Princess Lily

Here is what happens when you combine your two year olds dress up, your three year old's silliness and a tired mommy!

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What a Week!

This past week marked my husband's first week of school, so that means I'm back to holding down the fort back home. Don't get me wrong, I love staying home with our three kids, and I'm so glad to be back on a schedule, but I apparently got very used to having my husband home during the summer and did not realize how truly crazy life is when you have 3 little ones. Every day held an adventure, so here is a recap.

Monday: Grocery shopping and errands with all three kids. That alone should be enough crazy for one day! At one point, Jack and Anna were singing at the top of their lungs, and Lily was crying as we walked the aisles, an old man stopped me and asked,"Do you have to listen to this everyday?!"


Tuesday: Tuesday wasn't too bad, in all honesty. A friend of mine's kids came over to play, so while it was crazy in the sense that there were 3 more kids here, they all kept each other entertained.

Wednesday: Started out almost boring. However the day ended with me having to pick up my inconsolable 3 year old from church. Apparently AWANA is just a bit too much excitement yet. This was fine with Anna, who was not happy to see her big brother leave.

Thursday: I woke up feeling overwhelmed with everything that needed done(I was up by six and didn't know how I was going to accomplish everything). Little did I know! Thursday mornings I have women's Bible study, about half way through my husband called. Thankfully I had my phone out(it was on silent), he was calling to tell me that his tire had shredded. He needed the kids and I to come get him. No problem, I thought. We were all ready to go since we were at church, so I figured we'd hop in the van and drive the 35 minutes to get him. Wrong. I got my kids loaded into the van, and then I realized I had left my purse with my keys and phone inside the church! I wasn't too worried, but then I realized that the church doors had locked behind me and no one was by the doors to hear me knocking. Thankfully, I was able to see the humor in the situation, and the kids were in good moods. After about 20 minutes someone noticed my purse and walked out to the doors to see if I was still outside. :-)

Friday: Erik had a men's retreat Friday night. Not five minutes after he'd left Jack threw up all over the place, the toilet backed up, and the girls were screaming their heads off because Jack was crying. I was trying to comfort Jack, unclog the toilet, and keep Anna out of the mess. It's just funny now to think about. Jack didn't wind up being sick, and we managed to have a nice evening with some friends.

Last week certainly had it's crazy times, but I suppose that's life with little ones. I am hoping that this week might have less crazy happening outside of our house, but I am so thankful I was able to see God's hand in every situation no matter how crazy it seemed.

A Heart Check

You Know You’re Religious, When…
By Emil Swift

…you love the “Word of God” more than the God of the Word.
…you have a program instead of a Partner.
…you do for God instead of with God.
…God is your Boss instead of your Friend.
…you have a religion instead of a Relationship.
…you have an agenda instead of a adventure.
…the center of your thoughts and conversations is you and not Him.
…an examination of your checkbook register shows your money goes for taking care of concerns that are self-centered not God-centered.
…you protest your love for God but practice your love for the things of men.
…you spend time and energy in trying to control your life instead of releasing control to God.
…your prayer consists of much talking and little listening.
…you do the best you can instead of letting God do the best that He can.
…you work for God instead of working with God.
…you’re primarily directed by God’s principles instead of God’s Spirit.
…you accomplish natural goals instead of supernatural goals.
…you’re concerned more with what others think of you than what God thinks of you.
…you’re passion is for right doctrine more than right Relationship.
… you’re more focused on your needs than others needs.

She turned 2!

Dear Anna,

Yesterday you turned two! I think you had a good day. I mean, there were cupcakes involved so I don't think I know you had a good day! We had your party the day before your actual birthday since Sundays are tough to get everyone together. You got some cute dresses, a top, a crown, a dress up costume, books, and best of all(at least in your opinion) you received a recorder. Yep that's right, your great grandparents thought it would be funny to get Jack and you musical intruments. You both love walking through the house playing the recorders as loud as you can! It is very funny, and they keep you two happy.

It's been a big year for you, Anna. You've learned to walk, talk, sing, you actually grew big enough to be on the growth chart(at your last checkup you weighed 22 pounds!), and most importantly you became a big sister! I love watching you and Lily interact. I don't have a sister, so I'm really excited to watch you two grow up together. You love to hold her and help feed her cereal.

And Jack is most definitely your best friend. You two are constantly playing and chasing and getting into mischief things. We joke that you are either really happy or really mad. There's not much of a middle ground with you! People who meet you usually comment that you have,"Quite the personality!"

You have also become a daddy's girl(and a Papa's girl). The men in your life seem to melt the second you come up to them. At times you use this to your advantage, and when one of them catches you doing something you shouldn't, you smile and say,"Hi! How are you?" in your sweetest voice. Even though you're a daddy's girl, you love helping me with any type of house work(especially dusting.) You generally like to be where I'm at, and I often see you mimicking the things I do.

We love you so much, Anna! I praise God for you everyday, and I pray that one day you'll know Jesus. Happy Birthday, my spunky girl!

6 months

Lily Faith, you were six months old two weeks ago!

Here is what you are doing at six months(already half way to a year! *sniffle*)

-You roll EVERYWHERE! The minute I lay you on the ground you roll until we move you.

-You started eating rice cereal this week. We think you like it, because you always try to take the spoon from us when you want more.

-You are seriously happy. Almost always calm, smiley, and you love to cuddle. Some of my favorite moments with you are when I get you up for your nightly feeding and you just rest your head on my shoulder while sucking your thumb. It melts me every time!

-Jack and Anna love you and the feeling is mutual. Jack loves to talk to you and tries to squeal like you do when the two of you are having a "conversation." Anna thinks you are her doll most of the time, so we don't usually leave you two alone!

Anna's Birth Story

Anna's birthday will be on Sunday, so in honor of that I thought I'd finally write her birth story.

On December 24, 2007, I found out I was pregnant. Jack was just a day shy of five months old, and we decided to wait a day and tell Erik on Christmas morning. Jack wrote his daddy a card-with my help of course(ha!)- telling him he was going to be a daddy again, and stuck it in his stocking. When Erik was let in on the good news, we were all so excited. Though truthfully I was a little overwhelmed at the thought of having children less than 13 months apart. But I decided not to worry too much about that, for the time being, and just rejoice that the Lord had seen fit to give us another blessing.

Anna's pregnancy was very similar to Jack's. I wasn't too sick, but I did have the gestational diabetes again. Anna was also the only child  that we decided to find out what we were having before delivery day. We were so excited to be having a little girl!

The summer leading up to Anna's birth Jack went through an odd period of being sick almost once a week. About a month before Anna was born, Jack even wound up in the hospital for a few days. But when Jack got sick literally the hour before I was suppose to go to the hospital to be induced, I was surprised. He acted happy, but couldn't keep anything down. I felt so guilty, I was torn between being excited to hold my precious little girl in my arms, and not wanting to leave my son. We decided there wasn't anything that could be done, I was as far along as my doctor would allow me to be, and we did hold on to the fact that Jack didn't act sick. We just hoped it wouldn't turn into the stomach flu.

Since my water had broke on its own with Jack, we had assumed this would happen again with Anna. We were wrong. The next morning nothing was really going on, and Anna was laying really strange. They did a quick ultrasound to make sure she wasn't breach, and thankfully she wasn't, but she was posterior. We hoped she'd turn around before she was delivered.

Erik called my mom and dad to see how Jack was doing, and they told us he still wasn't keeping anything down but was acting happy. We had in our heads that things were going to be the way they were with Jack's birth, and we desperately wanted him to be with us. We told them to come over. But by the time my parents and Jack made it to the hospital, we realized it wasn't wise to have a sick toddler around other newborns, so my mother- in- law took Jack back to her house.

The contractions came slow, and I was progressing about a half centimeter an hour. They had started the pitocin around seven and around one o clock I decided to get the epidural. I opted this time just to get the epidural since I hated being so loopy when Jack was born. I wanted to remember everything about Anna's birth day!

We spent the afternoon watching TLC(my station of choice!) and sleeping. Our family would come in and visit every once in awhile, but they let us get some rest. Around 5:30 I started feeling really strange. My legs had been numb from the epidural, but it seemed as if my legs weren't numb anymore. I asked the nurse if this was normal, and she didn't seem to concerned. About fifteen minutes later, though, the epidural had worn completely off. I was in "transition" and was feeling everything. I was scared. Natural births weren't really an option for me since I have to be induced, and I wasn't sure what to do. Erik, my doctor, and my nurse were all really encouraging. At some point they had the anesthetist come back and get the epidural going again. But by that point it was time to push, and the medicine wasn't helping me any.

At 6:29 I heard my little girl cry for the first time. That one moment made everything worth it. Anna was gorgeous and a healthy 7 pounds even. She nursed right away, and was a natural. The lactation nurse even commented that nursing isn't suppose to be that easy! My family and Erik's family got to meet her and pass her around, and then my parents went home to get Jack so my mother in law could come over and meet her granddaughter.

The only problem was shortly after Anna was delivered my epidural kicked in again. And I was now pretty sick from not eating anything in over 24 hours(at least that's what I thought at the time!) Around 11 o'clock that night the epidural finally wore off and Erik and I decided to call it a night.I still wasn't feeling well, but figured I'd be fine by morning. When two o'clock rolled around, I was feeding Anna and suddenly Erik shot up and rushed to the bathroom. He was sick now too! Anna's first night was very long, and it wasn't because she didn't sleep well, but because her mom and dad were sick!

By the next afternoon I was feeling a little better, but Erik and Jack were still sick with the stomach flu. Anna and I got a lot of time to bond in the hospital, and thankfully she didn't get sick. By the time we brought her home, Erik, Jack, my mother in law, father in law, my mom, best friend, and me all had come down with the stomach flu! Poor Anna's homecoming wasn't quite as eventful as her older brother's had been.

Thankfully we were all over it by the time she was a week old. Anna was an excellent sleeper and good eater. She was a very serious baby up until she turned a year. Jack had some moments here and there where he got a little jealous, especially when I was holding her, but it didn't last very long, and before long he was trying to give her kisses and hugs. The fears I had about having 2 children 13 months apart were never realized. Yes there were some crazy moments(and it still can be crazy), but they quickly became each other's best friend.

While Anna's delivery and homecoming didn't go the way we had planned, the only thing that mattered in the end was she had arrived and was healthy. Becoming a family of four was unbelievably special. That was the time in our lives that I really began to feel like we were our "own" little family.

And a year and half later when I was about to give birth to Lily, I doubt it will surprise any of you that I obsessively cloroxed anything my children touched. Because even though everything worked out fine, bringing home a newborn to a house full of sick people isn't something I'd like to repeat.

Faithful, even when I'm Faithless

"I'm almost..." I hesitated. It was such an ugly thing to admit, and wasn't sure I wanted my husband to know the ugliness in my heart.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concern seeping through his voice.

I sucked in my breath and mumbled,"I'm just..I'm almost disappointed...Disappointed in God. It almost feels like He's forgotten about me."

We talked, we prayed, we discussed the reality of what God's Word teaches. I was reminded yet again, that God never changes, and what was true yesterday is still true today. I went to bed that night feeling better, but still sad.

Remember this post? Having faith that God is who He says he is one of my greatest battles I fight. Trusting that God is in control of all things, and absolutely sovereign is one of my greatest sources of joy, but it's tough at times to remember.

Last week, I committed to seeking the Lord with my whole heart. But the commitment didn't last too long. I'd pray, and ask God to please supply our needs, but as soon as I was done praying I'd go right back to doubting.

But guess what? A few days ago I received a phone call, and the thing I was praying about was answered! I didn't have to worry. I was ashamed I'd had such weak faith, but was so thankful to God. I was reminded yet again that God doesn't "need" me to do anything. But at the same time there's no reason to fear, because God is who he says he is!

"If we are faithless, he remains faithful- for he cannot deny himself." 2 Timothy 2:13

I've been Hacked!

Just a quick post to say that my blog was apparently hacked. So if you received anything weird from me, it wasn't me! Sorry about that!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I've not had time to blog in the last week, but I wanted to share some funny things my kids have been saying in the last few days.

Jack's foot fell asleep the other day and he was so surprised he asked,"Mommy, will you please take my toes off?!" Don't get me wrong, having your foot fall asleep is uncomfortable but I still think taking off toes goes a little too far.

When Anna goes potty like a big girl she stands up proud as can be claps and exclaims,"Yay, Jack!"

During a rain storm the other day Jack looked out the window and declared,"Oh, Anna, look! The clouds are cryin'!"

While Jack is rocking his stuffed frog to sleep he suddenly says very gently to Froggie,"Aww, Froggie is so cute!"

Jack loves to play superhero now, but the only way he can be a superhero is when he is wearing a cape. The other day he says,"It's Super Jack!" and then a little later his cape fell off, and he goes,"Jack's just a regular boy now."

One of my personal favorite Jackisms is when he lifts up his shirt and says,"Ab Wipper Ex!" in this really deep voice. He's suppose to be saying, Ab Ripper X from the p90x workout videos, but he doesn't quite pronounce his R's yet.

There is plenty more that that the kids say and do that crack us up, but for now those are the favorite quotes that come to mind.

What funny things have your children said or done lately?