Fall Fun!!

We are having SO much fun so far this fall. Even though the weather is still a little warm sometimes, im loving it. A few weeks ago my good friend Sara took some pictures of my little princess in not one but TWO costumes. Now to settle everyone's question, she is only going to be ONE costume on Halloween...who can guess it? Yep...the ladybug:) The other was just for fun! My cousin Natalie's precious dog Sammie is in a few pics with her, enjoy!







Saturday evening we went with my parents to a friend of theirs' 50th birthday party. My papa used to be in a band back in the day so they all got together and played for us. Julia LOVED listening to them play, she was dancing and running all over the place.


Sunday we took Julia on her second trip to the pumpkin patch, but this time Grandma and Papa joined in on the fun. I am so blessed to see how much my little girl is loved by them. I love watching them play with her and the way they look at her brings so much joy to my heart. Julia was walking around playing the drums on all the pumpkins:) She had a ball. I posted some pics below, enjoy!!

She's Walking!

I cant believe it! Today.....October 11, 2009....my little princess, the love of my life reached a HUGE milestone! She is walking! She looks like a little drunk right now...lol....but i love it! She's been taking little steps here and there but today she just lost all fear and went for it. She wabbles a bit and takes little tumbles but she's doing it!

This little girl continues to amaze me everyday! She is SO smart! I may be bias, but what mommy isnt?! We have been working with her everyday with some flashcards and she is catching on quick! She recognizes and can say banana(more like nana), she was in the store and while passing the produce section pointed out the banana and started repeated it...nana...nana...! We recently went to the LA County fair and she was pointing at ALL the animals saying...moo...moo...lol, that one needs a little work...and her cow sounds like BOOW...LOL! But she's getting it:) Im so proud of her.

Sometimes I just sit and stare at her, i cant believe how fast this has all gone and what a little personality she has!

Yesterday was her 1st trip to the pumpkin patch! She had a ball. She was banging on the pumpkins like they were drums...LOL!
They had a little petting zoo and once again she was pointing at the goats and rabbits saying...moo.....moo! I love it!! I posted some pics below. Enjoy!

Well i guess thats all for now! Like me cousin Jess said.......The Chase Begins!!

The Halloween Dilemma

So I have always gone back and forth as to how I feel about celebrating Halloween. When I learned the true paganistic origin of it, i was convinced that by joining in any of the halloween traditions I would be condoning paganism and opening myself up to some major problems. I do feel now at this time in my life that I was giving way too much credit and attention to paganism and satan himself!

Now that I have Julia and as we approach this holiday, I have really been torn whether to let her take part in what she would just see as fun, dressing up, getting candy, and carving smiley faces into pumpkins. Would we go to the church festivals or avoid it all together? I decided that I would not let the devil have the power to steal my daughter's joy over something she doesnt even understand. By giving him credit he does not deserve and making my little girl feel left out, I may just be fueling the fire of rebellion later. Now, there is something to teaching her that we do not completely fit in this world. It's true that we are in but not of the world. But I know that my daughter doesn't have the intellectual capacity to understand this yet.

So we will not celebrate with witches, ghosts, black cats, etc. We will allow the girly costumes and go to the church festivals and get candy. And we will let her dress up for school because thats all it really will be for her "dressing up".

I read a great article from a website called carm.org, and it talked about this very subject. They also raise the question about Christmas tree's. The Christmas Tree was originally part of a festival to worship a fertility god. Does this mean that if we have a Christmas Tree, we are worshipping the fertility god? No, because of it's cultural context. That being said, I have heard of Christians who don't have Christmas Trees, for this reason. It is a matter of personal conviction.

When I thought about whether it would be ok for us to carve pumpkins with Julia, I started to do some research on that and found this wonderful devotional using a pumpkin.

"Being a Christian is just like a pumpkin! Let me try to explain, I brought this pumpkin here to help me illustrate what I mean. (Proceed to carve the pumpkin.)

First, God picks you from the pumpkin patch and brings you in from the field. The Bible says He selects us out of the world. We are in the world, but no longer of the world.

He then washes all the "dirt" off the outside that we received from being around all the other pumpkins. All the outside influences of our former life must be cleaned up. Old things are passed away and all things are become new.

Then, He carefully removes all the "yucky stuff" called "sin" out from the inside. Look at this! Yuk! He then changes us from the inside out by the Power of His Word. That's why it is important to go the church and learn about God's Word.

He carefully removes all those seeds of doubt, hate, greed, and fear. He replaces them with the seeds of faith, hope and love. After Jesus is invited inside, you begin to experience the changing power of God's love in your life.

Then He carves a new smiling face. Our countenance is changed by the power of His presence in our life. We then become so grateful. It can even show on our face!

Now we are going to light this candle inside. Look! This pumpkin now reflects the light from inside out. So too, when Jesus, who is called the Son of Light, lives inside of us, He shines through our life for all to see. We can let His light reflect through us to reveal His presence. "Let your light so shine before men that they may be able to see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven."

So you see, we Christians are really like this pumpkin! We will never be the same with Jesus inside of us. We can say like this jack-o-lantern, "Thy presence, my light!"


We will use the above story every year when we carve our pumpkins and also use the prayer below in conjunction with it. I love to start traditions now that we have Julia and I am so excited for this one:)


{cut off top of pumpkin}
Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.

{remove innards}
Remove the things in my life that don’t please you.
Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

{cut open eyes}
Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me.

{cut out nose}
I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good food you provide.

{cut out mouth}
Let everything I say please You.

{light the candle}
Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do. Amen