Our first Halloween

Months ago I was walking through Costco and saw they had Carter's Halloween costumes on sale for $12.00. I could not resist. It didn't take me long to decide on what the twins would be for their first Halloween...

Meet our Little LadyBug...



And our little Monkey...


Luke's nickname has been "monkey" ever since he was in utero and every single time we saw him via ultrasound he had one arm up over his head like a monkey! I always call Abbey "peanut", but I could not find a peanut costume...especially for $12. It's alright because she made a pretty darn adorable LadyBug, if I do say so myself.

And now here is our attempt to get both babies to smile at one time:

We packed up the kiddo's and took them to our Church's Harvest Party.

Look who feel asleep on our way there...


Daddy and his little girl...

They were in awe of all the excitement going on inside the gym...and of course had fun playing with each other, as usual =)







Momma and her little monkey...


Our little family...


It was a fun evening, and we were all pretty tuckered out after such excitement...

Hope you all have had a great Halloween too!

7 months (and one day)

A day late, but really this is only for my record keeping purposes, and when years from now I look back on this make-shift baby book, I shouldn't be surprised that my month-by-month milestone posts were often not on the 27th. After all, we stay fairly busy around here.

Since yesterday was all about surviving, taking pictures was not at all on my to-do list. So this morning we made that a priority =). It's been fun for Dave and I to see each month how much Luke and Abbey have grown each month when we compare with the past months. So much of their first six months (first three, especially) have been a blur, and when I feel down about that, I remember that at least I have done a *decent* job of documenting it.

So without further ado, our 7 month pics:

Luke's expression cracks me up...come on Mom, pictures again?!?


I know, it's blurry. But I can see Abbey's laughing face through the blur and I love it.


Finally, a Lucas grin =)




And you may have noticed that our sign is now being placed above their heads, because when I try and put it in front of them, this happens...



Lucas and Abigail, what are you up to at 7 months?

-Wearing size 2 diapers, moving up to size 3 as soon as this box is finished.
-Eating 3 meals of solids a day.
-Sitting unassisted like pro's.
-Grabbing at toys, passing them from hand to hand, shaking rattles.
-Going to bed around 6:45pm-7:15pm at night.
-Still getting up at least once during the night.
-Starting your day around 5:00am (Momma doesn't love this...)
-Making each other laugh (Momma loves this...)



Miss Abbey Mae...I think your biggest development this month has been your teeth!
You have two little bottom teeth that have poked through, giving you the most adorable grin your Daddy and I have ever seen!
Along with these pearly whites comes biting while nursing, which I haven't loved, but I think you are learning not to do this any more...fingers crossed.
You have become an excellent sitter, and will sit and play for the longest time. You can lean over, pick up a toy, and right yourself with ease. You sometimes will rock back and forth in a sitting position, and bob your head...it's pretty cute =).
You are still fitting in 6 month clothes really well...such a Peanut compared to your brother!
You are starting to wake up so.much.happier from naps and in the morning, which is wonderful! You will often just lay there and coo or start babbling until we come in to get you. But even if you wake up crying, you are usually quick to become happy as soon as we come into your room. When I pick you up out of your crib, you have started to throw your arms around my neck and give me open mouth kisses on my face. My heart melts anew each time.
You have decided you no longer like bottles, and have been refusing to take them for a few weeks now while Momma is at work. This has made those afternoons a little bit more difficult for whomever is watching you, but when your mind is made up about something, there is no convincing you! (Some may say you got this trait from me...)
You love books and to be read to. I have to lay you down on your back and hold the book over you while I read, or you won't stop reaching for it to "explore" it. You will lay there for a long time and listen and watch with rapt attention.
You still love to be sung to, and your favorite is my version of "Jesus Loves the Luke and Abbey's".
You are eating solids much better now, rarely refusing to eat. Patience paid off.
When you lay on your back, you get so busy kicking your legs. Sometimes we hear you from our room kicking your legs happily in your crib. Your toes are still some of your best friends, and it's made diaper changes a little challenging.
Your smile still lights up a room, and you are getting less picky about who you show it off to.
You are a delightful daughter, sweet girl, and we love you more than words can express.



My sweet Lucas, you have really found your bounce this month! It's as if being in the Johnny Jump Up introduced you to your leg muscles. You will jump in that thing for.ever. You love it! And now that you have figured out bouncing, you bounce everywhere...in the exersaucer, on our laps, etc.
You have also been exploring with your voice much more this month. You babble constantly (your favorite's are "dadadadada" and "babababa") and you will sometimes just shriek for seemingly no reason at all, except to hear yourself =).
You have started to really, really, really belly laugh this month, and it is SO contagious! Your Daddy and I just love to make you laugh. You have found your sister hilarious recently, and this brings more joy to our hearts than anything else in the whole world.
You are sitting up so well, and just today I walked out of the living room to change Abbey and left you in a sitting position, and when I came back you were on your tummy with your legs behind you. You are going to be mobile before we know it!
You have recently moved to 6-9 month and 9 month clothes...and just like every other time I have switched out your clothes, I washed the newest size and held them up and thought "he will be just swimming in these...", only to put them on you and find them to fit just perfectly.
You are still a great eater, and will try almost anything, but you have really mastered the art of spitting food out. I know I shouldn't encourage this, but it's hard not to laugh when you do this. It's pretty hilarious. Food goes in, you make a face and spit the entire bite right back out. One motion.
You are such a sensitive little soul. The other day you and Ab's were in your high chairs, and Daddy ran at me and picked me up and started tickling me making a growling noise, and you just burst into tears. It took me awhile to console you and convince you I was ok =). Sweet boy.
You love anything that makes noise, and it's been so fun to watch you really understand cause and effect with some of your toys. You are so smart!
You are usually so happy when you wake up in the morning. You just smile from ear to ear when we come get you, and slam your legs (in one motion, both together) down on your mattress over and over in excitement.
You love to be held, and are still such a snuggler. When I am carrying you, you will often put your arm around my neck and give my back a pat. I love how affectionate you are.
You are a wonderful son, sweet boy, and we love you more than words can express.


Happy 7 months, sweet babies,
Momma

Grace

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Yesterday I was the recipient of far more grace than I deserved.

After waking up ill shorty after midnight, I became so nervous -scared, really- of what the next day might hold.

Being a parent of infant twins is hard. Being an ill parent of infant twins is so difficult I could cry. I knew David would not be able to miss work the next day. He teaches at 3 different colleges, and finding subs at the last minute (let alone 3) for college classes is near impossible. So I knew I would be on my own.

As I sat up nauseous and vomiting from midnight until 3:15am, I prayed a lot. I prayed for healing, peace, comfort, and grace to make it through whatever the next day (or few days) held. I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to nurse. I was worried that nursing might pass the bug to the babies (thank you ladies for encouraging me through that!) and also I was so scared about my supply taking a major hit due to dehydration. That fear nearly brought me to tears. This month I am already watching my supply very closely since I have begun a new bc pill with some estrogen in it (since the babies are on solids now), and that has been known to reduce your supply. Also, for about 3 weeks now Abbey has been on a bottle strike. She absolutely refuses to take one. So on the afternoons that I work, she will cry and scream if anyone tries to give her one, and just chooses to go without. I was praying so hard that I would be able to continue to nurse and provide for my babies through the flu. And I asked you all to pray.

Miraculously, it went well.

Luke woke up at 1:40am, and I was able to nurse him and put him back to sleep with ease and without puking on him or needing to put him down so I could run and puke.

Grace.

Abbey woke up about 3:00am to nurse, same thing.

Grace.

When I went to bed at 3:15am, I put earplugs in and fell into a deep sleep.

When the babies woke up at 5am, my husband jumped out of bed, turned off the baby monitor and went and entertained them until he had to start getting ready for work, buying me an extra 1.5 hours of sleep. I love that man.


When I got up at 6:30am, I felt terrible. Every bone and muscle in my body ached.

David prayed over me before he left for work.

I wanted to cry when he walked out the front door, but knew that no good would come from it. I tried to focus on the grace I had been shown during the night.

I called a friend from Church and asked her if she wouldn't mind running to the store for me and bringing me some Sprite on her way to work. I couldn't keep water down over night, but I knew I needed to get some liquids in me and Sprite was something that didn't sound awful.

She arrived at my house 20 minutes later with 2 bottles of Sprite, encouraging words, and the offer of her husband to be "on call" for me all day since he didn't need to work.

Grace.

I fed the babies breakfast, we played, they took turns taking naps, played, lunch, played, then while simultaneous nap time occurred (that friends, is extreme grace), I just laid on the couch and watched sitcoms for 45 minutes.

The babies were in good moods all day long.

I didn't throw up once all day long.

Grace.

We all 3 stayed in our jammies the entire day, and not a single chore got done, but I didn't care one bit.

While changing Luke's second poopy-but-not-wet diaper, I started to worry if he was hydrated properly...and in the middle of my worrying, he proceeded to pee all over me, all over himself, and all over the floor that I was changing him on.

Ironic grace.

They seemed to nurse well every time, and without any problems.

Grace, grace, grace.

In fact, they didn't start to really have fussy time until shortly after David walked in the door at 4:30pm. But then we were running a man-to-man defense, so it was manageable.

Dave fed them dinner while I laid on the couch some more. We gave them a bath, got them ready for bed, I nursed them, and we put them down.

I had some toast for dinner and then went and took the hottest bath my body could tolerate.

I was in bed by 8:00pm with a heating pad on around my stiff,tired neck, and David turned off the monitor and told me he would stay up in the living room watching TV until about midnight, and deal with any wake ups that happened. Have I mentioned I love that man? (turns out it's a good thing he did, as apparently each baby woke up at least twice between bedtime and midnight...don't know what that is about). I didn't wake up until 3:00am when Abbey woke up to nurse, and Luke was right behind her. That means I got over 6 hours of consecutive sleep last night. That has only happened a handful of times since the babies have been born. It felt so good.



I feel better this morning, and food is starting to sound ok again, so I think I am well on my way to recovered. So far neither Luke nor Abbey has shown any signs of feeling sick.

Grace.

Thanks be to God.

Prayers please...

It's 1:24am, and I have been up for about an hour throwing up and dry heaving.

Would you mind saying a prayer for my family please?

Please pray that my sweet little 7 month old babies would be spared the stomach flu (or whatever it is I have), and that God would bless my body with a quick recovery, especially as I am a breastfeeding mother, and I would really like to continue to be.

Thanks all.

Bouncing Baby Boy...

This kid LOVES the Johnny Jump Up.

Loves. It.

Best $20.09 we ever spent.

Before & After

Quick pic before we load up and head to Church:





And a quick pic after we unloaded the van coming home from Church:

Laughter

There are so many wonderful things about having two babies at the same time...
...twice the cuddles...
...twice the smiles...
...twice the adorable little clothes...
...twice the love...


There are also many hard things about raising two babies at the same time. No sense in listing them all, but I will say one of the hardest is the way they feed off each other.
If one wakes up crying -either from a nap or in the middle of the night- and the other is not in a deep enough sleep, that one gets woken up too, and you have two cranky babies on your hands.
If one starts to meltdown, and you aren't able to fix it "quick" enough, inevitably the other baby's lower lip starts to quiver as if to say "we're upset!" and you have two crying babies.


But earlier this week, something absolutely beautiful happened.


I put Luke in the Johnny Jump-Up, and Abbey in the exersaucer next to him (my husband's brilliant idea, so they could play "together"), and I went around the corner into our spare room to download some pictures onto our computer.
All of a sudden I heard Abbey giggle. Then giggle again. I couldn't figure out what would be making her laugh...did one of the cats walk by? Then I heard Luke chuckle, and then immediately Abbey burst out laughing. And that's when it hit me. They were feeding off each others laughter.

My two babies were cracking each other up.

I had the camera in the room with me, so I peaked it around the corner and into the hallway to catch these precious moments on video. I tried to stay out of sight, so that the fun that was occurring between them remained just between the two of them.

Pictures

We are loving books these days...

And our new bath seats....

And being together...

And bundling up in our super cute beanies...

And our new Johnny Jump-Up...



And kisses from Momma...



And fall walks...



And impromptu naps...

Happy Monday all.

Why oh why...

...did I buy our Halloween candy on October 12th, knowing FULL WELL that Halloween isn't until October 31st?

Fun sized Butterfinger, I am powerless against your tastiness.

What couldn't you have lived without during the second six months?

Soon I will actually post some pictures of my sweet, gorgeous babies, I promise.

But real quick I wanted to ask you all something again...

I am taking this Momma's lead and wanted to ask those of you that are parents or have spent a lot of time with babies, what are some things you were so glad you had/your babies loved during the 6month-12 month time? I am heading to a MASSIVE consignment sale tonight and am hopeful to set us up for the next 6 months as much as possible.

Thanks!

Follow up

First of all, thank you very much for all your comments/feedback/advice.

My gut said I had every right to be upset, and my Momma-Heart did too, but I just needed some validation that I had "the right" to be upset enough to say something.

The truth is I was furious when I walked in and saw Luke that way. Five minute rule or not, God Himself must have closed my mouth, because I wanted to shout "HAS HE BEEN THAT WAY THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS AWAY?!?!!?"

I could have understood - or at least been more understanding -if my babies were asleep in their carseats, or much younger, and usually content to "lay" in one spot. But at 6 1/2 months, my babies love to roll around on the ground, play with toys, bounce in jumperoo's, etc. And to find out they had spent the whole time buckled into their carseats...well, I was none too pleased.

Three hours after we got home from Church, I was still fuming, and making statements to David like "we may as well have just left them in a coat closet!!".

That's when it was suggested that perhaps I was overreacting a tad.

I knew in my heart that I felt upset on behalf of my kids, and really that was all I needed to know. I just couldn't decide if it warranted something being said to someone in charge or not, that's why I wanted to "check" with you all to make sure my crazy morning and sleep deprivation weren't clouding my thoughts and making me angrier than I should have been.

Part of what burned so much about this experience is we rarely leave our babies. I mean in 6 1/2 months I can count 3 times that we have left them -each time for under 2 hours-with someone. (Outside of Friday afternoons when we both work and either my in laws or my sister comes to our house to watch them.) So leaving them was/is hard for me in the first place. I have had to fight myself the last two Sundays from constantly going down and checking on them. I just sit in the service and tell myself "don't be a hovering mom...they will flash your number if they need you...you made it clear to them you don't mind being paged...they are fine..." So it really stung to have (essentially) one of our first times leaving them go so poorly.


I did end up sending an email to the Children's Ministry Director (although I hear you Monica on conversation being better than email, I tend to express myself MUCH better in writing then in verbal conversation). I would like to think my tone was polite yet frustrated. I tried to make clear that I was not looking for anyone to get "in trouble", just that I was upset at what happened, and I had expected... more. Also I wanted it made clear that I do not mind volunteering down there if the workers feel overwhelmed, so that each and every baby can be attended to.

I told her that for years I was pretty much the solo worker at our old Church (it was much smaller), and we had forms the parents could fill out that said "under what circumstances would you like to be called from the service?" and a few times parents would write something along the lines of "bodily injury" or "uncontrolled crying for 30+ minutes", basically communicating that they perceived the nursery workers role as to protect their (the mothers) time in the service at all costs. Fine for them, but I am not one of those parents. While I do enjoy the "alone" time in the service while the babies are in the nursery, as I said above they are never far from my mind, and the "break" isn't the main reason we decided to start dropping them off their in the first place. We wanted Luke & Abbey to get a chance to socialize with other babies and adults, and play with/in new toys in a new environment.

To my pleasure, she felt exactly the same way. She was surprised and upset to hear about what had happened, and apologized. She was so sensitive and tender and really validated my concerns. She stated she feels the nursery exists as a ministry to both the mothers and the babies, and she echoed many of the exact same statements some of you made about its purpose. She said she was so glad I communicated with her, which I was relieved to hear =). She is coming up with a plan to make sure there are more volunteers trained ASAP, so that when the people assigned to be in there each Sunday get overwhelmed they can get more help right away.

I am so glad I said something, and even more pleased with the response.

Here's to resolution.

Overreacting?

Friends, I need your opinion on something.

I can't tell if I am overreacting to a situation or not.

My "rational compass" is way off these days, and especially today since my daughter thought 4:20am was a fine time to start our day today. Sunday mornings are particularly stressful around here because David leaves early to set up the sound for the Praise Team, and I get myself and both babies fed, dressed and out the door. (My hats off to those of you that work full time and do this every single day... I couldn't imagine!). This morning it was pouring down rain, to boot, so why I even bothered to do anything to my hair is beyond me. By the time I had both babies loaded in the van (we don't have a garage) I was drenched.

Anyways.

I got to Church and Dave and I took the babies down stairs to the nursery. This is their 3rd time in there. The first time I stayed with them the whole Sunday, just to see how they would do. They did great, and didn't seem to care at all when I came and went from their sight in the room. So the next Sunday I just dropped them off and went upstairs. When I came down to get them after Church, Abbey was asleep in the swing and Luke in one of the worker's arms.

Cue this Sunday. We brought the babies down in their carseats, and I said to one of the workers "they fell asleep on the ride here, so they are kind of out of it..." and started to take them out of their seats. She said "well, why don't you leave them in there, and we can kind of rock them and see if they fall back to sleep?"

Sure, I thought. I doubted they would fall back asleep in a fully lit room full of toys and babies, but hey, why not give it a shot?

I went upstairs and sat through the service.

When I went downstairs after, I walked in to find Lucas still in his carseat - still even buckled in- and crying.

Not hysterical crying, but crying.

I went over and got him out and picked him up, and he calmed right down.

My initial reaction was to be really, really upset. I was pretty furious to find my son still buckled into his carseat, exactly the way I had left him almost an hour and a half prior.

But I didn't say anything. Why? Because for the last few months I have been instituting a 5 minute rule. I tend to fly off the handle pretty easily, and my mouth has gotten me in trouble more times than I can count. I have been known to feel strongly about something and fire off an email, phone call, or conversation in the heat of the moment, and then 5 minutes later realize perhaps I was being a little too passionate about whatever it was. Perhaps I should have taken a moment to mull things over a bit before I spouted off.

So I said nothing because I didn't trust what might come out.

I looked around for Abbey, and saw her in a teenagers arms. I said "how'd she do?" to which the girl replied "she did fine until a few minutes ago, she started fussing so we had to take her out of her seat".

So Abbey had spent the entire morning in her carseat too.

Really???

I had the girl hand me Abbey and I started to walk out with both babies in my arms. One of the workers said "boy that Lucas, he just couldn't decide if he wanted to sleep or stay awake all morning! He never did fall asleep!", to which I just smiled and then said I would send David back down for the carseats and diaper bag.

Then I walked upstairs with a baby in each arm, and chatted with people, sent Dave down for the seats, loaded the babies up,and came home.

And it's been more than 5 minutes, and I am still upset.

Am I overreacting?'

I know Lucas wasn't in any danger. I realize I don't know how long he had been crying. But seriously, is it too much to expect that I find my 6 month olds in a different spot then the exact one I left them in???

Now let me just say that we LOVE our Church. Love it. And the nursery is usually really well run, with pretty much the same rotating volunteers. I really do like all the women that work in there -or at least the ones that I know. It's a large room that is set up really well for babies of all ages, and there is copious amounts of bouncers, swings, exersaucers, jumperoos, bumbos, etc.

I will also say that there were lots of babies in there today. Probably 3 or 4 toddlers, and 4 babies. One of those babies was only 6 weeks old. That is more than a handful for 2 adults...but I also saw 2 teenagers in there helping too.

But I feel like if they were so overwhelmed that they couldn't even get babies out of their carseats to play (or, ya know, comfort the crying ones. I know, I don't know how long he was crying for...but I do know he was crying when I walked in. And no one was tending to him), they should have either figured out a way to get more help, or paged some Momma's back down to help with their own babies.

I always, always, ALWAYS say before I leave "please don't hesitate to page me if my babies get fussy or if you need me for anything, I really don't mind". (Our Church has one of those number paging systems where your number flashes on a screen during the service so you know if your kids are needing you).

So, friends, help me out here. Do you think I am just being a fussy new Momma here? Or do I have a right to be frustrated at the state in which I found my child(ren)? I really feel like I do.

I know the bottom line is if I am not comfortable -whether I am overreacting or not- then I should just keep them upstairs with me, or stay down in the nursery with them.


But I need some feedback here so I can determine how I want to handle it.

Thanks.

Opinionated

The other day the Babies R Us mailer came, and I was flipping through it. I saw their Christmas clothes were on sale, buy one, get one 50%. Sweet deal when you've got twins. I started thinking about the family photo I want to have taken in early December, both to mark the babies 9 months and also to have for Christmas cards.

I loved one little dress in particular, and thought it would look just precious on my baby girl (then again, what doesn't?) And I thought a certain little argyle sweater set next to it would look adorable on my baby boy (then again, what doesn't? =-) ).

I mentally started thinking about what David and I had in our closets to match these outfits for the babes, (which of course led to me silently cursing these remaining pregnancy pounds because not everything in my closet fits again...yet.) I left the mailer open on the kitchen table and went about my evening, then went to bed.

When I got up the next morning I saw the mailer on the kitchen counter, only this time there was something different about it...


Turns out my husband has a lot to say about what the babies can and cannot wear in our family photo.

At least we agree on the dress. (he wrote "this one's cute" next to it)

On my mind...

I suppose you could call this Kendra's version of MckMama's "Stream of consciousness"

- Fall is officially here. The last two mornings we have turned on the heat in the house when we have gotten up, and baby hats and blankets were required on Momma's run yesterday.

- We finally have decided to paint some walls in our house. It was never our intention to leave every wall white in the first home we've ever owned, but we closed and moved in exactly one month before Luke and Abbey came, and exactly three days before my blood pressure rose (can't imagine why...) and I was put on bedrest. And since then, well, we've been just a tad busy. Anyways, it's been fun to pick out colors and continue to make this house our home.

- a rrrr s2 Vt YXTX4 HCCMMZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, (that was from Lucas, he is sitting on my lap as I type)

-Napping boot camp is officially over in our house. We tried, and failed, to institute napping times (9am, 1pm, and 4pm) each day for a few days. And each day we ended up with over tired, cranky, fussy babies who napped really poorly, and over tired, cranky, fussy parents who decided this was just not what was best for any of us. For some babies, it does work. For ours, it only worked one day. Our babies need their naps when they are tired, and no later. Especially Luke. If you miss his tired cues, and that "window", you end up with a fusssssyyyyy baby who will only nap about 20 minutes and wake up crying. So it's back to a more baby-led schedule for our days.

-My babies are over six months old. They have been with us - outside of my body- for over half a year now. How is this possible? Often it still doesn't feel real to me. I sit and try and figure out why, and I usually come to the same two conclusions. First, I don't mean to sound dramatic, but our delivery was so shocking and I was so out of it for so long after that I don't think I have processed completely that that all actually happened to me. I can remember bits and pieces, but it feels like someone else's memories. It's as if because I wasn't fully present, it didn't really happen. I keep a picture, this picture...

...on my bedside table. Every once in awhile I need to just look at it and reconnect with her. I knew how to be her. It's not that I long to be her again, it's just that that's the last time I felt like...Kendra. I am trying to process how I got from there to here...it's all been a bit of a blur =). Motherhood is all so new to me. I really am enjoying it, but it's outside of what I know...which to be honest has surprised me. I babysat and nannied and taught preschool, but none - read NONE - of those things fully prepared me for having my own babies. My abilities to command the attention of 15 4&5 years olds means nothing when both my babies need my full attention at the same time and I am running on 4 1/2 hours sleep. My body feels totally foreign to me. It's so out of shape and still carrying around lingering (and stubborn) baby weight. And my mind...well, it's often cluttered. Interrupted sleep will do that to you. I am not complaining, just being honest. I never felt more like myself than when I was pregnant, and I have been trying to find my footing -my self- again ever since. My new self. My Momma self.

That leads to the other conclusion I usually come to. I often feel under qualified to be raising these babies. I am self-conscious about that sometimes, which leads me to wonder if someone else isn't going to catch on to the fact that I am really just wingin' this motherhood thing and say "who let you have babies?" and take them away. I am not literally afraid of someone taking them away, its just...amusing...???...to me that God let me have twins.

-Today I was filled with the strongest desire I have ever felt to just hold both my babies at the same time, and stay close with them. I don't know if it was reliving so much of our journey to them for This post, or if it was Stephanie's post from today. Whatever it was, so overcome by the need to embrace them both was I, that I concocted this...

Impressed? Me too.

(The funny part was I spent way more time checking and rechecking to make sure every strap, button, snap and limb was in place than we actually did walking around.)



- And lastly, Friday night my sister Natalie brought over the documentary "Babies". Have you seen it? Fascinating. I have been thinking about different cultures and the way we raise babies ever since. For instance, we here in America are soooo worried about statistics and milestones being met by certain times. Take "Tummy Time" for instance. The recommended amount varies, but all peds and parents here alike agree it's essential for learning to crawl/walk. And in this film you see the baby in Mongolia lay flat on his back scene after scene after scene. And yet -spoiler alert- he too, walks in the end. Don't get me wrong, I make sure my little one's have plenty of tummy time...it just makes ya think.

And with that, I'll sign off now. Happy Wednesday all.

Getting real...

Please click over to my friend Amy's blog, and read her post today. It's fabulous. Amy is an inspired woman, who I am believing in Faith will someday make an amazing mother.

My story...

You can read the long version here,

The short version, for today's post, is that this year God made me a Momma. After one miscarriage and 3 years of trying, testing, and "everything looks fine...", God blessed us with twins.

You can give credit to modern medicine all you want, I know I do...to an extent. I am not sure why our procedure (an IUI with clomid) not only worked, but worked the first time and produced twins, but it did. Our doctor, the medicine, the procedure...all of it helped us get to our children, and I am grateful for that.

But nothing - nothing - happens unless God speaks.

And He did.

Why did He choose to bless us? I have no idea. I know I am not worthy of such blessings.

But I am grateful He did.


Today, as I write this, my 6 month old son and daughter are napping in their cribs, in the nursery I spent years dreaming about.

By His grace, I got experience pregnancy. And not only experience it, but I was blessed enough to carry our twins to full term. By His grace, they were both born healthy, and even though their birth went far from as planned, both the babies and I survived without any extereme complications.

It happened for me, and there were many, many, many times I doubted it ever would. With one positive pregnancy test, my life as I knew it would never be the same.

Thanks be to God.

He is Able.

Ephesians 3:20
"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! "

Weekend Review

Let's see, what did we do this weekend?


We practiced our sitting...

(aren't her socks adorable?)



We went for our first family hike...

We did lots of playing on the floor...

We dressed up for Church on Sunday...

We fell asleep after our family walk...

And we fell asleep again during Momma's run...are you noticing we like to nap in our strollers?
(and yes, it does look like a Babies R Us threw up in our living room)

And we worked on sitting unassisted...

Hope you all had a great weekend too!