Nena and Papa!!!

Well, a week or so after Grant was born we were so blessed to have my parents come and visit. It was a shock to everyone here that we asked them to wait to come until after the birth but in the long run it worked out perfectly. I didn't want to waste time with them just sitting around waiting for Grant to be born, or waste time being in the clinic after the birth. With them coming after Grant's birth we were able to be here in our apartment with them for the full week they were here, and it gave us the chance as a family to get in a groove (just the four of us) before having grandparent help :) Nathan loved having his Nena and Papa here to play, read books, build block towers, and blow bubbles and we were so grateful for the help! Thank you for making the sacrifice to come and see us Nena and Papa! We miss you already but look forward to the next time you're here with us!

Blowing bubbles with Nena!

Nena and Papa went to pick up Nathan from daycare one day and he came a runnin' when he saw his two favorite people :)

Nathan helping me blow out my birthday candles on Papa's famous brownies :) he has so much fun blowing out candles these days :)

One of Nena's many great pictures of Grant... what a sweet boy!

Easter Sunday

Another reason to celebrate recently here in Cochabamba (besides my beloved jeans :) was Easter Sunday. We were blessed at church to have around 80 people in attendance (which is almost double what we're used to having) and it was a packed house :) It is such an encouraging thing to see members inviting friends and family to worship with them, especially on special occasions like celebrating the resurrection of our Savior! A few of the ladies of the church went to the local markets and bought all the supplies and prepared lunch (along with the help of our resident meat expert Butch who made a great roast) for the church. We had a great time of encouragement and fellowship after worship service. So just wanted to share with you what a blessing our Easter Sunday was here in Cochabamba.

As a team we got together and had a special early Easter lunch on Good Friday (which here is called Holy Friday... I think I like the Holy better!). We ate yummy food, a great birthday cake that Julie made for me, and let the kids hunt Easter eggs that Nena brought down for us! The kids had so much fun running all over Josh and Julie's yard hunting Easter eggs and we as their parents really enjoyed getting to watch them share in something that we as kids had enjoyed too! Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday, sorry the Easter egg hunt was not well documented by the Bull parents :( but I'm working on getting a few pictures to share so until then...

Look at that packed house! God is so good!

Nathan with his new haircut and all decked out in his tie :) with some of our great guys from church!

Some of our great ladies at church who are so faithful to serve in whatever way they can!

Cause for celebration...

I know that with a title like that you're expecting to read that Grant's sleeping through the night (don't we all wish...) or that Nathan is fully potty trained (in my dreams :) but the cause for celebration in this mommy's life is a little more self-centered this time.

I think all women who have had the joy of being pregnant (I say that with a slight sarcasm) know what it's like those first few weeks after baby is born. Do you live in your lounge pants, succumb to the maternity pants that still fit, or mourn the non-prego clothes that lie tucked away in a box just waiting for the day they can return? I have to say that this past week I had the extreme privilege and joy of returning to my favorite pair of non-maternity jeans! I think it may have actually been one month to the day of Grant's arrival and a much faster return than after Nathan was born. They're the pair that we all have, worn in just right the right places, the perfect wash, the perfect length, and go with just about everything! They were found in a trunk with all my others just waiting to return to the land of the closet and they were embraced, enjoyed, and put on without so much as a coat hanger to zip them up. So from one mommy to another (and for those of you who maybe can't empathize, but can still celebrate with me) let's... celebrate good times, come on!

Becoming...

My mom (that's right... the grandparents are here... YEA!!!) and I watched Becoming Jane yesterday. I have to say my favorite movies are based on Jane Austen books... Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version, not the more recent version)... Sense and Sensibility... and so many others. I so enjoyed Becoming Jane, although the "happy ending" lover in me was a little sad (but I know it's based on real life so at some point there are not always happy endings). But I think the thing I loved the most was the title... Becoming Jane.

This week I turned 30. I have been looking forward to being 30 for years now, to be taken seriously as an adult, not just a twenty-something. So, from an official adult, let me say I love the idea of becoming. It's not always a pleasant process, or one that is painless in the journey, but I love that I'm becoming Laura. I've always been her, in one form or fashion, but to know that in this life I have the liberty and the freedom to become, to evolve, to mature, to explore, to grow, to change... it's a beautiful thing. I'm becoming a better mom, a better wife, at times... a different me, but always becoming more of who the real Laura is... who God made her to be. I catch glimpses of her from day to day and it keeps me going, keeps me pushing forward towards the image of the Laura that God intended for me to be all along. I'm getting more and more comfortable in my own skin, more and more confident in who I am and what that entails in this chapter of my life. So here's to 30, to ten beautiful years in this next decade and to what I'll become on the journey :)

Oh my goodness...

How cute is he? I just couldn't help but post this one from the other night at our team dinner. We all got together (including all 7 kiddos) for dinner at the Sandoval's and between Daddy's playing referee, Mommy's nursing babies, and actually eating the yummy food the Sandoval's prepared... it was quite the night. And at the end of it all, this was how we found our Grant. Man I'm glad this one is able to sleep through things better than his brother :)

You just gotta love the mohawk and sideburns huh? His daddy's started calling him "chops" because of his man sized sideburns... we'll see if mommy lets the nickname stick :)