Three

Happy Birthday to my No No.  I never want to forget what Noel is like at this age.  In my selfish motherhood, I truly do not want my girl to grow any more.  I love this age, I love that Noel bounces wherever she goes and sings freely.  I love how she says Pony, band aid, and Prestyn, and when she makes a suggestion she says “how bout”.  I love that her favorite book is Pinkalicious and that she only wants me to read the last page and that nothing makes her more angry than when her brothers spoils it. 

I have never worried about Noel.  From the minute she was born she was very clear about what she wanted.  Noel is determined and resourceful; she has a way of seamlessly getting what she wants.  Her tactic is to wear you down and she does it so well.  Tonight I put her to bed 20 times.  After she ruined my bath, woke her baby sister and mooched off my snack, I gave in.  “Fine, you can watch a show with me, but you have to sit still and be quiet” She agreed, but thought we should watch “Bo on the Go” while I tickled her arm.  As I sat there watching her show and tickling her arm, I thought “How did this happen?”  I wasn’t even mad, I was past that point.  When I finally put her to bed she said “Mommy, you’re the best girl” and that was it, I was glad I let her stay up with me because I know it was not lost on her. 

The reason I want to get this all down is because there may be a day that Noel will not grab her coat and sprint for the door when she hears someone leaving.  Someday she may not sob at the door when she can’t go with me.  She might even grow up to be uninterested in purses, necklaces and painted nails, but for now these things are treasures to her.  Corbet and I have an understanding that if we can take her whenever we go out, we do and if we can’t, we have a sneak out plan that involves the other parent luring her away with candy.  When she does get to go for a car ride she often brings her Hello Kitty purse with her Minnie Mouse stuffed inside. 

I almost always put her hair in pig tails just so I can see them bounce as she goes about her day. I know there will be a day when she doesn’t want pig tails or for me to lay with her while she falls asleep.  She won’t need me to read to her forever and she will eventually grow tired of singing to me. 

I know my No No has to grow up, but I want her to know that there are things she does not have to grow out of. Noel has a natural confidence and happiness that I pray she holds on to.  At three she already has a strength that has taken me a life time to build.  I watch her in wonder and know that she came to our family already made; who she is was decided before I even held her.  She is growing up and though I hate to see it happen, I love watching who she is becoming and I know it will be a beautiful journey. 

Happy Birthday my girl, oh how we love our No No. 

 

Merry Christmas from the Weimers

The Christmas Letter

I have always loved Christmas letters. However, I have never composed one until…Now!   What a wonderful thing to let our loved ones know what we have been up to and the blessings that have taken place in our lives.  I guess with facebook and my blog The Weimer’s are an open book so to speak, but I do want to take the opportunity to share our blessings and express gratitude to the Lord for such a wonderful year! 

In February we moved to Hermiston Oregon…we are slowly making our way across Eastern Oregon.  My husband accepted the challenge of working as a production supervisor at Shearers food.  He has a crazy schedule that includes, working nights, coming home to a rambunctious family, working on his master’s degree, playing with the kids, giving his wife a break then off to bed to start it all over again.  He works hard and can be found exhausted and yet cheerful.  He continues to follow his dream of writing a novel.

Our oldest son Dylan Chase (4) has been loving preschool.  He enjoys riding his bike, building legos and trying to save the Princess via Nintendo DS.  He likes rules and likes to enforce them- we call him our hall monitor because he keeps us all on our toes.  Dylan loves life and appreciates the details.  He is gentle and kind and we are so grateful for the example he sets for his sisters. 

Our daughter, Noel Lurie (3), is full of joy.  Noel does not walk she bounces.  Her passions include necklaces, purses and kitties.  Noel is very independent, she enjoys doing everything herself.  She gets herself dressed from head to toe and changes outfits many times during the day.  Her laundry pile surpasses us all.  “No No”, as we call her, loves books, singing and dancing.  Noel brings adventure and laughter to our lives.

Our Newest Arrival, Prestyn Jean (5 Months), is the best surprise of our lives!  Prestyn is such a sweet baby.  I know all baby’s are sweet, but let me just say we have been blessed with a baby that sleeps through the night, travels well, eats well and cry’s very little.  It sounds too good to be true and if I didn’t see her sweet smile and hear her little giggles so often, I wouldn’t believe it myself.  We were terrified to have our third baby, but she has made the transition smooth and her brother and sister adore her which makes it all so special. 

As for me, the wife, the mother, the maker of the home, I can say it has been a full year!  Looking back makes me smile.  We survived a move, a pincher bug infestation, a pregnancy, the terrible two’s, making new friends and losing a dear one.  Let’s just throw in losing some hair, gaining a few gray ones, enduring a couple flues, as well as kid swallowing a penny and we will call it good.  

The truth is the good always outweighs the bad.  Out of every challenge or heartache, we’ve always found a blessing to claim.  I cannot let this year go without thanking the Lord for his hand in our lives.  The Weimer’s have been richly blessed with love, babies, joy, opportunity, disappointment, growth and faith.

We send our prayer that this letter finds you well.  May the Lord bless you this Holiday season and may you recognize his hand in your lives.  How grateful we are for this season to remember His birth, His life and His sacrifice.  We truly do wish you a Merry Christmas.

The Weimers

Thirty One

Thirty One….what can I say, it looks a little different than I expected. Right now it looks like me sitting here in my pj’s with a soggy bowl of cereal. I’m not ungrateful; I just find it funny that this is actually what I want to be doing right now. For my Birthday my husband updated my computer and relieved me from any parenting duties which is what I wanted and, no joke, best gift ever! Now, we all know that I love my kids, but I love a good guilt free break. All requests have been diverted to the Dad! If I leave for five minutes, the second after I walk in the door my kids are all over me for something to drink. It’s like our house turns into the Mojave Desert when I leave. I’m not sure what my kids are wearing to bed or if their teeth were brushed, but who cares IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!
When I was younger I loved my birthday for different reasons. For instance, when I turned seven I got the Barbie of my dreams. It came with a curling Iron to do Barbie’s hair. When I was sixteen I got a car which was amazing. But then I got older and Birthday’s became about milestones. When I turned 18 I knew I would be graduating high school and leaving for college; for that Birthday the gift was adulthood and independence. When I turned 21 the gift was a mission call from my church to Florida. Then a few days before I turned 24, the gift was marriage. I married my best friends, which truly is my favorite birthday gift (besides the Sephora makeup kit he got me last year)!
Since I turned 28, my Birthdays have become a time of reflection, a time to check in with myself. It all started with the breakdown of twenty-ten. For some reason I got a little frantic on that Birthday, “ Ahh I’m twenty-eight and feel like I have accomplished nothing”. It turns out it was just me being my prego self and at the time we were living with my parents. So… let’s just say you don’t want to send out your Christmas cards with your patent’s return address.
I will admit that every year stings a little. I never thought I would care about getting older, but I do. I swear I never thought I’d get grey hair and not only do I have a few, but I found a grey eyebrow hair! Seriously… just check me into a home; the eyebrows are giving up, how they can do this to me!?
So thirty-one, the check in this year looks a little like this: Am I happy? Yes, I truly am happy. Do I have the love and support I want and need? Yes, I am truly blessed. Do I love myself (not to be confused with being in love with myself)? Yes, I can say that I do. Are there things I want to change about myself? Yes and those things I will work on privately, mostly because I have too much pride to tell you my vices. But in all seriousness, I am grateful to be thirty-one. To have lived on this earth, at this time, with the love of dear ones and dear ones to love is a gift. Truly, what more could I want?