Zoo excursion

Wet too great advantage of the relatively nice weather and went to the zoo Monday ... The boys were so excited to see the animals again! It was like pulling teeth to get then to leave! They complained they were tired and needed me to carry them but they just had to go see more animals. It was frustratingly cute  ;-)

Mom's birthday ...

yesterday would have been my mother's 54th birthday ... and it was a great day! we told a few stories, talked with my dad, and even had red velvet cupcakes with pink cream cheese frosting (b/c mom would do something sweet and fun like that!).  i felt so at peace and had no regrets, no feelings of despair or anger toward God for having taken her in the middle of her life, the prime of mine when i am just becoming an adult and growing into a mature and special relationship with my mother.  don't misunderstand, i do miss her deeply and wish she could be here to share special little moments together, but i don't mourn her passing.  i have come to trust the Lord so much now that i know if it were best for her to stay she would have stayed - that in her passing we are all strengthened ... or we are given the opportunity to have strengthening experiences with the Lord.  i have been blessed with a greater understanding of the plan of salvation ... the plan of happiness ... the plan of redemption than i ever had before.  the eyes of my understanding have been opened because my heart was softened, even broken.  i am motivated more now than ever before to be diligent in obeying the word of the Lord and in making and keeping covenants with Him because i want to be eternally united with my sweet mother (and all my family) in the next life.  there is nothing the Lord couldn't ask of me that i wouldn't do because i have come to know that when He says something He will follow through on his word, it will never become void. 

so all in all, yesterday was a great spiritual day for me and a happy reminder of how wonderful a life my sweet mother led and all the good she acomplished on the Lord's errand in the short 49 years she had in this life.  may i too be as wonderful as she is.

Sewing projects

I recently finished a gift for a friend whose baby shower is tomorrow. It includes a sleeper bag, hat and booties. I had to try them on Andy to make sure they were the correct size for a newborn bc some patterns say they are for newborns but are too big. And they did fit and i was so happy i just had to take a photo of my sleeping baby's feet. Can't really see it very well since it's white with this lighting.

My Twilight Zone!

EVERY time i go to JoAnn Fabrics i lose track of time and get sucked into the twilight zone. I went looking for some coordinating fabrics for some knit i had in gray and another in dusty peach, and some extra beads for a pearl necklace from my mother that had broken. TWO HOURS later and i'm finally checking out!!! I found so many new fabric choices now that i have a serger that it takes me longer to assess what i find and reduce the it down to a couple of options so i can finally make a choice. Wow!

Then as i was walking around i saw so many inspirational things, like this ruffled pillow. I love ruffles, lace, flower accents, and drapeing lines.

Atleast i found what i wanted and can move fwd with some ideas and projects. I love sewing!!!

Little bits of joy

As soon as matt came home from work the boys flocked to him and greeted him with joyful shouts of "tatay! It's tatay!" (tatay is tagalog for 'father'). Then they latched onto his legs and demanded a walk thru the house. It was touching they were so happy to have their tatay return home.

Family Home Evening

Tonight the lesson was on the plan of salvation with some fun about the creation. The boys were such great helpers and had so much fun putting together the "puzzle" with all its pieces. They even helped draw some of the creation like darkness and seeds/fruit. It was awesome! We even got to introduce the concept of spirit and body and relate it to grandma. We ar learning that grandma is dead but that she lives with Jesus now until she gets her body back. It's so weird to hear the boys say "grandma dead." we have watched planet earth a lot lately to learn about the earth and they have learned about the food chain as well. So hence they know grandma is dead, but we are trying to tell the next part of the story as well. Through Christ we have hope of a resurrection from the dead and if we keep the commandments and make covenants with Hin in his holy temples through his restored priesthood we can have eternal life. What great hope there is in knowing the entire plan God has for us our salvation!

Andrew Steven Huss

This has been erased 3x so i'm sorry it's so delayed. Andrew was born Jan 18th at 1:54am because he was so stubborn and needed some persuading- my midwife had to break my water. He was 7lb 15oz and 20.5 in long. He hides his weight so well i affectionatly refer to him as chicken legs! He is so quiet except when he's hungry. His steel blue eyes just stare deep into you as he watches your every move.

Will & Jake love and adore him so much they want be in the same room with him all the time & make sure that baby Andrew is coming with us when we go to the store! They are amazing big brothers. Jake cannot stop kissing him!

I love to hold him & cuddle him when he's sleeping. He's precious. We are the luckiest family to have such wonderful children sent to us from God. He wants our family to succeed and be happy, and that's why He's made temple ordinances available for us today so our families can be bound together on earth and later for eternity in heaven. God be blessed for the matchless gift of His divine Son who made repentance & immortality and eternal life possible!

Ticking time bomb

Being 2-3cm dilated and having contractions more frequently & consistently just add up to make me a ticking time bomb! I am so ready yo have this baby and finally meet him, have my body back, and move on with life! So any time he wants to come is a goid time for me!

I'm so paranoid i have the bags packed and in the car for each person like it's an emergency! There's a bag for me, andrew, matt, will & jake! Everybody has the stuff they'll "need" for when the fun begins and the plan needs to be put into action. It's kinda exhausting for me to live every day like it'a the day. So tomorrow i'm going to try not to worry about it and just live! Heck! Might even get to see a special preview for season 2 of "downton abbey"! That would be the best!

37 weeks ... Only 19 days left

I am so ready to pop i hope it shows in the picture! I'm at that awkward stage where i walk funny, i sleep in weird places in odd positions, and i am just a spectacle doing the simplest things. It really is funny trying to lean over the counter and wash the dishes! But it's all cute and laughable to me. I don't think Andrew will come in time for a tax break but he will come soon enough. I will post pictures from Christmas as soon as i can borrow my sis-in-laws camera and download them. She was the "photographer" mostly this year, so expect some good things b/c Xmas was fun, exciting, and meaningful as we celebrated the birth of the Savior. So more to come ...

Christmas cheer!

I just love this Christmas b/c i am really trying to spread cheer & remembet the life of the Savior. I'm making most of the boy's gifts this year and it has been a blast! I just love sewing and hope they will enjoy them too. Superhero costumes are in big demand this year - esp superman! Those are easy things i can make and see them enjoy all day long every day :)

Bumpity bump bump bump!

I'm feeling large and definitely waddling now. At 33 weeks i'm almost packed and ready for the hospital, the only things i wanna do before Andrew comes is make the curtains that will go in his room. That will only take a few hours now that everything is cut out and planned.

Some times i can't believe this will be our 3rd kid in 3 1/2 years - but it is and we're so excited ... All of us including jacob and will. Jake loves finding small teddy bears and baby dolls and cuddling with them while whispering "hi baby" over and over. They both know baby andrew i hiding in my belly and not in theirs. It's so amazing what these sweet little angels know and can do. Just precious little gifts from God they are!!!

Success!!!

Today we ventured into the ideal and unrealistic world we only dream of with our 3 & 1.5 year old kids. Yes, we took them out to eat at a sit down place. Now we didn't test out PFChang's or somewhere like that, but we did test out Gilden Corral and succeeded! Instant food was the key ti success! We went, we ate, we conquered! This gives us hope go out with family for celebrations or get togethers. Oh how awesome are the little triumphs!

Iron men

The little gits just LOVE super heroes right now. And it doesn't matter who they just like to fly, go to the rescue, and help others. So tonight we dressed up like iron man and learned a little about armor. They had lots of fun and it only cost a few nickles!

Now if only we could understand how prayer, scripture study, service, and other commandments of God are armor too, and they protect us from the harm of sin & the world.

We're back from the dead...

Jacob & I caught a cold a couple weeks ago and then last week Will caught it. But to add taking Jake to the ER last week because he was having great difficulty breathing and finding out he jad some pneumonia, i failed my glucose test and had to take the 3 hour test - which i failed again. So i had to attend a diabetes class and learn how to test my blood sugar. I'm also on a strict diet that i have to record and take to my CNM appointments like a homework assignment. It's a big hassel and it makes me really feel bad for ppl w/diabetes and also grateful that i'm not diabetic in non-pregnant life.

So now we're basically all better! The Lord really pulled us thru this one with all the needs of sick kids while i'm sick and have to begin a new regimen. It truly is real that the Lord will make a way for us to accomplish the things he commands us and that are good priorities (1 Nephi 3:7 from the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ).

Harvest time

We have been so busy this past couple of weeks. But it has been so much fun! We learned about pumpkins and harvest time and made some pumpkin faces instead of jack-o-lanterns. Those will be for this coming week as we continue with our halloween and harvest time fun! Jake just loves to weat his mask and "scare" will!

Baby bump update week 27

Wow! Just can't believe how big i've gotten in the past 2 weeks. Andrew is really starting to get active when he's awake and then become angry when he's woken up in the middle of the night by his 2 brothers! They really like to jump in bed with mom & dad and snuggle us off our pillows and then off the edge of the bed! Hahaha! Everything is going well and we're both healthy as can be. This week i'll do the gestational diabeties test so that'll be fun ... Ha ha huh.

Dinosaur feet

This week we were so excited about dinosaurs i made the boys some dinosair slippers. They also serve to keep their feet warm as it gets colder. But we has lots of fun learning about patterns, how Jesus is our pattern in life, and having great things happen from following a pattern!

The Lion King in 3D

Hahaha! Last night i stayed up and finished sewing jacob's lion costume and couldn't wait til they woke up this morning to put the costumes on the boys. They are so cute as Scar and Simba! A few adjustments need to be made but i'm so excited they both have lion costumes now. I just LOVE sewing and creating things with my sewing machine and fabric ... It's gonna be my unofficial second career this decade.

I never want to stop learning and developing talents i've been given by the Lord. The more i've learned about anatomy & physiologly the more i've been interested in dressing that body in a modest and flattering manner. The more i learn of modesy designing & garment construction the more i'm interested in history and learning of ancient ppl, their civilizations, and how their obedience or disobedience to the Lord's commandments affected them. And the list continues on and on. All things are connected and teach other subjects.

Getting ready for Halloween

I'm in the process of making the boys halloween costumes since it's SOOO much cheaper than buyin them at the store and more creative. Plus i just love to sew ... Anyway the boys are gonna be lions - will is scar and jake is simba from the lion king. I wish they were a little older this year as the 3D movie is out and it would be fun to dress up and go see it. Oh well. Next is jakes lion but for now he wears will's mr. Incredible costume from last year or the frog from the year before. They're just so cute!

William Huss

I was so happy and so sad at the same time friday. Will had his 3rd bday pics and he did such a great job and the studio was awesome helping him pose. Some of his pics were so mature and grownup that i was sad thinking how time was flying. But other pics were so cute and captured his personality that i was happy.

The only thing i wasn't happt about was the price. I forgot the package coupon at home so i had to pay full price to get this one pic i wanted. We'll just go back again w/ a coupon soon!