Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014

As you all are well aware ;) it's New Years Eve and another year is about to come to a close. The saying time flies is probably the biggest understatement ever told...I swear it was JUST January 2013! Our New Years Eve will be low key...pizza making with the kiddos, homemade cookies, games and I'm sure we'll all be asleep WAY before midnight which is fine by me! :) If you recall last New Years Eve was spent in the ER with Mia so low key is what I'm asking for!

Our year has been absolutely full of blessings and I couldn't be more grateful. Of course there have been down times (the top of that list would be hours cut at work, volume completely plummeting and your year to date diminish by +$15,000-not really a good thing when you add a mortgage and a new baby to the mix ;) BUT that's where faith, a reliance on God, and just trying to find the good comes into play, because even with that comes more proof that money CAN'T buy you happiness, and we're the happiest we've ever been! :) We'll make it through this valley and come out better and stronger than ever!

At the top of the list of amazing things that 2013 brought our family would certainly be God blessing us with baby #3, our ever adorable Maci Louise! :) She brings so much joy (and chaos ;) into our household and I can't imagine our lives without her. Speaking of household, another amazing thing that tops our list would be becoming homeowners! We had NO intentions of buying once our lease was up...but God laughed, and certainly had other plans for us! Our home brings me so much joy and I still look around and think, "How is this ours?!??!" Of course 2013 also brought Manuel turning 7 and starting 2nd grade. He continues to be our super sensitive, but increasingly more confident oldest child, our only boy. It also brought Mia turning 3, becoming a big sister and the sassiest almost 4 year old I've ever met ;). And (I know I shouldn't start a sentence with "and" forgive me ;)) it brought my hubby turning 33, getting a promotion at work and busting his hiney, day and night, to make our house a home. The Gomez's are blessed and I can't wait to see what 2014 brings!

This sums up my plans for 2014 (copied from my Facebook :))

As I look back on 2013 I can't help but think how TRULY blessed I am! I know I say that all the time but I mean it from the bottom of my heart! Life is not without trial or struggle but the joy certainly outweighs the bad! My goals for 2014 are simple...eat better/exercise more (lose 20 lbs), start recycling, be more patient with my children and husband, go "greener" (first step: make my own laundry detergent) and lastly, become a prayer warrior for those people that need me! I believe SO strongly in the power of prayer (and just this year have seen prayer change lives all around me!) Please know that when I say "I'm praying for you!" those aren't just words that everyone says, I mean it and I do pray! If you ever find yourself unable to pray, please reach out to me (you can send me a private message) and I promise I will pray and your business will be kept between you, me and God! Wishing you all a happy, safe, blessed 2014!!!

Happy New Years Friends! I pray that your year is filled with blessings beyond measure and a relationship with God if you don't have one! :)

 Christmas Day 2013

One of my most prized possessions from Red Letter Words

Merry Christmas

One week from today we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ and enjoying time with friends and family! I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get on here between now and then, so I just wanted to wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas! May the TRUE meaning of the holiday fill your heart with joy, even if finances are tight, you're not close to family, etc. I pray for peace, joy and happiness in your hearts!

Love and prayers from our family to yours! :)

Easy Canvas Prints

It's no secret that I LOVE taking pictures...of my children, my family, my home, my friends, well, you get the picture! ;) There is pretty much a running joke around my family and friends that whenever in doubt, ask Christina, she always has her camera! :) And I do because, although memories can exist, even if they aren't caught on "film" I love looking back at pictures and the flood of memories that they bring. The only thing is, many times I take all these pictures, post them on various social media outlets, and then they are forever stored on memory cards. There is NO way that I could ever print out all the pictures I take, I'd easily be broke in a matter of seconds! :) However, there are those super special shots that you get that you just have to print out in hard copy to display. One of my favorite ways to display the "perfect shot" is on canvas! Now that we are homeowners, I'd love to fill our walls with those special memories that can most beautifully be displayed on canvas.

One company that has amazing, beautiful canvases is Easy Canvas Prints. This company has many options for all of your canvasing needs and extremely reasonable pricing! Easy Canvas Prints also runs fun contests on their blog and Facebook page. Beginning December 15, 2013 fans can upload any photo that they would like printed on canvas as a gift to someone and the photos with the most votes will win prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! Just for entering the contest you will get a 60% off and free shipping coupon code, so it's a win-win! Go check out their website for all the details!

I can't wait to share the picture of my canvas that I'm going to order of all 3 of the kiddos! It's perfect (well, as perfect as you can get with a 3 month old, an almost 4 and almost 8 year old! ;)

Easy Canvas Prints

It's no secret that I LOVE taking pictures...of my children, my family, my home, my friends, well, you get the picture! ;) There is pretty much a running joke around my family and friends that whenever in doubt, ask Christina, she always has her camera! :) And I do because, although memories can exist, even if they aren't caught on "film" I love looking back at pictures and the flood of memories that they bring. The only thing is, many times I take all these pictures, post them on various social media outlets, and then they are forever stored on memory cards. There is NO way that I could ever print out all the pictures I take, I'd easily be broke in a matter of seconds! :) However, there are those super special shots that you get that you just have to print out in hard copy to display. One of my favorite ways to display the "perfect shot" is on canvas! Now that we are homeowners, I'd love to fill our walls with those special memories that can most beautifully be displayed on canvas.

One company that has amazing, beautiful canvases is Easy Canvas Prints. This company has many options for all of your canvasing needs and extremely reasonable pricing! Easy Canvas Prints also runs fun contests on their blog and Facebook page. Beginning December 15, 2013 fans can upload any photo that they would like printed on canvas as a gift to someone and the photos with the most votes will win prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! Just for entering the contest you will get a 60% off and free shipping coupon code, so it's a win-win! Go check out their website for all the details!

I can't wait to share the picture of my canvas that I'm going to order of all 3 of the kiddos! It's perfect (well, as perfect as you can get with a 3 month old, an almost 4 and almost 8 year old! ;)

Pour Your Heart Out: My view

As I'm sitting at my kitchen table, working from home, I started to think about some things and as tears stream down my cheek, I thought, "Hmmm, it's been a while since I've posted anything of "substance" on my blog, maybe this should be a blog post..OH WAIT, it's Wednesday, not only will it be a blog post, but it's been a LONG time since I've linked up for Pour Your Heart Out, so maybe I'll do that too" and here we are! My apologies in advance for the length of this post and if it's all over the place.

A quick recap for those of you who might be visiting from Things I Can't Say...back on September 10th, 2013 I gave birth to our 3rd child, a beautiful baby girl (we didn't know she was a girl until d-day :)), Maci Louise. She was born via c-section, and I enjoyed 8 weeks of maternity leave with her, my super sweet (and sassy! ;)) almost 4 year old Mia, and their older brother Manuel (who spends his days in 2nd grade). The "extra" time that I've had with all 3 of my children has been priceless and I was able to do things that I wouldn't have been able to do, had I not been on maternity leave. However, my husband and I also just bought our first house in June, and being off of work for more than 8 weeks (unpaid), was out of the question! So, beginning November 4th, I started back to work, from home. I work in the mortgage business and things have slowed quite a bit, so juggling work and both girls (Maci is quite the colicky baby!) hasn't been an issue at all. It's actually been more manageable than I thought it would and I wish nothing more than to be able to continue to work from home and stay with my girls, but I don't have that option. I will be returning to work on December 2nd, still working from home on Wednesdays and then back in the office full time starting in January. And here's where we start today's post...

My view for the last 9.5 weeks has been this...

She LOVES to be worn in the Ergo :)

And in a short 12 days, my view is going to be very different! :( The tears continue to stream as I write those words and see her sweet little face...leaving your babies is the hardest! I've done it two times before (but with Manuel and Mia I went back in the office, full time, after only 8 weeks) but it doesn't get easier. I know the initial drop off is going to break.my.heart and I'll cry (and I'm an "ugly" crier...hysterical, hyperventilating, puffy eyed, crier...so I should look GORGEOUS when I get to work that day! ;)) BUT she'll be at "the sitters" with Mia, being loved as close to how much I would love her, by Linnie the most amazing lady on the planet who watched Manuel from the time he was 8 months old to when he started preschool at 4. She's watched Mia from the time she was 8 weeks old  and will continue to watch her until she starts preschool, and now it's Maci's turn to be loved by Linnie. There is only one Linnie, and we are SO lucky to have Linnie (I can't imagine how much harder this would all be if she wasn't going to Linnie's) but the fact still remains that my heart is sad and my view will be very different come December! As my literal view changes though, I need to be reminded that my mental view needs to change as well...

You see, Monday, a friend of mine whose husband is battling rectal cancer, learned that her husbands cancer has spread to his lymph nodes. He has to go on unpaid leave from his job (he's an elementary school music teacher) He starts a new chemo today and my heart aches again."M" lost her best friend to cancer back in 1996 and now her husband is battling the cancer monster...the pain must be unimaginable! The fear that she must live with everyday, worrying that her young husband (he's in his mid-30's, as is she) will leave her and their two beautiful children too soon...again unimaginable. So I sit here and dread my leave being up, and having to return to work and leave my babies for 8 hours, but I need to look at this way...I'm healthy, my husband is healthy, my children are healthy, I'm lucky to have a job, it's "only" for 8 hours...that "heartache" that I feel is NOTHING compared to what some people are going through. In fact, it's not really "heartache" at all...yes, it's sad, yes I'll shed some tears, but when I change my "view" of the situation and put it in perspective I should be thankful that I have a job to return, to have someone who will love my girls as their own, that, God willing, my husband, children and I will have years and years to spend together when others won't have that chance and the list goes on and on.

Life is all about perspective and sometimes you just need to change your view (even if you don't want to!)...

Wordless-ish Wednesday

It's been awhile, but life over here couldn't be better! :) The kids are growing like weeds and my sweet Maci Louise turned TWO MONTHS old on Sunday!!! I swear, time passes more quickly with each child. I'm trying to soak up each moment, because I know before I blink, we'll be celebrating her 1st birthday. I hope everyone out there is doing well. I hope to a more active blogger once I return to the office in December (I'm working from home the entire month of November). I'd like to do milestone posts and just general life posts because I do miss blogging! :)

Take care friends!

And for good measure (Maci's 2 month "homemade" photo shoot)

Thank you Tiny Prints!

When Maci was born, I wasn't sure if we'd do birth announcements...not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't do them with Manuel or Mia, so I felt guilty doing them for Maci. But when I was approached by a friend who offered to take pics of the kids for free for her portfolio and Tiny Prints approached me to do a review on their announcements, I just couldn't pass it up! :)

As I perused Tiny Prints website I saw so many adorable designs! It really was hard to make a final decision, but I knew that I wanted to include a picture of all 3 of the children, so when I came across their "3 is the new 2" design, I knew that was the one!

To say that Tiny Prints exceeded my expectations would be an understatement! I was THRILLED with the final product, their customer service and the speed at which I received my announcements. I would recommend them to all my friends and family!

Without further ado...

Thank you Tiny Prints for the 30 free announcements. Although I was given these items, all opinions are my own.