Phew!

What a RUSH! We were sure caught up in the swing of Christmas this year! Lots of shopping, baking, and partying!

We are so grateful to have been able to spend so much time with our families and miss those we weren't able to see!

Here are a few pics of the fun we had before, during, and after Christmas. (sorry there aren't a ton)

 

 

 

Here's to a very Happy New Year! Much love to all and may God bless!

7 Fridays

Guys...
Ready for some excited blabber? Read On.

There are only 3 Fridays until THANKSGIVING and 7 Fridays until CHRISTMAS!

Hate if you must, but I am so happy to be in the Holiday Season! The smell of candied nuts at the mall (and in my kitchen), the Christmas music everywhere, Christmas shopping, Scarves, Falling leaves, decorating, and all the crafts! I started on my Christmas wreath a while back and I'm excited to finish it and show it off! It's definitely the biggest, sparkliest wreath I've ever made.
Oh Thanksgiving is going to be warm and cozy and soft, and Christmas is going to be bright and sparkly and classy and fun! Eeeeeep!

Don't worry, I'll keep you all in the loop on the coming décor and crafting and baking!

Savanna is 2!

Am I the only one having a hard time comprehending that my little girl is 2 years old!

2 years old!!!

Let's get nostalgic, shall we?



Savanna Renae Tuputeata Matagi
7:51am
7lbs, 3oz
20 inches long



We attended Auntie's wedding at just 12 days old!



Then we blessed our beautiful girl!



Here she is at 3 months old



And family pictures at 6 months old!



1 year (ish)

And now she's driving! Eeeep! ;)

At birth 7 lbs, 3 oz - Today 24.5lbs

At birth 20 inches long - Today 32 inches

She loves Minnie Mouse and princesses and music. She can count to 10, sing Twinke Little Star and almost do her ABCs! She's got attitude for DAYS and always keeps us on her toes.

I love you baby girl! We made it another year! Here's to many more!





baby #2

Before you get too excited, this is not the announcement you think it is. We are not pregnant. I just want to talk about it for a second.

Let me start by saying how flattered I am that so many of you want us to have another baby right now! It is truly delightful how excited y'all get every time I get sick! You think I am being sarcastic, but I mean it. Being a mother is the hardest thing I have ever done and it brings me joy and comfort the confidence you all have in me bringing another little bundle of joy into the world. 

We WANT another baby. This may come as a surprise to you, since I am always talking about how terrified I am, but we really do want another one. Heck, we want a couple more! We plan on growing our little family.

All that being said, I really wish I could go a day without hearing "when are you having another one?", "It's your turn.", and other common phrases alike. Why? Why if we are so excited to have more kids would that be an issue? Because having babies 1, 2, 3 or 10 is a deeply personal decision. One that is between my husband, myself, and the lord. And one I promise you we do not take lightly. So much thought goes into it, and when thought fails us, we pray. 

Plus, guys, when we do decide it is time to bless this earth with another baby matagi, we would like to be able to announce it to y'all when we are ready and asking about it everyday makes that impossible! 

Here is what I ask... I know it's a lot, but you guys are my friends and I think you can handle it... Don't stop telling me you're excited for us to have another baby. We need your continued support. Do stop asking when. In exchange, I promise you this: We will tell you when. When we are ready. Deal?

Finding Joy in my every day

Finding Joy in my every day... Ideally I'd like it to be a blog series... we'll see how well I can actually keep it up. Here goes "part 1"


Most of you probably already saw these pictures...

All of my siblings will understand why these photos brought me so much joy! 

When we were little, we used to wear my dad's t-shirts to bed ALL the time when our own jammies were "dirty." My sweet daddy had a whole drawer of t-shirts we could choose from, though we often argued about who got to wear what (mostly my brother and I)

So, the other night when I realized I was so far behind on laundry there was NO WAY I was gonna get Sav into clean jammies, I pulled out my own t-shirts for her. 

I love sharing things like this with my little one. It is so fun to see parts of my childhood that brought me so much joy, can do the same for her. Being a mommy is hard work, but moments like these make it all worth it.

What brought you Joy today? 

the joys of being a homeowner...

a little background...

   we bought our home in december of 2012. 1.5ish years after we were married and 2 montjs after our precious little one was born. everyone said "congratulations!" "impressive buying a home so early!" we had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into. you see... our front door doesn't seal properly, so we finally broke down and bought a new one. the hubs is pretty handy so it should have been a rrelativelu simple project,but because we own an older home we have an out of the ordinary door frame. long story short, it's not the diy project we thought it would be. we are having a few pros come out and give us bids. blah

also... we found a mouse. actually, mouses. MICE! in my house. needless to say, i had the pest people out here same day and a few days later.to get rid of those pesy lil rodents and then bleached everything in my house. so fun  :/

now it's spring and our project list gets longer every day...

new fence

new driveway

road base

plant garden

fertilize lawn

and on

and on

and

on

BUT i am oddly okay with it. i like taking care of/updating my home. MY HOME. and i love it. and the work it takes. 

Catching Up Series Pt. 2

Jamaica!

Beginning of December we went to Jamaica with a couple friends. We stayed at a beautiful resort in Montego bay right on the beach.
This trip was a lot of firsts for me...
1st flight
1st time in Colorado
1st time on the east coast
1st time out of the country
1st time on an island
1st time tasting jerk chicken, hard dough bread, and juicee pattees

Out the window of the plane as we landed in Montego Bay

Beautiful Greenery

More Beauty

Our Bed at the Resort. They made us a Heart <3

Walking around the Resort... 

Beach

The island across the water from the Beach at the Resort. We could walk to it.

Kiddos playing in the sand

More pretty island, right at sunset

The Jerk Hut, also at our resort, where we at every day. 

Pretty Gazebo where they did weddings, and vow renewals.

Entry to the Resort. 

We had an amazing time relaxing on the beautiful beach, snorkling around the island, visiting doctors cave and dunns river falls. We are so happy to be home with our little girl, but miss the beautiful weather, beach, and people of Jamaica.