HOLY MOLY - SIX MONTHS?!

I am completely embarassed that six entire months have slipped by without a post on here. I had these elaborate plans to post immediately after the girls' first birthday party and show you all the pictures. Obviously I got distracted somewhere along the way. Can't go back and change it now.

I will quickly fill you in on all the changes in our lives. I know what you're thinking but no, I'm not pregnant. :-)

In January we accepted a youth pastor position in Trenton and have been quite busy with our teenagers. In April we moved. It was only a few blocks from our previous house, but man oh man was it a process! We painted each and every room on the house. Now, I like most people LOVE the end result that painting gives to a home. However, I despise painting. I don't mind packing, organizing, unpacking, reorganizing, cleaning and then cleaning again. But painting, blech. And this wasn't your typical paint job. There was so much more prep work that went into this project than I have put into any other recent project. One room in particular needed THREE coats of primer and then two coats of paint. Needless to say, it took the wind out of my sails just a bit. But like I mentioned earlier, the end result is beautiful - at least we think so!

June kicked off our Summer craziness with a bang. Micah took a small group to Summer Camp while I held down the fort at home. July found us in Colorado for two glorious weeks. It was much needed time that I spent with my parents and my whole lively family. Have you ever heard the saying, "You don't know what you have till it's gone."? This sums up my relationship with Colorado. I never knew that I could actually miss the mountains. I know we all tend to idealize our hometowns, but I'm telling you, there is nothing more beautiful than a Rocky Mountain sunset.

And here we are, in August. It's AUGUST! Where has the Summer gone? My baby girls are now 16 months old and I finally feel as though I'm ahead of this whole parenting game. So much so, I start babysitting two little boys next week. No I'm not crazy. Well, maybe. :-p

I won't bore you with anymore details from my life. Here are quite a few pictures from our many experiences since February. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did. God bless!

Responsibility

"Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!" Luke 12:48
Message Translation

I received the kindest most amazing compliment a couple weeks ago. I was speaking with a friend from church and she asked about the girls. We shared stories and adventures in mommy-hood and I told her that I'm still learning so much about them - their likes and dislikes, differences in personality and the way they learn and explore. I admitted that I obviously don't have it all figured out yet but feel as though I'm finally catching on. Then she said it, "You make it look easy." Five simple little words that have blessed me and encouraged me more than she even knows.

Oh, if only you could have had a sneak peek during all our sleepless nights. If only you had seen me in all my frizzy glory. If only I had kept track of all the pb and j sandwiches I ate (pb and j is nutritous and you can prepare it *quietly* while babies are sleeping).

I am not skilled enough to articulate all the feelings of inadequacy, the worries, the boredom. But I can tell you this, motherhood has taught me more about reliance than I could have ever imagined.

When we learned we were expecting twins we were SO excited! We had so much to be thankful for and did our best to prepare for their arrival. But no matter how much you plan, nothing can prepare you for sleep deprivation. It's brutal at best. You learn a lot about yourself at 2 am. And 2:15, and 3 am, and 4 am, you get the idea. You quickly realize that you can't do it on your own. You cannot be a successful, healthy, happy parent without God's word to stand on. At least I can't. I had a whole lot of doubts, insecurity, fears, you name it I probably experienced it.
WHY am I telling you this? Because I have received the "great gift" of God's love and it's my "great responsibility" to share that with you. I hope that my experience can help, that this tidbit of encouragement can touch a life and remind someone that God is in control and things really will be okay.

Below you'll see one of my absolute favorite portions of scripture. If you find yourself struggling with doubt, a lack of self-esteem, fear, pain - I hope you read this and apply it to your life. Let God's word, bring life to your life today.

"From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise." Common English Bible

Hello again

It's been quite a while since my last entry. We made it home from Colorado safe and sound only to find that...our house was exactly as we left it.  :-)

Our cat was ELATED to see Micah again, me on the other hand - she could live without. Since my last entry the girls (now nine months old) have grown in so many ways.
Katie - now has two teeth and is a very accomplished crawler. No longer just settling for the "point A to point B" way of life no - she can navigate around toys and over her sister to get exactly where and what she wants.
Lilly - She still has no teeth and has far less interest in crawling, although she is working on it. Lilly wakes up with a smile on her face and many times we have "caught" her singing in her sleep. That is no exaggeration, she has actually been singing, while asleep!

Both our girls bring us SO much joy. I don't know a time in my life when I smiled more than I do now. I watch them and I'm continually amazed at my God's goodness. I am reminded daily that He has a perfect plan for us. I so desperately want to live my life in a way that will reflect His love and greatness to my daughters. Having them in my life has changed everything. I no longer can go out shopping whenever I please, nor can I stay up till all hours of the night and sleep in the next morning. No, they run the show for now and I absolutely love it!

I pray that everyone reading this can find joy in God's creation today. Let Him shower you with joy, peace and fill you with His hope. Thanks for reading!

Driving and door-dings and deer oh my!!

Four new van tires, $532. Tankful of gas, $65. Making our way through a deer barricade without a single scratch,...Priceless. 
Well here we are, safe and sound in Colorado! We left Missouri late Friday night and were only an hour and a half into the trip when, WHAM! We hit a deer. Yeah, not exactly the greatest way to start a road trip. Micah immediately pulled over and what he saw was absolutely amazing. He found both headlights to be fully functional, the grill completely intact and not a single dent or scratch! The Lord was definitely watching over us that night and we are so thankful!

This morning we attended church and the girls were dedicated. My parents, aka Nana and Papa came up to the front with us and Auntie Hannah took the pictures. After church we went to Kelly's place for lunch and a movie. All in all it has been a wonderful day.

Trust

Micah and I are amazed with our girls as we watch them learn and discover their world daily. We are also amazed by their always growing appetites! Whenever they give the cue that they are hungry, we stop what we're doing to get their bottles ready. But by the way they cry you would think that they have been waiting and wailing all day! In a calm voice I remind them I'm working as fast as I can, that I know their needs and I need them to trust me.
Trust. The Webster's dictionary defines trust this way: "Assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something."

One day this hit me like a ton of bricks - how often have I truly trusted my heavenly father? How many times have I cried for Him to take care of my needs and then panicked instead of showing reliance on His character, ability and strength to provide for me. If only I would exercise trust then maybe, just maybe I could spare myself some un-needed, unwarranted stress.

Isaiah 26:3 is a new favorite scripture of mine, it says; "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You."

My prayer for you is that as we approach the holidays, a time of year known to be rather stressful, I  hope that you know his "perfect peace" as you trust in Him.

Fall, Family and Fotos

Family photos. Two words that make most young parents shudder, myself included. This past Saturday we had our very first round of family photos taken by Micah's childhood friend, Ryan Leafgreen. We had the outfits ready, locations spotted and the girls were fed. The weather was amazing and start to finish it took a little less than 2 hours. The girls were absolutely wonderful and I could not be more please with the photos. Thank you Ryan!

How time flies!

Wow! Time sure does fly by doesn't it? Exactly 5 months ago today, I was in the hospital getting a non-stress test (the monitoring of heartbeats before, during and after contractions) when our lovely doctor came in and announced that we would be having a birthday party. I felt so many different emotions all at once. Joy- that they were finally coming, anxiety- because this was all so new to me and confusion - how could I be starting labor and not know it?

My entire pregnancy with them was picture perfect. Not once did I have morning sickness, bizarre cravings, high blood pressure, abnormal weight gain, or even heartburn - and yes, they were born with hair. :-)    They were born after exactly 37 full weeks of pregnancy, completely perfect and each with very healthy set of lungs! ha ha ha

 Heading Home - Katie is shown first and as you can see is quite upset.

I will never forget the first time I saw them or heard them cry, there is no better sound in all the world! The drive home was definitely the most intimidating experience I've had. We left the hospital thinking, "What do we do now?" Our first night home I only had 45 minutes of sleep. But somehow, we have survived with our sanity and sense of humor still intact.

It's been quite a ride so far, but I wouldn't change a thing!

In June, Lilly (l), Katie (r)

l-r Lilly, (my niece) Elizabeth, Katie

 In September before going on a walk. A great pic of Katie smiling. It's hard to capture her smiles on film.