Fun Filled Weekend

Our weekend was filled with Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, and birthday fun...
On Saturday we went to our church's Harvest Party. The boys had a great time playing all the games and filling their bags with yummy candy.

Jake aka Buzz LightyearBenjamin aka Nemo (minus his cute fin hat that we could not keep on his head without tears)Dash (our nephew Ethan) & Buzz LightyearOur friend Jim who is a fisherman guide caught a 30 pounder
On Sunday we celebrated my father-in-law Chuck's 60th birthday with the family. I am so thankful to the Lord for my father-in-law. He is a great encouragement to us in the Lord. Happy 60th Birthday Chuck! We love you!!Papa and the grandboys

Prayer For Our Baby

"For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well." Psalm 139:13-14I wasn't going to post this on my blog, but yesterday my husband asked me, "Why not?" My reasoning was that I didn't want the whole world knowing our baby's business (not like the whole world looks at my blog anyway). And then I got to thinking that who cares if people I don't know look at my blog. If they are praying for our baby then that is all that matters.
Well, when we had our ultrasound to find out if our baby was a boy or girl, our doctor saw something that he was concerned with so he sent us to a high risk neo-natal doctor the next week to have it checked out. We were praying that whole week that it would be nothing and the Lord would heal our baby. But when we went last week they did find that our baby boy has a condition called gastroschisis. This is where the opening by the umbilical cord never closed completely and left room for his intestines to float out of his stomach. So this means that I will be induced early and our precious baby boy will have to have surgery as soon as he is born to correct this. It was very hard news to hear for us, but we are trying to trust the Lord with our baby's life. We know that He is forming this baby in my womb and that He is good and faithful. It is a trial that we were not expecting in our lives, but the Lord is going to use this in our lives and the lives around us to bring glory to Himself. So as we still have a ways to go before he is born, we are taking it a day at a time, moment by moment to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord. The scripture that the Lord keeps bringing to us is...
"Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:1-2
We are praying for complete healing in my womb, but if that is not the Lord's will than that our baby would be able to have the surgery after he is born and recover perfectly. So we ask that you please join us in praying for our precious baby boy!

Faith's Baby Dedication

Chris and Kristen were up visiting for a few days. So on Sunday, they had my Dad dedicate baby Faith to the Lord. It was very special as it was my Dad's first baby dedication at his church. Faith is so adorable and is such a good baby! I get my little baby girl cravings satisfied by her:) It will be neat that Faith and our baby will by close in age and get to grow up together. Even though I know Kristen was hoping for a girl cousin for Faith to play with, we were very close to our boy cousins Ryan and Ricky growing up and had a lot of fun with them. So I keep reminding her of that:)Gracie's birthday is on Saturday. So since the whole family was together on Sunday, we also celebrated Gracie's birthday. Here is a picture of the whole cousin gang now with baby Faith.

My Three Sons!!

Well, if you can't already tell by my decorative blog, I am going to be a baseball mom for sure! IT'S A BOY!...another BOY! (Also our Angels are in the playoffs so I thought the baseball theme would fit the best:) Although I was sure it was a girl this time because of how different this pregnancy is going, Matthew and I are so excited and blessed to have another boy. I am throwing out all those silly predictions though of "how you can tell what you're having by how your pregnancy is." They are so not true!! Well I was hoping for a girl shopping spree, but I don't care. I am tired of all the boys hami-downs:) I'm going shopping and buying this baby boy some new clothes! And of course just like the other two, we had the girl named picked out, but were not even thinking of boy names yet. So if you have any boy name suggestions, PLEASE HELP! And please keep praying for our precious baby boy!

The Latest...

It's been awhile since I've blogged anything, so bear with me. It's going to be a long one. I just wanted to share some recent pictures with you all and keep you updated with the boys. We are counting down the days now of when we will find out if the baby is a boy or girl. So stay tuned...next Tuesday is the BIG day!!Jake has been into fire trucks lately. We have a small local fire station around the corner from our home and everytime we are going somewhere, we have to drive by the fire station to see the fire trucks. So our friend Beau, who volunteers at the Crescent City Fire Station was so kind to take us on a tour and see the fire trucks at his station recently. Jake was in heaven! This past Monday was "Pumpkin Day" at our house. We usually go to the pumpkin patch, but it is closed this year so we had to settle for the grocery store pumpkins:) Jake has been waiting for "Pumpkin Day" for about a month now and asking for it everyday. So here we are carving our pumpkins (I think Dadda had more fun than any of us with carving the pumpkins:)So Jake has also been waiting for us to take him bowling. So awhile ago he said, "Hey, I got a good idea. How about on "Pumpkin Day" we go bowling too!?" So we told him that was the plan. So we started a new tradition...Pumpkin Day is bowling day too.Here is our character...Ben! Can you tell he is into Cars right now?Benjamin does not go anywhere without his blankie and pacifier. He thought he was a cool dude this morning with his car sunglasses and pushing his popper (vacuum) around. He goes crazy over vacuums. So when he saw this popper at Walmart, he went crazy in the store yelling, "Vacuum, Vacuum!" So he pushes it around the house pretending he is vacuuming. Too bad it's not the real thing!

We were going to save the bike for Jake's birthday, but that is 3 months away and he needed one. He only had a scooter and his old toddler push toys so we didn't want to wait 3 more months. So today we surprised him with a new bike. He was very excited and riding outside for over an hour when he then crashed and burned and got a fat lip...my poor baby!! Now I feel horrible for giving him a bike! I want to put him in a bubble and keep him in there forever:)

Seven Years!!

Today is Matthew and my 7th Anniversary. I can't believe it has been 7 years already! Time flys when your having fun:) Anyways...it has flown by and been the greatest 7 years of my life. I thank the Lord always for bringing Matthew in my life. He is my best friend and I just want to grow old with him. My Dad had asked me while we were engaged if Matthew was just someone that I loved and could live with the rest of my life or was he someone I loved and could not live without? He is definitely the one I could not live without. I look forward to the journey ahead together and excited to see what the Lord has for us in our marriage and family.
I love you, Matthew, with all my heart!!

Faith Elizabeth Salas

Isn't she so beautiful!!

My New Niece...Baby Faith!

Well, I just got the call a few minutes ago that baby Faith has arrived! My sister Kristen had her baby around 1pm today. She is 6 lbs, 19 inches long and according to Kristen, has black hair and favors Chris and is beautiful!

It's so hard not to be there for her. Pray with us that the Lord moves them up here:) As soon as I get some pictures, I will post a picture of Faith for all to see!

Congratulations Chris & Kristen! Happy Birthday Baby Faith! We love you!!

Baby Shrews #3

Today I had my first doctors appointment for the baby. Praise the Lord the baby looks healthy and has a strong heartbeat. The doctor says I am further along than I thought. He said that I am 11 weeks and my due date is March 1, 2010. So we are thinking it will be a February baby since I have been 2 and 3 weeks early with my other two. Matthew and I are betting on who's birthday the baby will be born on since his is February 18th and mine is February 26th. So we will have to see! Seeing the baby move around and the heart beat just makes it so real and exciting! It is such an amazing miracle to experience! And to all you who were praying for twins or telling me it was going to be twins...it's a good thing there is only 1 in there or else I would have had to hunt you all down:)

Hanging In There

Well, looking at my blog, I realized I have not posted anything for about a month now. I think I just have not been really motivated. This pregnancy hasn't been bad so far, but very tiring. Everyone warned me about this who have had more than 2 kids. When I think about having another one, it makes me even more tired! I just have zero energy which is driving me crazy! But I am about 8 weeks now so hopefully those first trimester symptoms are almost over. I will get details on how far along I am and exactly when the baby is due in a couple weeks when I have my first doctors appointment.
We recently went out to the Mouth of the Smith which is a few minutes from our home. It's where the Smith River meets the ocean. There are always a lot of seals around there because of the fish that are there. The seals are usually laying out on a little island of sand in the ocean away from the shore, but we were fortunate to have one laying out on a rock right near the shore. The boys were excited to see one that close. Now that I'm thinking about it, they might be sea lions. I know there is a difference, but I don't remember how to tell. Anyways, it was fun to see and we had a good time just walking on the shore and skipping rocks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

Today is my Dad's birthday. We will be celebrating with him tomorrow, which I am looking forward to. For those of you who know my Dad personally, you know that he is a very special man. The Lord has always been #1 in all his decisions and ways in his life. He is a great example in my life of what it means to be like Jesus in all areas of his life. He was a great father as he raised us girls, never compromising which I believe is why he has three daughters walking with the Lord right now. It has been a blessing to see how the Lord is using him and working through him in Cave Junction, Oregon with the church he started last year. He has a heart of compassion for the lost and loves sharing with people how much Jesus is in love with them. The scripture that comes to mind when thinking of my Dad is...

"The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him." Proverbs 20:7

Happy Birthday Dad!! I thank the Lord for you always! I love you & Jesus loves you!!

Baby On The Way!

Yes...Baby #3 is on the way! We just found out that I am pregnant. Though we were wanting to have another baby, we were a little shocked at the timing. But God is in control and has perfect timing. So I can rest and trust Him with this baby He has blessed us with. Though Benjamin is too little to understand, Jake without hesitation said that he did not want another brother or sister. We said, oh well, too late! Poor guy! I think he would have been just fine being the only child! He will one day appreciate having his siblings:) So...the fun begins!!

River Days Have Begun

Today was officially the start of some "fun in the sun" for me...it was our first river trip of the summer! The boys and I met up with Jenna and the kids at the river. It was beautiful with perfect weather. The water was pretty cold, but that didn't stop the kids from rushing in there and having fun. Hopefully it is just the beginning of many trips to the river this summer.

Trip Down South

As many of you know, my Mom, Jenna, Gracie and I flew down south last Thursday to spend a few days with Kristen and be able to attend her baby shower. Yes...I felt like a terrible mother and wife for leaving Thursday through Monday, but the boys did great and I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would! I didn't know I needed that little break until I was away and enjoying PF Changs! We had a lot of fun just the girls. Kristen is looking and doing great with her pregnancy. Kristen was blessed at her baby shower and we were blessed to be able to be there and see all our family and friends we miss so much! It was so good to see my friends. I love where the Lord has me and my family right now, but I so miss my friends! There is nothing like those friends that you have grown up with and who know you so well. I missed seeing some of you this visit. Now it's your turn...you all know who you are...come and visit us up here! I love you all and miss you already!
Sorry...I wasn't really good about taking pictures, but here are a few...
The GirlsKristen with her beautiful and yummy cakeThese are a couple of those forever friends I was talking about...Crystal and Melanie...love ya girls!

Our New Home

Though I should be in bed, I have a quiet moment with everyone else in bed so I thought I should finally write about our exciting blessing from the Lord. I have been waiting to post after I took a picture of our new house, but I just have not even had a second to take a picture these last 2 weeks! Yes...after 9 months of looking for houses, we bought our first home and the Lord blessed us abundantly beyond what we could ask for! We love it! It is in a perfect family neighborhood on a culdesac with a big back yard for the boys. That is the main reason we wanted to get into a house...a back yard for the boys to play in. We just have to get a swing set out there now:) We have been in here for 2 weeks now and have been painting NON-STOP! We have painted the whole house and still have a little left to do...it is not a very big house either:) We got our kitchen, bathroom and laundry room flooring in this past week and we are getting new carpet in on Friday. So we are trying to finish the painting before Friday. And then next week we should be recieving our new furniture! Yes...the Lord has really blessed us! Since we've been married, we have only rented and not been able to paint and do my own thing to the house. So finally I get to decorate and paint how I want and it has been a lot of fun! We can't wait until we are all done and can relax in our new home...although everyone is telling us there is always something to be done when you have your own home...but that is ok with us:)
P.S. I know some of you are asking for pictures and I promise I will show some soon:)

Much Needed Getaway

Wow...it's been awhile since I have blogged. We have been very busy around here lately. My in-laws blessed us with one of our favorite Christmas presents this past Christmas...a night away as they watched our boys. We said, how about we pay for the second night and you guys watch the boys two nights? They were good with that and what a refreshing blessing that was! Since we have had children, Matthew and I have been away only one night together for our 5th anniversary when I was pregnant with Benjamin. So as hard it is for me to leave my boys, I knew they were in good hands and knew we needed this time away! My biggest worries were with Benjamin. He has been throwing these temper tantrums lately...boy does he have his father's temper:) But of course, he was a perfect angel for Grammy and Papa and as soon as I walked in the door he threw a tantrum! "Little Stinker" is what I call him!

But enough about the boys...Matthew and I had a great time together. I didn't realize how much we needed this getaway until we were relaxing on a boat on Hyatt Lake outside of Ashland, Oregon. We couldn't ask for more beautiful weather and it was such a beautiful and peaceful place. I am so thankful for that time away together...we need to do it more often. If you have children and don't get away that often...do it! But vacation was over after the first step inside my home:)There were a bunch of these dead trees in the middle of the lake. We found this arrow in one with a little bird sitting on it...we thought that was a pretty cool sight to see:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TWINS!!

Today is my Mom and Aunt Lynn's birthday! I can't thank the Lord enough for my mother. She is the woman I look up to the most in my life. I am so thankful that the Lord brought her closer to me. She was such a wonderful mom as we grew up. She and my Dad never compromised with raising us girls in the Lord and I am so thankful for that. Now as I am older she is not just my mother, but one of my closest friends. I love spending time with her and learning from her. She loves her family and friends dearly. If you know my mother, you know that you can count on laughing until you pee your pants whenever you are with her! She is a joy to be around and a joy to have as my mom. She is a Proverbs 31 woman and these verses remind me of her...
"She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her;" Proverbs 31:26-28
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM...I LOVE YOU AND PRAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT LYNN!
I love my Aunt Lynn dearly. She is such a joy to be around also. When you get both my mom and her together, then you really can count on peeing your pants laughing so hard:) They are definentley two peas in a pod! My Aunt Lynn and Uncle Bill are going to be visiting us in a couple weeks... I can't wait to see them and spend time with them. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT LYNN...I LOVE YOU!