Catching up with Jonah

My little guy is growing up so fast, too fast! I am constantly amazed at how big and strong he is and how he is blowing all of those little baby milestones out of the water.

He started rolling over from his tummy to his back in December and then hit a little lull. But by mid January he perfected his roll over both ways and hasn't stopped since. Today he is making his way all around the house, devouring solid foods like a starving wolf, exploring everything and anything and lighting up my world with his sweet, easygoing, humorous nature. Jonah is such a fun baby and it just kills me that he won't be a baby for very much longer!

Here's a little video of some of his milestones from the end of January to now. Remember, if you're reading this on the email, you have to click the blog title to go to the actual blog post in order to see the video.

And here is a picture of Liam, just because it's funny. He could care less about the Lincoln Logs, but the Lincoln Log container was a TON of fun!

A Decade Ago...

we got married on a sunny day, just like today, and I am so GLAD! Happy 10th Anniversary to the perfect and only man for me! We can't be old enough to have been married for 10 years already, can we? Of course, we did get married when we were just babies, so I guess that makes sense.

You know I can get really wordy and sentimental sometimes with my cards and posts, but I decided in honor of our 10 years AND it being our golden anniversary (ten years on the 10th day of February) I'm just going to sum it all up with my top ten favorite memories and/or things I love about you!

10. I have been married to you for 10 years and I am still finding out new things about you. Most recently, how creative with designing things you are.

9. Your sense of adventure and desire for the spontaneous. I can't imagine how boring I would be without you!

8. That we literally built our own home together, with our own four hands.

7. Surfing with your for the very first time in Hawaii, on our honeymoon, and the excited, proud look on your face when you saw me get up for the very first time.

6. Your ability to love people, no matter who, no matter what. People are constantly drawn to you and your incredible nature. So much so that I have to pray sometimes that we don't run into anyone we know when we go out together and I want some privacy!

5. How life is more important than time to you (this one is a little love/hate :) ). It doesn't matter if you have a whole list of things to do, you will always slow down and give the best of yourself to the kids and I. Like the time you had a million things to accomplish in the shop and yard, yet you patiently allowed Liam to help you put the table together, even though it took 10 minutes to screw in each screw.

4. That you are so in tune with the needs of people around you. You anticipate what someone will need even before they need it. And you make yourself available to serve so that everyone else around you can just relax and enjoy themselves!

3. Our last minute trip to Disneyland, planned the day of, about 3 hours before we hit the road! Grilling burgers in the back of the pick up in the parking garage, driving all night, listening to tunes and talking about everything. This one is a definite repeat someday, but maybe we should go to Disney World next time!

2. Your incredible good looks, and the fact that you were kind enough to pass them on to our kids, who are SO CUTE!

1. The phenomenal father and teammate you have become in raising our boys. You are fun, sensitive, loving, stern, flexible, patient, and willing to learn. Liam and Jonah are so lucky to have you and so am I!

I know there are so many more and probably some that would rank higher even than some of these, but these are all precious to me in every way (and they were the extent of what I could come up with, with our two screaming blessings in the background!). I am humbled by you often and more in love with you than ever before. May God grant us many more decades and millions of memories in the years to come. I love you.

Back from Owie

It's funny how you talk about a vacation, plan for it for over a year, and then your sitting on your couch looking at the pictures you took on your vacation, wondering if you were actually there. It goes so fast!

We just got back from a 10 day trip to Maui (or as Liam calls it, "Owie"). We spent half our vacation celebrating my brother, Jeff, and his new wife, Christine's wedding, and the other half playing with my parents. We were also sort of celebrating our 10 year anniversary, coming up in February. The weather was amazing, the people were a ton of fun, and the sights did not disappoint. I had Aunts and uncles and cousins to play with, we met the important people in Christine's world. All in all we made some great memories.

We started our vacay with a day on the beach followed by an incredibly delicious welcome BBQ hosted by the bride's family. The next day we toured around the area where we stayed and then hit the rehearsal. Sunday was the wedding and then Monday through Saturday we did whatever we wanted! We took our sweet friend, Heidi, with us to watch the kids during all of the wedding stuff. She did an amazing job and the kids love her. I wish we would have begged her to stay for the whole 10 days so that we could have gone out more!

There were only two downsides to the entire trip. Liam was terrified of the ocean, which killed our ability to hang out on the beach...in Hawaii...are you kidding me?!? It was so bad that every time we got in the car he started to panic that we might be going to the beach. His little eyes would go moist and his face would get red and he would start coming up with any excuse not to go to the beach. "Liam take a nap," "Liam stay in his seat," "Back to Owie house," "Back to Owie Condo," "Go to store." You get the idea. It didn't matter how much we tried to convince him we were NOT going to the beach, he wouldn't relax until we got where ever we were headed and he could see we weren't at the ocean. And then half way through the trip Jonah got a really bad cold, followed by Liam, followed by my dad, my mom, Edwin and then me. Again, are you kidding me?!?

But, those aside, we had an amazing trip. So much so that Edwin is now trying to convince me we need to buy a condo there and go all the time! He does this everywhere we go. Maybe we should wait awhile and see if Liam gets over his fear of the ocean. I would hate to live in Hawaii and not be able to go to the beach!

Here is a slideshow of some of our photos. Turns out we were having so much fun that we forgot to take pictures most of the time. I guess we will have to go back for more!

NOTE 1: The email will not show the slide show. You have to click the title of the blog post and that will send you to the actual blog with the full post. This is ALWAYS the case with video/slideshows etc.
NOTE 2: there is an icon at the bottom, second from the right on the slide show that looks like four arrows pointing in all different directions, making the shape of a square. If you click on that you will be able to view the slideshow full screen! And turn on your sound if you'd like to hear some tunes...

SNOW!

We got some serious snow on Sunday and it was glorious! It was also Liam's first time really playing in the snow. He LOVED it! I put together a little video. By the way, I was recently told that when you get the emails for Martinez Moments you don't get the videos. No problem, just click on the title to the blog post and it will send you straight to the blog, which is better for viewing photos and videos anyway. The emails are only meant to be an alert that there is a new post.

Jesus Loves Me

I got my superstar on video the other day. He is singing more and more. And in the last few days he has been playing with his guitar constantly. I think you'll see from the video that he definitely has some show flare to go along with his talents!

And as always, Jonah is not to be left out. He is rolling over now. He's been rolling over from his tummy to his back and he rolled for the first time from his back to his tummy yesterday. I love the end of this video! Jonah pulls some moves that look like baby breakdancing! Maybe he'll have something to contribute to the family talent pool.

And these have nothing to do with anything, I just thought they merited a spot on the blog.

The sunset off of our deck on New Year's Day.

Isn't he the cutest?

It's a Wonderful Life...

I was really looking forward to Christmas this year and it did not disappoint! I really wanted it to be calm and quiet and focused on Christ. I didn't want to fuss over making meals that take all day to cook and all night to clean up. I didn't want to have Liam whining about opening presents. I didn't want to be opening a million presents and then having to find a place to put a bunch of stuff we don't really need. I didn't want to go here there and everywhere, trying to see everyone one we know and everyone that they know. And I didn't have to do any of the things I didn't want to! Perfect.

We woke up late on the 24th (a Christmas miracle for my children!) and played around the house all morning just the four of us. Then Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) came late morning to liven things up a bit. Liam was in heaven. If all he got for Christmas was a visit from my mom and dad I think he would have been perfectly content. Edwin made a delicious prime rib for dinner and we ate early and then headed off to church for the candlelight service. Liam and Jonah were incredibly behaved all day and through the service too! Then we came home and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, had some cupcakes and read the Christmas story from Liam's Bible. I loved it!

Getting ready to eat dinner.

All dressed up for church

Liam LOVES to have his back and head tickled and it is not hard to rope Grandma into doing it! It's also a great way to simmer down before bed.

On the morning of the 25th we lingered over an incredible breakfast with four different types of coffee and then slowly wandered over to the Christmas tree for some presents. I know it won't always be that way, as the kids get older and start to really understand what Christmas morning holds! But it was so nice not to rush it this year, or have a million people to cook for and clean up after. After we opened up all the gifs we cozied up and headed outside for Liam's big gift this year. And then we relaxed for the rest of the day. Not one of us ever made it out of our pajamas! This is most certainly not common for my family!! Then we topped it all off with some crazy delicious wine and fondue. I am so grateful for every minute of it and wouldn't change even one thing!

Jonah is already very adept at opening gifts and he seemed very excited about his new onsies. See his little hand holding the wrapping paper...so cute!

He was also VERY interested in ribbons and bows.

Liam got some "Icky" Mouse PJ's

And an easel from Grandma and Grandpa. The easel is a big hit. He even enjoyed helping daddy put it together.

Here is some video of our two wonderful days together...

On the 26th we got to go down to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Everett where all of our Washington family gathered to celebrate Grandma Nancy's birthday and late Christmas. We had a great time catching up with all the family and even squeezed in some karaoke before everyone got there. All in all another fun and relaxing day!

Uncle Jeff showed up in the same shirt as Liam and Liam was pretty proud!
Here is some video of the karaoke. I, of course, could not help but sing a few, and am now convinced that I need my own karaoke!

So, what is my Christmas wish for next year? Please, oh please, let it be as great as this year!

Sing AND Play?!

Here's a follow up to my last post with my amazing singers. Not only can they sing, they are also talented with instruments! I pulled out my guitar the other day to play and Liam loved it. Then what did I find the very next day while looking for a gift for little Morgan? A Liam sized guitar! I think you'll find he's a natural.

We had a ton of fun on Saturday. Uncle Jeff, my brother, came up to hang out and brought the boys some loot. A piano for Liam and a Jonah sized guitar! That just sealed the deal. next year we'll be getting the drums and a microphone for the band. After naps we headed out to see the "preedy lights" as Liam calls them. Then we stopped by a live Nativity scene down the road from our house on the way home. It is so fun to be making all these memories and starting new traditions during the holidays with my own kids!

I think Uncle Jeff will love this video of Jonah with his new guitar. He is also clearly a natural. I mean, he's only 4 1/2 months old and watch how he commands the instrument! Amazing.

And this picture is just because he's so darn cute and cheerful all the time!