Charlie and Sierra

It's time for an update on my lovely girls.


I love this picture!!!

CC and SiSi are doing great this Summer.


Charlie is in Summer School and is having a ball. They're doing tons of activities at her school this summer which include Movie days, Sports days, Water days and- her favorite- Cooking days. I think she likes the Cooking day the best because she gets to wear an apron and one of my headscarves. She's also taking weekly piano lessons and daily swim lessons which are going really well. Her ballet class is out for the summer but that doesn't stop her from gracing us with a performance a few nights out of the week. I even took her on you tube to show her some real ballet performances- she LOVED them. She's also my little songstress. She makes up songs all the time and her favorite grown up songs are Keri Hilson's Knock You Down and Jill Scott's Do You Remember. She's still into princess movies and still talks about getting married but now it's Seamus that she's going to marry, not Sam. She loves going to church with me on Sundays and it's something that the 2 of us get to do together which is nice. Charlie's really excited about the new baby but has made it clear that she wants a little brother. She said, and I quote, "Mom, if there's a baby girl in your stomach then I mind, because I really want a baby brother." She's told me on numerous occasions that she "asked God" for a baby brother :). But she's also promised to be a good big sister even if it's a girl and she won't let me leave her room at night without kissing my belly. I'm so, so, so blessed to have a daughter like her.

Sierra is growing so fast. Her vocabulary is coming along and she pretty much has real conversations now. She LOVES to sing and dance and right now her favorite songs are from the Barbie Princess and the Pauper soundtrack... and Bow Wow's You Can Get it All- not the most appropriate song for a 2yr old to sing I know, and I don't even know how she picked up the chorus like she did, but if that song comes on she sure is in the back like, "Whoooo hoooooo, baby you can get it allll, you can get it allllll..." It's too cute!! She's doing really well with her potty training which I'm very happy about. She loves makeup and it isn't uncommon for me to check on her during her naptime only to find her in my room playing in my makeup, which I'm never happy about. Sierra is very sweet but very feisty. I'll repeat. Very. Feisty. She's in her "No" stage right now so many suggestions I make during the day are met with folded arms and either a flat out "no" or an "I don't want to". Of course she has to do what Mommy says anyway but she does try to put up a fight, albeit a losing one, when she doesn't get her way. Lately that's been a few times a day. It's weird because I've never dealt with this before, at least not with my children. Charlie had her times when she tried to test us but she must've been a faster learner when it came to figuring out who the boss in this household is because she has always been really well behaved. I don't enjoy disciplining Sierra but I have to force myself to be consistent with her. I'll be damned if I wind up with a 16yr old walking around my house like she's running things. But I digress. She's still such an awesome little girl. Like Charlie, she's taking swim lessons and her teacher, who was Charlie's first teacher, just loves her to death... But everybody loves her to death :).

I'm so fortunate. My girls are smart, sweet, loving and hilarious. They say and do some of the funniest things and Marcus and I are constantly looking at each other in disbelief at the things that come out of their mouths. They love us so much and more importantly, they love each other. They argue and fight but they have each other's back no matter what. When we're play fighting they always come to each other's rescue. And don't let another kid mess with one of them. We were at a function not too long ago at the home of one of Charlie's classmates and although Sierra was the youngest and smallest she was being really aggressive, taking toys, even hitting other children. Charlie shared with me the next day that after I pulled Sierra out of the kid's room and made her sit with me in time out, Charlie's friend told her that she didn't like Sierra and she wasn't going to be Sierra's friend. Now she had a point, I mean, I wouldn't like someone who came in my house and thought she was gon' snatch my toys and hit me either. Charlie's response was, "If you're not going to be my baby sister's friend then you're not going to be my friend." Even though I completely understood where Charlie's friend was coming from, I was really proud of Charlie for standing up for her sister.


Anyway here are some recent pictures of my daughters doing their thing.
Enjoy :)

Showing off their dance moves.


Making funny faces.




You've all seen this one :).




This was just yesterday during what was supposed to be naptime... Lipgloss all over her hands... and her face...



...and her body.


Look at that mouth. She used half a tube of lipgloss.


In Mommy's heels, they have good taste.

Hugging it out.

One of my favorites of Charlie at the beach.

SiSi chillin' in front of the TV.


Charlie after church last Sunday.

CC pumping gas with Daddy.

It's never too early to learn... soon Mommy won't have to do it ;).

SiSi & Daddy at the Dr. w/ Mommy last week.

The cuteness.

Working on their scooter and roller skate skills.

After swim lessons.

With their awesome swim teacher Miss Mako.

Ramblings about purpose, fear and REALLY living your life

I've always known that I was supposed to do something big with my life. Not necessarily something that would make me wealthy or well known, but something that would impact many people a major way. I just didn't know what that thing would be. In the meantime I've lived my life trying to be a good daughter, sister and friend. I've been supportive and loyal and I've given tons of advice... both solicited and, as my friends and family can attest, unsolicited :)...

Then I became pregnant with Charlie, my focus shifted, and I began to think that maybe I wasn't supposed to be the one to impact or even change the world... Instead, my role was possibly to raise the one's destined to have this great, positive impact on people's lives. So I threw everything I was into being the best mom I could be. Period.
Because seriously, raising the people who are going to "change the world" is a huge responsibility.

But the truth is, there is something that I am meant to do with my life, aside from being a great mom, and I found it! There were clues everywhere and this nagging voice that kept saying 'you should do this'. It took me a few years but I finally listened and once I did, wow, what came out was so awesome and exciting that I believed it had to be because I was finally walking in my annointing.

But even with all that there recently came a point where I was afraid that I was wrong. Even though I had done something that I knew was absolutely meant for me to do, even though it was work that I was proud of and I knew would be successful, there was this fear that presented itself and said 'What if... What if this is a waste of time? What if this isn't well received? What if you fail?'
Fear. A fear that almost stopped me in my tracks. Almost.

I came to realize that you have to live your life without being afraid of failure. That the people who are successful and who do the most good are those who take risks. That you must believe in yourself and know that there can really be no failure in going for the things that are in your heart and that you are passionate about. It's been about a month since the fear that almost stole my destiny has come and gone and I have been walking on air ever since.

I never planned on sharing this part of my journey with anyone. My plan was to just work hard and then dazzle you all with what I've been up to- which btw I still plan to do- But today my Uncle Frank died suddenly. He was young, had no health problems that anyone knew of, but while he was eating lunch his stomach started bothering him and he collapsed. My cousin CC who was home with him at the time called 911. By the time the paramedics arrived his heartrate was down to 20. They were able to get it to 80 before they loaded him into the ambulance but by the time they got him to the hospital he had lost consciousness and they never got him back. That fast, he was gone.

My point is you have to jump in and live your life, I mean really live it. DO the things that make you happy, that give you purpose. Make your mark on this world. And don't live your life being too afraid of doing the things that you know will bring you joy cause you never know when it'll be too late.

Anyway that's all.

Wait- no it's not!
If there are people in your life that are important to you make sure they know it! If you have children, if you have parents, tell them you LOVE them. I have 3 cousins who woke up today with a father that they could talk to and exchange I love you's with and when they go to bed tonight they won't have him. Seriously... don't take your time with them for granted...

Baby News!!!

You guys know how excited I am to be pregnant. What you may not know is my lack of excitement when it comes to having my baby in Okinawa. Not that I don't think there are great hospitals in Okinawa, I'm sure there are. But I wouldn't be having my baby at one of those hospitals, my child would be born at the Navy Hospital on Camp Lester. Now I've never had to go to the hospital here and I won't spend my time bashing the hospital because women are having babies there everyday it seems, but I just didn't feel good about it. I don't know what it is... I mean, could be the emergency room horror stories I've heard, or the post natal recovery horror stories that I've heard but something about delivering there doesn't make me comfortable. That said, I was thrilled when Marcus said to me, "Why don't we just have the baby in the states?"
So, there you have it, we're gonna have the baby in AZ surrounded by our families and friends who may as well be family. The girls and I will arrive in the states just before Thanksgiving, Marcus will join us at Christmas and we'll be there until late Feb. Dr. Webb, who delivered Charlie and who I absolutely ADORE, will deliver the new baby and I couldn't feel better about it.
I'm just looking forward to being home and getting spoiled by my Moms and Dads, ooh and stuffing my face with Aryn Murray's famous fried chicken, cabbage and yams... mmm, mmm, good.

Picture of the week

I was going through my camera and found this photo. This is what happens when you leave your 2yr old alone in your room in reach of the lotion. I have to admit though, it made for a very cute photo :).

New Figure

Hey folks! This is the new me. You don't even have to say it... Hot right??? No I'm just messing around :).

I'm fifteen weeks. I haven't thrown up since last Saturday (read the Kayaking post below)... And all is wonderful! I'm looking forward to finding out the sex of the baby but not as much as Charlie. She's so funny. A couple weeks ago she said, and I quote, "Mom, if there's a baby girl in your tummy, I mind... because I really want a baby brother..." LOL. Anyway we've got 5 weeks before we find out. I'll keep you posted!

Adventures in Paradise

This is our secret beach. We found it by accident in our first few weeks on the island. We love it because it's quiet, secluded, and beautiful. Most Saturdays this is where our family escapes to and when we're here it's hard to feel like we're anywhere other than paradise.


Last Saturday when Marcus called me at home and told me to get everyone in their bathing suits I naturally assumed this was where we were going. However when we got to the car we found a kayak strapped to the top of it.



Although we've talked about kayaking, we've never actually been. Some of you may not know this but I have a serious fear of the ocean. Being swept out to sea is something I think about every single time we go to the beach. That said, you would think being in the middle of the ocean in a tiny little kayak wouldn't be something I'd be into, but surprisingly I was super excited.


Here are the girls, ready to go.
ummm... don't mind Sierra's hair, it was in 2 ponytails but I took them out on the way... don't ask me why.



Marcus did an awesome job paddling us around the ocean. Trust me when I tell you it was difficult. I also had a paddle but gave up after a few minutes.




We always see these rocks from the road. It was awesome to see them up close.


We started out paddling along the cliffs. There were tons of caves and caverns and it was absolutely beautiful.

It was so cool that I almost wanted to get out of the kayak, like literally get into the water, and go inside of the caves just to check them out... almost.



The water was crystal clear.


We saw banana boats, snorkelers, jet skiers, a look out point with tons of people taking pictures, and we even came upon a fishing hut.

It was a great time! We stayed in the ocean for about an hour and we would've been there longer but at one point, after secretly congratulating myself on what a great job I was doing not freaking out, I realized just how far into the ocean we were and started freaking out. I'm so lame. Marcus tried reassuring me and distracting me by saying things like, "you're okay Nik... we'll just go around one more cliff... don't you wanna see what's over there?" Unfortunately his tactics didn't work and it was apparent that unless he wanted a full scale freak out he better get me to shore. So he paddled us back.

We almost made it before I threw up in the water. I'm not sure if it was the parasite (aka the baby) or the fear or a combination of both but whatever it was it had it's way with me.

But even with the grossness at the end it was a great adventure and we plan on doing it again. Maybe next time we'll even take some scuba gear and I'll be brave enough to go into the water. Maybe.