Going back to work...

Before you gasp and think, "what in the world?!?" just know that I get to do this new job from the comfort of my own home and with my one co-worker being my super amazing, all-star hubby!

We have been praying, waiting and praying some more for the opportunity to become apartment managers in our own complex for the past 2 years. We trusted that the Lord knew the best timing (and even if this would be the best situation for our family) and stepped back to see when and how He would direct us. What seemed like out of the blue...we just assumed it was looking like a "no" from the Lord...we were asked if we'd be interested in doing an interview. The same day we were offered the job! We took some time to prayerfully consider all the ways this would impact us as a family and a few days later gave our acceptance. 

Gulp! We've never managed 33 families/units before. It's a big step and the learning process can at times seem daunting and overwhelming. BUT...we're thankful for the ways God is providing for us. We're thankful for our own little "house" that's a unit all by itself within the complex. A backyard for the girls to run and play. A washer and dryer INSIDE our home (a first in our 5 1/2 years of marriage). An office to do all this management work plus a space for Matt to spread out and do his teacher planning/grading thing! The biggest blessing of all...getting to put money into savings for {Lord willing} a future downpayment on a home! 

All of this has led to packing the home we've loved for the past 3 years. I'm gonna get a little nostalgic here. ;) It's been a lot harder than I thought it would to leave #107 behind. This is the place we discovered we were going to be parents and then parents again so quickly! We've brought both our babies home here, set up their nursery, had countless nighttime feedings. Many friends and family members have stayed with us, had meals, game nights, movie watching and surprise birthdays! I guess I can start to feel that by moving away from this home I'm leaving behind all the events that happened within these walls. 

And then the other part of me pipes in with...but you're going to make so many new and wonderful memories where you're going. You will come to love it just as much (maybe even a little more) than the previous one. You will look back a few years from now and think...did I ever feel that way? And I would have to agree with this other part of my brain. Matt said the same words to me when we left our first home (the only home I'd known with him). They are right, I just tend to hold on to what I know and am comfortable with tightly.

So I step out in faith. Trusting the Lord that He is leading and guiding us in this next chapter as apartment managers. I'm so grateful for all the ways He is taking care of us and how we've never lacked for anything. He will continue to be the same Jehovah Jireh and Covenant keeping God!

I took some pictures of apt #107 so as not to forget. Enjoy!

I spy something orange! ;)

And blue!

Guest bathroom

Master Bath

Please Welcome your Guest Blogger...

Hey everyone out in the blog world,


Yes, this is Matt Mehringer (aka "Bubba" by Ash or "Daddy" from Reese-roo). Don't worry or fret because I am not hijacking my wife's blog. This is good news because: 1) she is a wonderful blogger and I love reading her posts, 2) my blog would not be as descriptive, fun or colorful as hers and 3) I won't have to sleep out in the doghouse even though we currently don't own a dog, cat, hamster or fish.


Why I am writing on her blog? Ah yes, an excellent question deserving of a honest answer. First, I have received her permission to do so. Second (here's your answer that you all are waiting for....drum roll please), Ash was away most of Saturday and that meant I was flying solo (but not like Hans, he had some help in that sci-fi tale). Ash has been reading a great book called God's Priorities for Today's Woman: Discovering His Plan for You by Lisa Hughes (ladies you should buy this book and then read it). About a month ago, we discovered she would be the speaker at our church's women's conference, and I told her she had to go. 
She liked this idea, though she doesn't like being away from her girls. I then informed her that I would take expert care of them. I'm not sure if she was fully confident in the expert part, but she felt relatively confident in my paternal abilities (Sports analogy side note: My youngest Allie knows I am only the Carolina Panther's backup quarterback, mommy is Cam Newton). That just means Allie would miss mom as she is the starter, but we would ultimately survive game day. 

Sticking with the sports theme, here are the top 10 highlights (and observations) from Saturday's day with my little treasures: 

10. I love reading books with Reese. We read her two favorites on Saturday which were The Little Engine That Could and Llama Llama Red Pajama. There are both excellent stories and Reese really loves the pictures. The latter of these toddler tales will leave you tongue tied!


9. We definitely spent some great time wrestling together (it was kind of a cloudy and cool day, so we were inside for most of it). I have to be kind of careful here, because Allie is only crawling and Reese thinks she can be King Kong as she climbs all over me. That means I have to keep an eye out on little Allie as she tries to involve herself in the action. She fends for herself well, but sometimes is a little timid due to Reese's crazy jumps on daddy. 

8. Dora the Explorer is a pretty cool show. We try to let Reese watch one episode a day (25 minutes or so). We might have watched two episodes...maybe three, but I really think it was only two. Good news: Dora and Boots find Pablo's long lost flute or flauta in Spanish. A great part of this show is there are a couple of seasons on Apple TV, so no need to pay cable!

7. Who doesn't love PB&J? Reese and I do. Ash always says I put on too much peanut butter and jelly, but that's what makes them the best! With a cold glass of whole milk...ahhh, what a lunch. On the younger side, Miss Allie did a great job eating her pureed vegetables and some type of delicious Gerber meat with gravy. 


6. We were able to play together with some of the blocks and toys, though we are working with Reese to share more with Allie. Allie is generally pretty patient with Reese, which is a blessing. "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity" (Psalm 133:1, ESV). I bet King David means general humanity here, because sisters should be included too. 


5. I took a little break to see about the results from the Auburn spring football game. Reese saw the website and said "Auburn!" She is growing up to be such a wise lady. War Eagle! 

4. We took a great walk and I thought we were going to the park, but the rain from the following night prevented that from happening. Reese was a little sad, but that's how life goes. We still had a fun time in the stroller as we walked around the block. I made sure to dress them warmly as it was a bit chilly and windy (thank you Lord for not allowing them to be sick). 

3. I love my little Allie so much. She kind of slouches in the stroller and looks like an old man who needs a rest. I try to prop her up, but a minute or two later she is back in the same position. Allie is content to look at the world and is her daddy's sweetheart. 

2. Being a mommy is no easy job. Hilary Rosen (from recent political controversy) needs to spend some time around young children as her comments are utterly ridiculous.


1. Thank you faithful Lord for Ashley and all the time, energy and devotion she puts into raising our children. "The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down" (Proverbs 14:1, ESV). Thank you Lord for her wisdom (in my opinion folly is a foreign word to Ash) and for her amazing example to my little girls.  


Well, my spring break is just about over, but this Saturday is just one picture of all the joy and wonder I shared with them. Thanks for letting me guest blog on this LONG post. Hope you enjoyed it. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. 

Lots 'o Firsts

It's been quite eventful around our house lately. To start off, Reese got her first haircut! Gulp/yay!!! I was super nervous as to how this would go. Reese gets hysterical when it comes to new things...I mean, screaming, crying, won't let go of my neck kind of nuts. My mother-in-law Missy agreed to come help hold Allie for me while it all went down and she also snagged some dum-dums from the bank as an incentive for Reese to "hold still." She blew my socks off with how cooperative, pleasant and agreeable she was the entire time. She doesn't have the thickest head of hair so it must have taken all of 5 minutes. But wow!! I was so thankful for that answer to prayer and she even smiled through out it. I wish I had thought to get a picture right afterwards. I didn't. So here's a before and then after a few days later.

Next, to document here on the blog...Reese and Allie have moved onto bigger and better things bedtime wise! For the first time in Allie's 8 months of living, she finally gets to claim the crib as her own. This past weekend Matt and I decided that it was time for Reese to sleep in her toddler bed. She's been doing so great without the paci and we're ready to start potty training soon. We figured that before that could happen she needed to be out of the crib and really happy/comfortable in her new bed. 

As poor Aunt Mollie can attest...the first night was brutal for 30 minutes. Reese screamed/wailed...*ahem, yes just as I said above* and Allie having never been in her new bed, cried too. BUT we let them cry it out and eventually...or rather what felt like an eternity...they both fell asleep. And that was that. Since then, it's gone amazingly! Everyone is sleeping soundly and happily right where they should be. Reese is even doing super great with staying ON her bed and not getting off to play. Same for naps! So so thankful! :) Good job Reesie Roo! We're so proud of you!

The first night for these two little munchkins!

And if that wasn't enough, Allie decided to start crawling the day she turned 8 months! She's been a movin' and a shakin' with all her rolling for quite awhile but today she actually crawled to get to what she wanted. It's so fun that even though she's my second and I've already been through this whole process with Reese, it's still just as new and exciting this time around. Daddy came home and while Reese was snoozing away during her nap, we had a great time just the 3 of us putting enticing things out for Allie to crawl too. We love our little Ju Ju Be so much!

Cousin trip to the beach!

My girls and I were invited to a day at the beach house by Aunt Monika's parents. Moni asked me if I thought we could carpool and while I wasn't sure if all the car seats would fit, I thought we could give it a try. Low and behold, they did! We were curious as to how this would go with them all crammed next to each other and much to us moms' delight, they slept the whole way there!

God gave us an incredible, warm day. This house literally sits right on the ocean front. We could watch the surfers ride their waves and the tide go in and out.

We had such a great time being outside on such a beautiful day and I think I can speak for all of us when I say it was nice to get out of Santa Clarita to enjoy some different scenery. Aunt Monika helped Reese deck out in some pretty fun jewelry that Mary (Monika's mom) had.

She's already our little Diva!

After all 3 girls went down for their nap, us moms got some great r&r time which included a good dose of vitamin D.

These are the moments where I love being a stay-at-home mom! Monika and I were feeling a little guilty that our husbands couldn't enjoy a day like this too but then we were reminded of our duties when these two gals decided to wake up at the same time. Back to reality!

Hayden looking a little concerned and 

Allie doing her best to comfort cousin!

Pretty soon this 5 month gap won't even be recognizable. 

Hayden 1 mo, Allie 6 mo.

I didn't get a picture of it but Gregg and Mary made us an amazing steak salad lunch complete with shallots, avocado, roasted red peppers, artichokes, parmesan cheese and goat cheese. So yum!

Over the years that Monika and I have been family...ie...marrying Mehringer boys, I've come to know and love her parents as if they're my family too. It was great to be together again and spend the day with each other. Thank you, Mary and Gregg for having us girls to the beach house! We're already looking forward to the next time we see you!

Watcha Been Up To??

Time doesn't really stand still...at least around here. As Matt and I were falling asleep the other night he said to me, "The days are just going by so fast!" And they are. It feels as though once your baby reaches the 6 month mark, everything gets much easier and you can be on the move a lot more.

Here's a little of what we've been up to:

Made this incredible soup for dinner this past weekend. It's an oldie but a goodie recipe. You can cut the cost down by choosing to boil and shred a couple of chicken breasts instead of buying a rotisserie chicken. HERE is the recipe!

This plus a warm blanket snuggled next to my husband is where you could find me Sunday night after we got home from church and the girls were in bed. You also might have found us watching this. We are completely hooked!!

This girl is all over the place with rolling! She's figured out how to get where she wants to go by scooting around and it's so fun to watch her entertain herself. Reese never did that. She'd just get fussy as soon as you put her on her tummy. So thankful and happy to have a content baby this time around.

These two cuties have moved in together! We are rejocing to have our bedroom and living room back to ourselves at night and they couldn't be doing a better job with it! What a HUGE gift from the Lord. Matt and I were beyond nervous/fearful/concerned about how this would go down but except for one bump in the road they haven't been apart. I think Allie even sleeps better being with sissy! She's gone from getting up twice in the night to sleeping from 7:30pm to 6am! Yay Yay Yay!

Reese is putting more and more words together. She's really close to saying {almost} complete sentences. The BIG one came Sunday afternoon. The phrase you've been wanting to hear since you first caught a glimpse of your baby. Those 3 beautiful words: I.Love.You! Matt and I were ecstatic while Reese beamed. Music to our hearts. A few other ones for the record: Come on, Daddy. Go Bye Bye to Marmee's House? Shhh! Allie Sleeping! Breakfust? I hungry. Show daddy boomboom! (Wanted to show daddy her new Valentine's balloon.)

On Sunday night Matt and I became members of our church we've been attending since September 2010! We are so thankful for the privilege to serve and be ministered to with this body of believers! After the Right Hand of Fellowship was extended to us we both were overwhelmed by the love and warm welcome we received from the rest of the congregation. We are hopeful of what the Lord has planned for us here as we grow in our church home. If it comes to mind...please be praying for this group of believers as well as our elders. We are in the midst of searching for a pastor.

And last but not least Matt surprised me with an early Valentines/Birthday/almost Christmas present (maybe that's taking it a bit too far) when I opened this on Monday. I have no idea what I'm doing yet but am so excited to begin learning about this amazing camera! I've already gotten a few great tips but if you have any suggestions PLEASE leave me a comment. I've got a lot to read up on!

Here's my very first picture.

I know it's not the greatest but I'm just so excited with how great the colors look and the attention to detail. Don't laugh if you're a pro and are thinking how terrible this pic looks. :)

A few more:

Girls 'N Costumes

Celebrating Reformation Day this year was simple and sweet! We went the day before to Smart and Final to pick out our pumpkin {we plan to go to the pumpkin patch...it just didn't work out to go before October 31} and mom borrowed a costume from some friends for Reese to use. Dad is our official pumpkin carver...he went so far as to get a kit from Walmart...and he let me choose which face to cut out.

Reese thought it was the CooLest thing to sit in the kitchen next to her daddy and play while he worked. Normally the kitchen is off-limits so to get in on the fun and to pretend she had things to do was just oh so cute!

So fun to compare...

Such a booger! She wasn't the happiest to oblige mom for a picture.

But still...probably the cutest little dinosaur you'll see!

Here's one for her wedding slideshow one day. Hehe! 

I couldn't resist.

And our sweet little pumpkin. It's so amazing to look back on the pictures from last year with Reese in this same outfit, not knowing that our Allie treasure was growing inside me. God's plans are higher and more wise than our own! I'm thankful for that promise.

Reese girl last year.