A Night in the Life (Not even a day! Seriously!)

Tonight was rough.... Adam is out of town for work. When I picked the girls up from school, Eliza was angry that she had to put her sandal on. She proceeded to lay down on the floor and throw a fit. I had to carry her out the door as she was crying, screaming, and hitting at me all the while making sure Judith was hanging close by and not getting in front of a car. Since carrying an almost 5 month old baby and a toddler throwing a fit at the same time is pretty much impossible, Eliza had to sit in the van by herself while Judith and I went inside to get Leo. She threw her book out the van door onto the pavement then cried all the way home & pinched Judith because she didn't have said book. She had to sit in the corner & cry it out when we got home. 

Dinner was a bright spot. It's hard to be unhappy when you're eating Guidos pizza. My mom came over to assist. The stars momentarily aligned.

Then bath time happened. Say what?! Who doesn't love bath time? Tonight apparently, Judith does not. So there were tears yet again. We're trying to get them interested in potty training, but they have some new strange fear of the potty where they get on the verge of tears if I ask if they want to sit on it. Gee whiz! You don't have to do it! Calm down! Once we got going in the bath routine, they started to calm down. Being a mom has seriously honed my skills in the art of distraction.

And there must be something special about being a toddler and being naked. They LOVE it. So getting diapers & pjs on is a bit of a wrestling match (times two). Judith decided it was her turn to throw a fit when I tried to put lotion on her. She has seriously bad eczema so there is no skipping the lotion. She was also very upset that I gave her a new toothbrush tonight. Sigh. I thought she would be excited. #fail More crying.

We read a couple books & said prayers with little protest. Then Judith screamed bloody murder when I told her it was time to go to sleep & left the room.

After cleaning up, getting Leo's things ready for tomorrow & taking my shower,  I kind of wanted to curl up and cry myself. But instead, I turned to my God. I found refreshment in pouring out my soul to Him. Counting my blessings, confiding my troubles, remembering who He is... What a scary, wonderful adventure He has planned for my life! Tonight, these song lyrics have filled my thoughts:

I need You, oh, I need You

Ever hour, I need You

My one defense, my righteousness 

Oh God how I need You

So teach my song to rise to You

When temptation comes my way

When I cannot stand, I'll fall on You

Jesus, You're my hope & stay

P.S. Leo was basically a gem through this entire ordeal of an evening. I love that little man to pieces.

Two Turning One

We celebrated the first birthday of Judith & Eliza this weekend! I can't believe a year is gone! We love them more each day! Here are some pics from the party.

Judith liked the cake a little more than Eliza. This is what she did when her's was finished and we wouldn't let her eat Eliza's:

A ride in the new wagon with cousins:

We are so blessed to be the parents of Judith & Eliza! I pray that they will grow to know & love the Lord and that He would guide us as we nurture & raise them in His ways. Will you say a quick prayer for the same? 

One and Done

Yesterday the girls turned ONE, and yesterday my Granny died.

My Granny... My mom's mom. But she was Granny to nearly everyone she met. No one loved quite like my Granny. As a foster parent and babysitter, she cared for so many children. She used to tell a story about a time when there was a threat of a snow storm on a school day. Parents told their kids if school let out early to just ride the bus to Granny Patten's house. Over 20 kids got off the bus at her house that day and she happily took them all in. 

She was my babysitter, too. We had so many happy days playing in the backyard or pretending in the playroom, but Granny made us behave! There were several tactics to whip us into shape: 

1. Choose your own switch- yikes! First timers always chose a flimsy, thin branch.  It only takes one lick with one of those to change your tune!

2. The HotWheel track- you knew you were in trouble when she reached up ontop of the lamp to grab the HotWheel track for a swat.

3. Standing in the Corner- this is equivalent to the modern day "time-out." We had to stand with our nose in a corner for a certain amount of time. There was a corner in her kitchen where the kids had picked the paint off the wall while standing in the corner.

4. Washing your mouth out with soap- Just like on The Christmas Story. It's gross.

She was one tough cookie, but she had the best behaved kids staying at her house!

Granny took fudge to my teachers at school. As I laid on the floor next to her bed when I slept over as a child, she held my hand if I was scared. She drove me to practices. She took us swimming in the summer at my cousin's house. She fed me snacks after school. She gave me hugs & kisses. She loved me.

And it wasn't just me... Granny lived a life full of love, generosity and service for so many. Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second was to love your neighbor as yourself. It is in the Lord's strength that we are truly able to deny ourselves and love our neighbor. What a legacy she has left for me! When so many call her Granny, it is a privilege & honor that she is my Granny. And I look forward to seeing her again one day as we praise the Lord together in heaven.

Lately

Random thoughts & things that have been going on lately:

We've been living in Arkansas for a year & I've been driving a minivan for a year.

I won a $3k mission trip from work. Some people think I'm crazy for thinking about leaving the girls to go on a mission trip, but I think it is God ordained. I won it.... Out of hundreds of coworkers. God clearly has a plan.

Judith has a tooth. 

Eliza can crawl. They're getting ready to move to a new class at school because Eliza can crawl. Judith is just tagging along.

They're getting prayed over & hearing the Word each week at BSF! They finally had two spots open up after months on the waiting list. 

We've been to church a whopping three times now since they were born! Two weeks in a row after today! It's so nice to be back in worship as a family.

We're dreaming of sunny days and walks in the stroller. The warm temps this weekend were such a tease!

We went to visit Granny Patten for valentines day.

The girls have started attacking each other. Photoshoots are pretty much impossible.

We had to lower their cribs because this was happening:

We attempted 8 month pics with our photographer. We've only seen three pics so far....should have the others in a week or so. Pretty cute stuff!

Sick Babies Are The Worst!

Boooo! 6 months has brought on the illnesses! Judith was diagnosed with croup just around the 6 month birthday. Her pitiful cough & sad face were too much! We missed her infectious smile!

That week was full of cuddles on the couch. Thankfully, Eliza got some drugs before her cough got too bad. 

Everyone was well just in time to be iced in for a few days. We took the girls outside for a quick 5 minute photoshoot. Eliza seemed to enjoy it, but Judith is like her momma....we don't like the cold!

Then, we had another round of illnesses. This time, Judith started with the bug. We were fighting dehydration, & she was refusing pedialyte. Talk about stress! Did I mention sick babies are the worst? We finally found a flavor she would take & got her on the mend. The next thing we knew, though, Eliza was throwing up. Ugh. We were pros at administering pedialyte by now. Adam was next in line to fall victim to the bug. He was out for 24 hours. I escaped with aches, nausea, & weakness. Thank The Lord I didn't catch the full force of it... And that my mom was able to help out! Whew! We're praying the next month goes a little smoother.

Oh, and Christmas happened! The sicknesses put a small damper on things, but we still enjoyed celebrating our Savior with family! Here are a few pics.

5 Months & Counting!

The girls are 5 months old now! Since I started back to work, we're getting into more of a routine. Here are some of the highlights:

• Everyone is rolling! Eliza is our roly poly. I can no longer leave her on the mat alone and run to the other room for something. She will roll right off. She just keeps rolling & rolling! Judith rolls, too, but still prefers to sleep on her back and doesn't like to spend a lot of time on her tummy.

Eliza rolled over onto Judith. No one was happy about that.

All that rolling, really takes it out of you. They fell asleep in this synchronized position.

• Giggles & smiles abound. We love seeing their eyes light up, noses crinkle, and squeals erupt when we make them laugh. They like to be "scared" with an unexpected "boo!" They giggle when I call the hogs. Sometimes funny faces do the trick.
• Sleep is happening. Judith is such a sweet little sleeper! During the day, she will fall asleep on her own when she gets tired. At night, I *usually* don't hear a peep out of her. She sleeps on her back in full abandon with her arms & legs splayed out. Eliza, on the other hand, is not much of a sleeper during the day. She can operate on few naps, but when she is tired, she fights the nap. Lately, it seems like she wants to be held to sleep as well. :-( This is a terrible trend we're trying to figure out how to break. At night, she sleeps on her tummy and is what I call a "vocal sleeper." She doesn't cry... just kind of whines enough to wake me up. Ha! Fortunately, she will *usually* fall back asleep after a few minutes of whining. All in all, I can't complain about lack of sleep. They are good girls!
• We're attempting baby food! We started with some rice cereal, but moved to pureed food quickly. Neither one of the girls was much interested in the rice cereal, but we've had more success with sweet potatoes, mixed carrots, and green beans. Eliza still stages a protest every now and then with crying & spitting, but I think it just depends on her mood. Judith seems to like the food and is eating like a champ.

After the first attempt at rice cereal!

• Their hair is growing.... well, Judith's hair mostly. It's getting longer and we can kind of do a comb over on her now. She was born with a bunch of dark hair, but most of that fell out and it is coming back in super light colored & fuzzy. Eliza's hair is growing just a tiny bit, but isn't anywhere close to Judith's length.
• Bath time is fun! Both girls have recently discovered splashing & kicking in the bathtub. It was really cute the first couple times they did it, but now, it just gets us really soaked.
• Halloween happened. The girls dressed up as Thing 1 & Thing 2 for their party at school and trick or treating at Adam's office. 

Their teacher happened to be dressed as the Cat in the Hat. How timely!

Family Fun

My brother's family came to visit a couple weeks ago. We had a great time meeting my nephew Max who was born just 29 days before the girls. 

He's an angel baby...so happy and easily entertained.

He made our girls look like high maintenance!  And his big sis Addison was a ball of energy! 

My parents' house turned into a daycare! My dad had his hands full.

We also took all the kids up to visit Granny Patten. She was excited to finally meet Max.

And we've officially passed the 2 month mark! We tried to get some pics of the girls... Judith spit up partway through. That upset her. And that upset Eliza. Kind of funny...

This is about as good as it got. :-)