the paz family

Julia's cute face

2010-12-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

LOVE this picture! She is just the cutest little girl!

A couple months in review :)

2010-12-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

Julia's 1st Thanksgiving & early Christmas photos :)

Julia is such a sweetheart!! She brightens our days with her smiles, coos, gurgles, and now giggles! She is such a blessing and brings so much love and joy to our family :) Her 1st Thanksgiving was great as she got to meet many new family members! She had such a great time and, I think, loved every minute of it! So far, she is enjoying new Christmas songs, lights on the tree, cute Christmas outfits and the rain!!

Julia's 1st dress :)

2010-11-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

Aunt Shanna sent this dress for little Miss J!! Isn't she just the cutest!? Today was the first day she wore it and it fit perfect!! She's pretty in purple and army green :) I'm looking forward to dressing her up!!

My Little Pumpkin!

2010-10-31T23:22:00.002-07:00

Of course my baby girl was a perfect little pumpkin! Actually, she was quite comfy in her little outfit, nothing more or less.. After the first 20 minutes at Harvest she wanted to go home! She was so freaked out by the loud noises and all the people that she didn't know what to think or do other than cry and give me those big blue puppy dogs.. :) We left and the boys stayed with some friends who brought them home for me later that night.... we were all happy campers after all. :)

Harvest Fest at our church

2010-10-31T23:22:00.000-07:00

Joseph was John Cabot, an early European explorer! Nicholas was a swash bucklin' pirate! Perfect for both of them, I think! :)

My blue-eyed girl!!

2010-10-31T22:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pics showing off little Miss J's blue eyes!! Every picture seems to make them look a bit dark. They are even more beautiful in person but these will have to do. :)

What a Sweet Girl!

2010-10-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

We are all in love!! Julia is smiling more and more and showing her personality a little more each day! She's such a blessing and we are so amazed that the Lord would let us be her family! :)

My Three Cuties & A First Big Grin!!

2010-10-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

The boys couldn't WAIT to give their sister her 1st month birthday gift!! She loved it :)

Miss J turns 1 month already!

2010-10-17T02:20:00.000-07:00

Happy 1 month Julia!! Love you sooooo much!!

Little Miss Julia on her throne :)

2010-10-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Sitting pretty at almost 3 weeks old! She's soo cute, I just want to eat her up!

I am little sister... hear me roar!

2010-10-04T16:08:00.001-07:00

Girls rule... boys drool!

Adoring Little Sister!!

2010-10-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

Slideshow...just a few pics

2010-10-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Personalize your own scrapbook design

Mom and baby!!

2010-09-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

Sooo perfect!

2010-09-27T17:34:00.001-07:00

Big Brothers!!

2010-09-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

The big brothers are just in LOVE with their little sister!! They are so cute with her; always asking to hold her and check on her! I'm blessed with three beautiful kiddos!

Our baby girl is here!!

2010-09-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful baby girl!! She was born September 14th and is absolutely perfect and is the sweetest little angel!! I am falling in love with her more and more each moment! Her daddy is just ga-ga and her brothers are standing by to protect and love her daily! We love her so much!!

the park

2010-09-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to the park to spend some time with them and to snap a few pics before the BIG day this week! We only have 1 more day until the little bundle of joy arrives!! We are all nervous and excited (especially me) :) But, God is good and in control!

Baby's gift from her brothers

2010-09-05T16:22:00.001-07:00

Being that we have a family of boys we never really ventured the arena of Build A Bear. So, today, we actually went to Build a Bear to, well, you know, build a bear!! The boys needed a special gift to give the baby when she gets home from the hospital, so this was the perfect place for this. Of course, the boys were fascinated with EVERYTHING you can possibly get to REALLY build a bear!! Needless to say, I actually began to get a headache myself.. everywhere I turned was accessory after accessory! All for a stuffed animal! There are seriously bigger fish to fry! But, since it was such a special gift we had to go for it!

The boys were so cute in picking out an animal and carrying it all the way thru from the stuffing to the dressing to the registration and birth certificate! My, oh, my.. Each of us got to put a heart inside and "make a wish" for the baby. We prayed that she would be the best sister and that she would be blessed by the Lord!

We picked a honey colored bunny and named it "Lizzy" and picked out a cute little pink outfit for her to wear!.. SO cute.. The boys liked everything about it and I know that the baby will just LOVE how her brothers so lovingly chose her very 1st birthday gift from them!

38 weeks with 9 days to go!!

2010-09-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

Again, I apologize for the photo!! It looks old, but the mirror was super dusty!! So, I tried some graphics tricks but it didn't turn out any better :) Anyway, at least the belly is visible!!

I can't believe that we're heading into my last FULL week of pregnancy!! I have 9 days until the little one comes! I'm scheduled for a c-section on the 14th at 7:15 am... though we need to be there at 5:00!! Yikes... talk about anxiety! The Lord is good and He is going to hold me up! :)

I can't wait to see this little girl! The boys and I have been busy with school so time is going faster :) Daddy is getting more and more excited to kiss his daughter's cheeks for the first time! NEVER in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I'd have another baby, let alone a precious little girl to love, dress, snuggle with, sing to, use hair bows, dance with, and teach about the never-ending love of Jesus!! This is going to be an amazing journey!!!

First Week of School!

2010-09-04T16:53:00.001-07:00

The boys' back-at-school day!! Stats: Year 5 schooling, Joseph 5th grade, Nicholas 2nd grade! Praying for a great school year!

36 weeks pregnant!

2010-08-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

OK, I know I look awful and TIRED!! But this was at the end of the day.... so that explains it! :) But, I'm 36 weeks pregnant in this pic and I have 3 weeks to go until D-Day, Lord willing of course!!

Baby Shower!!

2010-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

August 14th was my baby shower!! I had such a great time seeing friends and family!! I was also sooooo blessed with all kinds of baby goodies both practical AND cute!! Thanks be to the Lord for all He has done and continues to do!!

Art for baby

2010-08-25T11:03:00.001-07:00

I decided that since I had some canvases just laying around the house I might as well use them! So, I went ahead and painted some art for the baby! I did this for the boys, and so I thought I should carry on the tradition!

Cutie Onsies!

2010-08-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

So I knew that iron on transfer paper was out there, but I never had a real need to use it... until NOW! These onsies came out so cute! All I did was found some images online and created the rest of the graphics, printed them, ironed them on, and viola!!

I also did some t-shirts for the boys that says "I'm the Big Brother, Dude" and "I'm the Bigger Brother, Man!" I will post pics of the boys in their t-shirts soon!

"Julia" plays peek-a-boo!

2010-07-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a place called "First Look Sonogram" to take a peek at the baby in 3-D!! It was quite an experience to say the least.. The technician went back and forth between regular 2-D and 3-D so we could see the difference between to two as we took a look inside the womb to watch little "Julia"! Here is a picture of her little face! Her lips are sooo cute and the tech said her cheeks were so chubby! The tech kept looking back and forth between the screen and Nicholas and remarked how much the two of them look alike! We're SOOO curious now to see what she will really look like! Julia also put on a little show for us sticking out her tongue, sucking her thumb and toes, and hiding between her legs and feet! The tech said she was funny :) Reminded me of how little Nickster crack me up and warms my heart with love!!!! I still cannot believe a daughter is on her way to be part of our family! The tech took a look at her size and estimated that hshe weighs 3.5 lbs. and could be born between the 16th and 20th of Sept. We are gearing up and are super excited to welcome her!

A few good pics :)

2010-07-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

Just having fun taking some pic together!

FUN at Disneyland!!

2010-07-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

We got there at 8:00 AM !! It was a great day and the kids had so much fun being together at the happiest place on earth! :)

The cutest outfit!!

2010-07-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I'm getting waaaaay ahead of things, but, hey, I figure I'm a little more than 2 months away from actually dressing my little one in this ADORABLE outfit that was on CLEARANCE, which makes it soooo much cuter! :)

My heart is just overwhelmed by the adorable baby girl things out there! And I'm already in love with my daughter!

27 weeks!

2010-07-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

This was a couple of weeks ago.... that's just how long it takes me to post!! Be looking for post with a very special picture next week! I'm so excited about it!

Happy Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

The weather was nice... and it was a great day for some BBQ! We spent the day relaxing and enjoying some yummy food...

We were also talking about how much we are looking forward to welcoming a new little one into the family some September!!
By this time next year, I have my 1st Mother's Day all over again as I will celebrate it with my very own little girl!! God is so good!

Easter!

2010-04-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

The boys look so handsome with their new dress shirts and ties for Easter!

I'm Back :)

2010-04-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

It's been months since my last post!! Well, there are many reasons for that. One: I was in the facebook crowd for a bit which is what "replaced" my blogging (though, I didn't do much of that either!) and Two: it's just been busy... Homeschooling, working, etc... So, hopefully I can make this a regular thing :)

my new favorite!

2009-08-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

the chocolate daisy actually smells like chocolate!

Ollie

2009-08-24T14:01:00.001-07:00

This is our new friend Ollie! I got him as a surprise for Joseph for his birthday..... and it was a hit!! He has adjusted very well to our family and we hope to have him around for a long time! He's a sweet, gently cuddly little guy! :)

Silly moments :)

2009-08-24T13:57:00.001-07:00

Joseph turns 9!

2009-08-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Another year older. :) We had a great day celebrating with family and friends!

what a cutie!

2009-08-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

What a smile! I just was wanna squeeze him sometimes....

To God be the glory!!

2009-08-17T15:03:00.001-07:00

Harvest Crusades were awesome!!
We went on the last night when there were 50,000 people in the stadium! They had to turn away 5,000 people ... Here were the stats for the weekend:
3 nights
126,00 people in attendance
11,969 people gave their lives to Jesus
20 years of crusades
1 amazing GOD!!!

flowers from the fair!

2009-08-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

these are some of the flower entries at the fair.... they are so pretty.

more fair pictures!

2009-08-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Let's go to the fair!

2009-08-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

The O.C. County fair was going on so we thought we'd go! We'd never taken the kids to the fair before so it was a great time to go! Enjoy these photos!

summer pics

2009-08-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

mmmm...good!

2009-07-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I've always wondered how to make Pink Lemonade.. weird, huh?!
Anyway, I found this recipe and wanted to share in case you are dying to try something refreshing this summer!

Jazz up raspberry lemonade concentrate with lemon/lime soda or ginger ale; or just use plain club soda. Top off each glass with a fresh raspberry for a special treat all summer long!

What you need:
12-oz can of frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate
12-oz can of lemon/lime soda
3 cups water
1 tsp lime juice
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup whole raspberries

What you do:
Stir ingredients (except berries) together in a large pitcher or punch bowl. Add a fresh berry to each glass of lemonade punch.

another trip...

2009-07-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

A lovely outing!!

LOVE this picture...

2009-07-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

So I was driving with my dad back home from the central coast, and we happened upon a field of red sunflowers!! It was early in the morning... and we had just stopped for some fresh blackberries and I made my dad pull over so I could get a pic of this beautiful flower!! This was taken about 3 years ago.

fire beetle

2009-07-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

So, Joe sat down with Joseph at the computer to design something... and this it what they created. Art Direction by Joseph Paz, III

Flowers from our garden!

2009-07-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Aren't these beautiful!!

How cute are these?!

2009-07-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Some tomatoes from our garden! I'm so excited we grew some fresh produce this year!

Flowers of summer :)

2009-07-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

Natural History Museum Rose Gardens Field Trip

Nicky, the Sun Devil!

2009-07-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

It was a fun season; but unfortunately they lost... big time. Oh well... we've always told him to have fun playing no matter if they won or lost! He had more fun that anything.. Go Sun Devils, especially, the little boy named Nicky!

For the Dad in our family!

2009-07-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist downloading this template and painstakingly cutting all the pieces out so Joe could have a laugh on Father's Day!! The boys loved choosing the different pieces and watching me put it together! Haaa :)

4th of July!

2009-07-10T18:11:00.001-07:00

Our 4th of July at the beach, bbq, and fireworks!!

My guys!!

We made it: yay!

2009-06-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

We made it!! I never thought I'd see June! Nonetheless, it was a fabulous year! Nicholas learned to read, write, and he knows his numbers!! He knows how to count by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's, 100's, and asked me how to count by 4's! He has learned to read very well and is already reading first grade books! Joseph has straight A's ! We are continuing Art, Math, and Reading thru the summer so we can stay on top of things.. Our biggest accomplishment was schooling Nicholas!! That in itself was enough of a job :) Really, you don't know how much character counts until you homeschool! Thank God that I am able to do it right now so I can be the one to instill Biblical values and Christian character into my children's hearts!

Congrats to Nicholas for graduating Kindergarten!
Happy Promotion to Joseph for finishing 3rd grade and moving on into 4th grade!

Butterflies

2009-06-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

I realized, I never got around to sharing this picture of the beautiful butterfly we were allowed to raise! We have actually raised 3 butterflies so far...

Here is a picture of the second one..

Unfortunately, the third one didn't make it. It was still alive, but we had to spoon feed it sugar water until we just couldn't do it anymore.. Poor thing. We provided lunch for a hungry bird and learned a valuable lesson about how God allows handicaps so that He can have an opportunity to shine His glory in someone's life!

Our little garden

2009-06-13T17:55:00.001-07:00

So, I got all inspired to be more creative with life; took baby steps and started a little garden this spring...Okay, we have no ground at all! But with a little training on container gardening I got ambitious! We have had a great time watering, and taking care of our plants and veggies!!

We have green bell peppers, tomatoes, and a bunch of herbs (basil, parsley, and cilantro), and we even started a crop of green beans and radishes... the radishes didn't turn out, but hey, there's always next season :)

We have some really overcast weather lately so the plants haven't had much sunshine, but I think everything is growing as well as can be expected.
Oh, and we also have a healthy row of sunflowers that will grow to be over 6 feet tall!!

The Boys' Baptism

2009-05-07T23:27:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

ride 'em cowboy!

2009-04-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

Nicholas on a horse for the first time ever... he did great and was such an expert. :)

the pier

2009-04-26T22:39:00.000-07:00

Whose handsome kiddos are these?? Can't believe how big they are getting... this was taken in Ventura in March just after Nicholas turned 6, and Joseph is 8 and a half!

I couldn't resist!

2009-04-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

Check us out at the marina in Ventura in March! By the way, I'm the one in the swimsuit :) hehehehe

A "Super" trip to Desert Hot Springs

2009-01-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to visit the Aunties' desert home!

We all had a blast and loved every minute of it! :)

The boys had a great time swimming, running around free,

and just spending time with the Aunties'! We visited a couple

museums locally.. those were great!

A wonderful gift!

2008-12-29T12:52:00.000-08:00

Check us out on our website!!

Here is a fun little site that I thought was a little easier for me to load on images, blogs, and maybe some other things... We recently were blessed with a new computer so we're not being swept away by technology!! I didn't even REALIZE how outdated we were.. Praise God for this wonderful gift!

Merry Christmas & Happy 2009

2008-12-29T12:40:00.000-08:00

We Wish You a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

We're wrapping up Christmas for this year.... but not without remembering our adventures, the fun we had, the love shared by all. This year was the first year we went Christmas Caroling and it was such a great experience! Joseph sort of worked through his fear of singing and actually learned quite a bit about compassion and serving others. This Christmas seemed to fly by so fast! We pray that God will richly bless you in 2009!

a giraffe

2008-11-06T16:16:00.000-08:00

"Real quick, Joseph, draw me a giraffe.."

Artist: nicholas ryan, 5 yrs.

2008-11-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

H.I.S.Club!

2008-11-06T15:10:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken a few weeks ago.. but I thought it was so cute and really shows how big the boys are getting! Our church has a program similar to Awana that they wear a uniform, have a handbook, learn Bible verses, and how to serve the Lord and each other like Jesus did.

Joseph is a Knight, and Nicholas is a Cadet! This is the first year Nicholas is able to be a part of the Club! They both really like it...

Obi-wan and Indiana!

2008-11-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

The boys looked so cool in their get-ups during the Harvest Fest at the church! They were both pretty much in homemade costumes... But, hey, it easy and fun! :) They had a great time playing games at different booths and collecting candy.

aquarium outing

2008-09-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

we arrived at 9:00 am just in time for a presentation with the diver who feeds the fish in a huge tank. then it was off to explore shark, whale, and dolphin jaws and a sample of what krill looks like. we visited the sharks, and touched some rays, and even fed the lorikeets. we left from there and went to story time in the outdoor marine theater where nicholas played the role of "clark the shark" and he was the star of the show! we enjoyed a small presentation of the sea lions and harbor seals and then enjoyed some lunch! afterward, we meandered off to explore the northern pacific gallery, sea jellies, sea otters, the tropical pacific gallery, coral lagoon, live coral, deadly dart frogs, and much more! we even ran into some friends who were also on a field trip! we wrapped it up by pressing a penny, buying a souvenier, having a picture taken and paying for parking :) it was fun.....

birthday boy

2008-09-06T17:05:00.001-07:00

joseph just celebrated his birthday right before school started. he was so happy to be 8. he had a sleep over with some friends, went to chuck e. cheese, and had a bbq with family, a lunch date with his grammy! it was a nice way to kick off #8!

the zoo

2008-09-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

just before school began we had a little field trip to the santa barbara zoo. it was a cute little zoo with lots of colorful macaws, a huge lion, 2 huge gorilla brothers, tall giraffes, a snow leopard, penguins, leemurs, and many others! it was quiet and peaceful and we shared it with my cousin who lives there!

first day of school

2008-09-04T18:27:00.001-07:00

this is our daily calendar center that is on the fridge that we go to to learn the months, days, dates, weather and seasons... it makes things fun. we will change the theme for each season.
nicholas is a very energetic, and excited kindergartener! he just loves school and he can't wait to keep learning.. his first and favorite discovery has been to make the color PINK. he didn't know he could so such a thing... and it was the absolute highlight of the day!
joseph started 3rd grade which is a small leap for him.. but he is excited and so far seems to love being a BIG, grown up kid.

our first day of school! we were very excited to get going again after the summer break...

red flower

2008-09-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

this was taken at the los angeles zoo this summer.. it was such a beautiful find

a new start

2008-09-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

ever feel like the world is passing you by so fast that you cannot even keep up or hold on fast enough? well, that is why i decided to begin anew... a new blog that is. i was feeling rather overwhelmed with keeping up with things. like anyone reads it anyway. but, i'd like to begin again. and this time, maybe try with a new approach in recording a bit of what happens in our lives.
- with love from a healing heart.