Making a Blog Private

Up until 4 days ago I didn't care who could read our blog. I figured who in the world would find it without knowing who we are right? And I didn't mind if people found our blog thru mutual friends, people at church, old college friends.  Until I got a comment in my e-mail box from some lady that I don't know, telling me that she loved my pictures.

Fast forward to today- CREEPY.  I still get creeped out when I think about it. I have pictures of my children- and I've never really been the paranoid type.  But thanks to my friend Danelle (cold case files) and I'm sure watching too much "CSI" and "The first 48"- I'm officially paranoid. 

So- our family blog is now private. Pictures of my children and my family won't be viewed by random people who I don't know. And believe it or not, I feel a little bit safer.

Oh the innocence of it all

So Thursday we were driving home from my friend Karlee's house. I decided to take side streets, which takes us around park hill so that Mikey could look at all the Christmas lights.  We get to the animal park and have this conversation:

"MOMMY- I see baby Jesus in his manger- look over there- He's RIGHT THERE..." mind you he's yelling

"Yep Mikey, there's baby Jesus" I'm trying so hard to giggle quietly

"And those guys mommy and the animals. And baby Jesus is right there" with the biggest smile on his face.

Oh if we, adults, only took God's word as literal like a child does. I mean think about it- God says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you a hope and a future." I mean- He said it so why do we ever worry about anything at all? He already has it perfectly planned for us. 

Samuel's Dedication

Last Sunday we had Samuel dedicated, which was extra special because Uncle Ivan got to do it. It wasn't anything very elaborate, but it has a huge significance for us.  Our prayer for Samuel is that he grows to love the Lord with all of his heart and desires to serve Him.  We pray that he is like the prophet Samuel in that he listens to the Lord when He calls him.  What a blessing it is to have babies that we can dedicate back to the Lord.

Uncle Ivan and Samuel Phillip, 5 months old
Our family of 4, soon to be 5 :)  Looks like we'll be back next year doing the same thing!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This year it literally took me ALL day to decorate.  Gone are the days of coming home early from work and decorating interrupted for 3 straight hours.  Here's how the day went:

The house is completely clean, which is huge for me right now because I'm so stinkin' out of it. Anyway- the formal living room before, 

My stair case always looks so boring before the decorations are all up:
This is mid-way through.  We stopped for lunch, Michael helped me by pulling EVERYTHING out of the box. Which really drives me nuts because I have a system, oh well, guess I have to be flexible right?  
The funny thing about this is that if Phillip were here- he'd be going CRAZY.  He can't stand messes, and this is quite the mess!  I'm at about the half-way point here so I decided since both the boys were fed and fast asleep, I should catch a little nap :)
I finally finished at about 5pm- just in time for Phillip to walk through the door and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  I just thought this picture was cute so I included it.

See what I mean about the stair case being boring!
Ahh...I love Christmas lights. My favorite thing to do is to sit in front of the Christmas tree with all the main lights off and enjoy the glow of the Christmas lights.
See- much better right?
I have a funny story about the stockings.  So last year I bought us matching stockings, I originally purchased 4. Phillip was VERY adamant that we were done after baby #2.  As I was standing in the check-out line I started thinking.  What if in like 4 years I accidentally get pregnant? Then I'll have to buy all new Christmas stockings- because these won't match!  So I went back, purchased one more just in case :)  Good thing I purchased one more just in case! One more thought I had at 3am the other morning- my stocking holders came in packages of 2, naturally I bought 3 packs.... hmmm.... no, we're done ;)

Christmas Traditions

One tradition we do each year is go to Nana and Papa's to decorate the Christmas tree, eat cinnamon rolls and listen to Phillip recite scenes from Home Alone :) The original Loya 5 have obviously been doing this their entire lives.  The added Loya clan members have been doing this for 8+ years.  What a fun tradition it is.  

This year was Samuel's 1st tree decorating experience, Bailey's 2nd, Michael & Benjamin's 3rd and Allyson's 6th!  Now here's a fun thought to wrap your brain around.  This time next year, Lord willing, this will be the age breakdown of all 7, yes 7 grandchildren:

Ally- 7 yrs

Benjamin- 4 yrs

Michael- 4 yrs 

Bailey- 2 yrs

Samuel- 1 yr

Baby Wagner- 6 months

Baby Sophia :)- 5 months

That's right folks- 6 children under the age of 4, and 4 children under the age of 2! If that doesn't make your head hurt I don't know what will.  But I have a secret to share- I get SO excited at the thought of adding babies to our growing family, both immediate and extended.  If Phil would let me, I'd have at least 2 more (not so close together OBVIOUSLY), but none the less, I love it :) There's just something about big families that make me smile.  Anyways- I digress...

Lindsay usually gets stuck decorating the tree because we're all headed in different directions after the children. But this year was a little different, Ally and Benny were very excited to decorate. Michael was too, until Papa spoke those magical words (you'll see these in a minute)... isn't Lindsay's baby bump SO stinkin' cute :)  She finds out in a week whether it's a boy or a girl (we're hoping for a girl!)

Ivan and Benny wrestling like they usually do.

So Michael started to decorate the tree until Papa mentioned trains.  Of course Mikey tore after him towards the back bedroom and there they stayed until the cinnamon rolls were done!

Cinnamon rolls- can't you smell the yummyness :)  Phillip told Mikey that Nana makes them JUST for him!
Michael's new favorite saying, "These are my favorites" so of course, he repeated that phrase over and over as he was eating his cinnamon rolls.  The next morning we had this conversation:

Mikey, "Mommy can you make my favorites again?"

Me, "Your favorite what Michael?"

Mikey, "Dhose favorites that Nana made me and Daddy."

Me, "You mean cinnamon rolls?"

Mikey, "Yeah, I like dhose"

Me, "Mommy doesn't make those Mikey, only Nana can"

Mikey, "Call her mom"

Ummmm... yeah probably not.

The Birthday Festivities continue

I think its safe to say that Michael's birthday week has come to an end.  I say week because it feels like it's been going on all week :) We started with a family party at Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Shauny's, then there was his actual birthday- lunch with Uncle Rogie and Aunt Karlee, surprise presents in the mail and finally... what he'd really been waiting for: a birthday train party with "all his friends".

My sister-in-law had the brilliant idea a couple months ago for a birthday party.  Why not just invite all our kids friends over before lunch time and have a party with mommies and kiddies. I mean honestly girls- does your husband enjoy spending half his Saturday at some kids birthday party??? Brilliant isn't it! The kids get to play with each other and your husband isn't sitting in the corner- giving you the "lets go already" look- it's a win-win situation.  Anyway, each day for about a week he'd wake up and ask me, "Mom- is today my party with all my friends?" And then we'd have to count the days.

So it finally arrived, he was thrilled. By now he realized he was getting toys for his birthday- so we had to work that out :)  Oh how quickly our yucky sin-nature rears it's ugly head!  He got to play outside, play trains, play in his bedroom- all the things a boy could wish for. There were about 15 kiddos running amuck in my house (thankfully daddy was at work!). But what fun we had, Michael was blessed by the many people who love him. And mommy's finally glad this week is winding down!

I would have never guessed that 15 kids could squish at my table made for 6!

The happy birthday boy!
How is it that in .3 seconds you can become consumed by children!
Gabby and Samuel- the best little helper girl ever!
Yep- more Thomas the Train movies!

Michael turns 3!

I use to hear my friends say all the time, "I can't believe my child...". Well, yesterday I was the one actually thinking it. I can't believe Michael is 3 years old!  I have to be honest that I was very sappy and kind of emotional that day- it doesn't help I'm pregnant too- anyway- I kept looking at him and thinking to myself that I couldn't believe it's been 3 years.

My how our lives have changed. No more lazy Saturday mornings in bed, no more hopping the car to just go a few places, no more "hey lets go away for the weekend", no more anything :)

Oh but the blessings those things have been replaced with:

Saturday mornings watching Tom & Jerry in bed

Cooking his favorite breakfast: shaw-sage, french-toast, bacon and pancakes!

Hearing his sweet little voice around the house

Teaching him what it means to have a happy heart.

The list could go on and on, I never could have imagined what a blessing it would be to be a mommy. And each year I'm reminded of the easy pregnancy I had, the excitement of his birth, how he taught both of us to be more selfless. Words cannot express how grateful I am that the Lord's blessed us with another fun-filled year with Michael.

Here he is with daddy playing with one of his new toys- building a "Rite-Aid" for his trains to go to!