Happy 7th Birthday!

Today our daughter turned 7! At 5:40 pm, she was officially 7! Our pregnancy with her was totally planned but still a huge surprise. Dan had to go through surgery in order for us to try and have a baby. We were told not to expect much the first couple of years but 3 months later we were pregnant. I was a Career woman at the time and my husband and I decided my place was at home and I got out of the Air Force. We decided to have a home birth. We did not have any complications and on May 15th at 11 am I went into labor. We were in labor for 31 hours. Our daughter was born at home in a birthing tub. It was a wonderful experience. My husband helped deliver her and was the first hold her. Today we celebrated (sadly without Dad) with ballet photos, lunch at a favorite restaurant and then to our favorite little cupcake joint. We had a blast!

Just days old!One year!

TwoThree

FourFiveSix

And..... SEVEN

Lost the Training Wheels, Finally!

My daughter is going to be 7 on May 16th. She has outgrown her current bike but for the longest time refused to take off her training wheels. The deal was that she could not get a new bike unless she learned how to ride without training wheels. For the past year she has whined and complained about this statement. About a week ago she asked me take them off of her bike, three days later she was riding all by herself. Now I saw this whole experience going down like World War 3. She is a very strong headed little girl and I have always thought much more than I ever was. I have heard horrible stories about learning to ride my bike that my family loves to tell me in full detail. I blamed my dad for every fall, at least I think that is how it went. It must have been a traumatizing time in my life because I have erased it from my memory. I seriously do not remember learning to ride my bike. Back to my daughter. She did not complain, did not want my help because she "wanted to learn it the right way". I am not quite sure how I was going to teach her to do it wrong but she has pretty much mastered the task. I am amazed at her independence during this task. She is growing up to be a beautiful, warm, caring and smart little lady.

Forgiveness

This morning I had one of those slap in the face moments. Over the weekend I was dealing with some inner turmoil and was not looking to be very forgiving to the one who hurt my feelings. This is definitely an area I need prayer and hard work. Here is the email I received as a gentle reminder of the change I need.

Forgiveness Isn't Cheap
Nancy Leigh DeMoss: True forgiveness isn’t cheap. Imagine that someone borrows $1,000 from you. They promise to pay back $100 every month, but then you never see a check. They just don’t have any money to pay.

Then imagine that God pricks your heart and challenges you to forgive that debt. He’s given you so much that you want to bless this other person. When you erase the debt, you’re the one who has absorbed the $1,000 loss. Forgiveness is costly!

The same thing is true when someone hurts us. Forgiveness isn’t cheap then, either. But God has called us to forgive others, just like He’s forgiven us. Jesus was willing to pay for our sin. It cost Him everything.

Is there someone who owes you big-time? Would you say, “Lord, because of all You’ve done for me, I’m willing to pay the price; I’m willing to absorb the debt; I’m willing to forgive”?

With Seeking Him, I’m Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

A Wonderful Retreat!

Last Monday my husband and I asked the questions "What should we do with your next few days off work?" The answer was a couple day get away to Long Beach, Wa. I was so nice to get away from the everyday chores and just sit and relax with my family. Yes we went to the beach and yes it rain sideways most days we were there but it was the best time spent with my family. My husband and I were able to sit and enjoy each other's company by a fire while the kids slept in the next room. We visited little museums and ate seafood everyday. The twins went swimming for the first time and loved it.

Keeping it interesting!

I so love my children. They definitely keep me on my toes. Yesterday my youngest decided she wanted to nap in the buff and removed her diaper and took a nap. When we got her up from her nap she went on the potty twice. So exciting, both of the twins are showing signs of wanting to potty train. But then today, our little man was walking hand in hand with his big sister and tripped. He hit his face and his tooth cut his lip. I feel so bad for him, it looks painful. I am guessing the adage "boys will be boys" is fitting for his age. He has no fear and is defiantly a daredevil.

Ballet

Today our oldest started Ballet and had a blast. She looked beautiful and while not as graceful as a ballerina, her joy and delight was so awesome to experience.

Happy Birthday Twins.

Two year ago today our twins were born. The past two years have been a lot of fun and full of busy-ness. We found out we were pregnant in June of 2006. From the beginning, the pregnancy was so different from that of our oldest. When we went in for our 13 week appointment and the Dr. tried very hard to tell us we were further along than I was. I wasn't buying it, I knew something was very different. We met our new midwife at our 17 week appointment. She was awesome. As she was checking our baby's heart rate, she tried to get a better listen at another angle. She informed us that she felt there was more than one in there. In a split second our baby turned into babies. The ultrasound confirmed that there were two in there. I cried out of shock and I was so scared of the unknown. At 20 weeks, we found out we were having a boy and a girl. We were so excited. Our oldest most of all. She was thrilled to be having a brother and a sister at the same time. I went into our 35 week appointment feeling a little different from the usual and asked our Midwife if she would check to see if anything was going on. Sure enough I was already dilated to 4 cm. We went to Labor and Delivery to see if we were in labor. Not so, we were able to go home but we got prepared just in case. The following evening I was having pretty consistent contractions and decided it was time to go in. We were admitted at around 9 in the evening. After a relatively easy pregnancy and about 19 hours after the onset of Labor, our babies were born.

Baby boy. 5lbs 15oz born at 1212pm

Baby Girl. 5lb 8oz born at 1216pm

Baby boy at 1 year.

Baby girl at 1 year.

Little Man at 2 years old.

Little Lady at 2 years.

A Month Gone, Where did it go?

So it has been 1 month to the day since my last post. We have had another change for our family once again. We have moved into a new house.

After gaining my 16 year old stepson we needed a four bedroom so that he could have a space of his own. We took him to Ikea yesterday so that he could pick out a comforter set for his room. I felt it was important for him to have something in there that he picked out.

The whole family is enjoying our new place. The older two are not having to share with the little ones and the twins are back together and doing so much better at night.

The twins truly do keep things interesting. Yesterday morning I went into their bedroom and both had taken off their diapers and thrown them on the floor. Luckily there were no huge messes to be cleaned up and no one had any accidents.

The do look so cute when they are being naughty.

We also have gone almost a full week without a pacifier for our little girl. She has been so dependant on one for so long. Her face began to crack and bleed one night from always having the paci in her mouth and then it always being wet. I decided she needed to throw it away, which she did. She still occasionally whines for it but I distract her with something else. Now we put her to bed with a book. A much better habit, I think!

Christmas Toy Fun!

Santa brought a Wii Fit and our little one was testing out the board. This has to be one of my favorite photos. It was so random that I was able to get this shot because I was trying to focus the lens and was had my hand in front of the flash but the accidental shot is now one of the most fun I have gotten!

Merry Christmas...So late!

I got up before the kids (Dad actually had to wake them) and made what will now be our Tradition for Christmas Breakfast....Over night French Toast with strawberries and bananas...so yummy!

The kids were so cute waking up to see what Santa had left for them!

Our Little man was done once he opened his guitar. His sister ended up opening most of them for the both of them.

She had a blast ripping off the paper and checking out all of the fun gifts. Mom and Dad are especially thankful for the clothes and learning toys.

Dad loves his Chiefs mug! He spent most of the morning trying to keep the paper cleaned up but was not able to stand his ground. Wrapping Paper~1 Dad~0

Our big girl finally got the Easy bake oven she has been asking forever for. I have found recipes online.

We hope everyone had a wonderful and Merry Christmas!

More Snow and off to work we go!

With our Winter Storm and the start of Christmas break for the teenager, (our home schooler is still doing a few lessons over the break) I was hoping my husband would have a snow day as well. It snowed all of saturday evening and off and on sunday. We made snow ice cream.

We had a nice blanketing of snow!

And Monday morning my poor husband had to clean off his truck for work! He broke our broom because of our lack of a snow shovel.

Babies First Snow!

The twins had their first experience in the snow today! They didn't touch it too much and our little girl needed to have Dad hold her hand to walk in it....It was really cute!

There was a pretty cool icicle hanging from the kids swing set!

Our oldest and I made a very small snowman yesterday. He is now covered with another inch or 2 of snow!