER buy those bags again!
I first made the shrimp with clear sauce, and last night I made Beef and Broccoli. I was a bit nervous about the beef and broccoli because the girls and Dan LOVE to order this dish when we go out.  And let me tell you, it tastes much better than even Panda Express! Yummy!
The girls and Dan loved this recipe. As usual Gracie ate all her beef first, and Hannah ate her broccoli first.

The End

Hallelujah!

Last night Hannah slept in her bed the entire night!!

Gracie got in trouble last night and lost her privilege of sleeping with her Jesse doll so I let Hannah sleep with the talking Jesse doll. Around 330 she woke up and yelled for me to come get the doll that dropped on the floor, and then slept in her bed till 8. I could not believe it!

Now, was it the Jesse doll that kept her in her bed all night? Im not sure. I guess Ill find out tonight.

Boy, was it nice to not get kicked, grabbed or slapped in my sleep.

Cooking/Baking blog

I am addicted to reading cooking and baking blogs! I could read them all day, I just love it.

I LOVE to cook and bake!! I must get that from my Mommy, who ran her own catering company for years!

So some day I am going to start my own cooking blog. Maybe when my kiddies are in school.

:)

Lent 2011

Being raised in the Presbyterian church I did learn about Lent, however wasn't required to practice it, nor was I really encouraged too.

Last year we had some friends that gave up coffee, and secular music for lent. I remember thinking that Lent was a great form of discipline and I should do that next year.

So Lent is here and I decided to partake.

I feel Lent is special because when we are "giving up something" for Lent, we are embracing a form of fasting, which is excellent spiritual discipline.

Now, I feel living in America, we can have anything we want, whenever we want, and we could all use a little discipline in our lives.

So for Lent this year, I decided to give up Facebook. WHY facebook????

For a few reasons actually.

1. I had already given up soda, and that I want to give up for good, not just until Easter. Then I thought about coffee, but being a night nurse, I might not make it through the night with out some. Then I thought, sweets. Well, I'm not quite ready to take a break from those just yet. Haha!

2. Facebook started out as a fun thing to look at in my spare time. Then It turned into me checking it dozens of times a day. Just crazy!

So it was an easy decision. Facebook was just becoming a huge time waster. I could have been doing something much more productive like reading the word of God, cooking, or even blogging.

So each time I get temped, I just ask Jesus to keep me strong, And He will!!

Goals for 2011

So this year I have a few goals for myself.

1. Blog more about my family.

Days seem to go by so fast, Im not sure how anyone has time to blog. So Im going to try to make the time for it. I mean, I practically take a picture of the girls everyday, and they all just sit on my computer. What good is that??? So I need to prioritize my time better in order to blog.

2. Quit drinking soda.

Now only my husband and sister and Bro in law know how much I LOVED soda. I loved it!!! I had one a day, and a giant one at work, "to get me through the night"

However, while doing the Daniel plan study at church I had my "Ah ha" moment. I thought, I am actually willingly drinking something that has been liked to diseases that could kill me. Right then and there, I said I was done. So Jan 19th 2011 was my first day with no soda. I miss it, but not as bad as I thought. I only wish I gave it up sooner. When I think about all the soda I drank as a kid (diet and regular) I get sick to my stomach. So we have become a no soda house, and I wont even let the girls have it.

3. No processed foods.

We didn't really eat too many in the first place, but when I started looking at labels, I was just horrified. I threw out everything that had hyrdogenated oil it, which is horrible for you!

Some things included, coffee mate creamer, vanilla waffers, most boxed muffin/cake mixes, and some cereals! I just couldn't believe I had been consuming this poison! And giving it to my family! I personally feel like America has poisoned me for the last 30 years.

4. Decrease white flour, and white sugar.

So sugar is EVERYWHERE! its hidden in bread and cereals! So I went searching, and I found Ezekiel bread made with no flour or sugar! I actually like it, and Gracie does too! Hannah never liked bread in the first place so she doesn't care for it.

I also probably threw out 5 boxes of cereal! After reading the labels they have nothing good in them. And are filled with sugar.

5. We've gone organic.

I used to think those organic people were a bunch of snobs! But now Im the organic snob!

After doing my research I have learned that there are pesticides on practically all the fruits the girls love to eat. I thought, why am I feeding my children pesticides? So, even though its more pricey, we buy most fruits,veggies, eggs, milk, and meats organic. Worth it if you ask me. If more people buy them, then the prices will come down.

So basically this is the year I carefully watch what is going in my mouth and in my family's mouths. I always say, You are what you eat!

Jesse Doll Drama

I need to document this story about my sweet little Hannah before I forget it, and it is one that I will need to tell her in the future.

So both girls have been obsessed with Toy Story 3 this year, and all they wanted for Christmas was the ENTIRE Toy Story section from the Disney Store, especially a "Talking Jesse Doll".

Dans mom asked me a few days before Christmas if she should get them a talking Jesse doll. I said, "No, we already got them one". And she said, ok Ill just get Hannah a "regular" Jesse doll. I said, GREAT! So Hannah opens her regular Jesse doll Christmas Eve. The first thing she does is turns it over to see if it is a talking Jesse doll, saw that it wasn't and embraced it anyway. She just loved that doll, held it all night, slept with it, and held it all morning while opening presents.

Then it comes time for Gracie to open her TALKING Jesse doll. Hannah watches Gracie open talking Jess with awe, and such excitement. She BEGS us and Gracie to play with it, and of course Gracie said no, because it was what she has been asking for, for the last 2 months.

Hannah then starts screaming, and throws her regular Jesse doll on the ground and the poor doll slides down the hall. HILARIOUS!

Of course I turned off the video camera right be for she chucked Jesse down the hall.

This is SO Hannah, and a story we will be telling for many years.

Almost 2 weeks later, and they are still fighting over the talking Jesse. Dan wants to just buy another talking Jesse so we don't have to listen to the fighting everyday. I am still saying they only need one talking Jesse.

Hannah opening her Jess doll from Teta and Gung Gung.

Eating her cake with Jesse very close by

Sleeping with Jesse Christmas Eve.

Gracie just opened her talking Jesse doll.

The End

2 years!

Sweet little Hannah turned 2 years on December 10th 2010. At her 2 year check she weighed 25 pounds and was 34 inches tall. 25th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. She is talking so much now. For the longest time she was just saying one word sentences, then at around 18-20 months, she just started speaking in full sentences. Which is so her personality, she does what she wants, when she wants.

She is eating pretty good these days, still prefers fruits and veggies over anything else. Her favorite fruit would probably be canned peaches or grapes, and favorite veggies are peas and broccoli.

We started to potty train her a few months ago, which started out great, and then miss Hannah decided that wasn't going good for her, so we are giving her a few months to get more ready for that big step. Putting her back in diapers gave us more energy to focus on another issue, her getting out of bed. Daddy had a great idea to wait on the potty training and focus on the staying in bed issue. And after weeks and weeks of struggling with this, Hannah is now staying in her bed at night. She still wakes up around 1 and sneaks her way into our bed, which is fine with us, just as long as she goes to sleep in her own bed at bedtime. She and Gracie are both in their big girls beds in their new room and they love it! Their Teta and Gung Gung bought them awesome new big girl beds, and their room is just awesome!

Hannah, is just a joy to watch grow. My most favorite thing is to hear Hannah sing Jesus loves me, and to hear her pray which she just started doing this week. She prays before meals and bed, and now her and Gracie fight over who gets to pray first.

Hannah is the more outgoing of the 2. For example, When the Dr. came in the room to see Hannah for her check, Hannah right away says. " Hi, I'm Hannah. This is Gracie. That is Mama." It brought a tear to my eye, and a giggle, because I am just so proud of her.

She also is the more stubborn of the 2. When she wants something, there is nothing that can stop her. If Gracie has a toy she wants, she just rips it out of her hand and walks away. This is good because it is giving me many opportunities to teach Gracie to stick up for herself.

I could go on and on about Hannah, but I dont have the time. So here are some pics.

The Birthday Girl at Mommy and Me class.

Sitting on Miss Dawn's lap for a Birthday song.

At the movies to see Tangled. She loved it! She loves movies. It amazes me how she will sit for most of a movie in a theater. Gracie would have never done that at her age.

Opening presents

blowing our her birthday candles!

Happy Birthday Hannah! We thank God for you everyday!