Christmas then Mickey

Happy New Year! It's 2011...the birth year of our second child! Crazy! Before moving on though, I'd like to share a few snapshots of our Christmas in California. Despite the fact that I was miserably ill, we had a great time as a family of three. Katin is still young enough that she had no idea what was going on...which means mommy and daddy didn't really have to buy her anything and Santa didn't have to come....which means grandma and grandpa did....which means she has new toys! And although it was far from a white Christmas, we still sipped hot chocolate but also walked down to the beach :)

year number two for the giant stocking...we'll see how many years we can put her in it!

ooohhh...what's in there?! a talking pony that I can ride anytime I want?!?! COOL!

her very own pink chair...that daddy has used more for a pillow :)

A couple days after Christmas, Thomas, Katin and I went to Disneyland with our free passes. It was the busiest day I've ever seen, but we weren't there running around for fast passes on this trip. On the top of the list was Dumbo and meeting Mickey mouse. Both were accomplished and both were LOVED by Katin. She'll never remember going, but that's why we have cameras people!

DUMBO! First ride of the day and she loved it! She even made it go up and down all by herself!

hold on!

the first thing she did was grab his (although I think it's a girl in there) nose and shake it...so funny!

yeah for Disneyland!

how could we pass up an official "kodak picture spot"?!

Happy New Year! Enjoy God's many blessings in 2011!

Kassie and Mason Visit

We had a great time while Kassie and Mason were here visiting. We were so glad that they made the trek out here to see us and spend time with us. What a blessing it is to have a friend like Kassie and I'm sure if Katin could talk, she'd say the same about Mason. A few highlights from their trip:

Huntington Beach Boat Parade. We got to watch decorated boats go by while shouting "Merry Christmas" to the boat riders. The kids loved all the lights!

My Gym class where Mason and Katin got to play in the ball pit, climb up ladders, slide down slides, crawl in tunnels, swing on swings, and dance to songs. Let's just say they were tuckered out afterwards!

One of my favorite pictures of all time! I think it will be featured at their wedding...hahaha. We had a great time dipping our toes in the sand and cold ocean water.

Kassie, my mom and I went on a nice walk along Three Arch Bay beach- no sea glass or shells to be found, but good conversation, beautiful scenery and a few good pics of us friends!

Thanks so much for visiting! We can't wait to see you again soon and create more fun memories with your family. Miss you already!!!!!

Giving Thanks to the Lord

"In that day, you will say; give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known among the nations what he has done and proclaim that his name is exalted." Isaiah 12:4

My friend Juliet and I are memorizing Isaiah chapter 12. You may think, wow, that's pretty awesome, but let me be the first to tell you that it's a whopping six verses. We will be done next week where we will recite the entire six verse chapter to each other at BSF. It's been a good thing for me. If she hadn't agreed to memorize it with me, I'll be honest, each verse would be on a note card, but the note cards would just sit next to my bed. So thanks, Juliet!

Verse four came at a wonderful moment in my life. A moment that will be marked forever with God's goodness and faithfulness. A moment that I will remember as my Isaiah 12:4 moment.

So little surprise baby number two is on the way....due in April. She's a she! Katin's going to have a little sister! Sidenote- I grew up (and am still growing up) with a little sister that I love dearly, which is another blog post all in itself. We're thrilled. Beyond thrilled!

After my 20 week ultrasound, the doctor couldn't find a stomach bubble that they always seem to look for. She said the heart was on the same side as the stomach and that there was a possible hernia in the diaphragm causing this jumble of intestines to be in the chest cavity. She didn't want to say that it was a 100% correct diagnosis, but by the sounds of it, I was catching her drift that it was pretty likely. She sent me to the high risk ultrasound doctor (I'm sure she has a better name than that, but you get the point). She sent me to her FIVE DAYS after sher talked with me. So for five whole days we waited.

And waited.

And prayed.

And ate a lot of turkey and mashed potatoes.

A lot of people waited and prayed (and ate a lot of turkey and mashed potatoes). So thanks! Thanks to all who prayed because God is good and hears our prayers! We prayed that this little baby would be healed and knit together a little better. We prayed God would heal her and get all the glory he so rightly deserves. We prayed that this little being would be a testament to God and his goodness and that we would ultimately be closer to Christ through this trial.

It worked.

Although those five days lingered...... and.... lingered..... and.....

Baby number two looked perfectly normal on Tuesday. Her heart was in the right place, the stomach bubble was in clear view and the diaphragm was perfectly knit together. Praise God!

So...may it be known among the nations (right now it's the blogging nation) what God has done and can I joyfully proclaim that his name must be exalted?!?!?! Today and everyday I will give thanks to the Lord for this miracle and many others, and I'll call on his name to continually humble me with his grace.

I'll leave you with a picture of our little girl. Who would like it very much to continue to be prayed over.

My little Family

Family

(yep, I'm about to do an acrostic poem...I guess I miss teaching)

F- Fun to be around and make silly faces with.

A- A+ for effort. Being a mommy and a daddy come with days of failure, forgiveness and fictory (I had to stick with f's)

M- Mini Milburn (Katin) is almost walking, saying please, eating mushrooms (gross!) and loving the ocean.

I- I have to say... Thomas is the greatest, most loving, forgiving, diaper changing, bath giving, foot rubbing, joke telling, husband, man and prayer warrior I'll ever know.

L- Love fills the air...well, most of the time. Sometimes the air is filled with farts, whining, macaroni and cheese or all of the above.

Y- Young love- starts with friendship, CU football, walks in the park, an elf hat, a beach wedding, a condo, family game nights, family visiting, snow camping and a baby.

Oh how I love my little family.

Thanksgiving in Huntington

On Sunday we took a trip up to Huntington Beach to spend time with the Williams family for an early Thanksgiving celebration. We had the works! Katin's favorite were the sweet potatoes. No pictures of the actual meal and whole family, but we snapped a few while we were outside checking out the boats in the harbor.

I know, cutest outfit ever! Aunt Cindy gave that to us when she was born and I've been waiting patiently to have her wear it!

Grandpa and Grandma Williams in their new backyard

I'm so thankful for my family! Especially my husband who loves us no matter what and will do anything to keep us all going...

And here is Lucky the starfish. Her friend Star the starfish was missing. They are my mom and Doug's new "pets".

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The Views We're Getting Used To

It's been quite a change of weather moving from Colorado to California, but the sunsets will forever be gorgeous in both places. Yes, I think we'll miss the snow. And yes, I think we'll miss the mountain view. And yes, I think we'll miss the colorful Colorado seasons, but for now we're enjoying our new views. Ones that anyone could get used to. It's been a blessing living here seeing the ocean each day and getting a whiff of that salty sea air.

Balcony View

Living Room View

SURPRISE!

Last weekend we got to fly to Colorado for Susan's surprise party! It was so fun to see the family and get together with them for food, fun and photos. These are some pics from the Milburn family photo shoot. Happy Birthday Susan!

Ahhhh....a little taste of Boulder

That's right, I got a little taste of Boulder right here in San Diego! We found the one and only Noodles and Company. I can't even tell you how excited I was about the difficult decision of what Noodle Bowl to get. It took a while, but I settled on one of my favs...Pesto Cavatappi complete with chicken, flat bread and a drink. And who goes to Noodles without eating a rice crispy treat afterward?!

It. Was. Wonderful. I felt like I could look out the window and see the flatirons, but all I saw was traffic. I felt like I could just stay there all day eating Noodle bowl after Noodle bowl, but Katin was with us.

Thanks Mom, Jordan and Aunt Donna! It was a magical adventure. Happy Birthday Donna!!!

Well, Noodles and Company in San Diego....I'm sure I'll be seeing you again real soon. And next time it's Japanese Pan Noodles for me!

Halloweeeeeeen!!!

TRICK-OR-TREAT!

So I must admit, Halloween isn't our favorite holiday around here. It's just OK. But we'll join in the fun even if we feel like the Halloween Grinches.

Despite our lack of Halloween spirit, we did get Katin all dressed up and we did pass out candy with a smile on our face to 164 trick-or-treaters but we did turn out the light at 8:48 so we could go watch Amazing Race.

After dressing up Katin in her ballerina outfit (thanks to Katie for the tutu) we headed out down the street to meet our new neighbors. We hadn't met them yet, only the ones right next door, so we decided to use Halloween to go and meet everyone on the block. It was great! Almost everyone invited us into their home to chat and of course they all wanted to meet our little ballerina.

I'm glad we went and met our neighbors. I have a tea date with Eileen this week :)

Oh, I can't publish this post without a few Halloween pictures! Enjoy!

Now it's time to let the pumpkins rot, put away those scary teeth and get jazzed for Turkey, jello salad, football and family! (I guess we can start getting excited about all that Christmas stuff that is filling the isles too)

Katin's First Birthday- Video Part

I couldn't help but include these videos of our sweet little one year old! I especially love the Rodey video!

Here she is playing on her new slide:

Here she is on her new toy Rodey:

Here she is eating her sprinkles:

Katin's First Birthday- Picture Part

Happy Birthday, Katin!

I know this is way too many pictures, but I had about 100 to choose from and narrowed it down to these to share with you all. (It's mostly for you, Aunt Bikini)

Katin had her first birthday at the Dana Point Harbor picnic tables. It rained all week long, with no sign of the sun. But on that Sunday morning, the sun woke us up and shined all day long! (It's raining again today) So, it was beautiful and Katin got to celebrate with her favorite poeple: Grandma Camera, Grandpa Doug, Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Michael. Crazy Aunt Donna and 6 limit picture-per-year Uncle Steve. Jordan and Chad. Golfer Uncle Martin and of course, super fun Uncle Harry. It was perfect! Although, a little overwhelming for the one year old.

We had pizza and salad to start and then it was time for presents. Apparently there was a buy one get one sale on little people, so we have now started a collection of those tiny little figurines. Grandma Camera sent a slide to the house the day before, Thomas put it together and why not take it to the harbor?! It was great fun, along with that Rodey Donkey that she opened as well. (Video to come)

Cupcake time has come! Crazy Aunt Donna baked a giant one for Birthday Girl and Thomas's prediction about how she would go about eating it was correct. All Girl! She put her dainty little fingers in the frosting and picked out each sprinkle one at a time. Eventually she stuck her face on it to get a more sprinkle-filled bite. But overall she was very neat about the whole thing. We love our little cupcake!

Thanks for celebrating our 'she's no longer a baby anymore, going to be walking soon, poops like no other, says mama and dada, loves to dance, one year old'.