Being a mom to a two year old! Yikes!

We have some friends that have a 2 year old son, Seth. They were pregnant with their second child and have no family that lives in town so they asked us to be the drop off parents for a couple nights once she went into labor. We agreed. On Sunday night we got a phone call at about 1am from the father saying her water had broke and they were going to drop off Seth. Around 2am they dropped him off and were racing to get to the hospital in time. So out of the blew we were parents of a 2 year old boy! Kind of an overwhelming feeling. My motherly instincts kicked in right away. We got him to sleep pretty fast. Then around 4am he woke up crying I'm sure wondering where in the world he was. I went in and rubbed his back and he was out again. I climbed back into bed as Josh snored. (I think this will be some foreshadowing of what is to come) He didn't wake up again till about 8am.

I rearranged my work schedule to work from home. We had breakfast, we played drums, we built things, we watched The Wiggles, we chased Austin around, we kicked balls and threw balls, we went on a walk around the neighborhood. By this time I am exhausted. His dad some and got him to meet his little sister and I had a few hours to get some work done. I wrote as many e-mails as fast as I could. Then he came back just in time for a nap. He just sat and talked to himself for a long time before falling asleep. All this time Josh is at work. Then after his nap we went back to playing drums, building, chasing, running, throwing and watching some more cartoons. Then off to meet Josh for dinner at Subway. I guess he loves meatball subs at Subway so I ordered one. Of course he wanted nothing to do with it. He kept pushing it away. So he ended up eating a bag of Cheetos for his dinner. Great mom I am!!!!!!!

He slept through the night and we started all over again the next day. This time I went into work around 11am and Josh had him. About 1 hour into it I get a text from Josh, " This is alot of work!!!!!!!" and "I think he pooped, did you get a poopy diaper." Me- "Nope, sucks to be you!" But he did great and got him down for a nap.

So we have started our week and our year with a mini parenting lesson and a new adventure. We were both tired on Tuesday and wondering is we are ready to be parents. Thank goodness you start out with a new born and not a 2 year old!

Remebering 2008!

2008 was a great year!!!! Here are just a few highlights.

Jan- Josh celebrated 28 years of life. We had a party and celebrated. Had a thank you dinner at church for all our small group leaders and volunteers that make the church run on a weekly basis! Amazing to see so many people in one room~

Feb- Many dear friends birthdays and my mom actually had a real birthday. She is a leap year baby so I think she turned like 13 or something fun!

March- Celebrated 5 years of marriage together and took a quick weekend long trip up to San Fran to celebrate! We had a blast. Had a really nice anniversary dinner at a place called Albono's in San Fran and toured the city!

April- Devin, a girl that lived with us for a year, got engaged and I hosted a party at our house for them. I think I had like 30 or more people in my house! Fun! Celebrated my 28 years of life and a couple other friends as well!

May- We hosted an 80's prom night at church which was so much fun! Everyone went all out and looked great. We also flew to New Orleans and then to Alabama to marry off our dear friend Shawn who is also our assistant pastor! It was such a fun trip with friends and seeing something totally new. We did a swamp boat ride!

June- We had another friends wedding in Laguna Beach. We got to spend two nights up there and the views we got to see were amazing!

July and Aug.- we spent hanging out with friends, hitting up the beach here in San Diego and working on our house. It was great summer! Josh bought a motorcycle and we went on a bunch of fun rides through the summer!

Sept.- we had two weddings. Josh's brother and our dear friends Tara and Jason. It was so much fun to be involved in each of these weddings! We got to see some of Josh's aunts also that we haven't seen in a long time. It was also our church's 5 year anniversary! We had a huge celebration at a local park in town! Amazing to see all that's happened in 5 years!

Oct. - Our church hosts a Trunk or Treat each year and then we had a couple parties that we attended.

Nov. - My family came into town from Ecuador for some much needed rest but also to spend Thanksgiving. We hosted it at our house and I got to use my moms china for the first time that she passed down to me! So much fun. Josh also decided to start training for a half marathon in April. So he has been running like a freak!

Dec. - Flew to New York for a much needed weeks vacation and got to really enjoy our time in the city! It was so Christmasy! Just what the doctor ordered! Then we headed to Orange County for a great Christmas with Josh's family.

This year has flown by! We have gotten to see and do so much! We are looking forward to another year! We are all ready planning for our next adventure. Who knows, maybe there will be some sky diving involved! I would love to do that but I don't know if Josh would go for it! We'll see. Have a Happy New Year!!!!!!!

T minus 3 days till the big apple!!!!!!!

We leave next Tuesday for a week in New York! We can't wait! We need a vacation badly! We are staying with our friend Rob in New Jersey and then at the W hotel in New York City the last two nights of our stay! But we are going to see alot of old friends, go back to our college and into the city! We are excited to go ice skating in Central Park, see the tree in Rockefeller center, hit up china town, the stores on 5th Ave., and eat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll post many pictures once we are back! It has been a whirl wind with my parents here for Thanksgiving, friends from Virginia visiting and working full time on top of all of that! So we are ready to get out of town and just enjoy ourselves and come back with some Christmas spirit! I'm ready to freeze to. Had to do some major shopping for sweaters and closed toed shoes. Love Sunny San Diego!

A Dogs Life!

The life of Austin Hotsenpiller!!!!!!!!

Don't you wish this was you today. I know I do. I am exhausted and really in need of a good long break. I just have to get through this week and then I have Wed. through Sunday off to just relax with family. Then two weeks later Josh and I are flying to New York for a week long vacation! Can't wait. But today I wish I was Austin!

What a carefree life this dogs lives! He is content with two meals a day and a couple slices of apple for a snack and a nice long walk from his mom when she gets home. Other then that it's sleeping, sniffing and every now and then if he feels like being energetic barking at someone walking by . What a life!

First ever Existence Women's Retreat!

Well, it finally happened! Our woman at Existence are fighters! For the past 3 years we have been planning and attempting to have a women's retreat. The first year we had it all planned and were even driving up to Palomar Mountain when we got the call that it was snowing and it you didn't have chains on your tires then you couldn't go up the mountain. So we had to cancel it. Then we rescheduled to try again. We planned it and earlier that week was when we had some really bad fires in San Diego. Then we got the call that we would have to cancel it again since there were fires on Palomar Mountain. So this was the third attempt. We switched it to a Young Life camp in Ramona. It was perfect! The cabin was really nice and clean and we had 45 women sign up! So exciting!

We got up there on Friday night and just had a PJ game night/movie night. It was neat to look around the room and see 45 women playing games. Everything from Pictionary to Phase 10, Cranium, and cards. And of course in the midst of this there is tons of chocolate floating around and other baked goods! Sat. we got up and had breakfast, then had out first session. I had the privilege to help lead worship along with 2 other amazing girls. It was really neat to hear all the songs sung with only women! The speaker was good and very passionate. Then we split into small groups and had questions to discuss. It was really neat to open up and get to know other girls and share what is going on in your life. Then we had 30 mins to just be alone with God. Such a great time to just pray, listen, and be still. Then lunch and free time. In my free time I went on a hike that soon turned into a 2 mile run! It was great! Our second session went great to and then just had another night of games.

I met some really great girls and got to spend time with my friends as well. It was really well put together and all in all a success! I can't wait for the next one all ready!

Oh, how fast a month goes by!

I know, it's been a month! It has been a cray one for us as always. We have been doing a lot of dinners with people that we haven't seen in a long time and I have been doing some entertaining at our house. I have actually cooked a couple meals! That is big for me. I am not a big cook so when I do it's a big deal. I also bought my first cook book so we'll see if I actually try something new. I really don't enjoy cooking so it takes all the fun out of it. But it must be done. We usually opt for Subway like 4 times a week. I know sad!

My office was also under construction so work has been crazy trying to work around a construction zone. Also, for a week I had not computer or phone so I worked from home those days and hit the pavement doing marketing for my company. So I was busy. I got moved into a new office with a window view and a brand new desk! It's awesome. I as cramped into a very small office before so I am loving having space!

I have also been fighting a knee injury from running. Not fun. So I have been seeing a Chiropractor and also being seen at my work by a physical therapist. Apparently I have not been running correctly so my muscles are working against each other and are now mad. So I hope to be feeling better soon. I am still encouraged to run while still doing treatment and then just icing and a lot of stretching. So I'm sure soon it will be gone.

Josh and I have had a full month and the next month just gets busier. We have Halloween events for church, parties to attend, birthday parties, a Hoe Down that our church hosts and Thanksgiving with my parents that will be in town from Ecuador. So we are looking forward it. Then in Dec. we are headed to New York for a much needed vacation to visit friends and just lay low. So we are super excited for that. We are going to freeze but have a great time.

I'm sure pictures will come from Halloween and other events!

Mr. and Mrs. Jason Burns

Jason and Tara got married on Sat. What a special day!
We have know Jason for 5 years and he is Josh's best friend. It was very awesome to watch them get married and a blast at the same time! The wedding was in fallbrook and then the next day they had a brunch.

Signing the marriage certificate.

All the girls at the brunch.

Grand exit.

US

Matt and Jamie dancing away!

The toast.

First Dance

Just part of the outdoor beauty

The Bride.