A slight disappearing act...

I may need to be on here a little bit less for a short while. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with life lately =). Between working full time, growing twins, holiday plans, and attempting a move...life is busy! I am terribly behind on emails and phone calls, and also on just being. My mind is racing these days, and I need to sit back and slow it down.

One of the bigger things on my mind is our pending move. We put in an offer on a house and had it accepted within 24 hours. This was in the end of September. Since then we have been given THREE closing dates, and all three times something has impeded our closing. Three times we have lined up friends and family to help us move, only to call them 48 hours before hand and say "just kidding". We feel awful about it. Our house has been almost entirely packed for weeks now, and we just are so tired of living out of boxes. We are SO ready to be moved!

We have been given another timeline of closing end of this week, early next week. Would you all mind joining us in prayer that this ACTUALLY happens?

It's been really stressful waiting. We are trying to trust the Lord with the timing of it all, but I figured some extra prayers couldn't hurt =).

I feel very ready to start preparing for these sweet babies I am growing, and it bothers me that every time I purchase something or someone gives us something, we have to just put it in the garage knowing it just has to wait there until we can move. I will be honest and tell you that the frustration over all this has brought me to tears on more than one occasion.

So, with high hopes (and your prayers!) that we will be moving next week, I am going to do my best to sit back and try and finish up some minor projects, and also be still before the Lord. I would like a quiet soul for a bit, and I would feel better knowing my sweet babies have an emotionally rested Momma.

Thank you SO much for your prayers...feel free to still comment or email me any prayer requests you have!!

Be back soon!

Love,

Saturday

I know, another fascinating blog post title.

My creativity amazes even me sometimes.


Today we attended our first of 2 "Feeding and care of multiples" class at the hospital. It was really interesting and informative. There were 3 other couples expecting twins about the same time as us, and 2 other couples expecting triplets...wow, triplets.

We learned all about feeding two babies at a time, bathing them, the difference between co-sleeping the twins vs separate beds, etc.

And we practiced swaddling them. I must say, David is a MASTER at this. The guy had never swaddled a baby before in his life, but he swaddled our twin practice dolls like a pro. I was so impressed!

A mom who had 6 week old twins brought them in to be our live "examples". The instructor showed us all kinds of "twin management" tips. At one point she had BOTH babies in one sling and was showing us something else...I honestly was fascinated by it! I could not believe how much she was able to do while still having TWO babies attached to her, yet her hands free. And the babies seemed to love being so close together and "held" so close also.

Good stuff. We have the second class tomorrow evening where we will go over much more, and supposedly I will learn about this "double football hold" I keep reading about. =)

One question for you parents out there...today we went over sleeping and preventing SIDS. The instructor talked to us about a TON of things we can do to reduce the risk of SIDS, and one of those was to not have anything really in the babies' cribs, including bumper pads. I had heard this before, but I thought it was mainly only for the really fluffy types, and that the stiff, thinner types were ok (assuming of course that the ties and bows that hold the bumper pads on were on the outside of the crib only). But she said that the American Academy of Pediatrics were recommending none at all. My question is, how many of you used bumpers in your cribs? Had you heard this advice and decided to use them anyways? I guess I had always thought bumpers were really handy because they prevented the babies from getting their limbs stuck in between the crib rails, and also from constantly dropping their paci's out of the crib too. So...tell me your thoughts please!!




In other exciting news....DAVID FELT LUKE MOVE TODAY!!!! It was SO cool!!!! I have been feeling the babies here and there for some time now, but nothing has been strong or frequent enough yet for him to be able to feel it. But this morning we were eating breakfast and Luke was kicking or punching or tumbling or something, and he seemed to have a rhythm to it. So I whispered to David "give me your hand..." and I gently put it on my belly right where he was moving. Within seconds, POW! It was SOOOOO great.

I had to whisper my request for David's hand because it seems like any time one of the babies is moving a lot I get excited and practically yell "David! The babies are moving!!! Give me your hand!!!!", and they always seem to stop. It's like they know.

This whole pregnancy thing is just so cool. I am loving every minute of it. Even when I can't get comfortable at night and am up from 4am to 6am (like last night), it really doesn't bother me. I am just so happy to be pregnant, and I want to try and enjoy every moment of it...and really take in the special ones, like the first time daddy feels a baby move =)




And speaking of cool things, check out what my sweet friend Anna (http://steinerfam5.blogspot.com/ ) made for me:

It's a beautiful necklace with our babies' initial charms!!

It is SUCH a cool gift and I wore it proudly today =)

(ok, when you look at the above picture, you are gonna have to do like I do and pretend you don't see that massive stack of clean, dry dishes just waiting to be put away on the counter there...)

I actually met Anna forever ago in like 1912. Ok, maybe it wasn't THAT long ago, but it was at least 15 years ago! We met at summer camp when we were kids, and it's so neat to "find" her again!

Thank you so much Anna for the thoughtful gift!

On that note, I better get downstairs, because David just yelled that Greg Oden injured his knee and it doesn't look good....our Blazers are dropping like flies!!!

Babies!!!

Our appointment today went GREAT!! We saw both our little miracles swimming around and playing. They measured their hearts, brains, kidneys, stomachs, spines, etc again to check for appropriate growth, and everything looks just right. They estimate each baby is a little over a pound, and were measuring perfect for 22 weeks.

We feel SO blessed!

Both babies we moving and squirming and they just looked so stinkin' cute. I asked the tech if she could turn on the sound when she was looking at their hearts, and with each baby it made me cry.

It is the by far the most beautiful sound in the world to me.

They checked on a few things and so far I am not showing ANY signs of pre-term labor - thank you Lord!! That is GREAT news! I know that could change at any point, so please keep praying, but for today it was excellent news.


We got confirmation again that baby A is in fact a boy, and baby B is in fact a girl. Hooray! Time to order their bedding now =)

It was just so fun to lay there and watch our children move. Dave and I could have stayed there for hours. Luke again was very busy, and the tech was chasing him all over the place! Abigail was moving and turning plenty, but she seems to be the more relaxed of the two...at least for now.

Here are some pics from today. Sorry for the poor quality, we don't have a scanner, so these are pictures of pictures.


I had asked the tech if she could get a shot of them both together, and because they are so big now this is the best we could get! It's both their heads =)



Little Luke's profile.



His perfect little spine.



Still a boy!! And still not shy about it!



This picture is kind of hard to see, and kinda distorted. But it's a real close up of Luke's face with his arm stretched out above his head.



Our sweet, sweet baby girl.



Her perfect little spine.



Still a girl!! And still pretty modest about it =)



This is another one that's hard to distinguish, it's a real close up of Abbey's face with her arms up over it and her hands covering her eyes.
Our daughter played peek-a-boo with us today!


As if our children hadn't already stolen our hearts, they sure did a number on us today. I can not believe how much I love these babies. I am just so humbled and so very grateful that the Lord is blessing us so richly.

Thank you for all your faithful prayers!

Randomness

I have had a touch of a cold the last few days, and am home today trying to sleep and juice it away. It's not too bad, but I want to keep it that way so I am trying to prevent it from getting any worse.

Along with rest and lots of fluids, I have something else aiding my mission to wellness...

Isn't he cute?

I went to Target yesterday and picked him up off of my own baby registry =) It's a humidifier.
I figured we wanted one for after the babies come anyways, may as well pick it up now. I really think it's helping!


I have been laying in bed and on the couch all day sleeping and watching TV. Much of that TV has included TLC. Have any of you seen the advertisements for the new show "BBQ Pitmasters"? They have been plugging it all day today (maybe they do everyday, but usually I am at work) and they keep having interviews with the contestants, and one lady says "I am in it for the money, and I am in it for the prestige!".

Really?? Is there that much "prestige" in being a pitmaster?

Perhaps. It's a world I admit to knowing nothing about.


Tomorrow we have our monthly doctors appointment, and we are so excited to see how much the babies have grown! It's interesting that they told me I would feel Luke less (due to his placenta placement), because I feel him all the time. Little Miss Abbey Mae is just more chill I guess. Either that or they still aren't big enough for me to tell what's really going on yet! It will be fun to see once they're born how indicative their in utero activities are to their personalities. Any of you mom's out there experience anything interesting in this area?

Well, I guess that's it for the randomness now. Off to drink some more OJ and rest. Please keep us in your prayers for GREAT news about our babies' growth tomorrow, and for NO signs of pre-term labor for momma.

Thanks all!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Happy December 1st all!

I cannot believe it's December already, but I am lovin' it! Yesterday on my way to work I turned on the radio and heard Christmas music, it made me so happy =).

I love, love, love this time of year! We probably won't do any decorating this year, as we are in the process of trying to move, but that doesn't really bother me. I am not a huge holiday decorator anyways...gasp, I know, I will have to get better about that once the babies come!

I love seeing other people's decorations though. I love seeing lights on houses and around town, and when I walked into work they had the whole front desk area and waiting room all covered in garland and lights...so pretty!

Some people (that I'm married to) don't exactly love all the Christmas music, so I don't usually play it here at home, but I listen to it in the car and at work. Haven't heard my favorite song yet this year (Breath of Heaven), but it's early in the season!

We have about 20% of our Christmas shopping done. I am actually one of those people who enjoys Christmas shopping, so I am looking forward to the remaining 80%. Just gotta find the time now.

Perhaps if I put down the laptop...

Thanksgiving 2009

We have SO much to be thankful for this year.

And now added to the list is a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

We started off our Thanksgiving by going to our first Blazer game of the season Wednesday night.


It was the babies' first Blazers game, and I think they may have been confused as to why their Momma was yelling so much... but never fear, seeing as how climbing those stairs to the nosebleed section we always sit in may as well have been Mount Kilimanjaro, it was probably their last as well.

Yowzers. That's sooommmeee belly!!



After the game we headed down to Salem to make a late night arrival at Dave's parents.

Thursday more fun ensued...

We had our main Thanksgiving meal with David's family, although I managed not to take a single picture. I can't imagine why, and I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I ate my body weight in mashed potatoes that day.

Thursday evening we headed over to my Dad and step mom's to visit with them and 3 out of 4 of my sisters. We had a wonderful time over there, attempting to put together a puzzle, laughing, and eating dessert.


Thursday night we headed back to David's parents and played some games with the family. Always a hit!


Friday we headed to my Mom and step dad's for more Thanksgiving fun.
And more eating.
I am not at all excited about stepping on the scale at my appointment this Friday.

The grown ups at their table.

One of the two kid's tables (of note, every here is over 21, but it's still a "kid's table"...does anyone else's family still do that?)

Two of two.


There was a lot of YouTube watching...
And some card playing...

And some sister pic takin'...
And some arts and crafts...my sister Amanda sent these hand print cut outs of our sweet niece Cadence's hand for us to make wreaths out of...so cute!
Then it was back to my in-laws for another evening of family fun and games.
I did manage to remember to snag a few pictures of these cuties...


And of the newest member of the family, the new puppy Omar...

It was a busy but wonderful weekend, and it was so fun for Dave and I to go "home" and see all our family. We feel blessed beyond measure this holiday season, and I did my best to steal moments where I just sat back, rubbed my belly, and took it all in...

Thanks be to God.

20 weeks!

We hit the 20 week mark this weekend!!

We are getting so excited to meet these little ones... but at the same time, hoping and praying we don't meet them until at least mid-March~ as eager as we are, we want them to be full term and as healthy as possible!

Here are the latest belly pics:


I was laughing so hard that so many of you said I looked small when I posted my last belly pics, and when I was talking to Dave about he said I should post a real belly shot so you all can get the full effect...I can't believe I am posting these on the world wide web...but here goes nothing:


My belly, in all it's glory.

With TWO BABIES IN THERE!! =)


Is it weird that I can SEE these pictures of myself, and still barely believe this is all really happening?!? I think so.


Here is the babycenter.com pic of what the babies look like at this stage:

You will note that she (the babycenter.com drawing) finally put on some more weight, so she is allowed back on my blog. Her stomach finally looks like she's got some babies in there! Now, if only she would gain some weight in her backside, we could become friends.


Happy Sunday night all.

Three things that make me happy...

Number 1:

SUPER cute onesies from my sweet blogger friend Lauren!! Aren't those fun!? Thank you so much Lauren! (ok so my linky thing isn't working...but it's Lauren from "Walk with me on this journey called life)




Number 2:

NEW washer and dryer...HELLO LOVE!! Our last set we had bought used about 4 years ago, and our dryer was going out. It would only actually heat up about 1 out of every 3 times. SO frustrating! And since we for see a LOT of laundry in our future, we decided to invest in a brand new set. Yippee! I never thought new appliances would make me so thrilled but seriously...new washer and dryer, you complete me.




Number 3:


My disappearing toes = happiness =)

Redeemed

Three years ago today, Nov 13th, 2006, David and I learned at our 13 week doctors appointment that our baby did not have a heartbeat.

It was a devastating day.

I remember the holidays that year...vaguely. They are kind of a blur of me trying to put a smile on my face while feeling dark and empty inside.

Then followed a long season of waiting.

I would like to say I handled the waiting patiently, but that would not be true.

I remember thinking I would never smile again. I was sure my heart would never feel joy ever again...that I would feel empty for the rest of my life.

God began to lead us on a journey.

I would like to say I handled the journey with grace, but that would not be true.


Luckily, my God is both patient and graceful to His children. Thank you Lord.



Someday soon I do intend to write a post about how we got to where we are, so that those of you who are still waiting can hopefully find some Hope in our story, but it's an almost three year journey, and a very emotional one. And I feel I've done a decent job reigning in the roller-coaster of emotions that come with pregnancy thus far. (If David is reading this he just fell off his chair). But I do need to set aside a chunk of time and write it out, and hopefully properly put into words how faithful our God has been to us.

This post is all to say that three years ago today I felt so empty and alone, and I would have bet everything I had that I would never have joy in my heart again. And although I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that God was gracious to me even in my faithlessness and He did bring plenty of true joy to my heart too many times to count over the last three years, I can not properly put into words the joy that I had in my heart when I woke up this morning.

The tears that are streaming down my face as I type this are tears of absolute Joy. Today I woke up thinking about our two beautiful children growing inside of me. I day dreamed about bringing them home from the hospital and just holding them close and kissing them and whispering to them how very, very much I love them.

My heartache has been more than redeemed.

My God has been more than faithful.

"My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you-I, whom you have redeemed".
Psalm 71:23

18 weeks!

Yup- there are two little babies growing in that belly!!

As to what's growing in my butt, I have no idea.



I can't believe we are at 18 weeks already. It's so exciting! And what's crazy to think about is if our goal is to make it to 36 weeks, we are HALF WAY THERE!! Whoa. Now that I can hardly believe. We hope to at least make it to 36 weeks, and anything after that is just icing on the cake for us. Prayers for icing appreciated. =)

I have felt both the babies move and wow....it's indescribable. The ultrasound tech said I would feel Abbey much sooner and more often because of where her placenta is. Luke's is between him and I so there is more "padding" to soften his movements. I felt Abbey a ton today and I just could not stop smiling!

"You turned my mourning into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever".

Psalms 30:10-12

The name game

So now that we know our babies genders, we can share the names we have picked out for them! We LOVE the names we have picked out, and we are not the type of people to keep them to ourselves and save them as a surprise at delivery. We are too excited for that!

So if you don't like either or both names, please keep it to yourself =).

Without further ado....

Lucas Christian

and

Abigail Mae

Ta da!! Luke and Abbey have been our favorite boy and girl names since we started trying to get pregnant in the summer of 2006. We just love them both. Strong Biblical names, yet still contemporary. Christian is David's middle name, and Mae has no family ties, but we just love the way "Abbey Mae" sounds =). When we found out we were expecting twins, we found it surprisingly easy to pick another boy and girl name as well. If we would have had two boys, the other boy would be Benjamin Michael. And if two girls, the other girl would have been Leah Joy.
But, God saw it fit to give us a Luke and an Abbey, and we couldn't be more thrilled about it!!!


And yesterday I got pink and blue gifts!! My sweet co-worker and friend Kris came into work with these...


I almost died at the adorableness of it all!! Those blankets are sooo soft that I just wanted to turn out my office light and curl up with them and take a nap! I can't wait until I get to see my little Luke and Abbey-girl all wrapped up in these!

Well, actually yes I can wait...please babies stay put for at least another 18 weeks!!!! =)

Happy Friday all!

If His Grace is an ocean, we're all sinking

That's a line from The David Crowder Band's song "Oh How He Loves Us", and it is the current theme in my head and heart today.

God's Grace is by far the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. His Grace is boundless...never ceasing...undeserving.

Today we had our ultrasound. Our babies our measuring right on track to the exact day that they should be, and we were blessed enough to see the miracle of their functioning bladders, kidneys, stomachs, all 4 chambers on both babies hearts, their brains, their spines, 20 fingers and 20 toes.

Thanks be to God.

On Baby A we also saw...











BOY parts!!!!




And on Baby B, we saw....













GIRL parts!!!


We are expecting one of each!! We are simply overjoyed!!!

Our son was not at all shy about showing us what he was. It was undeniable right away! Our daughter on the other hand, was quite modest. It took the tech several attempts and even then she kept leaving to go check other areas and would come back down to try and catch a peak time and time again. Finally we got the shot we were looking for, and confirmation that we have both a son and a daughter miraculously growing inside of me.



My coworker made me this little post it and stuck it on my desk, so I promptly stuck it on my belly and wore it around the office for the afternoon so my belly could make the announcement for me...


Here is a picture of our son, all stretched out:

Doesn't he have the cutest little booty you've ever seen!?!


And here is a picture of his precious little feet:


Here is a picture of our daughter's perfect little hand:

Isn't' that amazing!?!

Here is her picture, looking directly at us, and waving hi:
(her little hand is up next to her face)


And our favorite picture of the day...here is our boy's profile, with his hands up next to his chest, looking like he is praying:
Be still my heart.


We are having a son and a daughter.



The only news that surprised us today was it appears our son's feet are turned in slightly. Because we declined all genetic testing in the first trimester, they were unable to confirm 100% that this is not due to a chromosomal abnormality. BUT, the tech took many more measurements of his spine, the back of his neck, his head, etc. and then we met with a perinatologist to discuss this. She said she is 98-99% SURE that this is NOT indicative of any other diagnosis. THANK GOD. It just appears he has a slight clubbing in both his little feet. The doctor was so confident of this that she said she would not even recommend an amniocentesis. (which we would have declined, but we were happy to hear this news anyways)

David and I had several questions as to what this meant for our little boy. We learned that it means we will meet with an orthopedic surgeon during pregnancy, just for a meet and greet. About a week after the babies are born, we will take him to meet the orthopedic surgeon and he will do xrays to see how turned the bones are. Most likely at that point they will make little braces/casts for him to wear in an attempt to correct his feet. This will not be painful for him, as babies bones are quite malleable. If the doctors are not able to correct it this way, he might need a minor surgery. Usually they do the surgery between 6-12 months old if it is needed. I asked how long he would need to be in the hospital, and the doctor said not even overnight. It's a day surgery.

So, it appears this is 100% treatable.

Do I love the idea of my newborn son needing to wear casts on his feet? No. It wasn't my favorite news of the day. Does the idea of my 6-12 month old baby needing a surgery make me nervous? Slightly. But the bottom line is there is no need to start worrying about a possible surgery now, when it's far into the future, and there is a great chance we will be able to correct this without surgery.

Also, we know that we serve a Mighty God. We know that nothing is too difficult for Him. Our prayer is that God would choose to correct this in utero.

But, if He chooses not to, that's ok with us. Honestly.

Once both David and I heard that they are very, very confident that this is NOT related to anything more serious, and that it's 100% treatable, and that our son will jump and run and chase his sister like any other little boy, we were fine. Really.

Better than fine actually. Totally and completely head-over-heels in love is more like it. We simply adore these precious children of ours. And we adore our God who is blessing us with these miracles.

With a FULL and GRATEFUL heart,

Lazy Saturday ramblings

Last night while we were out running errands for our hopefully soon move, I had the bright idea that we should stop by the store and run in real quick (and by "we", I mean David ran in while I stayed in the warm car) and buy some bacon, hash browns, and eggs so we could have ourselves a hearty breakfast when we woke up this morning.

Nothing like a protein packed breakfast to grow some babies!

So when I got up this morning, I got started on this delicious feast I had planned.

Have I mentioned lately that I am pregnant?? Well, in case I hadn't yet, I am. (And very, very, very, VERY excited about it!!) But one noted side effect of pregnancy is a new onset of scatter-brainess (is that a word?) or rather, the inability to focus.

I will admit, I have never exactly been great with this when it comes to cooking pre-pregnancy, but it's multiplied by like 1000 now.

I enjoy cooking, I really do. It's just I don't enjoy the standing there...just watching it. Not doing anything, just WAITING for the next step. I don't do that part well. I have a tendency to get distracted easily.

This morning I had the bacon going, and had just put the measured amount of oil in the pan to heat up for the hash browns. Realizing this was going to take a few minutes to heat up, and given my inability to just stand there and wait (see above paragraph), I decided to sit down real quick and write an overdue thank you note.

Well, I got so into my card that I didn't really remember breakfast and the aforementioned oil until the smoke alarm started blaring.

Oops.

It was bad, people. Bad. Bad enough to send my asthmatic husband upstairs for a bit while we attempted to air out the entire bottom floor of our house.

Ok, Kendra, you gotta focus here...I told myself. Once the pan stopped smoking, I added the hash browns to it and made a mental note of the clock to flip them in 4 minutes.

I did real good and stayed right there by the stove the entire 4 minutes.

Monkeys can learn.

I continued to make bacon, got the eggs going, and then finally it was time to flip the hash browns. I did so. Perfectly cooked! Hooray for focus!!

I made a mental note of the clock again in order to remove them from the pan in 4 more minutes.

Well, apparently I was feeling a little arrogant about my so-far-hash-brown success, and I decided I could fold a quick load of laundry. I mean, who can't fold a load of towels in 4 minutes?

Me. I can't.

Black hash browns.

Curse words begin to fly out of my mouth.

I decide I will do nothing further but devote myself to what's left of breakfast at this point. I dutifully stand over the stove and literally watch bacon and eggs fry.

A few minutes later, I take stock of my breakfast project: Bacon... browning nicely. Eggs...just sitting there. Hmm...what's wrong with the eggs? I turn the burner up a bit.

I am ashamed to admit that it wasn't until 3 more pieces of bacon had completed the entire cooking process before I realized that I had in fact turned on the wrong burner for the eggs.

Awesome.

By the time the eggs were finally done, the bacon and charred hash browns were cold.


So...yes, in answer to the obvious question plaguing all of your minds right now, yes I will only be answering to the name "Suzy Homemaker" from now on.




On a different note, all weekend my mind has been preoccupied with the knowledge that our ultrasound is on Monday.

Am I nervous? Not so much, but I always get a little nervous before our doctor's appointments.

Old habits die hard.

But it's not nerves that's on my mind. It's the realization that in less than 48 hours from now, we will have seen our beautiful miracles again, we will have (hopefully, God-willing) gotten a great report about their progress, AND we will most likely have found out their sexes.

Monday I will learn if I have daughters, sons, or both a daughter and a son growing inside of me.

I can hardly believe it.

There are still many, many moments during the day that this doesn't feel real to me. I can't help but think that knowing more about my children will help this whole miracle sink in all the more. Being able to refer to them by name...oh how I look forward to that.

I get asked a lot if I have a preference. The honest answer is no. David and I are so overjoyed with this pregnancy and our two children, we can not imagine being disappointed at all. Each of the combination options sounds exciting and wonderful to us. What we really want, from the bottom of our hearts, is healthy children. Hand to God. If for some reason they are not able to tell us the sexes on Monday, that is ok with me. What my heart truly desires is a good report, that both babies have all the parts and organs they are supposed to, and that everything is working as it should.

I can not imagine asking for anything more, and I can not imagine finding any more contentment in my heart than knowing my babies are healthy.

Two more days.


Happy Halloween to all!!!

16 weeks!

Today/Tomorrow, we are officially 16 weeks pregnant....yahoo!!

The babies are doing A LOT of growing right now. In the next few weeks they will DOUBLE their weight, and add INCHES to their length. No wonder I am so tired =).

This weekend I have been just EXHAUSTED, and feeling a little under the weather. Since there are just so many scary things going around right now, I have pretty much laid low all weekend and not done much of anything (including my hair, as you will see in the below picture).

Here is a belly pic for 16 weeks:

Yup. Definite Bumpage.

And I love it!! It's so fun to really be showing and looking like a pregnant person (even if my rear end is getting bigger too! HA!)

I have waited years to be pregnant, and I am just loving it. I rub my belly all the time, and people ask me "oh, are they moving?" I can't feel them just yet, but I just LOVE to feel my round belly! When I catch glimpses of myself in the mirror or a reflective window, I usually stop and just stare for a moment...I still can hardly believe it!!

I lay in bed at night and rub my stomach and talk to the babies and pray for them. It's just so surreal to me at times that there are two amazing miracles growing inside me. Thank you, Lord.

Here's a pic BabyCenter.com has of what the twinkies look like this week:

Amazing. Simply amazing.

Although, I personally feel this BabyCenter.com chick better start pooching out a little more with her belly, or she and I are going to have some words soon!!!! That's hardly a baby belly they have on her!!!!! If she doesn't start looking bigger soon, she will officially be banned from my blog =).

A week from tomorrow we have our next ultrasound! I can hardly wait to see them again. It's been fun for Dave and I to see your votes here on the blog. Looks like boy/girl is winning so far! But boy/boy and girl/girl are tied with 11 votes each. The suspense continues... =)

of Fear and such...

Friday night we went to the David Crowder Band concert, and I was still singing their lyrics on Sunday while driving home from Costco.

One in particular line continued to repeat over and over in my head "I'm finding everything I'll ever need. By giving up, gaining everything"


The Lord started to convict me, and it got me pondering what it means to "give up".

My mind immediately went to control.

I have a hard time giving up control.

Like with this pregnancy...I trust the Lord, but I still like to hang on to just a portion of the reigns, refusing to let go completely of my control over it.


Or rather, my illusion of control.


I was talking with Him about this and I tried to reason by saying "I am just afraid Lord, afraid of the ground being removed from underneath me, afraid of what might happen if I let go..."

And then He said something that greatly humbled me.



I do not need your permission, Kendra.



There was no scolding in His tone. Just a reminder that He is God, and I am not.

A reminder I was unaware I was desperately in need of.



The God of the universe is not waiting for me to grant Him approval to act or allow things to happen in my life.

He is not standing by, holding the pause bottom on letting calamity enter my world, until I have given Him the OK to do so.

This pregnancy has been going wonderfully so far because He has spoken it to be, not because my unwillingness to fully let go is granting me some supernatural power via my sheer will.

If God is going to allow something to happen to me or to our babies, it is going to happen, whether I am on board with trusting Him through it or not.


A peace began to wash over me as I let this Truth sink in.

One of the amazing things about the Lord is how He can show you something that humbles you, that reminds you of His Awesome Wonder and Power, and do it with such love.



I will -of course- continue to pray for the health and well-being of these two miracles He has allowed to grow inside me. I will also continue to ask people to pray for us as well.

I will -of course- continue to worry from time to time. There will absolutely be times that fear creeps in.

But the prayer of my heart is that the fear and worry will become few and far between, and that the trust in the God of the universe will become more frequent.

The rest of the chorus is now what is replaying over and over in my mind...Lord, let it be.

"Falling for You for eternity, Right here at Your feet,Where I wanna be. I am Yours."

Friday Fun!

Yeah I know it's Sunday, but I am finally getting around to posting about Friday.

I worked in the morning, and then had the afternoon off...which is always a GREAT way to start a weekend.

But in order to tell you about Friday, I gotta back up for just a second to a few days earlier....


Tuesday evening I was watching "18 Kids and Counting", and in one episode they went to this mega consignment sale to shop for baby things. After the episode was over, I thought to myself "self, I wonder if there is anything like that in Portland..."

So, I turned on my laptop and googled "consignment sales in portland oregon", and guess what I found?

There was a GIANT one, that only happens twice a year, happening THIS VERY WEEKEND!!

Can you say Sweetness?

Swwweeeettttt-Nessssssss

Dave's parents were already coming up on Friday for some fun evening plans we had, and I asked them to come a little early so my mom-in-law could go shopping with me.

It was AMAZING. There was SO much stuff, I pretty much needed a nap when we were done.

The highlight of my purchases was this:The Double Snap-N-Go stroller. These things retail for $100. I got mine used and in GREAT condition for $40.

Say it with me again...

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet-nnnnnneeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss

I have a strong feeling it will come in really handy when the babies are teeny and in their infant carriers. It's just a shell of a stroller, meant for their carseats (which my mom generously offered to purchase for us - thanks mom!) to just pop right in there and go! Hooray!!


And just in case we hadn't had enough fun shopping, we had an even more fun evening ahead....




That's right. We saw The David Crowder Band in concert!!!


It was an amazing night of Worship, with great music and fun entertainment. They put on a SUPER show!It's too early for me to feel the babies move yet, but I have a feeling they were really enjoying the music too!! =)


Happy Sunday all.