February 24

February 24th has to come every year.  Some years I'm okay with this and others not so much.  On this day, 13 years ago, my world was turned upside down when I suddenly lost one of my best friends in a trajic car accident.  We were life time best friends.  We were college room mates.  We were in the car together.

I have so many thoughts as February 24th approaches every year.  Often it's filled with the events of that day and what the weeks after that looked liked.  Empty.  Dark.  Sad.  Fake smiles.  Needy.  Dependent on friends and often times alcohol.  Knowing that I trusted in the Lord's plan but not really knowing how to be content in the plan. 

I also remember the closeness of my friends.  I love that memory.  I have always felt fortunate to have a group of girls that I met in elementary and are still my bestest friends today.  It was a difficult time for us.  We all grieved in different ways, not even really knowing what that meant.  We grew together in that situation.

Its always interesting what prompts a memory; the weather, music, a color, 11:11 on the clock...

We had a special friend that left an amazing legacy.  Her bright smile, sweet hugs and encouraging spirit.  I am thankful for the friendship and the memories and although February 24th is a tough day, I always find my way back to celebrating Lyndsi's life...back to a place where the sweet memories fill the emptiness...a place where I know even in the dark times, God was at work...
 

Valentine's Day

We had a fun time celebrating "sweetheart's day" this year!  At the beginning of the school year, I signed up to plan G's class party.  Although I had my moments of "what was I thinking!?" it turned out great.  I planned for the kiddos to decorate little tin mailboxes rather than shoe boxes...so cute!  Then we made crafts, had a valentine trail mix and passed out their little cards.  I think it went well and it's so fun to spend time with his friends.  Noah loves hanging with the big kids.

G at his party!

That night we enjoyed a yummy dessert together!

Each year, Eric and I have a tradition to celebrate the sweet day; we have dinner at the Italian Inn.  This is where our first date was and where he proposed!  It was our 11th year to celebrate here!  We mostly go because of the tradition now.  I still love the atmosphere too.  The waiters sing, you can sign the walls and some booths have doors for privacy!  To be honest, I don't care where we go...any date is the best with my Punkie!

Noah is...

Noah is super smart.  Noah is observant.  Noah is cautious.  Noah is funny.  Noah is challenging.  Noah is laid back.  Noah is so cute.  Noah is in love with his daddy.  Noah is a picky eater.  Noah is determined.  Noah is my baby and absolutely melts my heart.  Noah is so many wonderful things but I didn't think the day would ever come when I could say...Noah is...

WALKING!

It seriously felt like it would never happen!  To be honest, it was an emotional roller coaster for me.  There were so many times when I could rest in the fact that the Lord made Noah perfectly and that in His timing it would happen; and then there were days when I so badly just wanted my baby to take a step.  I think more than any I was just thankful knowing that one day he would take a step and that there were no serious reasons why he couldn't or wouldn't. 

I know most of you reading have heard Noah's story but for memory sake I want to write it.  I remember at Noah's well visits I would mention to his pediatrician that I had concerns about him walking and the doctor would always reassure me that some kiddos do this later and that it's normal for a child to wait as long as 18 months before they start taking steps.  I tried to leave it at that.  In the meantime, Noah established his very odd mode of transportation...scooting on his bottom and then eventually using one leg to help him get around a little faster.  He resembled a silver back gorilla.  :o)  A very fast silver back gorilla.  At his 12 month well visit I mentioned to his doctor that I understood he may walk a little later but that I had concerns that he wasn't even pulling up to his knees at this point and wouldn't bear any weight on his legs at all.  We would tire out before we could get him to stand.  His pediatrician agreed that he probably needed a little bit of a "jump start" to get the process going and referred us to a physical therapist.  I was a little emotional going in to that appoinment and especially coming out, knowing that my baby needed intervention on something that was supposed to come naturally.  Before enrolling in to the therapy program, Noah was tested on all different levels for all different skills.  That was a little un-nerving and began the doubts of what my child would be capable of.  And although deep in my heart, I knew there was nothing serious going on and that it had a lot to do with his laid-back, do-it-at-his-own-pace personality, I still had doubts.  Especially with all the questions they asked me, I remember wondering if I had missed something and that Noah may have a devepolmental issue.  Luckily, he was diagnosed with an eight month gross motor skill delay...whew!  No biggie!  Except at fourteen months of age he was at about a six month skill level.  A little harder to swallow but I was so excited to hear that was it.  I knew that was it all along.  But I allowed my mind to go where it should have never been.  The therapist basically said that he had missed opportunities to build some of his muscles.  It all made sense at this point.  When we would put him on his tummy he would put his arms straight back, like a penguin; that led to little rolling.  Noah never rolled consecutively across the floor.  I never had that moment when I walked in the room and thought, "how in the world did you get there!?"  Because he always put his arms behind him, he rarely pushed up on his arms and those muscles weren't used or strenghthened to crawl.  Hence the gorilla scoot.  And it just snow balled from that point.  After six months of therapy and at the age of 19 months that little turkey started taking his own steps.  Noah absolutely loves his independence and hams it up when he is walking through a crowd.  He is so proud of himself.  Each milestone was a celebration and we are still celebrating big in the Gonzalez house! 

Randomness at it's finest!

So this post will probably be a little random!  Unfortuantely our camera is broken and the only thing I have to capture all the fun things we do is my phone.  While my phone is amazing in so many ways, it doesn't always take the best pics.  Boo!  So here are some snaps of some random things that happened in January and February.

The 100th day of school was a pretty big deal for G and his classmates.  They did lots of different, fun activities in their classroom and then each student was able to bring a poster displaying 100 items of their choice.  I knew that I wanted to come up with something different and luckily an idea just hit me out of the blue...an alien with 100 wiggly eyes!  Fun!

dad and G counting!

 glue time!

 the 100-eyed green alien!

Noah and I had lunch with Gabe!  We surprised him with Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed a great time with him.  When your parent comes for lunch you are able to choose one friend to join you!  This time Gabe chose Layton.  We sat next to some other classmates, Olivia, Jackson and Kaden! 

Layton and Gabe!

 the crew!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of this but this week G was the "super scientist" in his class.  Each week a different student gets to demonstrate and explain an experiment for his classmates.  G did liquid lava in a cup.  He said that it went really well.  We LOVE his school, especially that they get to be hands on often.

We celebrated one of G's classmates...Luis had a birthday party at Pump It Up!

the boys having fun!

Cami Jo, Noah and Eric heading in to the giant obstacle course!

One of the newest and cutest things Noah started doing...PRAYING!



Celebrating Bryan Ray and Shanna!

In January we were able to celebrate my cousin, Bryan Ray, and Shanna as they were married.  It was a fun night celebrating them with friends and family.  Their DJ was awesome and did a fantastic job getting everyone involved.

G ridin' the bull at the rehearsal dinner!

 me and my momma!

 my cousin, Justin and his fam!

 some of the crazy Ray clan!

 D looked gorgeous!

 He looks HOT in a tux!

 with the beautiful bride, Shanna!

 the Ray boys!

I absolutley love going to weddings and celebrating a couple beginning their lives together as one.  I love to think back to my special day and remember the vows that E and I took and the covenant we made with the Lord to always put him first in our lives and to love each other all of our days.  My marriage is one of the greatest gifts in my life.  I love knowing that the Lord saved Eric just for me, as my special gift from Him.  I love that marriage is a way to know a love that represents my God...sacrificial and unconditional.  I know that I love because He first loved me!  Thank you Jesus!



Stock Show and Rodeo!

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo is one of our favorite things to do every year!  We absolutely LOVE the rodeo, petting the animals, eating yummy food, riding the rides and walking through the barns to check out all the livestock there.  This year Eric's dad went with us and I loved sharing this fun time with him.  Of course the boys loved it too and Noah wouldn't let anyone but Poppy hold him. 



Sweet Treat Celebration!

Last month we got to celebrate my friend, Raven's engagement to Nick and this month we continued the celebration with a "sweet treat engagement party" at our house!  I absolutely love the team of girls I work with so I knew having them and their spouses over to celebrate together would be an amazing night!  And of course it was more fun than I could have imagined!  We enjoyed lots of sweet treats (Raven's favorite) and played They Newlywed Game which led to lots of laughing and learning some interesting things about everyone else!

The celebrity couple, Nick and Raven!  :o) 

 Michael and Amanda!

 Nita and Andy!

 Jen and Matt!

 Emily and Erick!

 Eric and me!

 Answer time!

very special girls and the best team ever!

Congrats to Raven and Nick!  I feel so lucky to be a part of this journey with you!  

cheers to 2012!

The new year started off with lots of fun, good friends and family!  Definitely an awesome way to kick things off!  My mom came up for the whole weekend to spend time with us and watch the boys while we had dinner and celebrated with our friends.  We spent lots of time shopping and eating!

Eric and I brought in the New Year with our really good friends, Amanda and Michael and Nick and Raven.  We went to a steak house and stayed for their live music, dancing and toast at midnight!  They have a huge slide that is typically made for kids but we definitely took our turns!  The funniest/best part is that we basically had the whole place to ourselves!  We will be laughing about that for a long time!