Our sweet, amazing Luke turned 10 yesterday, and today I ponder all that God has done and is doing in his little life. While sitting in church this morning listening to a sermon about the wonder of God, tears streamed down my face as I realized that I had lost some of the wonder I had about Luke the first time I looked down into his precious face. Life has a way of making you lose your wonder. Lately I have been bogged down with school assignments, sports, birthday party planning, chores, challenging personalities and just overall stress that I have forgotten that I am surrounded by the wonderful.

Psalm 66:5-6 says "come and see the wonders of God; His acts for humanity are awe-inspiring. He turned the sea into dry land, and they crossed the river on foot. There we rejoiced in Him."  We actually have our own "parting of the Red Sea" type of miracle in Luke. When Luke was 4 months old we took him for his checkup and the nurse took the regular measurements of his length, weight, and head circumference. When the doctor came in she looked at the chart with big eyes and said, "that can't be right!" She then left the exam room and shortly came back with a tape measure. The doctor then measured Luke's head herself and came up with the same measurement the nurse had first recorded, and said, "oh, that is right." She then asked if big heads run in our family and we both laughed and made a joke of each other having big heads. She continued to ask us questions and realized maybe his head size was of concern, but she wouldn't answer our questions clearly. After the appointment, I left with an uneasy feeling and when I went back to work, started searching medical databases to find out if we needed to be worried about anything. Luke's head had measured in the 20th percentile when he was 2 months old, and now at 4 months, it was measuring in the 90th percentile. I found 2 things it might be which were both very scary to me and called the doctor immediately to confirm my research. Her answer was, "we hope that's not it, but we will keep a close eye." That was a Monday. For the next 3 days I prayed over Luke's head like I have never prayed before. I entrusted his future to God. I prayed Psalm 91 over him many times and continuously prayed that no matter what his life looked like, that he would be able to love God with his whole heart, mind, and soul, and that he would be able to share God's love with others. Three days later we took Luke back to the doctor and even though they acted like we were weird, they patronized us and measured his head again. His head now measured in the 50th percentile. God answered our prayers and changed the size of our little Luke's head. But little did we know then, what we know now - God had answered the most important prayer - Luke loves God with his whole heart, mind, and soul. As soon as Luke could speak, he would pray to God as though he was just having a normal conversation with his father. He thinks deeply, has great spiritual insight, and loves strong. Many times I completely forget this huge miracle in our lives and I become so impatient and frustrated with our day-to-day stuff. In the sermon notes it says, "We have lost sight of wonder not because wonder ceases to exist, but because we are prone to forget." Even with Luke right in front of me, I am prone to forget! Luke is a testimony of the amazing truth that God listens to me and cares, even if all of my prayers aren't answered when or how I would like and I will choose to remember and wonder at my God and my little man Luke.

Bundle of Joy

This Thanksgiving I am overwhelmed by the blessings God has bestowed on me and my family! Especially our newest little bundle of joy, Benjamin Gene. He has added even more love to our little home. He seems to get bigger by the minute and is developing those cute little baby fat wrinkles on his arms and legs. Every day his awake time gets a little longer and we are getting to know each other a little better. He loves to be held by his brothers and sister and loves us to sing him his special song:

Benjamin Gene, your my bundle of joy
Benjamin Gene, your my sweet little boy
Your my gift from God
Straight from above
Benjamin Gene you fill my heart with joy
Benjamin Gene you fill my heart with joy


I'm so thankful that God picked me to be his Mommy!

I LOVE libraries and librarians!

Aaron James at story-time

Library day in school was always my favorite day. I would take my time and carefully pick out the very best book I could find to take home and read. In college, I would go to the library to "study." Actually, I would do a little research and then sit at a table with my friends and my books open and people watch and talk to friends who were passing by. But I did love the research. I always felt a little like an investigator, and I also felt very smart reading all of the information that the truly smart people had written.

It was also in my university library that I learned how to use the internet. In my last paper of graduate school I was required to use one reference from the internet. I went to one of the workers in the computer lab and  told them I didn't really know what the internet was or how to find information on it, and pleaded for assistance. They helped, I passed, and I hoped that the internet was a fleeting trend.

My next library experience was when Ramiro was in law school. I needed something to do to fill my time while he was studying, and I decided to work on my genealogy. I discovered the Clayton Library for Genealogical Research - a library filled with birth and census information and family biographies, where I, again, had the chance to feel like an investigator and search for my ancestors. I loved it!

A year or so later, when I was applying for a job transfer at M. D. Anderson, I discovered the Research Medical Library. I was researching information to help me create a project plan as part of my interview project. I had no experience searching for evidence-based health research and desperately asked the librarian at the reference desk for his help. I REALLY wanted the job and I knew I needed help getting it! He spent quite a bit of time with me teaching me how to search medical research databases, and even though I didn't know it at the time, preparing me for my next 8 years working in The Learning Center (my favorite library of all).

My favorite librarian of all!
Mentor,office-mate, friend!

The Learning Center is a health information library at MD Anderson Cancer Center.There I learned from my librarian friends who love learning and love helping others by providing information and knowledge. Knowledge is power, and that is very true for cancer patients and their families. With cancer, many times there are no clear cut answers. Decisions have to be made, sometimes very quickly. In The Learning Center I was able to help patients and families grow in knowledge so they could make more informed decisions.

Now, the library I find myself in most of the time is our local library. It is such a happy place for my children. When we go to the library, its an event. There's searching for books, reading, playing on the computer, and so much more. The librarians in the children area bring fun to our lives every week with story-time books, songs, and puppet shows. Last month, Hannah and I attended an American Girl tea party at the library that we absolutely loved; and the week of Halloween, Luke and and Hannah attended a Scooby Doo party. I so appreciate our librarians for making reading and learning fun.

I look forward to a lifetime of exploring and enjoying libraries. What is your favorite library?

Gone Fishin'

Today our family went fishing for the first time all together. Ramiro and I fished a little when we were kids, but neither of us have fished since then, so its not surprising that we didn't catch anything. It didn't matter, we still had so much fun! Hannah caught a bug for one of her science projects, Aaron threw pebbles in the great Brazos River, and Luke answered the call of nature - in nature! We had so much fun, we're going to try to hit all the area fishin' holes from now until  the weather gets too cold. Maybe we'll become experts, and actually be able to bring home dinner one night!

The Icing on the Cake

When you become a mother you take on many roles: chef, nurse, teacher, security guard, chauffeur, etc. I didn't realize that I might also become a cake baker and decorator! Since Hannah has been born, I've made a lot of cakes and have gotten a little better over the years. Hannah has caught a love of cake decorating and over the past month we took a cake decorating class. I thought I'd share some of our favorite pictures of pre-class cakes we've made throughout the years! I would love for you to share pictures of cakes you've made, too!

Aaron's Elmo Cake with Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Carrot Cake - Doris's favorite!

Luke's Mickey Mouse

Hannah's Flower

Hannah's ladybug

Luke's Teddy Bear

Hannah's Princess Cake

Luke's First Birthday

Another Princess Cake

The First Princess Cake - following Gommy's tradition

Luke's Peter Pan Cake

Hannah's Minnie Mouse

German Chocolate - Ramiro's favorite!

Kindergarten: The Big Adventure!

Luke started kindergarten this year and what an adventure it is - for both him and I. When my children are in the hands of others, my heart is as well. Luke is a sweet, intelligent little boy, and he definitely has his quirks. How will his teachers see him? Will they see his quirks as God-given unique characteristics that make him perfect for what God has planned for him? Will they see his potential and be excited to teach him? Thankfully, I know that Luke is not just in the hands of his teachers, he's in the hands of God, and so is my heart. Everyday I will choose not to worry about my little man Luke, but have faith that God is in control and will protect him. I will pray that he will learn and be happy, and when he is not happy, that he will remember that he is not alone.

During the 2nd week of school, Luke was a little afraid to go back and my mom wrote him a letter that said, "You are a super boy like David...[who] faced the things he feared because he knew he had God with him all the time." I will continue to point Luke to his Lord when he is afraid and teach him that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him (Phill. 4:13). And I will rejoice in the Lord when I hear Luke say to me, as he did last Friday, "I knew I could do it!"

New Year, New School, New Life!

Hannah began 3rd grade this year at a university-model school. That means she goes to school 2 days a week and studies at home 3 days a week. This opportunity is providing such a wonderful new way of life for us. I get to be Hannah's co-teacher and see her learn while I learn with her! She loves her new school, her subjects, and her teachers and we love being together more and spending more quality time with each other. By sharing in her reading and assignments with her, we have more shared experiences together which provide a wonderful basis for viewing and discussing life together. Its a wonderful new beginning! Here's a look at all of Hannah's first days of school so far!

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd grade