Its a start...

I feel like I'm always starting new, this last 10 months and well 4 1/2 years have been a blur, like a movie. We've had to do so much adjusting along the way.  Things weren't exactly what we had planned for before we got married.
Anyway, I have expectations of myself and of how I want to do things, when I need to get things done etc.. but I keep coming back to starting over.  Not getting it quite right and starting over.  So hopefully I will start over and blog more frequently, like I've always intended to!  I'll take more pictures, like I've intended to, I'll enjoy the little things and the big things...like I've always intended to do!
For now, for tonight, I am feeling particularly blessed to have my husband, my children and this forever family! And in particular to say it, blog it, announce it!

I also made these little collages for Jose, just because (but he doesn't know about them).  Tonight was Vandro's last day of his (1st) soccer team practice.  But also the 1st of a new life for us, preschool, teams, friend's birthday parties etc.. We never had this kind of normal before, we really didn't have friends with kids nor did we really live near family.  I can count on 2 fingers the number of birthday parties we've either been invited to or attended.  We hardly ever went to things as a whole family, mama, papa both kids etc.. This all made me think of Jose and this road we're on, how much he has sacrificed marrying young, how effortless he makes it all look!  I mean a father of 3 at 28!

So I made these little collages of him with each of our children, how nice it was to go back to each of those dates of the pictures. Especially going back to Utah for me. It really has been US...Jose the kids and I.  We've never really lived near family.  We've really had to maneuver this thing on our own!

Don't get me wrong we have great family that prays for us, give us awesome and thoughtful gifts, love and spoil our children...but the day to day has been Jose and I.  Our friends have been busy with their lives and we've been fortune to find new friends that we can share an occasional meal with, but when I look around, I am so proud of us.  Its easy to forget how far we've come in our 5 years married.  Monetarily we may not have much to show but I think we're doing pretty good as far as working towards the eternal!

Jose has never been selfish in that fact, he was 23 when we married, he's worked his tail off to get where he is in his education and career training, in his role as a father and husband.  He doesn't know this and very rarely if at all, reads my blog, but Jose is amazing, he inspires me.  He inspires me to never let go of my aspirations not matter how difficult they may seem.  On my down days, he treats me like I'm the most successful woman on the planet and well I'm not a size 6 anymore but he looks at me as if I was a supermodel (he does need yearly eye exams though!)

We are at the beginning of this journey still and we've been through so much! More than some couples have been through in a lifetime of marriage, I think.  I look at him and I am so proud to be his wife, the mother of his children, his eternal companion!

 Eva made us parents and grown ups, she made us Superstars!

Vandro gave us a dose of parental reality! (The good The bad, The joy and The worry)

Baby Mia, she has brought joy into our lives when we needed happy the most!  Vandro, Jose and I needed this baby...she's all of our baby!

We miss Eva every single day, all of us miss her!  Vandro sometimes asks when can we go get her.  He gets excited to think that when Jesus comes so will Eva!

We are maneuvering through this new chapter in our lives again feeling like we're going through 1st all over again.  Hmm...what will my posts look like in 10 years?!  Well I'll just have to keep writing and see!