Christmas Cutie

I was a bit disappointed there was no snow on Christmas. Not even close. But, because of the delightful sunshine, I got some great pics of the little miss in natural light. And because this was while her brother was napping, he is absent from these pictures. Millie got to ham it up.

Had to give you a view of the cute little Christmas booty.

Everything she has on is a hand-me-down.

The dress is a 3-6 month which fit well except for

the length. I like to call it: adorably short.

Doubt I'll be saying that in 15 years!

Ashey Cry

The day after Millie's 1st Bday party, Asher got his 1st haircut. Lots of milestones these days... If you ask him about it, tell him you like it, or just plain mention the word "haircut", he will tell you "Ashey cry". Yes, he cried. I strapped him in his high chair, pulled Barney up on YouTube (oh what a mother will do to distract her child...) and went for it. A snip here. A snip there. Little by little those wisps and locks fell to the floor. Tears were induced as if I were cutting into his very soul. BUT, as you can see from the before and after pics, it was much needed and turned out kinda cute actually.

(love the awkward toddler smiles)

Peek a Boo

It's been far too long since I posted a video... Girl could do this all day long.

Untitled from Sara Martin on Vimeo.

Bday pics

November has been brimming with birthdays. What a great way to kick off the holiday season. Excellent practice for best birthday celebration of all.

Here are some snapshots of Millie's 1st bday party. Thanks to Matt Lochtefeld for letting us borrow his awesome camera!

Bday girl rockin' the party poof- as I called it

Cupcakes compliments of Little Miss Cupcakes

at the Woodland Mall. (I know, what?!)

They looked great, tasted better and cost me $9

thanks to Groupon.

Gotcha nose, Grandpa Dietz!

Not walking yet, but getting there!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet, 16 lb peanut. As I often pray, may you supernaturally know God's great love for you and have a deep love for Him in return.

1st Bday

Amelia Grace's first birthday was yesterday. The weather was very similar to what it was on November 17th, 2010: Sunny but cold. I remember waking up that Wednesday morning thinking, Okay little lady, we have 2 days til you'll be forced out. (an induction was scheduled for Friday morning as she was nearly 2 weeks late) Let's get walking... And off we went, Asher in his bright yellow stroller and me with my ready-to-burst belly feeling like a freak of nature as we walked up to Panera. I had a free bagel waiting for me on my Panera card, yet I could not eat it. What was wrong with me? Asher and I sat and chatted with Zachari and Kelli for a while and then walked back home. I thought that baby might fall out of me she was felt so low!

It will all I could do to feed Asher some lunch and then get him down for a nap so I could lay down too. I just did NOT feel good. And then as I laid down and tried to rest, I knew it was happening. Finally. I called Ben who was supposed to come home for lunch and told him to let his boss know he wouldn't be back.

Things stared to get pretty intense pretty quick and luckily Asher took a brief nap. We dropped him off at the Alt's and came back home. Both of our mom's were on the way since they were invited to be a part of the birth. We tried to wait, but I felt like we should head to the hospital and get checked in. I didn't want to be going through all the nonsense when I was really laboring.

We got into our room around 3:30 pm. By 6 I was ready to push. At 6:09, our girl was here. Still time to eat some dinner :)

Oh good times... But I must say I'm enjoying not being pregnant right now. I like being able to keep up with my 1 and 2 year-old without constant fatigue and a giant belly.

Pics of the 1st Bday party to come...

Fall Pics and Projects

Here is a picture update of some things we've been up to this fall!

Uncle Joe and Aunt Lucy came stay to with us one weekend in October.

Here we are taking A&M on a horse-drawn hayride out at a fall festival

at the Wood Co. Historical Center.

Joe and Lu :)

In Asher's words: Tigey. Rooooar!

Pumpkin croquet (of sorts)

She's a giraffe, btw.

The verdict is still out of our official stance on Halloween in the Martin household. No, I don't like the idea of celebrating evil. But at the same time, it's nothing but fun for the kiddos to play pretend in their costumes... But the candy, oh the candy. I def. do not like the idea of all that sugar. I could list a million reasons, but mainly is just excessive and I don't like what it is teaching children who already have horrendous eating habits. (no fault of their own) I understand my kids will eat candy some day. Just not sure of how to commuincate that yes it tastes good, but no, it's not a good choice. I want to find the balance.

Nevertheless, on Halloween day, Asher and I did our own jack-o-latern project since we didn't get around to carving pumpkins.

We started with a jar and the supplies seen here.

Cut masking tape into pieces for the face.

Then I let Asher go-to-town with the paint.

There's really no way to screw it up since there were no

lines to stay in or boundaires of any kind. Just paint and get messy.

After the paint dried I pulled off the tape and voila!

We used a votive inside, but you could use a flameless candle too.

The Martin Fam passing out mini bags of pretzels (and M&M's since Ben thought

we'd get egged if all we gave out were pretzels) to trick-or-treaters.

Peace

I've been trying to make it. Peace that is. These past 2 weeks or so I've been trying to create peace in my heart. Something to calm the swirling in my head. I've tried clean counter tops. A de-cluttered home. Even dinner being prepared as Ben walks in the door so hungry kiddos and parents can fill their bellies before the fuss starts in. And I have found peace in these things, don't get me wrong. But it's not long before it fades away. It's not the kind of peace that transcends through me. It's the quick, fleeting, artificial kind.

It's funny because while I am trying to create this peace by doing things and accomplishing tasks, I know the whole time what I really need is to SIT DOWN. It may seem ironic, but the more things I have to get done, the more I need to sit down. I need to give it (whatever "it" may be) up to God. He is the only true source of peace in my life and I believe He has plans for my days, should I be open to following them...

So as I walked around feeling like the walls of my mind were caving in, I tried to squeeze in a bit of reading for our women's group.

Okay, here we go. Where did we leave off? Chapter 8. "Not as the World Gives-Peace Part I". Hmmmm....

I only got through the first few pages of this chapter before our group met, but our discussion resounded in my heart. The conviction of my disobedience of not-sitting grew. And grew. I finished chapter 8 and then 9, "A Soul at Rest- Peace Part 2" the next day during nap time. It was almost painful to not "do" anything during this quiet, uninterrupted hour. But God has used the words of the author and how she expounds on the Scriptures to further open my eyes.

Some things that have stuck with me:

(from "The Fitting Room-Putting on the Character of Christ" by Kelly Minter)

-The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, means "completeness, wholeness, health, peace, rest, harmony, and the absence of agitation or discord. Shalom is meant to bring us peace with God, with ourselves and with others..."

-"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives" John 14:27. (emphasis mine)

-God wants to speak deeply to what is troubling us and desires to give us a peace that is different from the paper-thin comforts of the world.

-He gives not as the world does. (LOVE this! So true! God's peace is everlasting. Unlike dazzling countertops that seem to be a magnetic force for drips and crumbs...)

-Biblical peace is far more than everything being in its place. ...my truest peace has to do with God's presence and what He says is true about me, not so much with everything holding together just so.

-"Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all the time they are the very source of all anxiety." Quoted from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship

- ... peace is a broad term that encompasses more than just an internal sense of well-being, but this inner rest is an unmatched gift we receive when we choose to live the way God prescribes.

-The beauty of peace is that it can be restored when we take the chisel of repentance to the stone of disobedience, and though this doesn't sound especially thrilling, it is much better if we hurry up and use our own chisel so that God doesn't have to use His-so I've found.

-It is God's kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), the act of turning around from the sin we have served and toward the presence of God through choosing obedience. God is quick to forgive, slow to wrath, and full of compassion for those who forsake their sin and seek His forgiveness. He is eager to restore peace to our troubled hearts, because it is the way He designed us to live when we came into relationship with Him in the first place: He Himself is our peace.

And just as I wrapped up those two poignant chapters, I moved on to a Bible study that I had been working on with a student who I meet with on a regular basis. We left off right as the school year ended last year and are trying to pick it up again to finish together. The topic of this week? Experiencing God's Peace.

Okay. I get it. Working on it...

Wedding Pics!!!

Here are a few pics from Joe and Lucy's wedding Labor Day weekend. What a day, what a couple! Love you guys!

Hello, Gorgeous Bride!

Never have I seen the guy smile like this!

The ring bearer

And flower girl

Mother of the groom, Sister of the groom, niece of the groom!

Couldn't even make it down the aisle w/o another kiss!

Off for a cruise in the '70 Skylark Joe brought from my Grandpa.

Rev'ed it up and off they went. Awesome.

Project Let's-Get-Some-Stuff-DONE

Last weekend Asher went to Nana and Grandpa Bill's (or Gampa Bol as Asher would say). We've got some before and after shots of projects that we worked on and finished! How lovely it was to be able to start something and see it through to a final product!

Here is a shelving unit I picked up at a garage sale for $8.

(Thank you purple house ladies)

After sanding it down and a few coats of paint, it makes a perfect shelf for Asher's room!

I added this cute fabric over the peg board backing for a personal touch. I'd like

to make valances out of this same fabric. Asher loves his doggies :)

While I worked on the shelf a few other things out in the garage, Ben was busy adding some color to Millie's room. I wanted to do a deep teal to contrast with her white furniture and pink bedding and valances. We kept two of the walls a neutral since the teal was really bold and I think it would have been a little too much to have the entire room done in that color. Will post more pics once we get her wall hangings up.

Before:

Hi! I LOVE having my own room.

After:

And quite possibly my favorite part of the weekend, Sunday afternoon my girl and I walked downtown to run some errands. Just mother, daughter and Moby wrap.