Jumping!

Elias is all about jumping now! For the past few weeks we hear "I dump, I dump, I dump" (which translates to I jump) all day long. He jumps on things (and people, especially me), couches, sidewalks, steps, etc. He jumps on stuff, off of things, onto things, and into things. It is really cute because every jump, even the tiniest ones, require him to swing his arms back as far as they will go, bring them forward again and JUMP! He attempted to jump out of his high chair the other day and landed on his back. He had the biggest knot on his little head! We both cried. He cried because it hurt, and I cried because I should not have let that happen.
This Tuesday he will start 'preschool'. He will be going 2 days a week from 9am-2pm so that I can work. I know he will love it, and honestly so will I! It is nice to have a job that allows me to get out of the 'mom mode' that I can easily get stuck in. Not that I don't LOVE being a mom, but I need work that requires use from the other parts of my brain. If you don't use it, you lose it!

Happy Birthday, Gravity!

It has been almost 2 weeks since we celebrated Gravity's birthday. (That is the name of our college and career ministry.) What a great year it has been! God has again been sooooo good to us and allowed Gus and I to get to know some incredible people. When the idea to take on the college and career ministry at FWC, Gus and I were bombarded with a multitude of emotions. The idea was an abrupt surprise to us both. We begin to seriously consider that God was shifting our ministry focus. Under all the questions and all the emotions regarding the college ministry, there was an immense peace. I knew that our focus needed to be on the college age and young adults. From there God took over and just began to "wow" us! Let me preface my next few sentences by saying that Gus and I LOVED youth ministry. We absolutely loved our students and ministering to them. However, with Gravity I feel home. I know that this feeling is due to God's amazing love. He has used our Gravity students to show ME his love in an overwhelming way. I constantly thank God for allowing me to know them and love them. I am thankful that he has allowed me to show His love to them. Their passion and total authenticity is exciting and contagious. I cannot wait to see what God is going to do through them! How awesome that I get to go along for the ride too. Lives are going to be changed! Wait and you will see.

In other news, I think they deleted the pic I had of those shoes! Funny!
Elias' newest phrase is "I am that hero!". Again this one is from Larryboy. Just when I think that kid can't get cuter, he goes and learns something like that!

Check out Elias' new shoes!

Okay, so NOT REALLY! I found these today and seriously cannot believe they market these shoes for baby boys!!!! Are you kidding me? Wow! Starting a little young with the sexual images, you think? How is this considered cool or cute? Would it be "cute" to put a pair of shoes on a baby girl with a sexualized (not sure if that is a word) silhouette of a man on them? I think it is pretty obvious that a man designed these shoes. Sad!!

In other (real) news this week:
Our anniversary trip went great! We stayed in Chattanooga and went to Ruby Falls and Lookout Mountain! It was a wonderful, refreshing weekend.

Elias' new word of the week is "mom-is" which translates to Thomas, as in the train. He has also started calling Gus "Dus" instead of Daddy. He told me the other night, "I want Dus". I said, "You want Gus?" His reply, "Day" (yes). We realized he constantly hears people calling his daddy Gus at church. Someone is always looking for him! The cuteness never ends with this kid!

5 years ago....

Five years ago today I married the most wonderful man! I love thinking about our wedding day. On that day I experienced one of the greatest feelings of peace I have ever had. I had spent 11 months planning EVERY detail of our wedding. If you know me at all you know that I have a tendency to really stress out about things, especially big events that I plan or am in charge of. Everyone (including Gus) expected me to be a total Bridezilla that worried and stressed over all the details on that day. However I still remember the overwhelming sense of peace I woke up with that day. I knew that everything was perfectly in place. I don't mean the details such as the flowers, decorations, or food, but our marriage, our union was all that mattered. I could have cared less if the church looked perfect, my hair was in place, or everyone thought it was a beautiful wedding. All I cared about was becoming Gustavo's wife. If that was the result of the day then everything was PERFECT! God filled me with such a joy and peace. I was 100% sure that this was exactly God's will for my life. I have questioned God on many occasions. I've asked questions such as why? Is this really what you want for me? How can this be right? Are you sure, God? But not on July 19, 2003. I never questioned, never doubted, never hesitated. It was the perfect day because we were joined together. We made a covenant to God and to each other. We became husband and wife! I still feel that peace when I think about the man of God I call my husband. Thank you, Lord for blessing my life in such an incredible way! Thank you for that day 5 years ago and every day since that we have served you together. Thank you for the many, many more we have to go!

New Job!

I finally have a (actually a 2ND one) work at home job! I think this one is going to work great for us. It is not a ton of $$ but gives us a little "breathing" room if you know what I mean! It has so many perks to it. First of all the schedule is entirely up to me! I can work WHENEVER I want for HOWEVER long I want! That means I can work around my family's schedule and my other part time bookkeeping job! It's actually a lot of fun too! If anyone else is looking for a fun way to make a little extra loot let me know. I would love to help sign you up on my team. Just call me or email me. If you don't have my # or email, leave me a comment and I will get back to you. By the way you do not have to sell products, buy anything, or call people.

In other news, Gus and I are like little kids waiting for Christmas morning just thinking about our upcoming anniversary trip! Cannot wait!

FINALLY Some Pics from Texas!

Girls are rare in this family.
Isaiah, Alexus, Elias, and Nana

Elias and Abuela

Elias and his new baby cousin, Josiah. He loved that baby!

This is not in Texas, but it is cute! This is how he prays.

Cousin Zack rocking Elias (Nana is in the background). He did not want anyone but Zackary to rock him that night!

Last Week in Review

-Gus and I are actually going away on a very short trip for our 5th anniversary, which happens to be the 19th. It is the first time we are going away together (just the 2 of us) since Elias was born. We have secured great babysitters and are super excited!

-Elias continues to learn new words all the time. The latest "big" word is "dyn-O-mite"! He pronounces it just like that and learned it from the Larryboy theme song. This song is one of his new obsessions, and he requests that I sing it 10-15 times each day!

-At the park the other day he found a locked door that went to some mechanical room. Upon finding the door was locked he ran over to me and said "I nee tees" which translates to "I need keys". I gave him my keys (because who could resist that sweet request) and he tried to unlock the door. I am still shocked when he uses complete sentences even though he does it quite frequently. However the sentence ALWAYS starts with "I nee" or "I want" and ends with one of the following: "Bob, Boz, cookie, cup, daddy, choo-choo, meow, tees, wawer, bubbles, ball, dis (paci), Bri-Bri, or eat-eat".

-At the same park he went to the picnic table climbed up and sat down. He then folded his little hands, closed his eyes, said some gibberish that I could not translate, and then yelled out "Amen"! I almost started crying in the park!

-I've been looking for a part time job. I need something super flexible and low to no stress. Seems like a tall order, but we are praying about it and know that God will work everything out!