Rowan James Martinez

Rowan James was born June 27th at 2:22 in the afternoon. He is 8 lbs 9 oz. and 21 inches long. I haven't had any time to get pictures on the computer, but here is a link and some information to see some of the shots the hospital photographer got:

http://www.our365.com/BabyPhotography.aspx

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Click on Christina M. 
Password is the same as the customer number
Last 4 digits of last name Mart


Here are a few quick photos that we took as well. No explanations because I'm typing with one hand. (There's a newborn who won"t go to sleep in the other one!)

Finally Blog Worthy!

My new (and first) baby niece, Miss Charlotte Ann Grant! Born Thursday morning, March 8, to my brother, Jeff, and his wife, Christine. Now that is blog-worthy, don't you think? Here she is, just two and a half days old with the new daddy.

And here she is again with her Grandma, who is thrilled to finally have a grand daughter to shop for!

And here she is with her favorite Auntie ;) snuggling up to her cousin, due in 3 1/2 months. The baby in the belly was getting in some good love kicks to Charlotte's little bottom!

We spent the weekend with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin Ellie in Everett as a half way point to spending time with Charlotte. The boys LOVE it there! They had so much fun. Ellie and Mikki spoil them, so who wouldn't love it. They spoiled us too...

And some odds and ends from the camera...

Last week we were so surprised to wake up to this! The kids had an amazing time playing in the yard and the sun was so gorgeous and warm that even I enjoyed the hours outside!

My two favorite goof balls. I love that they are playing together more and more now. It's so fun to hear them giggling and laughing (and then, of course, screaming and crying) together.

So, no, the camera hasn't been broken and the blog still works. I just haven't had much blog worthy stuff lately. We've all been sick off and on most of the winter. Jonah had his surgery to get tubes put in his ears and he's a totally different kid now. So fun and happy! His vocabulary is finally taking off now that he can hear and he is transitioning into a lot of big boy things as well. Edwin has been gone to Guatemala A LOT. I went on a four day weekend retreat with some girlfriends, which was an amazing break for me. And Liam has just been getting more and more mature in so many ways. He is often a huge help to me, he's very loving and cuddly, and more than anything he loves to play with his best buddy, Merritt. Oh, and the baby in the belly is growing well and moving around a ton. He/She looked great on last ultrasound and I have been feeling pretty good, aside from the normal pregnancy tired and off and on heartburn.

So, that's all for now. I'm hoping to have more blog worthy stuff in the next few months. It's been kind of boring around here!

Getting Sentimental...among other things...

Settle in for a long winter's blog...

Since I've only been blogging once a month or every month and a half it seems like I always have a million things to say. You may remember my last post at the beginning of November. We had had a somewhat difficult fall and were all pretty worn out. I am glad to say that things have been better around here for most of us!

For those of you who didn't know I am expecting a third little miracle July 4th. It's been a rough pregnancy so far, but we are nearing the end of the first trimester and I have hope things will get a lot better in the next month.

Jonah is feeling 110% better and is back to his crazy cute little self. He views the world around him as his own personal jungle gym. I am amazed at his acrobatic skills every day. He isn't afraid of anything (with the exception large dogs)! His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds every day and I love to hear him talk!

Liam is as smart as ever. He cracks us up all the time with the things he has to say. And he is so helpful. It has gotten to be a lot of fun doing things with him, taking him places and experiencing the wonder of the world again through his perspective. One of my favorite changes in him is his recent realization that Jonah can be fun! They play together all the time now. I hear them giggling about everything. and Liam now knows that Jonah will copy almost everything he does. This, I have found, is very dangerous!

Today was Liam's first participation in a Christmas program, or any type of program for that matter. I had been really looking forward to it, but I didn't expect to be so emotional about it! I helped lead worship this Sunday so I was there to see the program in the first service (Liam was only in the program for the second service). As I watched all the cute little kids I couldn't hold back the tears.

Most of you know that we went through 3 1/2 years of infertility before we conceived Liam. There were so many moments that I would be completely overcome by grief during those years. It would hit me at the most unexpected times. Today, all of the sudden, I was instantly transported back to a Christmas program about 5 or 6 years ago. I remembered so clearly sitting in the seat next to Edwin, watching all those cute little kids and my heart completely broke for the thousandth time. I was overcome with the realization that I would probably never get to sit in that seat with a huge grin on my face watching MY little boy or girl sing her heart out, or pick his nose, or just stand there like a statue. I actually had to get up and leave in order to go and compose myself.

Flash back to today and I was overcome with wonder! There I was watching the program, knowing that my little Liam, MY precious miracle would be up there in a little over an hour. That I would get to wave at him from my seat. That Edwin would be running around the sanctuary with a video camera trying to capture what would be to most people the most boring video they'd ever seen! God has been so incredibly good to us. He has given us more than we ever deserved. And this moment was such an overwhelming reminder of His grace and goodness.

So, without further ado (and mostly for the grandparents, because no one else will think it's interesting), Liam's inaugural performance...

And here are a few pictures of what we've been up to the rest of December.

We have had some MAJOR transitions. Edwin's parents and two of his cousins and their entire families all moved to the area on November 30th! We went from having very little family close by to having a ton of family close by. The cousins are all up in Vancouver and I took the boys up there a few weeks ago to begin getting reconnected. Here are just a few of them.

And this is Edwin's nephew Irie. Edwin's parents are raising him full time right now. Hopefully we'll all be able to help each other!

Meeting Santa and Christmas tree farm

Doesn't Jonah remind you of that kid in The Christmas Story with that poofy red coat?

Seeing the lights go on on the Christmas tree for the first time.

Watching Charlie Brown's Christmas

Discovering Nutella

Out to see the Lights Of Christmas at Warm Beach Camp with the Brennans

The crash after all the fun

It's been an interesting fall....

I haven't had ANY desire or energy lately to take pictures, let alone get a blog post up. But I thought I should make a little effort here for those of you who don't get to see the kids in person very much. The truth is Jonah has been sick for most of the last three months. And not just a little sick, he has been really sick. So, we haven't been out of the house much or done anything very picture worthy. Poor Liam! He and I are going insane with all this social isolation. It can wear you down pretty quick!

Anyway, I'll spare you the details (mainly because I am so sick of the whole thing) and get right to the few pictures we have taken. We went to the pumpkin patch a few times this month (we live super close and it is really cheap), once with Daddy and once with the Brennans. We didn't get many pictures, but at least you can see what the kids look like these days!

This one was taken right after Jonah took a face plant in the sand, running around. He was so crabby this day to begin with. Poor guy was still feeling pretty bad.

Liam couldn't care less about the pumpkins, he just wanted to see the animals. He still LOVES animals.

This is how Jonah spent most of the day.

Pumpkin patch take 2: Feeling a little better (but not much)

I am learning more and more that little boys need to get outside no matter what the weather. Good thing we have a great place to put on the rain gear and get crazy! I thought they'd end up a lot dirtier, but Merritt and Morgan were ready to head inside pretty quick. We might have to start calling them "the city kids". Liam and Jonah would stay out there all day if I let them.

Well, sadly, those are the only decent picture I have. Here's to hoping we have a much more fun November!

Shifting Into High Gear!

Jonah is officially walking! He started about a week and a half after his birthday and is getting faster and faster every day. This video was taken about two weeks ago and he is a lot more steady now. Never a dull moment!

Liam decided one night a dinner that he really wanted to sing and sing he did! I LOVE it when he sings, it makes my heart so happy. And I think he has pretty good tone! He does, however, forget the words to most of the songs, but what he lacks in precision he makes up for in creativity. He kind of reminds me of my dad that way. I don't think I've ever heard my dad get the lyrics right on any song!

Finally, these are some of the shots taken on Jonah's One Year Birthday shoot. He is hard to get a picture of because he NEVER stops moving, so he gave the photographers a run for their money! But I think we got a couple of good ones.

Happy Birthday Sweet Jonah!

You are sweet and cuddly, crazy and aggressive, funny, super active, cute, charming, curious, adventurous, and I ADORE you!

We had a great birthday week with Jonah. It started off Tuesday with a one year photo session (I will post some of those photos as soon as I get them). Then Wednesday, Jonah's actual birthday, we celebrated just our little family. And Saturday we had friends and family over for a party. It was so much fun! The weather was great, the food was amazing, and the kids had a blast. I am so thankful for my community and how they love on my kids so thoroughly!

Sorry for the media blitz, but I got a lot of great video throughout the week! The first is a slide show of the pictures from Jonah's party and the second is a video of the party. The third and fourth videos are from Jonah's actual birthday. In the third one I had blown up the pool to see how big it was and the kids thought it was the greatest thing ever. It was a little tall for Jonah by the time I blew up the third level so it turned into more of a wrestling ring. And I had to put the fourth one on because Liam made me laugh so hard. It's a great example of his incredible negotiating skills and his pure joy over birthday cakes and celebration! Enjoy

Untitled from Nina Martinez on Vimeo.

Untitled from Nina Martinez on Vimeo.

Annual Vacation with the Brennans!

We just got back from our annual trip with the Brennan family. This is one of my favorite trips every year and they are getting better and better as the kids get older. Merritt and Liam LOVE spending time together and Jonah and Morgan are getting to be more fun as well. The adults don't get as much down time as we'd like, but we have a ton of fun anyway. It's so fun to see the trips evolve as our families evolve and every year we dream up what we're going to do the next year!

This year we went to the bustling town of Cle Elum, WA. Why on earth did we go to Cle-Elum? Good question! With four kids at 3, almost 3, 1 1/2, and 1 it made more sense to find an amazing house with an amazing yard to spend all of our time at and Cle Elum had just the one with an amazing price tag to boot! And as it turns out there was a lot to do there. We found some great parks, went on a beautiful hike, toured the neighboring towns, hit the mining museum, rented some quads, and really enjoyed the house and it's amenities. So much so, that we didn't get a whole lot of pictures or video this year! But I put together a slideshow and video with some of the good stuff.

Oh, and I almost forgot, Jonah started taking some steps on his own! I know, we are in BIG trouble now! We got the first few on video the night before we left. There is also a picture of Liam and Edwin at Larabee State Park and the boys playing around in the Galaxy the day before we left. Enjoy!