Bella turns 8!

My first born and only girl has a birthday today. She is 8. How come every birthday with every child seems so shocking? When do we stop being baffled at how fast these kids are growing up?

Bella, Bella, Bella.

This girl, as always, is something else. Here are some words that really fit her right now.

//mature//

Bella is blossoming into a very mature girl. One thing I've always had to be aware of in myself is the very high expectations I place on my girl. She looks and acts so much older than she is. She has a heightened awareness of her surroundings and the people in it. She is incredibly insightful. She sees and hears you when you don't think she does. She remembers every word you've ever spoken in regards to something promised to her. :) She also prefers adult conversation over playing with kids. I regularly have to remind her to play with her friends and let me talk to mine. :)

//brave//

Her heart is brave. She tries new things, doesn't need help with much, and has big ideas. She has a very tender spot for those less privileged than her... she currently has posters hanging in her room that ask for money to feed the poor. She has had long discussions with me about us fostering children in our home. She is a fixer. And she has genuine compassion. I see true evidence of the Holy Spirit living inside of this girl and beckoning her down His path. That is what I'm most grateful for when I look at her life.

//motherly//

I'm certain I could walk out of the house with my 3 boys under Bella's care, and when I returned, all would be well. She is very bossy with her brothers, and through her strong persuasive skills, can almost always get them to do what she wants. She puts them under a big sister spell or something... I've found the boys cleaning her room many times. Haha! She adores baby Finn and is so caring with him. Her name is the only sibling name he can say right now. She carries him, reads to him, gets him snacks, swims with him, rocks him... they both eat it up. She was born with those mothering skills!

I love this picture... she dressed up her brother and cousin in her clothes.

//strong-willed//

This one will always describe Bella. Once strong-willed, always strong-willed. Because she is older, we have lots of conversations trying to work out frustrating situations. Mark is very good at this. His reasoning skills are outstanding, and she listens to him. Her and I though... the mother/daughter relationship is very unique. Especially if the both of you are very much alike. I understand her very well, and I become incredibly proud of her and the decisions I see her making. But as stated above, I have high expectations for her, so I equally get very frustrated with poor choices or lately, poor attitudes and sassiness, and this is where it gets tough. I consistenly pray for our relationship... that the struggles won't beat us but grow us.

//diva//

This girl is 100% pop-star diva obsessed right now. She loves fashion, music, dancing, stars... oh, and mirrors. She loves to sing and dance in front of mirrors. It. Is. Hilarious. She loves high heels, sparkles, hair colors, make-up, purses... I'm pretty sure she envisions herself as Taylor Swift. She wants music blaring and the floor cleared for her *performances*. We are keeping a close eye on all of this... because it's bad news bears out there ya'll... too many public figures that I would be happy with Bella never ever ever knowing about.

Her double sister a.k.a. cousin Macy

//self-motivated//

Bella has recently gotten into some athletic hobbies... she was watching closely as I trained for my triathlon. :) She joined a swim team this summer, and I was most surprised by her self-motivation. She found a clock, learned how to set the alarm, and was up and waiting every morning on us to drive her to practice. She practiced hard and was very competitive. Bottom line is she wanted to win. And she swam as fast as she could. This is all without Mark or I ever saying a word to her. One day when I picked her up from practice, we proceeded to have this conversation...

"How was practice?"

"It was great... I won several times."

"Oh, you were racing today?"

"Well, not exactly. I was racing kids on my own during our laps. I looked over at this boy, and he was looking right into my eyes, and I knew it was on. I knew I had to win."


Ummm... I didn't even know what to say. I was laughing inside and trying not to smile. And also wondering what in the world we were going to do with her. Maybe give her a humility medal.

She wants a road bike for her birthday, she is running a 5k with me in a couple of weeks, and she wants to give volleyball and basketball a try this year. And so it begins...

She was the first to make me a mother. The first I nursed. The first I rocked. The first I fretted over. Being her mother is a beautiful challenge... an incredible journey. And there's still so much to come. So instead of being sad that my girl is growing up, I choose to be grateful and joyful today that my girl is GROWING UP... that is is gift!

I heard Bella using photo booth on the computer this morning. When I went back to look at her pictures, these were a couple that I found.

Beautiful and looking too grown up.

Also, photo booth provides an unlimited amount of selfies... she took 54... with all the effects. And so year 8 begins...

Happy Birthday Bella Kathryn!

Cancun

My sister and SIL turn 30 this year, so about a year ago, we started talking about an adults only all-inclusive trip to Mexico.

The trip ended up including Mark and me, my two brothers and their wives, my sister and her friend, and my SIL's brother and girlfriend... did you get all that? :-)

The point is that three of us have children... 8 all together, so the planning that went into childcare was extensive. We are beyond blessed with the grandparents that our children have, so between 4 sets of grandparents, we got to jet away for 6 days! What a gift! Thank you, thank you, thank you to our parents!

It was beautiful. And wonderful to be with family and friends. We laughed tons, ate tons, and got a lot of sun. We swam with whale sharks, snorkeled, some went scuba diving... we read books, took naps, ran on the beach, played volleyball, ate at nice restaurants... and... slept all night uninterrupted!

Sunset

My sisters!

Starfish

Our whale shark guides made us fresh ceviche... you won't find better anywhere.

LBD night

Early morning... infinity pool

Our last day, we were all discussing who has the next big birthday so we can go back. :-)

Finn turns ONE!

My BABY just turned 1.

Our sweet little Finn Allen... what to tell you about him?

* He is a very happy baby and has the best open mouth smiles.

* He loves loves loves his family. How could the youngest of four not?! He eats up all the attention he gets from big sis and big brothers... they carry him, play with him, walk him, hug and kiss him, yell with him... he tolerates it very well... it's all he's ever known!

* He loves mommy and daddy. He is full of hugs and kisses, and he loves to be in someone's arms.

* He is very busy, as most one year olds are. He is in to everything. He leaves a tornado trail behind him at all times. This really doesn't phase me... it's my fourth go around. :)

* He understand *NO* and hears it often. The biggest curve ball Finn has thrown us is his strong will. Yes, you read it right. This kid has a very strong will. His nickname used to be "gentle giant"... that nickname has been retired. He can give me some very tiring days if his mood is less than ideal.

* Speaking of giant, Finn is a big boy! Surprise! :-)  He is 70th percentile for weight and wait for it... 100th percentile for height. Like all of our children.

* He is walking more and more everyday and has a cheering section of siblings.

* He eats anything and everything... I can't think of one things he has ever refused to eat. He currently eats the same amount of food as Max (3 years).

* He says dada, mama, Bella, doggie, wa-wa (water), and hot.


Bella frequently tells me that no amount of sisters could every replace our Finn. :-) (She wanted a sister when I was pregnant with him.) She is so good with him and helps me so much. Her birthday is in a week, so she will get her own post. :-)


My ever so talented SIL took some one year pictures of Finn. They capture his personality very well... he smiles when he wants to and plays hard ball if he sees fit.

His little mouth is just as kissable as it looks!

We love this little boy so much. Happy 1st Birthday Finn Allen!

CapTex Tri

I haven't written a post in 8 months... my last post was about Finn at 4 months, and he just had his FIRST birthday! (Sad face)

It's been a normal busy summer around here... lots of swimming, grilling, friend and family time, and a little bit of school (on those hot days where we are just at home).

I want to back up to spring though when I participated in my first race which also happened to be a triathlon. I need to back up even further to January. Let me state the facts: I am a mother of four, who stays at home and home schools. I also have never really had a hobby other than my teaching job... but that was a job. I started really having an itch to get a gym membership, so one cold morning in January, I set my alarm for 4:30am and bit the bullet. And the rest is history... I was hooked. I played sports all throughout high school, I exercised off and on after that, but I had never gotten into a consistent routine since I had Bella.

Let me tell you why I got hooked. It was ME time, it was at the beginning of my day, it was something I could work hard towards and feel a sense of accomplishment, and I was feeling healthier and stronger everyday. I quickly realized, it was benefiting my entire day... it was just as mentally beneficial as it was physically.

Fast forward to March when my SIL talks me into doing a triathlon. Ha! She caught me at the perfect time... I was feeling healthy and was intrigued by the challenge. I started training hard... I had to basically teach myself how to do the freestyle stroke and complete a mile distance in the water. I swam at my gym and in a pond. That was interesting. I bought a road bike, fell in love with it, and pedaled a lot of miles across town. My bike distance in the race was 25 miles. And then the running... I've never enjoyed running, but the more in shape I got, the easier it was becoming. And soon, I was experiencing the runner's high. I set personal goals for myself and accomplished them... 10 miles and 13 miles. My run in the race was 6 miles. The majority of this was done before my family woke up in the mornings.

So, a 1 mile swim, 25 bike, 6 mile run.

Back in May, I'm sure you remember, it rained for DAYS. This eventually proved to be a big problem down in Austin (the location of the race)... the river we were supposed to swim in was littered with debris (as in tree branches), the water levels were extremely high, and the current was dangerously strong. The day before the race, they announced that the swim was going to have to be canceled. I was doing the race with my two SILs, and we were DEVASTATED. Week after week, we had trained for 3 events, not 2... I drove to Austin to do a triathlon! So after sulking for awhile, we got the idea to wake up before the race and do our swim at a different location. The next morning, our alarms went off at 4am, we were in a lap pool at a gym by 4:30, we swam our distances, and were back at the race site in plenty of time to get to our bikes.

The sky was cloudy and looked like it could down pour at any moment. We had checked our weather apps no less than a hundred times. We were praying for the weather to hold off, so we could complete the race. Our nerves were through the roof. But finally, we were on our bikes!

We set a PR on our bikes... we were hauling. One of the very best moments for me was seeing my family cheering for me. It almost choked me up every time I passed by them. My parents, Mark and the kids, my siblings, friends... holding up posters, whistling, yelling... my heart was swelling!

The end of the run was pure adrenaline. My face speaks for itself.

It was such a wonderful experience for so many reasons. I will never forget my very first race.

I'm taking one race at a time... my next one is going to be a half-marathon with Mark in October. Our whole family is really getting into the racing spirit... Bella joined a swim team this summer, her and I are running in a 5K in a couple of weeks, and Jack and her are wanting to do a kids triathlon in September. It's really special to see my family embracing a new found love, doing it together, and fostering a healthy lifestyle. It's a really good fit for us right now. :)