Dusting off the ol' Blog

6 months. That's how much time has passed since I last blogged. That's way too long and one of my New Years resolutions is to update our lives on here more often.

I could blame it on our busyness, but truth be told it's a combination of that, the fact that I'm tired all the time, and the fact that I've let Instagram substitute for updates on our lives. Instagram is okay, but even though a picture is worth a thousand words, I forget that words are often times better.

In the last 6 months much has happened. I figured since it's the new year I should start it off right. I want to kind of recap our crazy, busy, wonderful fall and thank God for all he did to finish out our 2014. I'm also looking forward to 2015 and what God has in store for us. 

Since I last blogged, so much has happened. I'll begin with the kiddos, youngest to oldest.

Our Emsley began walking just before her 14 month. We were all so excited for her! She took her first steps at the Howard family cabin.

We also dedicated Em to the Lord at our church on Sunday October 12th. It was a special day and we celebrated with family afterwards. We all love having Emsley around. She is turning out to be quite a ham and has us laughing on a daily basis.

Ethan began preschool 2 half days a week and is loving it! He was very shy and hesitant at first, but preschool is accomplishing all that we hoped it would in him. We knew he was doing okay academically, since he loves to learn and is obsessed with letters and numbers. We just thought he needed a nudge socially and in learning to be a bit more independent. We've seen him grow up a lot this fall. He has several friends at preschool and although he still melts down when he's tired, he's a lot more mature and social! Praise God!

Elliana started kindergarten and is loving that as well. We've never worried about her since she is so social and loves to learn as well. She is also flourishing! The biggest change I've seen in her is the way she has taken on her role as a big sister. She amazes me with the way she loves and cares for both Ethan and Emsley. Another big milestone for her is that just before her 6th birthday she lost her first tooth! She was so proud of herself.

At the end of October, I got to check a visit to New York off the bucket list! As a Christmas gift from Caleb's parents, the four of us stayed with Caleb's Aunt and Uncle for 5 days and the trip was everything I dreamed it would be! We saw everything from The Statue Of Liberty, One World Trade Center, 9-11 memorial, The Met, Rockefeller Center, Top of The Rock, Empire State Building, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, etc.

The biggest highlights for me were ice skating in front of Rockefeller Center, seeing the fall colors, seeing Wicked on Broadway and going to the top of the Empire State Building at midnight with Caleb. It was a wonderful trip and one that I'll never forget.

In October we also visited California but not for a happy reason. Caleb's paternal grandmother, Jeannette Howard passed away and we went to celebrate her life at her lovely funeral. It was sad to be there for that reason, but also so good to see the rest of that side of the family.

In early November Caleb's volleyball team won State again this year and they completed another season undefeated! Their record is now 58-0!! There are no words to describe that moment, or how proud I am of him and his incredible team. They are so special, and not just athletically.

At the beginning of the fall Caleb and I finally joined a small group at our new church Mill City and we are enjoying getting to know more couples and families there. One of my goals for this year is to get on the worship team at church.

We ended 2014 with a whirlwind December. We celebrated Ellie's 6th birthday, my 33rd (gulp) birthday,

bought Ellie a betta fish as her first pet for Christmas (she named the fish Sophie),

and then took off to an indoor water park in South Dakota for a few days. It was a wonderful trip as well!

Whew! 2014 was so busy and so, so good to us. It's true what people say about the years going faster and faster. Here is my new favorite photo of my 3 littles on Christmas Eve.

We have much to look forward to in 2015 and I'm excited to see what God has in store for us. It's hard to believe that Caleb and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage already! We've planned a trip to Santa Barbara in March to celebrate! Stay tuned, I promise to not go 6 months again. ;)

I hope your 2015 is off to a great start!

5 Year Blogiversary

Today, July 30th officially marks 5 years of blogging for me! I can't believe how fast these past 5 years have gone!

When I started this blog, I chose to name it "living in his faithfulness" because when I look at my past, present and future I can see God's fingerprints all over my life. I know that he is faithful and even at times when I'm wondering why I cant sense his presence, I can look back and remind myself that he was always there guiding me and showing me piece by piece what his master plan is for my life. I can see how he has been faithful to us time and time again whether that meant providing for needs, answering prayers, making dreams come true, giving us unexplainable peace during the tougher times, and even joy beyond measure.

With my 5 year blogiversary I thought it would be fitting and fun to recap some of the highlights (and even a few low lights) from my life (our lives) over the past 5 years.

We saw some dreams come true!
-I went from being a part time front desk team leader at The Eye Center to a full time stay at home mom! This was truly a long time dream of mine that we thought couldn't happen financially and God made it happen.

-This past fall, after coaching for over 10 years, Caleb finally got to experience winning the State Volleyball Championship! That is a day I'll never forget. You know what is even sweeter than seeing your own dream come true? Seeing a dream come true for someone you love!

Family Life:
-I got pregnant 3 more times since starting this blog. Sadly, I lost one baby, but with complete joy we also welcomed Ethan James (now 3) and Emsley Jeannette (now 1) to the family!

-Life is 10x more crazy and busy now than when we had just our little Elliana Faith! It's also much more full and sweet.

It's so fun to see how much Ellie has grown and changed in the last 5 years, and how she slipped into the big sister role with ease. I can't believe our Ellie will be starting Kindergarten this fall!

Here's a collage of Ellie over the years. Each picture was taken during the summer of that year;

-I could show how each child has changed over the years, but that would that make this post very long, and I just wanted to show Ellie since she was the only child around when this blog started. :)

-The last 5 years have been full of sleepless nights, diaper changes, nursing, bottle feeding, baby food, pacifiers, sippy cups, crawling and toddling babes, potty training, etc. You get the idea. 

-I very much look forward to the next 5 years. We will no longer be growing our family (in numbers) but raising our school aged children. I look forward to learning who they are as little people and not just knowing them as babies and toddlers. It's going to be a great adventure!

-In our extended family, since starting this blog, we also gained 1 sister-in-law (Amanda, married to Caleb's brother Nate), 1 brother-in-law (Brian, married to my sister Alli) my nephew Josiah (born May 2010), my niece Ashlynn (born Dec. 2010), and my niece Kailey (born July 2013).

Nate and Amanda 

Alli and Brian

Travels:

-Over the past 5 years, we have been to the Caribbean on a 5 year Anniversary Cruise, Kansas City, Tulsa, Nashville, San Diego, San Francisco, Austin, Vegas and small short trips to Denver, Colorado Springs and Breckenridge! Whew, we sure do get to do a lot. I'm SO thankful! Here's just a few favorite photos from a few of those trips:

2010 Caribbean Cruise

Just me and Caleb

Jan 2012 Nashville

Just me and Caleb again

June 2012 San Diego

Extended Howard Family (Caleb's family)

March 2014 Vegas

Sanchez Ladies (me, my sisters, BIL Brian, and my mom)

New Interests and Hobbies:

-Over the past 5 years I have gained a few new interests/hobbies. I have become much more interested in health and exercise, and where I once loathed any kind of cardiovascular activity, I now really enjoy going to the gym to run, use the elliptical, or do my weekly Zumba class. :)

-Around this time 2 years ago I began baking, decorating and selling iced sugar cookies and cupcakes for special occasions. Even though I would say this was pretty successful, it required a lot of time. Once baby #3 arrived, AKA Emsley, I put this on hold and haven't returned to this little hobby/business yet.

-This past spring I made some DIY decorations for my MIL and FIL's retirement party. I had so much fun making the paper banners for this occasion that I've made a few more and *might* try selling them for special occasions. We'll see. In the meantime, I've really enjoyed working on them!

The Heartbreaks:

-Of course, the past 5 years haven't been all joy and no sorrow. The biggest and most unexpected heartbreak over the past 5 years was the loss of my beloved Grandma Nancy. I still miss her so to this day. Just today Ellie brought her up and said she was sad because she misses her. I look forward to the day when I see her again in heaven.

-Another heartbreak, although brief, was the scary news and journey of my dad's cancer. Thankfully this was a short-lived journey and he is now cancer free! Praise God!!

-One heartache that is very near to my heart, is the painful journey of infertility. I have loved ones that are still on this journey, and we don't know where their story ends. I have spent many hours in prayer for these loved ones, I still believe that God has a plan for them. Even though I don't know the specifics of his plans for them, I believe he will show himself faithful. My heart hurts when I see them hurt.

Other:

-One other major change over the last five years worth noting, was leaving the church both Caleb and I grew up in and finding a new one. This was not an easy process, but I am happy to say we have found a new church home that I can see our family staying at for many years to come. I look forward to the friendships that will grow from Mill City.

-Just this past spring Caleb and I both got smart phones! I also joined Instagram and am loving it!

Of course it's impossible to cover every important detail of our lives over the past 5 years, but I think I covered most of the highlights. I can honestly look back and say God was with us, faithfully carrying us through every joy and sorrow. 

I look forward to what the future holds for our little family. I love this crazy adventure we're on, and knowing God is with us through it all.