The Sapien's

Year in Review

2010-07-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, this is the title of a post you'd expect to see around December 31st, but it's been over a year since my last blog, and I'm feeling guilty. Who knew that making the time to talk about my kids and our lives would be so difficult? I will even admit that I took the link to this blog off of my e-mail signature just because I was too lazy to update here!!

But no more! I am taking 10 minutes (edited after...it was actually 32 minutes) out of my life to update the blogging world on the Sapien family's last 15 months. I know that our millions of followers have been on the edge of their seats, just sitting in front of their computer screens for months and months wondering if we'd fallen off of the face of the earth. Well, rest assured, we are alive and here's a recap of our oh so exciting lives since last you read....

Reece graduated from the first grade...and the second grade! He turned 8, decided he's going to be a writer when he grows up, actually did book reports just for the fun of it, and is in the middle of reading at least a dozen books. He thinks he's smarter than his mom, and at the rate he's going, he will be soon (but don't tell him that). He played Little League baseball this year and was super excited about his team making the play-offs (and though I am his biggest cheerleader and practically got an ulcer watching him pitch at one of his games, this mom was excited when his team didn't advance...baseball season is looooooooooooooooong). He's grown a few inches, but is still willing to hold my hand when we walk beside each other, and tell me about the little girl he has a crush on...for now at least. To say we're proud of the boy that he's becoming is an understatement, but I must admit that I can't believe my baby has gotten so big!!

Carson finished his first year of school and what a year he had!! He loved his teacher (literally...he thought she was beautiful), and made tons of friends with the other boys in his class, but had trouble keeping quiet in class(are we surprised?). He played his first year of coach pitch baseball with a very fun and handsome coach...Eric!! Even though the league didn't officially keep score, Carson claims that he won every game, and I'm inclined to believe him! He loves the fact that he can read now and likes to remind his sister that she can't...always the loving big brother. He's still blonde for the moment, but his hair is getting darker and it's unbelievable to me that he's not my baby boy anymore. He'll turn 6 in just a few weeks and is intent on keeping up with Reece in everything! He constantly makes us laugh...a few weeks ago he asked us when he was born and when Eric told him the date, Carson excitedly said "Hey, I was born on my birthday!!"...the kid is a crack up!! He always puts a smile on my face :-)

Olivia is 3 1/2 and is a sassy, bossy, dramatic little girl. She walks around with her hand on her hip and a purse filled with lip gloss, bracelets, and princess toys over the other arm. She tells the boys what to do, hates to be dirty, and has the highest pitch squeal in the history of man (or woman). We're learning that girls are VERY different than boys, and while I love a challenge, this little girl is still a bit of a mystery. She's the cutest thing to walk the planet, but never stops talking and is full of opinons. Oh the joy of having a little girl! But that same little girl with attitude also gives the sweetest hugs, the timeliest "I Love You's", and loves nothing more than to snuggle. She loves "her boys" (Reece and Carson) something fierce, and is beginning to exude the qualities of a little caregiver. Our baby is growing up and I can't wait to see her in action!!

Eric is still an expert in the world of finances and insurance (speaking of which...if you need his expertise, feel free to contact him ;-)...). He's added baseball coach to his ever increasing list of talents and skills; still plays basketball with the Maverick's team whenever he can make it to the games; and has started 6am workouts with Mikey Joe. He loves his kids with a passion and is pretty nice to me too (he just tooke me to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary!!...ooo, maybe you'll get a second post from me about that soon). He's leading a group at our church's Men's Discipleship Group and continues to be an encourager, a servant, and an example in my life and so many others...not too shabby!

I....drumroll please...went back to work last November!! Well, it's only one day a week, but still a change, right? I'm the Monday girl at the church office and the bookkeeper for Mercy Ministries. I love my Mondays in the office, talking to adults, and getting to be a different kind of productive than at home. Still involved with the Mom to Mom and women's ministry at church, I had the opportunity to teach at this year's women's retreat which was a humbling and stretching experience for me. I'm still making bows and got 4 shipments of ribbon in the mail today...note to self to actually work on that tomorrow. God continues to show Himself faithful and I continue to remind myself to follow His lead.

The five of us have in our possesion annual passes to Disneyland, so this has been a year of 3 fun trips down to Anaheim (so far)!! Though the kids and I are much more excited about this fact than Eric, he graciously puts up with our Mickey addiction and has accompanied us on 2 of those trips.

With only 4 weeks left until school starts and I become the mother to a third grader and a first grader and an almost 4 year old, I'm reminded of the fact that time passes by so quickly (obviously...since it's been 15 months since my last blog and it completely feels like I just sat down to write that!!). Those days of diapers and sleepless nights are long gone and have been replaced with baseball and soccer and dance practices, homework, and trying so very hard to keep three kids as innocent and fun loving as we possibly can and leaning heavily on God to accomplish that. Life is good...difficult at times, but good.

I'd like to say that I'll be more faithful at this than the last year, and though that's my intent, don't hold your breath, just in case the past happens to repeat itself ;-)

Reece's school talent show

2009-04-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

Singing Matthew West's "Something to Say", Reece Michael Sapien, at age 7, rocked the Liberty Elementary School Talent Show in March of 2009...giggles and all!!

Say Cheese!

2009-04-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

This post almost needs no explanation other than the obvious...Liv has perfected the fake smile!!

Our future baseball star!

2009-04-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Reece had his first game for the White Sox and the kid is a natural talent (so says his completely unbiased dad). But Eric really can put his money where his mouth is because in Reece's first at bat he hit a 3 run homerun!! He followed that up with a double and a single and tried his hand at first base, third base and outfield. All that to say that he had a successful first game and we are so excited to watch him the rest of the season!!

Catching up...

2009-03-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

My hope was to update this once a month, but as you can see, that doesn't always happen! So here's what has happened in our lives over the last 2 months:

Reece turned 7 and lost his first tooth! Carrying on the tradition of my dad, the "tooth possom" visited him leaving a poem and $3.04, while the tooth fairy (via Uncle Mike) text messaged him at his Papa's house and left him $3. 05 under the guest bed pillow there. Reece is currently trying to pull out tooth #2 and I'm trying to convince him that his first tooth is worth more than the rest of them.

Carson is as crazy as ever and is making us laugh every chance he gets. He's still addicted to Nacho Libre and can quote the whole movie. He enjoys beating up on his big brother and blaming everything on his little sister. His favorite possession is his green light saber that his daddy bought for him just because he loved him a few weeks ago. We're currently filling out all the paperwork for him to start kindergarten next year and I'm still in denial that my sweet boy is old enough for this!

Olivia, at age 2 years and 3 months is coming into her own. She bosses her older brothers and her daddy, wants to talk on the phone with EVERYONE that calls the house, and loves to go shopping. She's a girly girl through and through!

Besides chasing kids, I'm preparing for our last couple of Mom to Mom meetings for the year with our ministry team...I can't believe that May is almost here! I've also been working on relaunching my bow website. Check it out soon at http://www.freewebs.com/littleangelsboutiquebows.

Eric turned 37, is working hard to build his insurance business and is looking forward to Dodger baseball, which is just around the corner.

So there you have it, you're now up to speed on all of our goings on!

The Best Christmas Present Ever...

2009-01-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the best presents won't be found wrapped in a box with a bow. That sentiment is certainly true for our family this year. On the day of Chrismas Eve of 2008, I had the honor of praying with Carson for him to receive Christ. There's nothing more precious than knowing that not only are our children listening to us when we talk about God's love for them and the amazing sacrifice that was made, but knowing that they are taking those words to heart.

What a special moment it was to be there to listen to my 4 1/2 year old boy talking to our Savior and asking Him to come into his heart and "stay there forever". Carson was thrilled and immediately called his Dad, his Papa and Grandma and that night at church told his news to Pastor Bob, Uncle Mike & Aunt Katie and couldn't wait to tell Grandma Dora later at her house.

My prayer for Carson is that he always remembers how excited he was and he doesn't lose that childlike faith and my prayer for myself is the same! What a wonderful Christmas gift for us!

Our baby is 2!!

2008-12-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

On December 11, 2008, Olivia Alene Sapien turned 2! We are still in a state of denial that our baby is now a little girl...heavy emphasis on the "little". Weighing in at 23 pounds, fully clothed, and just over 32 inches tall, she's still a tiny thing! It's so fun to hear her say new words every day and become a little person with her own personality. She's quickly showing the boys who's boss and has already mastered the art of tattle taling and manipulating Daddy!

I think that every year on her birthday I will be reminded of the fact that it is a complete miracle that she is with us and we serve such a loving God who answered so many prayers and gave us a beautiful, healthy girl, and kept His protective hands on me also, in the midst of a very scary, hard delivery and surgery.

I will forever remember being pushed in a wheelchair to the NICU about 30 hours after giving birth to meet my daughter for the first time. She was so tiny and had so many tubes and monitors hooked up to her and I was not in the best state myself after a c-section, a hysterectomy and a blood patch surgery, but she was the most beautiful baby in that hospital and I was the most blessed mother. The fact that after that traumatic birth, 2 years later she is in perfect health will never be taken for granted by us.

She is our last baby, so all of her firsts are the last firsts that Eric and I get to experience in one of our children. That makes them bittersweet and all the more precious.

Happy Birthday Sweet Livi!

Mike is Married!!!

2008-12-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'm a little behind...it's been over a month! I can't believe how quickly time flies. On November 14, 2008, we were thrilled to welcome a new member to our family! Katie is now Aunt Katie to the kids and is officially a Buford (sorry Katie...you're stuck with the name!).

For a month before their big day I spent a lot of time on my knees praying that the kids wouldn't get sick since they were ring bearers and flower girl, and God was, as He always is, so faithful! The day of the wedding came and we were all in good health. Reece went to school for a few hours that morning and I was home with the 2 little ones getting ready for the wedding. Carson and Olivia were watching TV and Livi, being the little sister, was doing her very best to annoy Carson by standing in front of the TV so he couldn't see. He told her to move, she got mad and in retaliation she took the TV cabinet door and dropped it on Carson's face. He started crying and I walk into the living room to see BLOOD pouring from right below Carson's eye...only a few hours before we're supposed to be at the church for pictures!!! I am not good with blood...especially blood that is pouring down my child's face. I couldn't tell if the cut was deep enough for stitches or not and I couldn't get a hold of Eric to come home and check, so I called my Dad, who had nothing better to do...he was ONLY putting the finishing touches on his son's wedding vows and message. So he came and he too, couldn't decide if it was deep enough. So we decided to just hold off on going to the ER and do the next best thing...cover the thing with a bandaid and pray that it was good enough!!

So, as you can see, Carson is wearing a huge bandaid in the wedding pics...oh well...he's a boy! And by the way, my cousin Adam reassured us that night that he did not need stitches, so our gamble paid off!! The wedding was BEAUTIFUL and my little brother is now a married man! Congrats Mike & Katie! We love you!

Breakfast...the most important meal of the day???

2008-11-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

It started out as a relaxing Monday morning. Reece didn't have school because of a holiday, so since we didn't have the usual rushed morning, I decided to make pumpkin pancakes. YUM!!! They were a hit, but what I didn't expect was what the next few days would bring because of one hot cooked meal.

Eric went overboard in his delight over a hot breakfast and went on and on and on and on about what a great start this was to his day and how much he appreciates it. I got it...he wants to be fed more than cereal or toast more often. But mornings are rushed and we have kids to get out the door to school, etc, etc, blah blah blah, end of conversation, or so I thought.

I was on the phone later that morning with my friend Franchesca, relaying the breakfast story, fully expecting her to be in agreement that a hot cooked breakfast was too much trouble. Much to my shock and appall, the traitor...I mean my friend, cooks breakfast every day. EVERY DAY. I mean eggs, bacon, hash browns. EVERY DAY!!!!!!!! I told her of my surprise and she was equally surprised that I wasn't as June Cleaverish as she. In fact I remember saying something about prarie wife syndrome. So we decided to find out which of us was in the minority. Do more wives and moms get up and cook breakfast or do the cereal/toast/frozen pancake routine?

So in order to get an honest, well rounded answer, we took our question to...Facebook. Chaos ensued!!! People that Franchesca were convinced made breakfast, did not!! Meanwhile, our husbands got involved in the conversation. I get a phone call of "encouragement" from Franchesca's husband. My husband becomes Franchesca's biggest fan. The results of our very accurate scientific poll were just what I thought they would be...I am normal. Thus the end...I have won...or so I thought.

This morning, once again, I made breakfast (okay...I heated up the leftover frozen pumpkin pancakes from yesterday). My husband leaves for work and runs in to someone who asks if his wife made him breakfast this morning. Then he gets a call later on in the day from another friend who was curious about the breakfast debate. All of a sudden the world is interested in whether or not I've chosen to make breakfast.

So lessons learned:
1. The world, apparently, does read what you put in the status line of your facebook page
2. Never ask Franchesca a question, unless you're sure what her answer will be
3. Making breakfast makes for a happier husband, so maybe one should try it out once or twice a week (no need to go crazy and become unappreciated :) )

Reece's Miracle

2008-10-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

I posted last month about the bumps that Reece had on his arm. The doctor said it would take at least 6 months and as long as 2 years for his body to realize that it should fight them off. Reece was so dilligent in doing what the doctor said and putting lotion on his arm and leg several times a day. He also had his Papa pray over him and annoint him with oil. After the prayer, Reece just knew that God was going to heal his arm very soon. What a perfect example of childlike faith. The bumps are completely gone...in less than 2 months!! He never doubted that they would be and often tells me of the miracle of God's healing. I'm so in awe of the daily glimpses of God that I get as I attempt to raise the 3 miracles that God entrusted to me. I am reminded often of the need to simply believe. What an awesome and loving God we serve, who, despite what some may say, does indeed do miracles!!

Be Jealous

2008-10-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Not only is he tall(ish), dark, and handsome, but he cooks, too...and he cooks WELL!! I know...I know...you're jealous...what can I say? Eric has recently become aware of a love of cooking. So much so, that not only does he watch (and tvo) the Food Network, but he actually recreates the dishes!! Although I'm loving this newfound talent and the fact that he cooks several times a week, while I was recently raving about his latest creation, I asked him what was his favorite 5 meals that I make were, to which he answered___________. That's right. He committed a cardinal sin (in my book, at least) and couldn't name a single thing. After over 8 years of marriage. Apparently he's not as great as you thought, huh? But our marriage is still in tact and he made his famous enchiladas a few days later and all was forgiven (but not forgotten)...

Golfing with Daddy

2008-10-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

In an effort to produce the next Tiger Woods and make money off of our children, Eric recently took Reece and Carson golfing. Reece has gone a few times before, but this was Carson' s first golf lesson. Apparently he insisted on only using golf balls with the number 4 on them, since that's his age. Carson did fairly well at hitting the ball out of the sandtrap, but apparently he got distracted by the lake. Reece on the other hand, has good golfing skills and a great swing but, he too, took a shining to the water and hit several of his golf balls there. While we're not holding our breath that either will be wearing a green jacket at the Masters Tournament, they did manage to get some great pictures of this adventure.

Random Financial Musings

2008-09-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

So this isn't really about our family, but it amuses me. Eric, being the insurance and financial planner, is the expert of all things Wall street and Dow Jones. I just wanted him to tell me if I wanted the government to bailout banks or not...I trusted his opinion and was willing to take it on as my own. But, in an effort to educate me on the bank crisis, he gave me a speed course on what's going on with this whole bailout/no bailout. So here's what I learned...bank bigwigs are making way too much money. The Wamu guy got 20 million dollars for 21 days worth of work. So what if he got fired and his company was bought out by someone else...the guy is set for life! If all these banks are low on money, then they need to borrow it from their CEO's. My other solution is that the government simply print more money, but Eric, and apparently the rest of the world, doesn't think that is such a great idea (which is why I only spend the money and don't give advice to others on what to do with it). So my next question is, how do you become the CEO of a bank? I figure that I could run it for 3 weeks and not do any worse than the current management and I'd be 20 million dollars richer!!!

Our kids Rock!!

2008-09-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

They do...literally! All 3 of our kids love music, with Carson probably being the most obsessed. The boys love the band Sanctus Real. They know all their songs, they've been to their concerts, and since they have the right connections (thanks Papa who booked the concert and Daddy who got to be the band's chauffeur/taxi driver), they've even met and gotten to go backstage to see them. Carson is convinced that when he gets older he's going to have a band and is planning to call it Rock and Roll Sanctus. I almost believe that he really will. And, as a completely unbiased, impartial person, the kid's got talent!! He can sing. Most of Visalia has heard Carson singing his latest favorite song cruising down the aisles of Target. I love that he doesn't even notice that he's singing most of the time! In fact, if you ever need a pick me up, you only need to call and listen to the child proteges singing on our answering machine! And, being the incredibly awesome mom that I am, Carson recently took his 4 year old pictures with his electric guitar (courtesy of Bobby & DiDi, 2 of the kids favorite people), on the off chance that he gets a True Hollywood Story made about his life sometime in the future!!

Dr. Trisha

2008-09-17T16:15:00.001-07:00

I am not a doctor. I know nothing about the medical field at all. So the question I have is why I constantly go to WebMD or some other medical site everytime myself or one of my kids has a problem and then proceed to diagnose us with some crazy disease? It feels good to know that I'm at least not alone in this, since my good friend (who will remain nameless) recently diagnosed herself with the West Nile virus.

Reece had these strange tiny bumps on his arm. They had been there for a week or so. So Dr. Trisha and her trusty internet search looked at every picture of every rash known to man. I ruled out staph infection and chicken pox and smallpox, but in the back of my head I was convinced that Reece had contracted some lethal disease, but I couldn't figure out what this rash was. So finally, I conceded defeat, and took him to the pediatrician. So it turns out he got them from some strange named virus and these bumps, itchy though harmless, may be on his arm for 6 months to 2 years!!! Poor kid! We left with instructions to keep it moisturized, to give him Benadryl so that he doesn't itch, and to keep it covered. So my 6 year old must now wear long sleeves in a million degree weather and become addicted to Benadryl for as long as 2 years, but the good news is that he doesn't have to lose a limb, as was one of the possibilities of my diagnosis.

Oh, and I don't want to embarrass Reece with a picture of his arm, so here's a pic of the aforementioned patient at a recent Dodgers game!!

Our First Blog!

2008-09-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

After reading Kim & Jason's blog, and in an effort to keep up with the Joneses, or in this case the Feierbachs, we are officially starting a blog. At the very least, my hopes are to preserve the cute things that my kids do and say on a daily basis, but who knows, maybe I'll share our deepest darkest secrets as well and inspire millions of people via the internet...hmmm...or maybe not. So there you have it, our first blog...and a cute picture of the kids as a bonus!