Jack is 2

I know this post is aboout Jack's birthday, but I had to start with a picture of my sweet little girl. She is now 4 months old and rolling over. She has such an amazing personality. She is so smily and sweet. She iss a pretty easy baby. She is sleeping hrough the night. I am so blessed. She eats wonderfully. Chloe loves her brother and loves to  watch him.

So a couple days before Chloe turned 4months. Jack turned 2. Crazy how fast time flies. We decided to have a toy story theme party. He loves toy story. It was  a whirlwind of a weekend between vacations and sicknesses, but the kids had a good time.

We had each room of my parents house set up as fun things. We had a photo booth. Beaaaan bag  toss  and we played complete Mr. Potato Head. It was kind of like pin the tail on the donkey.

Jack loved opening all his gifts and playing with his new toys.  

He loved his cake. It took a few tries to blow out the candles. But the other kids made sure he knew what to do.

 I had so much fun making Jack's cake. It was everything I hoped it would be.

Here are a few decorations that Charlie helped me to put up for the party. I have to say that my parents house looked pretty cool.

Jack had a wonderful party and we had a great time celebrating the life of our little boy. I absolutely love the fact that God has blessed us with such an amazing little boy. He is all boy and everything two. Yes, we are experiecing a few tough moments as he tries to exert his independence. Those are trying times, but we are just pushing through and enjoying the sweetness of our little boy. He has quite the personality. He can entertain a crowd and always has a smile. Being around people is his very favorite thing. He loves food, rocks, dirt, cars, laughing and friends. He is so very musical, veggietales is his favorite. He asks to listen to veggietales by dancing. He is also such a wonderful big brother. He still has his moments of jealousy, but he also shows her so much love. He gives her hugs and kisses all the time. Jack also wants to copy his dad in everyway possible. I will often find him sitting in the same position as Charlie. He loves his dad. We just moved him to his toddler bed. Overall, it has been a super smooth transition.

I love you my little boy. You are a precious gift and I love watching you grow. You have brought so much joy to our lives and I know that with each day will come many more memories. You are such a blessing. May God draw you closer and closer to him each day and may you learn to love him with your whole heart.

This is life

As if life could not get any more crazy...it did. This last month has been really fun at times, but really trying in other ways. We had a lot planned this last month with a trip to Las Vegas to see family, Jack's 2nd birthday and my brother's wedding. WHich we traveled to Texas to attend. It seemed like this month would be super fun and the highlights of our year. Yes, they were fun, but we also spent the last month fighting off one sickness after another. I am exhausted and just can't imagine facing one more thing. Today, a day when I should be able to celebrate the love that Charlie and I have, I am at home trying to tend to a sick family. Sometimes I get so frustrated when things do not go as they are suppose to. I wanted to thoroughly enjoy each of the things we had planned and they all seemed to be tainted with this horrible bout of sickness. Yesterday I literally hit my wall. I felt completely broken. I have so say that I am thankful for God as my strength and for family that has encouraged me along the way. I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through. At this current moment I feel rested and at peace. I am quietly watching Jack play with his birthday toys, which we just opened (two weeks after his party). Charlie is sleeping and Chloe is playing on the ground next to me. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I have been able to look back and see the blessings I have received over the last few weeks. Our trip to Las Vegas was restful and allowed us some quality time with Charlie's family. Jack's birthday was a major success and it was so fun to watch him and celebrate his life. He has brought so much joy into our lives. I can't imagine life without him. Our trip to Texas brought some much needed time with my sister's family. We do not get to see them very often and we actually got to stay with them at a guest house for the weekend. Also, my brother's wedding was incredibly beautiful and very fun. I had a moment during the reception where I was able to reflect and realize how much fun I was having. I have also welcomed a new sister into my life. Erin, I am so thankful that God gave you to my brother. You two are perfect for each other and I look forward to growing in our relationship together.  I also got two watch a movie with my Valentine today. That is very uncommon, since usually he is at work. Now we have several months of just being home and getting into a regular routine. I never thought I would look forward to those days, but I think they will be refreshing and much needed for our family. I will shortly be sharing our adventures and adding pictures, but I thought I would just journal for the time being. I have gone through so many emotions the last few weeks, now I can honestly say that I have on the mends and looking forward to some much needed rest. God has carried me through this season of life. I know he is still carrying me because we are not totally in the clear yet. I am learning that this is my life and God will walk me through each day. Tuesday I read a devotional that was extremely encouraging. It was talking about how we often pray in faith for God to take away our problems, but we don't always pray for  the faith to endure each day as we face the trials. I needed that reminder and I have been trying to focus and asking GOd for strength each day and having teh faith that he will give the strength for as long as the trial will endure. It is not easy but I am trying to learn what it is that God is teaching me at this stage in my life. I am living life as a parent and I have so much to learn. Thank you for those who have been praying for my family and who have encouraged me and supported me during this time.

LIfe in the Cazin home has been crazy. There are times I wish I could say that not much has been going on and we have just been spending time with the family. However, that is not the case. It seems like since Chloe was born we have been non stop. Luckily it has been a fall and winter full of very fun things and lots for time with extended family. I really do love those times. We started with a visit from my sister, then my brother and his soon to be wife. Not long after that Charlie's mom came for a  week visit and soon we were celebrating Christmas with my side of the family. Just last week we were in Las Vegas visiting Charlie's family. Next week we leave for Texas to celebrate Erin and Alan Getting married. Between all the visits we have kept up with football games, birthdays, church activities, the growth of both our children and other weekly activities that seem to creep in. I am so thankful for the next few quiet days at home to prepare Jack's second birthday(can you believe it) and to get us ready for our little trip to Texas(which we are super excited about). We are really looking forward to this celebration for Alan. We also get to spend the weekend with Chris and Kristen and little Moriah. It should be a blast.

 

So, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. You can see how much our children are growing. I can't believe how fast is flies by. I am trying so desperately so soak up every moment and to remember that the little things will soon be gone. 

 

 Sunday afternoon we usually spend at my parent's house watching football. Jack has a great time playing with Hannah and Elijah.

 Now Chloe even has a new little friend. Elizabeth and Chloe are only 1 month apart and they are starting to notice each other. I am really excited to watch them grow together and to see how close their friendship will be.

 

 A couple weeks ago we traveled to Las Vegas to visit with some of Charlie's family. Last time we were there Jack was only 4 months old. Oh how he has grown. We had a great time with the family and relaxing. It was nice to step away from the business and get to just enjoy each other. It has been a while since we enjoyed quality family time without a lot of interuptions.

 Our sweet  little girl is all smiles. She is laughing and cooing. She is even trying to role over. What a precious little girl. What amazes me is that she is so much smaller than Jack was. I guess that is a good thing since she is a girl.

 Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Doug introduced Jack to this great play place for toddlers. He loved it. The room is just filled with tons of toys. All the toys that are too big for your house, but are super cool. He wore himself out by playing with everything. He is quite the social butterfly. He wanted to play with all the kids. I just love my son so much. He has the best personality.

 He also got to meet his little cousins. Charlie's cousin has two boys that are on either side of Jack. So sitting at the table one night we had a 2yr old, 1yr old, 11 mo. and 4mo. They are going to have a blast as they get older.

 The Cazin Men. Four generations. Chloe is the first great granddaughter born into the family.

Shaun got married this past summer, so we were very excited to meet his wife and we absolutely love her. Jack loved Shaun and Shirley. He continuously flirted with SHirley. It was incredibly cute.

 ANother quick little story about our trip. Aunt CHeryl and Uncle DOug have three dogs. Two of which are golden retrievers. Jack is not use to dogs, especially when they are as big as he is. The first day they came running down the stairs and nearly scared Jack to death. As the week went on he really got pretty comfortable with them. By the last day he was playing with them in the back yard. He also gave their little dog plenty of kisses. It was so fun to watch him adjust to the dogs. I know Charlie was super proud because he is super excited for the day when we will have a dog of our own. We will see...

Now we are home and have finally gotten over the colds that everyone, except me caught. I realized it is a lot of work to take care of a sick husband and two sick children. I am so thankful that we are all healthy now, just in time to travel again.

I thought I would leave you with a picture of my beautiful little girl. She is such a joy. I love her so much and I am so thankful that God has blessed us with her. I feel like there are times when she gets lost in the shuffle with all the new things that Jack is doing, but don't worry we are stll taking pictures and trying to enjoy her new little mile stones. What a sweetie. She is already three and a half months old. Where the time goes, I will never know.

Greeting from the Cazin Family

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!! Yes, once again I have decided that our Christmas letter would come in the form of a blog. The nice thing is that I can include several pictures and be able to share more information. Our life lately has been absolutely crazy, but super blessed. This has been a year of just seeing God provide in incredible ways. We have come through so much and grown closer and stronger through it all. I am incredibly thankful for my amazing husband and our wonderful family.

January: We hunkered down in January and spent the winter enjoying Jack. He grew so much and started to explore so much more. The last day of January (actually the due date I had with Jack) we found out that I was pregnant. We were both so excited and ready to expand our little family.

February came and we celebrated Jack's first birthday. I could not belive how fast the year had gone. It was great to be able to celebrate our little boy. We had many family and friends over for the celebration. There are a lot of preschool children at church who just love Jack. It was fun to have them come celebrate with us. Charlie made the birthday so fun with great games for all the children. I made Jack a frog cake and he really enjoyed digging into his cake.

In March we finally got snow. We went up to my parents house for the day to play in the snow. We made a snowman and took Jack sledding. March was also the month that Jack decided to start walking. We were having dinner one Friday night before I went to have a girl night with some friends. As soon as I got where I was going I got a call from Charlie to find out that Jack started walking. I had just missed, but I was so glad that Charlie got to see him take his first step.

We also celebrated Easter with our family. This is always a special holiday for me. I really want Jack to understand what Easter is all about. We spent the morning at church celebrating the ressurection of Jesus and then we spent the afternoon with our family.

April: My sister was expecting her first child in mid-april so I planned a trip our to see her in Texas. Jack and I traveled to Texas with my parents for 10 days. Charlie had to work so he stayed home. We also could only afford for me to travel. Kristen found a place for me to stay and everything worked out perfectly. I really enjoyed spending time with my sister and seeing her new little girl. It was very difficult to be away from Charlie for so long and he said he will never let me leave for that long again.

May was kind of a slower month. We celebrated my birthday and mother's day. Other than that we just relaxed as much as we could because we knew the summer was going to be crazy.

June was a super busy month. We spent sometime together. We celebrated Father's day together. We took Charlie to a baseball game. Then at the end of June my family had a reunion in Southern California. We planned a great vacation packed completely full. We stayed with CHarlie's aunt and uncle in Yorba Linda. From there we had the family reunion on Saturday and got to see a lot of my cousins. Then on Sunday we all went to an Angels and Dodgers game. Charlie was very excited to take Jack and the Angels won so it was even better. On MOnday we spent the day at Disneyland. It was everything I had ever hoped for. Jack was so excited about every thing he saw. The best was the parade. He was so involved and loved waving at everyone.

In July Charlie took me to see Reba McIntire in concert. We had amazing seats. We left Jack with my parents overnight and we just had a great time with each other. It was exactly what we needed and it was a time of refreshing before the baby came. I am so thankful to my husband for blessing me in such amazing ways.

In August Lisa and Katie came to visit. We took them to the county fair. It was a fun day.

September we started to prepare for the arrival of Chloe and we celebrated Charlie's birthday.

October: Then on October 10, 2012 Chloe came into the world. Now our family was a family of four. It was the most amazing blessing. We were so excited to bring another baby into this world and Jack loves having a sister to love on. He is so good with her and I am so glad to have a little girl.

November: We celebrated Halloween and the next day my sister traveled out here from Tennessee with her daughter to spend 2 weeks with us. It was so much fun to spend time with her. Since it was not a holiday we really had a lot of time to just relax and enjoy each other. We did a few fun things, but we also just spent days letting the kids play, watching movies, baking and living life together. I was still on maternity leave so I had a lot of free time. I absolutely love spending time with her. It is time like these that make me miss her living so close. We spent one of the days at Apple Hill.

 

Then a few days after Kristen left my brother came to visit. Alan brought home is fiance for thanksgiving and it was so much fun to get to know Erin. We really enjoyed our time together. On thanksgiving I was able to get some really good pictures of the kids. That does not happen very often and I will cherish these pictures.

The day after Thanksgiving it is a tradition in our family to go get our Christmas tree. Alan really wanted to take Erin so we went with them. It was a fun day and Jack had an amazing time in the tree farm.

December: The week after Thankgiving we picked  up Charlie's mom from the airport and she spent a week with us. We had so much fun spending time with you and then we were able to celebrate Christmas with her. That was a blessing. She also got to babysit Jack the two days that I worked.

Here are the two newest babies of the family. Elizabeth was born one month after Chloe. It will be fun for the girls to grow up together. They are so close in age we are having a lot of fun.

For Christmas I love to make gingerbread houses, so I wanted Jack to enjoy this tradition. I have to say that he had a great time. It was fun to watch him enjoy this project.

Christmas Eve!!!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!! I hope you all had a great Christmas. This has been a great year for us. We are so blessed and could not asked for anything more amazing. We love you all!!!!

The Birth Story

I have finally gotten around to blogging. It is so difficult to believe that Chloe is almost two months old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I know that a lot of it has to due with the fact that it is the holiday season and that always seems so fast. I finally have a rainy day at home and both children are asleep. I have not had a day like this in a very long time.

Chloe was due on October 6th. Two days earlier I was having several contractions and was very uncomfortable. Charlie come home from work early to go with me to my doctor's appointment in case they thought I was going into labor. Well, after our appointment I have to say I was pretty disappointed because the contractions I had had all day did not make any difference on my progress. Since it was not my due date, I thought it was not really a big deal. We scheduled my next appointment the following Tuesday and at that appointment we would talk about what we wanted to do.

From the very beginning of this pregnancy I had decided that I did not want to be induced. I was induced with Jack and my labor was extrememly intense. I had heard that that can happen when you are induced. Well, about a week before I was due I found out that my dad was leaving on a business trip coming up and there was a chance that he would miss the birth. I really did not want that to happen. As my Tuesday appointment we decided to induce the next morning.

Tuesday night we had dinner with my parents and then Charlie and I left Jack to spend the night and we went home to enjoy the evening together. We relaxed and just spent some time together. It was a great way to prepare for the birth of another child.

Wednesday we woke up and before leaving for the hospital we had an amazing time of prayer and just asking for God's protection over the day. I was really nervous about the entire process. By the time we left for the hospital God had given me a great amount of peace. It was a very special time with my amazing husband.

At 9am the doctor induced me. It was an even smaller dose than they had done with Jack. It took about 2 hours for my contractions to start, but they were really mild. It seemed as though the induction had not worked. By 4pm I had not really progressed at all. I was really discouraged. The doctor was trying to decided whether or not to increase the medication or just send me home. We thought we would wait another hour and see what happened. By 5 my contractions started getting much more intense. At 5 I was still at 4. THey doctor left to prepare for me to get more medication. Then all the sudden labor hit. Between 5:30 and 6:30 I went from a 4 to an 8. It was the most painful hour. By 7 I was able to get a walking epidural and then I was pushing by 8:30 and Chloe was born at 9:07pm. It was pretty crazy starting at 5, but the overall experience was so much better than with Jack. I felt that this time I got to experience what labor should really be like, without being induced. Also, my walking epidural was more mild so I was competely coherent during labor and I did not having any side effects. I think that this time was a much better experience and I was not in as much pain the days following her delivery.

We spent two full days in the hospital so they could monitor Chloe and we were home by Friday evening. Charlie took two weeks off and we adjusted pretty well. It took the entire two weeks for Jack to get use to Chloe and when Charlie went back to work Jack had to readjust, but he is doing wonderful now. He absolutley loves his little sister and I am love having a little girl. It is fun to be a family of four.

We have been fairly busy, so I think there are times that we still are in disbelief that we have an infant in our home. It has been great to have so much family come and visit us. My sister was here with her daughter for the first two weeks of November. THen my brother and his fiance came for Thanksgiving. This week Charlie's mom is out visiting. Maybe after Christmas things will slow down. We will see. It has been so much fun.

I will have to do a few more posts to keep everyone updated on our life as a family of four.

Welcome Chloe Ann!!

We are proud to announced the arrival of Chloe Ann Cazin!!!

Our beautiful little girl arrived Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at 9:07pm. She weighted 7lbs. 7oz and was 20 inches long.

 What a proud Daddy and a great birth coach. I could not go through this without Charlie by my side every step of the way. I am so blessed to have him as a husband and our children are blessed to have him for a dad. He is such a blessing and I could not ask for a more perfect fit for my life. God knew exactly what I needed and I am incredibly thankful.

 After a long day of labor we finally get to hold our little girl. She is so precious.

 Now we are a family of four. What a different that makes. Also, I think that now that we have a girl the dynamics of our family will change drastically. Jack got to come visit the next morning and he is a very proud big brother. He loves his little sister and is super affectionate toward her.  Yes, he has had his moments of clinging, but overall he is adjusting really well.

 The second night I stayed in the hospital by myself with Chloe. We thought it would be best for Charlie to take Jack home and have some time with just the two of them. Friday Charlie and Jack came to the hospital to have lunch with me and we had sometime with just our little family. It was a precious time.

 Being home has been an adjustment, but I know we will eventually figure out our schedule and it will all start to work out. I am so thankful that Charlie has two weeks off. It is great to have him home to help around the house and just have sometime to bond as a family. Granted it is a little different this time around because we are trying to keep Jack's schedule as normal as possible.

 We have this exact same picture with Charlie and Jack. It is kind of amazing to see how much Jack and Chloe look a like. At least right now. Chloe is a little more petite and has a few more of my features, but they have a lot of the same facial expressions and mannerism.

 This morning I got to spend time with my little ones while Charlie got some extra sleep. It was so much fun. Jack wants to be right where she is all the time. I think that having the two them so close is going to be so much fun. Yes, I am sure it will have many challenges, but I look forward to all the fun we are going to have.

Here is a close up of our little girl and hopefully this week I will have a chance to blog about the birth story for those who are interested. Now I am going to try to catch a little sleep before Chloe wakes up to eat. Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Happy Birthday Charlie!!

So, my obssessive cumpulsive behavior would not allow me to blog about Chloe's birth without first mentioning Charlie's birthday. I know it is may not matter to some of you, but I am super proud of the cake I made him and I wanted to share it with the world.

During the month of September I took a cake class. For Christmas last year Charlie registered me for this class and I have not been available until now. I really enjoyed the class. I still get to take one more session because I was unable to attend the last class due to Chloe's arrival. Anyway, it has been fun to learn different techniques and then actually apply them to things I am doing for my family.

For Charlie's birthday we invited several friends to come play in door soccer and then we headed to my parents house for a little BBQ and cake. I made him an Arizona Cardinals cake and I was so excited about the way it turned out.  I loved feeling like I really knew what I was doing this time around.