Life Inside the Fish Bowl

This past summer and early fall

2011-10-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

Since it is almost November, and we had a very busy summer, I guess its probably time to update our blog. As some of you probably know, this summer began very interestingly for us. In May, my baby boy and I were in a car accident, and although we are both perfectly healthy, the initial scare of listening to my little guy scream non-stop for about half an hour afterwards and not knowing if everything was ok was a little stressful to say the least. The paramedics said, "we love screaming babies...this is great!," but it was still, nevertheless, scary for his mama. In the end, he seemed to enjoy the ordeal, or at least the "free" (with the $1800 ride) teddy bear he got from the firefighter. It was our first (and hopefully last) ambulance ride.

Our summer also included a substantial plumbing incident arising from when our house was built, our dog running away (yes, we have her back), a personal health scare for me and a medical emergency involving one of our friends at our house. We are so grateful that our friend is ok. Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support for both our friend and our family. Needless to say, we had some tough days this summer.

Although the past few months have produced some of our more difficult moments, it was also filled with some wonderful memories which I will attempt to fill you in on. In July, our sweet boy turned one. You can read about his birthday here... http://abeytaadventures.blogspot.com/2011/07/sys-hungry-caterpillar-1st-birthday.html. When I think about our last year with him and how much he has already grown, I feel incredibly blessed to be his mama.

Silas started walking about one week after his first birthday. Now I am running to keep up with him.I know that probably no one is as excited about this as I was, but I felt it was a huge accomplishment to wean him off of bottles and on to sippy cups, especially since I did it in 3 days while his daddy was at camp with the junior high kids. I was quite proud of myself. He has since improved at actually getting the milk into his mouth.

Paul and I celebrated three years of marriage this summer in July by going to a Giants game and booking our October trip to Maui (pics of this coming later).

We had really good seats.

In July, I also started my new job in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I am learning so much and am loving every minute of working with such amazing little people.

In August, Paul turned 31. We celebrated with a TOMS party, which you can read about here...http://abeytaadventures.blogspot.com/2011/09/everyone-who-knows-paul-knows-that-he.html

In September, we took Sy for his first trip to the zoo and the beach. He seemed to really love both places.

I was hoping he would have a little bit of a healthy fear of the ocean, but no such luck. He went head first into the waves and was upset when we had to take him out because he was shivering and starting to turn a little blue. I have one crazy little boy.

Although the summer had some rough points, we definately made some incredible memories. I feel so blessed.

Paul's TOMS birthday party

2011-09-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Everyone who knows Paul, knows that he loves TOMS shoes. With the exception of running shoes and slippers, TOMS are the only shoes he ever wears. That's why for his 31st birthday, I decided to surprise him with a TOMS themed party. (That and because he has been saving TOMS flags for me to make into a quilt for the last 3 years!) Paul's first pair of TOMS was a pair of red stitchouts, and I wanted to incorporate a Paul Hearts TOMS theme, so the color scheme was red and the blue from the TOMS flags. The decorations were easy...TOMS shoes and pictures I took of our TOMS in our backyard. For dinner, we had tacos made with a special soft shell bread (a Kenyan recipe from our dear friend Akasha, and one of Paul's favorite things to eat), and for dessert, we had cupcakes and icecream with assorted toppings. Thank you to my mom for sewing the quilt and to our friends, Sam, Akasha, and Amber for helping me set up and make dinner.

the invitation

The favors were bags full of kettlecorn with a TOMS sticker tag

Paul's favorite drink

Showing off the new TOMS quilt

and the new painting for his office from Tay

Sy wore red TOMS shoes and a TOMS shirt for daddy's party

Enjoying dinner

admiring his new TOMS

Thanks to our wonderful friends for coming. Such a fun time.

Sy's Very Hungry Caterpillar 1st Birthday Party

2011-07-30T14:48:00.001-07:00

Our little bug turned 1 this July! We are so grateful to be his parents. Thank you to everyone who was able to come help us celebrate his birthday. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. We decided to do his party based on the classic children's book by Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I had so much fun with this party...I got to do a bunch of grade school craft projects, which I loved! (My friends however, who I admittedly used as laborers, were probably not so thrilled about it).

Each circle was a picture from months 1-12.

Since Sy's Dad likes TOMS so much, I painted a pair of TOMS to match the dot pattern in the book for the birthday boy to wear.

Butterflies and dots hanging in the hallway

...and from the pergola outside

The favors were bug catching boxes filled with gummy "caterpillars," bug tattoos, and a magnifying glass for bug hunting. The babies each got a board book about bugs.
There were hungry caterpillars everywhere.

The smash cake!

The dessert table, which featured the food from the book including ice cream cones, lollipops, chocolate cupcakes with a cherry on top, and mini cherry cheesecakes instead of cherry pie.

Auntie Tay painted a dot painting for Sy to match the pattern in the front of the book.

The fruit toss game...thanks Amber for painting the board...it looks great!

The Craft Table

The food table with foods from the book...it was so nice that this party came with a menu

Thanking the Lord for Sy before eating

Taylor is showing off her caterpillar. Thanks to Amber for doing the face/body painting

JuJu chose a lollipop

checking out the caterpillar bouncer with friends

inside the jumper with Dad

Bib made by MadeByLovingHands on Etsy

with Nana and Grandma Pam

tissue paper is so much FUN

I can't believe this year flew by so fast! We are so blessed to have our little man! Happy Birthday Silas!

the monkeys arrived!

2011-07-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

As you have probably already heard, the sock monkeys were distributed to children being ministered to by Children's Relief International in Mozambique. Thank you so much to everyone who made monkeys for us to send; we were able to send twenty-seven. There are roughly one hundred children in the nutrition program at the Tessa Grace Nutrition Center that Zach is working with. There will hopefully be more children in the program by next summer, but if we start making a sock monkey or two a month now, we should be able to make one hundred or more by next year and possibly give one to each child! I know its a big goal...but I think we can do it. Below are a few pictures from when the monkeys were handed out.

Sy is ONE!

2011-07-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe our big boy is 1 year old! We love being parents...such a crazy ride this last year has been and we are so thankful for our little man. Here are a few stats...

Length - 75th percentile : Weight - 25th percentile : Head - HUGE and holding strong in the 98th percentile

He is an excellent sleeper...seriously...I am very spoiled.

His current favorite foods are oatmeal, scrambled eggs, pasta, and bread

He LOVES to wrestle with daddy

He has six teeth, two of which he cut this last week

He loves to laugh

He loves to play (aka bang) on daddy's guitar (Paul is not too fond of this)

He loves music; specifically he loves dancing and he bangs on everything like its a drum...the coffee table, the laundry basket, the walls, people's faces...it makes no difference to him.

He is a bruiser! I am expecting many emergency room trips in our future...

His loves to swim and to take baths.

He is my little cuddlebug and he gives the BEST hugs

His favorite toys today are...his ball pit (thanks Nana), the pillows on the couch, and as I mentioned earlier, daddy's guitar (I know the last two aren't toys, but he doesn't seem to realize that)

He loves to eat...and eat...and eat...and eat

Paul and I are so very blessed to be raising this little boy. Throughout the last year, we have had many sweet moments (naps on the couch with a new baby and intentional hugs from our now big boy are two of my favorite things); many proud moments (what new parent isn't proud of the first time their baby says "mama" or takes their first step or learns what it means when dad says the word "no" and actually obeys it...granted we are still working on that last one!); several scary moments (yes, yes, I was intimidated by projectile vomit, even if it was only acid reflux; and of course we can't forget our urgent care visit in Texas for a pneumonia/ear infection combo, and our recent ER visit after a 3 car pile up); some gross moments that I would rather forget (I thought the projectile vomit was bad until I experienced projectile poop; and lets just say that I now know the reason that people put those safety locks on their toilets...you can't turn your back on a little mover for two seconds, not even to move the laundry around!); lots of funny moments (he is currently spinning around on the floor with a balloon, growling...not sure why but it's pretty entertaining); and some humbling moments (yes, I forgot to bring an extra outfit for my child who has reflux and gets his clothes changed 6 times a day, to the church nursery this morning...again; No, I could not tell that my baby isn't gaining enough weight and needs formula; yes, I am an RN, but I do not know why my son has been crying for the last 8 hours...ear infection? pneumonia? teething? tired and just being irritable?...if only these problems had different symptoms). We are so grateful to our Lord for our son and for every minute, whether good, bad, or messy, that we have been given with him.

Thanks to everyone who made sock monkeys!

2011-06-01T01:36:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who helped make monkeys to send to Mozambique. We were able to send a total of 27 Monkeys with Zach and Akasha to give to children being ministered to by Children's Relief International! Below are a few pictures of our "Monkeys for Mozambique" party back and April and of some of the monkeys that we sent. Hopefully next year we can send even more. Thanks again everybody!

Monkeys for Mozambique

2011-04-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

My brother Zach is going to Mozambique this summer to work for Children's Relief International. He is going to be working with their child sponsorship program, much like the program most people are familiar with at World Vision.

Below is a a video that Zachary put together after his trip to Mozambique last year.

Something that touched me after Zachary's trip was discussing the children. My nine month old son has so many toys I can hardly stay on top of keeping them all picked up. These kids play with rocks; dirty, used paper towels; old plastic water bottles; garbage, etc. They play with things that we as Americans would probably cringe at the idea of our children even touching. Another friend who went to Africa recently mentioned that she took a stuffed animal with her to Kenya, and that even the 16 and 17 year old kids wanted to hold and play with it.

I have been aware of hunger and poverty for a long time, but I am definately guilty of living in my sheltered bubble here in the United States and forgetting about the world around me. I should think about helping and ministering to others a lot more than I do. With my brother going into full time missions and my husband and I frequently discussing our plans to adopt internationally (which we are excited is now actually an option, as most countries don't allow this until the youngest spouse is 25 years old! Yay for being 25!), helping those around us, both in our community and abroad, is definately on my mind alot more lately. All of this being said, I have been deeply convicted that I don't do enough to minister to others.

After hearing about my brothers recent trip, and bouncing ideas off of some of the ladies at church, we have decided to work on a service/craft project before they leave for Mozambique this summer. We had the idea to make sock monkeys as a church; we decided it would be a wonderful opportunity to get our church involved in a craft project ministering to children who live acoss the globe from us. We will be getting together on Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 1-4pm at First Family Church in Antioch. Everyone is welcome to come. No sewing experience is required (although if you can sew, that is, of course, an added bonus!). We will need stuffers, sewers, people to draw patterns, cut out patterns, etc. All you need to bring is yourself, a pair of socks, and a snack to share (if you are not able to bring anything, we still need you! we will have extras and plenty of jobs for everyone). Also, if you are able to bring a sewing machine, that would be great. The more sewing machines we have, the faster we will be able to make more monkeys to send with them for their trip. I am hoping we can fill a suitcase! We are also planning to do a raffle with a pretty cool prize for those of you who are crafty! If you have any questions, please contact me at aabeyta23@comcast.net. If you are unable to attend but would still like to be involved, you can find many tutorials about how to make sock monkeys on youtube. Just bring your finished monkey to church and we will see that it makes its way to a child in Mozambique!

I am so excited about this and hope to see you there!

Also, if you would like to donate to either Zach for his trip to Mozambique this summer, you can do so at
www.childrensrelief.org (I can't get this to show up as a link, it is also posted under the "websites we like" side bar on our blog)
Go to the "Get Involved" tab. Click on "Donate." To give to Zach, scroll down under "select a missionary" and choose Zach Farrar.
If you are interested in their child sponsorship program, go to
www.childrensrelief.org/how-you-can-help/child-sponsorship

A trip to Arkansas and a birthday to remember

2011-03-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me say, that this is my first time trying to blog with a full fledged crawler in my home, specifically one that likes to crawl over to mommy's computer and bang on the keyboard! That's right. Little man is on the move. He is keeping us very busy, and we are loving every minute. Right now, as I type, he is making his way to a pack of gum on the coffee table. Now he is upset because he doesn't understand why I won't let him play with the pack of gum...maybe I should only attempt to blog during nap time! Now for our trip, this past week, Silas and I, along with my mom and sister, flew to Texas and then drove to Fort Smith Arkansas to spend a week with my extended family. I was apprehensive at first, about making such a long trip with my little one, who had never been away from Daddy for more than a night until this point, but we had a wonderful time. Our first stop was in Ft. Worth Texas, where we stayed with my cousin Jenny and her husband Wes and daughter Aubri. We enjoyed a much needed time of catching up, which included lots of laughing, crying, (way too much) eating, and walking. We were able to see and hear what God has been doing in the lives of this wonderful family since their little boy, Wesley Adam, went to be with the Lord in November last year. We walked around the seminary campus and talked for hours, spent time remembering Wesley Adam, played a never ending game of croquet, took the kids for a wagon ride, ate a delicious birthday cake and attended Redeemer for church on Sunday. It was a wonderful start to the trip for sure.

Pretty girl!

On Sunday after church, we loaded into the car, said goodbye to Wes, made a quick pitstop at Sonic for cranberry limeade and mozzarella sticks, and headed to Ft. Smith Arknasas. We arrived at my Aunt Pam's house that evening, and began the night with a hamburger barbecue. We were pleasantly surprised to see my cousin Jay and his wife Christa when we arrived. They were in town visiting family for the weekend, and although they could only stay for a few hours, we were so grateful to be able to spend time with them.

While in Ft. Smith, Silas got to meet his great grandmother Georgia and great aunt Beth for the first time.We stayed at my Aunt Pam's new house, which has the most beautiful backyard. We spent alot of time outside playing in the grass and strolling around the lake. Silas also met John Michael, my cousin Ben and his wife Allison's son, for the first time.

The three little one's stopped to watch a dog running around while out for a stroll. Watching Bri play.Aunt Pam's flowers were beautiful!Bri and JM playing in the grass.Apparently, he was not a fan of the grass at first.Checking out the wristbands Uncle Zach sent to everyone for supporting his upcoming trip to MozambiqueAunt Pam had planned a family birthday party on Monday for Ben, Allison and I since we all have March birthdays. It was lots of fun!Taylor gave Ben and Allison a painting for their birthday.While in Ft. Smith, we also mod podged some easter eggs, and went shopping for my cousin Ashley's little man, Elijah, who we cannot wait to meet! We had a wonderful and relaxing stay in Ft. Smith and are so grateful to have such an amazing family. We are also grateful to our hostess, Aunt Pam, for keeping us in her home and taking such great care of us, even though she wasn't feeling the best.

Then came Wednesday...

These next three pictures illustrate better than words the events of the 23rd of March. I would also like to add that Wednesday, the day we drove back to Texas, was my birthday. This first picture was taken of Silas on Tuesday in the afternoon. He was a happy boy all day, but I noticed when I looked back through our pictures that he was pulling his ear in this photo. Silas had already had two ear infections in the six weeks prior to our trip, and had even had his ears checked two days before we left, just to be sure he was ready to fly, since he had had a cold and had been acting sick. He was all clear.This picture was taken of Aubri on Wednesday morning. She had had some oreos for a snack.Aunt Pam was saying goodbye to Silas in the car before pulling out of the driveway to go back to Texas.

We had noticed on Wednesday morning that Silas was a little bit more fussy than normal. We said goodbye to Aunt Beth and Mammaw, and then headed to Kohl's with Aunt Pam to check out the big sale. Silas did not seem to be feeling very well, and had to go outside with Nana while we shopped. We checked his temperature...no fever. After our trip to Kohl's, he seemed to settle down a bit, and we ate a quick lunch and loaded the car to go back to Texas. He was playing with Sofie, whatever was bothering him had passed, or so we thought. After about half an hour, Silas started to cry. I use the word "cry" hesitantly; a more appropriate choice of words would be "screamed bloody murder." We tried and tried and could not console him. Was he hungry? no...just ate. Could he be wet? no...he was just changed, and also this boy NEVER cries when his diaper is dirty. What is going on? He felt very warm, so we stopped at Walmart to take him out of the car for a bit and to go buy a thermometer (I didn't have mine) and get some infant tylenol (our was burried in the suitcase). We checked his temperature, which was only a little high at 99.7, but now his nose was running alot (I will refrain from being a nurse and describing the color/consistency of his snot at this time) and he also had a junky cough. He also is now frequently pulling at his ears...looks like an ear infection to me! I gave him some tylenol and called our insurance company and pediatrician to figure out how he could be seen in Texas, since he appears to have an ear infection and is supposed to fly home to California tomorrow. After about half an hour of trying to figure everything out, we are told Silas can go to urgent care in Texas to be seen....He is now peacefully sleeping (yay) and we will take him to urgent care tonight. After about 20 minutes of silence (which all the adults in the car are enjoying), Aubri (who had fallen asleep when Silas did, and who we felt we had been neglecting, due to paying attention to the screaming baby for the last four hours), started crying and asking Jen to hold her. Jen attempted to comfort her, but to no avail. We are getting closer to home, and are thinking she is just ready to get out of her carseat and be at home. We, of course were wrong! During all the crying, Silas wakes up, and starts screaming again. We are trying to get home and settle down the very unhappy babies in the back of the car. Then poor sweet little Aubri starts throwing up. Oreos are everywhere. Jen pulls over and comforts her little one. After an outfit change and some lovin from Mama, Aubri is back in the carseat and ready to go home. We are almost home. Just 30 minutes or so more. We are back on the road for a few minutes, and oreos are once again flying everywhere. I tried to reach over Silas' carseat to clean up Aubri, who, after two times throwing up and going through half a bag of baby wipes, actually seems to feel better now. I decided there was no saving her clothes. Aubri would have to ride the rest of the way home in her pullup (Silas, I might add, was already in just a diaper and shirt, as we had stripped him because of his fever). We arrived at home in Fort Worth and we were, I am sure, a sight to behold. We pull the two half-naked kiddos out of the car and change out of our clothes, which had not been spared in the oreo incident. Aubri was so excited to see her dad, and thankfully seemed to be over her upset tummy. After freshening up a bit (aka changing out of clothes covered in snot and oreos), Jenny, my mom, Silas and I headed to the urgent care clinic to have Silas checked out before flying the next day. We arrived at the clinic around 730-8pm. I assumed this would be an in and out trip. The doctor would check his ears, prescribe an antibiotic, and we would be on our way....not so much. After going back, they checked his vital signs. His temperature, despite receiving tylenol, was 101. After an examination of his ears, it was determined that he had an ear infection. Since he was having respiratory symptoms also, he was checked for RSV (which was thankfully negative) and some blood was drawn to see if his white blood cell count was elevated. This whole time my poor little guy was crying and just trying to cuddle. This birthday so far was heartbreaking... His white blood cell count came back elevated. Now its time for a chest x-ray. I wasn't able to go with him and could hear his ear piercing screams from several rooms over...did I mention that this day was my birthday? They brought him back to me and I just held him until he fell asleep while we waited for the doctor to give us results of his tests and tell us what to do. We are checking to see if our flight plans are able to be moved. We are told its unlikely. Around 1030 pm, the doctor comes back in and tells us that she does not see pneumonia on his chest xray but a radiologist will read it and let us know if something is different, and prescribes some oral antibiotics and a steroid for his ear infection and upper respiratory infection. He also has to have one last needle stick, a shot of an antibiotic, before going home. After the shot, he screamed and held his breath until he turned red. Did I mention that it was my birhtday? We took his prescriptions by the pharmacy (which wouldn't be done for an hour), picked up some dinner and arrived home around 1115 pm. We ate our salads (which we picked up to make ourselves feel better after a week of barbecued ribs, ham and taco bell) and went back to the pharmacy around midnight to pick up Silas' prescriptions. We returned home from picking up the prescriptions, checked on our sleeping babies, and I settled onto the couch to enjoy a piece of yummy chocolate birthday cake. What a day! I am relieved that my little man and Aubri are sleeping and seem to be feeling better, but I do not think I will soon forget this birthday! We did end up returning to California the next day. A staff member from the urgent care clinic called while we were on the plane and said, "the radiologist says he has pneumonia, and he needs to come back in now." We took him to our pediatrician the next day. He is still sick but seems to be doing much better. He is laughing, playing and happy to be home with daddy. Paul says, the moral of the story is, "don't go on trips without daddy!"

More from the fall...Halloween and Thanksgiving

2011-03-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

So...We had a very busy fall!
For the weekend of his first halloween, Silas got his four month shots, and watched the world series with mom and dad. I know, it probably doesn't sound too exciting, but watching the Giants win game 3 was way more fun for us than dressing up! Here Silas is, in his outift from Grandma!

For Thanksgiving, we were doubly spoiled (which just means that Paul and I ate WAY too much!). We celebrated on Wednesday with Nana and Papa, Auntie Tay and Uncle Zach

I love this picture, he looks like a little old man!

Nana's Little boy

With Uncle ZachOn Thursday, we went to visit the extended Morsello family for Thanksgiving with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bob. We also had the privelege of having Silas' Grandma and Grandpa stay with us for the week of Thanksgiving. They recently moved to the Seattle area from New York. We are so grateful to have them living closer, and I am sure we will be making a trip to Washington soon! Silas also got to meet Erick, his second cousin, for the first time. They are one month apart and I am sure will have lots of fun at the family gatherings to come.

With Great Grandma Lorrayne and Grandma Pam
Cousin's Erick and Silas were dressed for the occasionJenn and ErickThe Morsello Women with the little guysThe day after Thanksgving, Silas cousins Julian and Sadie came over to play.Hanging out with Auntie Amber
With Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bob

Now, if I can get Christmas and New Years done, we will almost be caught up!

I love this website!

2011-02-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

Paul just recently bought me a mother's necklace for Valentine's day from this amazing website, thevintagepearl.com. We also purchased a necklace for a friend of our's going to Mozambique this summer from this company. The heart on her necklace is even stamped over Mozambique...So cool. Be sure to check this site out!

http://www.thevintagepearl.com/

Missie's Baby Shower

2011-02-02T23:43:00.000-08:00

In October last fall, Maritez, Angie and I were blessed to be able to host a shower for our close friend Missie. Her 3rd little man, Henry William, was born on December 5th. The shower was a "lil' pumpkin" theme with yummy fall foods such as pumpkin soup, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin seeds, caramel apple sundaes, hot apple cider, etc. Congrats to Nick and Missie for their 3rd handsome baby boy! Welcome to the world baby Henry!

Maritez's yummy pumpkin cupcakes and the caramel apple sundae bar

Neves family pumpkin patch

Proud Mama is glowing!

Angie was our MC for the games

Laura was such a trooper, she was 39 weeks pregnant, and she kept calling me and asking what she could do to help!

the pregnant ladies of FFC

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them..."

Psalm 127:3-5a

Silas is 6 months!

2011-01-31T00:48:00.000-08:00

I'm going to jump ahead to January (I still have about 3 months of catching up to do!). Our little man turned 6 months old on January 9th...Crazy! I cannot believe how fast time flies.

He is currently about 27 inches long and 17 1/2 pounds. His weight is in the 36th percentile. His length is in the 51st percentile. Lastly, his head is in the 96th percentile (WOW)! He definately inherited the big Abeyta head.

He is rolling over, and over and over and over. He has been rolling since he was about four weeks old, but now it is his mode of transporation.

His only gear right now is reverse.

He sleeps through the night, and has been since he was about 3 months old.

He is a very happy boy and loves to laugh.

He has big blue eyes.

His favorite toys are his jumper (He would jump all day if we let him), Sofie the giraffe (thanks Jen!), and your face.

He loves to chew his right foot only.

Inspite of our persistence with the paci, he sucks his left thumb (this is a recent development), but he also still loves his paci.

He started to eat oatmeal, sweet potatoes and pears so far, and boy does this kid love to eat.

He is fascinated with Roscoe.

He likes to sleep with his little booty straight up in the air. We put him down to sleep on his back, but he is a flipper and he likes to sleep bottoms up!

He loves to take naps with Daddy.

He is a momma's boy for sure.

We are SO blessed. Thank you Lord for our sweet boy!

More from the fall: Visit from Jenny, Aubri, WA and Aunt Pam

2011-01-09T19:18:00.000-08:00

In October, we had the joy of having my Aunt Pam, cousin Jenny and her daughter Aubri come to visit. It was a special time because my extended family met my son, Silas, for the first time and because we got to love on Wesley Adam, Jenny's son, whom she was carrying. Jenny's little one, WA, was diagnosed in utero with a condition called anencephaly. Life outside the womb for a baby with anencephaly is suspected to be just minutes. We knew our time with WA would be limited, but were truly honored to have been able to love on him through his momma's belly and also to see and hear the amazing testimony of his parents, Wes and Jenny. After 31 weeks in his mother's womb, Wesley Adam Mills, Jr. went to be with Lord on November 22, 2010. God was and is continuing to be glorified through his life here on earth. His parents, Wes and Jenny have an incredible testimony; you can read more about their story at http://wjmills.blogspot.com/2010/12/celebration-of-life-parents-tribute.html.

Needless to say, we are so grateful for the precious time we got to spend with WA. Below are a few pictures from their visit here in October. Please continue to pray for comfort and healing for Wes and Jenny.

Laura's Baby Shower

2011-01-04T02:52:00.001-08:00

In typical Abeyta fashion, I am updating the blog with events that happened 4 months ago. It is, after all, one of my New Year goals (I like to say goal, rather than resolution, because I am more likely to keep a goal...also, if I say resolution, my pastor husband will likely lecture me on the history of the New Year's resolution, which originates from Babylonian tradition) is to update our blog more often.

In September this year, I was honored to be able to host a baby shower for a friend of mine from church, Laura Freitas. Her little one, Riley James, was born in October this year. It is so much fun to have a party, most especially a party that celebrates a new life. The shower theme was bubble bath/rubber duckies (thank you hostesswiththemostess.com!) Congrats to Laura and Randy! Praise the Lord for little Riley James!

Paul's 30th Birthday!

2010-12-19T17:01:00.000-08:00

So, I know this is a bit late, but I thought I would post some pictures from my my wonderful husband's 30th birthday in August this year. We had a surprise birthday party for him at lifeline on Tuesday, August 25th. It was a Transformer's theme and our dear friend Missie Neves made his awesome cake. The lifeline kids, along with some of the highschoolers and some of our good friends were there. It was SO much fun!

Catching up #2

2010-11-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

I feel like this catching up thing could take a while! And I love that it is so late that the post I made half an hour ago is showing up in October. Check out Catching up on the last four months (in October) for the first half of these updates. Here are some more pics from my pregnancy and of Paul working on the nursery.

Our pregnancy kept us on the edge of our seats for sure. We elected to have a scheduled C-section on July 9, due to Silas' footling breech presentation for the last 10 weeks of the pregnancy and the likelihood that I have a uterine abnormality that was preventing him from turning. After being given a lot of information (and seeing that his head was measuring in the 95th percentile in ultrasounds....yikes!!!), we decided that the benefit of having him turned would not be worth the risks, and chose the C-section route to so as to avoid having an emergency C-section later on.

Silas Daniel was born at 806am on July 9, 2010, weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 19 1/4 inches long.

Per my doctor, his head measured 4 centimeters bigger than the average baby, and I would have likely had to have a C-section anyway, so it seems as though we made the right choice.

I have much more to post, but I will have to do it tomorrow. Time for bed!

Catching up on the last four months

2010-10-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

I guess it isn't too much of a shocker that our blog hasn't been updated in four months, given that we are probably the most inconsistent bloggers on the planet. In the last four months, we have embarked on a journey called parenthood, which has been the most incredible blessing we could have possibly imagined. Paul and I couldn't be more thrilled.

We had several friends and family members that threw us baby showers. We were/are so blessed to have so many people supporting us as we became and continue to grow as parents.

Church shower, hosted by Missie Neves

4 East Coworker shower, hosted by Ajay Abel

Double family shower with Jenn, hosted by Julie Angold

Thank you to everyone for your love, prayers and support. We love you!

Silas Daniel Abeyta

2010-06-01T01:11:00.001-07:00

So, now that I am 8 months pregnant, I figured it would probably be a good time to post some pictures from my pregnancy and of our little man. After much debate, we have decided to name him "Silas" instead of "Sylas." (I am sad to say that I lost in the disagreement about how to spell his name!) It has been quite an interesting pregnancy; from cardiac issues early on to a freak neck injury, to being admitted to labor and delivery at 29 weeks, this little one is already keeping us on our toes.
These pictures are from when we first found out we were pregnant, from the cardiac tests I had when I was only seven weeks pregnant, from Silas' first ultrasound at 6 weeks, and of me at 8 weeks pregnant. I really miss having a waistline! More pictures will follow

Abeyta Twins

2010-02-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I last updated our blog. Paul and I have been through some trials in the last six months, chief of which was the loss of our twins after 8 1/2 weeks of pregnancy. God has blessed us tremendously though, and has brought us closer to Him and to each other through everything that happened. We will always remember our twins, but take comfort in knowing that they are with Him and that we will see them again one day. We are confident that our own personal tragedy has been used to grow our relationships with the Lord and will be used to bless others who have to go through the same thing. Paul and I are so blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends who prayed for us and supported us during the time following the loss of our babies.

7/11

2009-08-31T23:18:00.001-07:00

For our 1 year anniversary on July 11, Paul and I went to Bing's for dinner, to 7/11 for a free icee, of course, and to see Wicked in San Francisco. We had a wonderful time. It's so hard to believe it has already been a year. I am truly blessed.

Arkansas

2009-08-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

Paul and I had so much fun visiting the family in Arkansas and attending Jon and Cara's wedding. The bride and groom got married at Mount Magazine and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. We also had a fun family weekend, which included toe rings, bananagrams, facials, bumpits and a hula hoop contest. I love my crazy family.

Leaving the Old Place

2009-08-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

It was bittersweet to leave our first apartment. It was definately harder than I thought it would be - most of our first year of marriage was spent there. We made many wonderful memories while living there, but, we also knew we would make many more in our new place. Here are a few pictures from our time at the apartment

2009-08-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

In keeping with tradition, I am updating our blog three months late on all events in our lives.

In May this year, Paul and I closed escrow and moved into our first house! Here are some before pics of the place. We are still working on the after part (furniture is so expensive!), but are getting there little by little. We definately had a lot of painting to do upon moving in and are so grateful for our wonderful family and friends who helped us clean, tape, paint, and move furniture.

Our Pups

2009-07-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Riley, our puggle, came to live with us last October, and we just recently added Roscoe, our Alaskan malamute, to the pack. He is only 10 weeks old now but is already the same size as Riley full grown. He is gonna be our big boy!

Blogging....

2009-07-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

So, once again, i have been lax on blogging. I ill try to briefly catch up on the highlights

This year we...
1) bought two dogs
2) spent our first Christmas together
3) Watched Paul's sister's baptism after she accepted the Lord! yay
4) Went to winter camp with the jr high and high school kids
5) went house hunting and are now officially homeowners
6) Are attempting to furnish our house and landscape our yard, which by the way, at one point had eyeball-height weeds in it

2009-07-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

let me introduce you to my new blue and purple haired husband

In June, Paul told the youth group that if more than 45 kids came to the summer pizza party/game night, he would let them dye his hair a crazy color. There were 47.He promised he would wait until after the wedding, but you can imagine my chagrin at having to go everywhere from the DMV to the post office to the bank to the apartment manager's to have my name changed, hand in hand with my new reverse-smurf husband.
posted by The Abeyta Family @ 1:38 AM 0 Comments
Sunday, December 28, 2008

Honeymooners

so...the whole blogging thing didn't catch on as well as I thought it would initially, but I will try to cover the last six months of our marriage in the next few posts.
Paul and I were able to go to Jamaica for our honeymoon and stay at the Sandals Resort in Ocho Rios. The country was absolutely beautiful and the people were inviting and friendly. We had a wonderful stay, and I was a little sad to come home knowing that we would not technically be "honeymooners" on a vacation again. In Jamaica, being a "honeymooner," especially if you are associated with Sandals (because the common assumption is that most couples from Sandals are on their honeymoon) means that wherever you go, you will be asked to do ridiculous things for a camera, such as hold a giant iguana and kiss while someone takes a picture of you. Very Awkward. Then the photographer will probably try to sell you the picture of yourself and your new spouse and the oversized lizard, or a variety of other embarassing pictures of the two of you, for an exorbitant amount of money. If you refuse this, you will probably be asked if you would like to buy some Jamaican Rum in hopes that the Rum will loosen you up a bit and make you want to buy the picture you hope noone ever sees. Unfortunately, this little tactic was futile with Paul and I, and we did not purchase any pictures of ourselves in awkward positions under the waterfall at the resort pool. Seriously though, our honeymoon was wonderful. Being able to spend time with my new amazing husband in such a beautiful part of creation was definately an unforgetable blessing. When we landed in Atlanta, our connecting flight, and went through United States customs, the inspection officer looked at us and laughed, "I say this everyday to every couple who crosses back into the US, kids, the honeymoon is over!" I thought about this statement alot on our next flight. People often use the word honeymoon to describe not only the vacation you take at the beginning of your marriage, but the period of your marriage before you bicker all the time, make your spouse sleep on the couch and complain about him/her to your friends and family. From the perspective of the world, the honeymoon period is the part of your marriage that you are actually in love with your spouse. Although our technical honeymoon vacation was over, our time as "honeymooners" didn't have to be. While I know the newness of marriage will pass and the reality and difficulties of life will test our relationship over the years to come, the love and admiration that I felt for my new husband on our honeymoon can and should only grow deeper with time. I know the road will not always be easy, but if we keep our focus on our Lord and our commitment to each other, our time as "honeymooners" will hopefully last until the Lord takes one or both of us home.
posted by The Abeyta Family @ 11:57 PM 1 Comments
Thursday, September 4, 2008

Blogging
After a year of religiously stalking my cousins' blog (thanks John and Ashley), Paul and I decided we would start a blog so we could share the craziness our lives with those we love most.We are newlyweds, and loving every minute of it. It is exciting to continually learn more about each other with every passing day. We are definately two very different personalities, but it is incredible to see how God blends both of our strengths and weaknesses into a new family. We love each other very much, and I am so excited to see what He has in store for our future.We are a youth ministry family. Paul leads the Junior high group at our church. I am learning a great deal about being a youth ministry wife, for example how to wash your hair and clean your shower walls and floor after you have been soaked and dried in green slime for an hour. I am also learning how to cook and entertain, even though hospitality is not one of my gifts. (Ask Paul, he got to eat my chicken parmigiana flambé for his birthday dinner...he is such a good sport). Paul is learning that being married to a nurse means that you may not get to eat dinner without listening to a disgusting story that will make you lose your appetite, and that your nurse wife, on a daily basis, will probably diagnose you with a mysterious illness that you are very unlikely to actually have.I hope you enjoy our new blog. If you have a blog, we would love to hear from you and check out your blog out as well!