Prayer in Action

God has already started to show his faithfulness!! As I mentioned this morning, I feel overwhelmed and prayed to God for his help and guidance. Well, my boss emailed me to let me know that one of our deadlines got pushed back, which opens up next week to clear all my pending items. No work for me this weekend!! Thank you Lord for once again showing your control in all situations!!!

One of those God posts

I love God posts! And He's been on my mind more than ever lately. I'll admit it, I have been a bad Christian. My prayer life has been suffering, I haven't been in the Word, I haven't even gone to church all month long. I miss God!! I miss getting excited to read my Bible, I miss fellowship, I miss my ladies Bible Study. Work has been getting in the way which has me evaluating my situation. I sit at my laptop late at night, ticking and tying, making spreadsheets "clear and concise", filling out checklists (oh those darn checklists) and I wonder, what's the point? Is this really God's plan for me? What am I accomplishing? Who am I helping? The clients, well they could care less about my audit work papers. My boss? Maybe. Who really cares?

Then on my drive to work this morning, I break down. I start crying because I didn't see my girls but for a few hours the day before. Crying because I have to work this weekend and will more than likely miss my girls AND my girls night out. Crying because I'm tired, overwhelmed, my house is a mess, I'm hungry and I just can't take it anymore. And it hit me, work wasn't making me happy. But why do I rely on work to make me happy. No job, no person on this earth can provide the joy that the Lord does. Why am I not relying on Him and Him alone for my happiness? So I begin praying, asking God for forgiveness, asking him for guidance, for mercy, for protection, praising him for being God, for loving us, for forgiving us, for reminding us that he is always there. I'm not sure what the future will bring, where my career will head, how on earth I'm going to make up these long nights to my girls but I know that God will guide me. He will open doors as he sees fit. He will give me strength when I am weak. He will bring me unspeakable joy. Only Him.

Holy Moly

I have neglected this blog so badly this year. I mean, look at my personal profile information. 26, yeah right!! I wish!! Now, 28 isn't that far off but it gives you an idea of how long its been since I have been on here. I plan on reviving this thing, if its the last thing I do. Well, I will try. Come back soon!

Dear Nini

A letter to my sister from Madison....

Dear Nini,

We all miss you so much! I really want you to come back so you can take me to go get a manicure. Mommy says, you'll be home soon! I'm counting the days. Mommy said we can use this blog to write notes to you and post pictures so you can see me, in case facebook is blocked at your work ;)

Oh and Nini, bring me a surprise. I love surprises. Oh and Nini, go to church! Mommy said you found a church. I love church. Do you go to Sunday school too?

Love you,
Madison Elise Vigil

Back to School

Well, I obviously skipped summer, because we are already back to school!! Both girls started school this year. Madison is enrolled in Kindergarten (ALREADY, YIKES) and Emma started preschool at a darling little school we found. Madison was of course VERY excited!! She went to bed early, woke up happy as can be and was ready for her first day. Now, let's just hope this positive attitude continues throughout the year. I'm sure in a week, it'll be back to having to be dragged out of bed, moaning and groaning about being tired and leaving the house with a not so huge smile. Emma on the other hand was very confused about the whole thing. I'm sure she thought we were just going on a very nice trip. Here are some snapshots of the girls' first day of school.












And a few of Madison's second day. I decided to give the breakfast a try and ate with her.






This girl is just way too excited for school! I love it!!

Spring Spring Spring... We Love Spring

"We love the way the flowers grow, tulips and daffodils all in a row. Oh so pretty I want you to know that We Love Spring!"

This was Madison's favorite little song in Montessori school and she still sings it every spring.

Emma Turns 2

2 year ago, the Lord blessed our family with another little princess to love. It's been amazing to see her grow into a silly little girl. She reminds me so much of Madison at that age now. Here are a few snapshots of her day:






We love you so much Emma!

Random Cuteness

Texas Pride Continues....

Despite our loss to Alabama in BCS National Champioship game. My girl still lover her Longhorns!

Christmas Programs, Dance Recitals and 5th Birthdays

Merry Christmas from the Vigil Girls

A little late but you know, we're a busy family. I was able to take two weeks off during Christmas and New Years to spend with the girls. Here are a few pictures.

More Beautiful You

I wish I could embed this into the hearts and minds of my little girls

Longhorn Pride

We are a Longhorn family, we bleed orange and love our 40 acres! See, even the girls get into it....


Emma hoping for a touchdown


We're #1


Mama and Emma

"Pease" Mama

After many many attempts at getting Emma to sign please she ended up saying the very improtant word for the first time this weekend. "Peeeeaaase" (with hands held together) is probably the cutest thing a little one year old can say. Especially to her mother who is obsessed with manners. Bribing with candy was not a good idea on my part though. Everytime she said please this weekend she got a gummy. Good motivation don't you think? After a whole weekend of getting rewarded with candy my poor Emma had to learn the aweful truth that please doesn't always get you want you want. This morning as I was getting all of us ready for our day she takes me by the hand to the pantry, puts her little hands together and says, "Pease mama, pease." in the sweetest way. When she realized she was not getting a gummy she stomps her little feet saying, "PEASE PEASE PEASE!!!" in a not so cute way. Well, she didn't get the candy but she did get a banana. And by her upset little face it was not a reasonable replacement.

Happy (Belated) Halloween!!!

A few very late pictures of the girls. After many costume changes Madison ended up being the cutest, yummiest little cupcake and Emma the most precious pumpkin!

This is what happens when Mom is not around

My sister babysat the girls for a week and this is what she gave my daughter for lunch!

Best Friends

It seems that everytime I mention something about Madison her best friend is often mentioned so I thought I'd add a blog about her first real best friend. Madison & Molly met in Montessori school in the fall of 2007, seems so long ago now. They seemed to hit it off right away and were always together in their class. We (Molly's mom and I) think it was due to them being the only two little girls who were big talkers. These girls can talk FOREVER! They seem to have so much in common. They're both big sisters (Berkeley and Emma are also close in age), both are VERY girly, both of their moms love Gymboree (hee hee) and they are both the sweetest little girls. They've played soccer together and will soon start ballet. We are very sad that they will no longer be in the same school but know that they will continue to be the best of friends.

My Little Ballerina.....

.... starts dance classes today. She is so excited! We've been talking about dance for a whole year now and we finally found a studio close enough that seems to be promising. And to top it off she'll be joined by none other than her best friend Molly. Here is a sneak peak at our little dancer in the making.

ABC...123

For the past few months I've been working with Madison daily on different things, writing, addition, subtraction, reading, etc. Since she didn't go to school all summer I didn't want her to forget everything she had been taught. She does really well with simple math and numbers. But she has more trouble with her letters and phonics. Last night was a big "light bulb" moment for her on the reading end. I've been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and it's been a great tool for both me and Madison since it provides guidance for the parent teaching as well. Madison had been doing great learning all her sounds but had yet to connect how the sounds came together to make a word. Well, yesterday it all clicked and she read "DAD" for the first time. She was so excited and insisted I write more words for her to read. She was able to sound out "AM" "ME" "SAM" and "MOM". Of course, I was only able to use the sounds she had mastered but it's such a great boost to her confidence. You see, Madison gets REALLY frustrated when she doesn't get something right away. I mean, she'll throw the book and refuse to go any further so it's been a struggle for me to keep her focused. Last night after Emma went to bed we kept working, learning new sounds and sounding out new words. I'm so excited for her!!

15 months old and growing

Update on Emma's stats at 15 months old

Weight: 27 lbs 14 oz
Height: 32 inches