I Feel like a New Woman!

Justus gave me an 8 hour stretch of sleep last night
He's taking a real nap todayAnd the doctor just put him on stronger medicine to help with his reflux. Today is a good day =)

Scary bugs

Avery's been in tears and hysterical fits the past week over all the bugs in our yard. Here was tonights conversation.

Brent: "What are you scared the bugs will do?:

Avery: "I'm scared of the ones with the big teeth and they'll eat me!"

Brent: "We don't have those kinds of bugs in our yard."

Avery: "Just Connor has those bugs?"

We were totally confused, but she was determined that Connor had those bugs at his house. So Brent asked her to draw a picture of the bug she was scared of. Enter this picture. Suddenly it clicked! Those weren't bugs. They were dinosaurs. At Connor's last week, he was showing off his dinosaurs to her. I guess we forgot to tell her the part about them not existing anymore!

My Spiritual Journey

This week I choose to worship. I choose to worship although circumstances are hard. I choose to worship as the Lord refines me in this season of life. I choose to believe and trust that He is on his throne, that He is in control, that He is my victory as I forge ahead believing that I am living in the shadow of His wings. He alone is my refuge. He alone is my strength. He alone is my joy. I would rather be broken and dependent on Him than have it all together and be dependent on myself.

The song below is my song this week. The first 4 min. are the back story behind the song. Pretty powerful. The last 4 min. are the actual song.



What my heart is singing this week:

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow

Dilemma of the day

How to keep my 2 year old with croup away from her 6 week old brother who she adores... any suggestions??

Family Fun Day

Family Fun Day began with Brent making an announcement: The family mission for the day was to get mommy some new shoes! I guess he was a little disgusted by my old ones =)

So off to the mall we went for the morning. I have to admit I enjoyed our family mission!!!

We got home from the mall in time for naps...Look how calmly the little guy is sleeping. Yeah for acid reflux medicine!

We played "boats"made our very own Tinkerbell on the computervisited Pet Smart (our free "zoo"), looked at books at half price books, and since I got new shoes and the girls got Tinkerbell, we took Brent to Pei Wei for dinner. Its only fair we all got something just for us =)We ended the fun day with a popcorn party.

Fun times

This morning I looked over to where Justus was playing on the floor and Elliana was leaning over the top of him. I asked her what she was doing and she replied:

"Justus want to eat from me too."

It was then that I noticed her shirt was down, and she was trying to nurse her brother.

My Spiritual Journey

Today's entry will be short and sweet...I think I have about 5 minutes before a kid starts crying again =)

One word that describes my past week would be...failure. Here are my two excuses:

• Quiet times while 3 kids three and under are awake are not very effective for me. I am too busy watching the kids to ever truly focus on Christ. Quiet times became something to get through instead of meeting with my Savior to allow Him to get me through the day.

• Justus went through a growth spurt last week and was up every 2 hours to eat. Because of his acid reflux and needing to stay upright after eating, it usually takes an hour to an hour and a half to get through a feeding at night so I was getting about 30 min. of sleep at a time. Praise the Lord for weekends when I can pass him off to Brent in the middle of the night!!!

Both of those combined have meant I have spent very little quality time before our Father this past week. I was sitting in church Sunday morning complaining to God about how I desire time but there just seems to be none or when there is time, I'm too tired and just want to sleep. Suddenly all those excuses I was ready to lay out before the Lord stared me straight in the face, and I realized I was making a choice. I could let the excuses, even though they were good ones, consume my life and keep me stagnate in my walk with the Lord. Or I could trust that the Lord was sufficient and make a plan to meet with Him REGARDLESS of the circumstances that happen during the night or day. I choose the 2nd option.

So here's the plan:

I will set my alarm at 6:30am every morning. I wake Justus up and start his day at 7am and the girls get up around then, so this will give me at least 30 min. of quiet to spend with the Lord before the day starts. Once Justus goes to waking up just once instead of twice, I will get up earlier, but I think for now, 30 min. is a manageable goal for me.

Man this whole 3 kids three and under is more of a circus than I imagined =) I think spending the beginning of my day with the Lord is going to make me a much better mother during the day though! I'll keep you posted =)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Elliana!

When you were born, you were the most low maintenance baby ever. You just did your own thing and were so laid back as a baby.

By your first birthday, we were convinced that you were going to be a quiet and shy little girl. You didn't enjoy your birthday party. You hid in the background and wanted to play by yourself or with me and were a little overwhelmed by all the excitement. You were definitely a momma's little girl and loved to cuddle with me and read books. You could also sit on the floor for hours with just one or two toys and entertain yourself. Your daddy and I would just sit and marvel at your determination as you struggled to figure out any new toy or problem that was put in front of you. Now, at age 2, your father and I realize your going to keep us on our toes! You are our little musician who loves life. There is always a song on your lips and a smile on your face as you dance the day away and enter your own world of pretend. You adore your sister, and it brings joy to my heart to watch the two of you create your own world of make believe. You are also our little athletic girl. Physical coordination seems to come easy to you and you aren't scared to try anything! You are still determined to teach yourself new things and intensly study those around you as you learn. I hope you are always this independent and sweet spirited, and I can't wait to see how the Lord grows you this next year. Happy Birthday Els our Bells!

Friday Fun Day

The makings of a great Family Fun Day:

It must begin with a big family breakfast. Breakfast tacos were on the menu for this week.

Throw in good times with old friendsA little bit of outdoor fun

And cuddle up with a movie to end the day.

Its great to be a family!

Quotes of the Day

Avery: "Man, there sure are a lot of rules in this house. I bet there aren't any rules like this at Grandma's."This conversation took place after Elliana got her dinner taken away b/c she was playing with it. I took her to the bedroom and asked:

Me: "Why did your dinner get thrown away?"

Elliana: "I disobeyin. I playing London Bridge is Falling Down with my food"

The Little Man

Meet the little guy himself showing off the one talent he has mastered at 4 weeks. He shows it off right at the end of the video...enjoy =)

Date Night with Daddy

Eyes downcast, solemn expression, extremely quiet. That was Avery all morning. Finally at 11:00am I asked,

"Avery, are you sad or just quiet today? Can you talk to me about what you're feeling?"

Avery replied: "I just wish daddy didn't have to be at work today. I miss him."

Solution to her missing her daddy:

Can you tell she loves her daddy?

My Spiritual Journey

"We are too often occupied with outward things, and as a result we often become very hard of hearing spiritually"

This is my quote for the week. Its my reminder to not get so caught up in little things of life that I miss what's important.

What that means:
I don't need to focus so much on my life, my schedule, my lack of sleep, that I miss what God is doing in our family and those who surround us. God is continually using my circumstances to refine me, teach me, and glorify Himself. I want to always be aware of His presence, what He is saying to me, and what He is doing in the world around me.

How I Did On Last Week's Goal:
I was in the word almost every day. I missed Sunday and learned a valuable lesson...don't try to spend quality time in the word while letting a one year old and a 3 year old sit on your lap. They were both running fevers so I thought they would just sit quietly and cuddle while I read. My mistake =)

Next Week's Goal:

• Continue daily quality time in the word
• Start memorizing Matthew 5 again. I've taken a break from memorizing since Justus was born and I'm ready to get back into it.

Its a Perfect Day

For a picnic!

She's almost 2!

We had a little b-day party for Elliana this past weekend. We just did a really small family celebration, but it was a lot of fun.The theme for the party was everything Mickey Mouse...she's obsessed with him.
Elliana isn't a fan of big crowds or being the center of attention. In fact, if you put a lot of kids around her, she'll go off and play by herself. Those of you who have only seen her in a crowd don't really know our fun loving, energetic, off the wall Elliana =) So this little family party was exactly what she needed to celebrate her big day!

Fun Fridays

This Friday was a bit chaotic! We picked up Grandpa from the airport, ate some doughnuts, I had a haircut, ate lunch, and got everyone down for nap. Then it was time for the big appointment for Justus...his kidney reflux test.
We spent the whole afternoon at Cook Children's Hospital for the test. It went pretty well...only had to endure a couple hours of crying. And this time all the crying came from the baby so I'm improving at least =) We got home just in time to change clothes and run out the door to an absolutely fabulous wedding of some of our friends! It was such a blessing to watch the two of them get married!Now I'm ready for a low key, no events planned week! I love my down time =)

Photo Shoot

So I ventured to Portrait Innovations yesterday for their wonderful $9.99 picture package. I wanted some pictures of Elliana for her 2nd birthday and then I wanted some 1 month pictures of Justus. The nice men took pity on Avery who was feeling left out and took some of her as well. Here are some of my favorites =)(sorry its facing its side. It takes a bunch of steps to get blogger to flip pictures and I don't remember what they are right now!)

To see the rest of the photo shoot, click here

In the Last 24 hours...

Elliana stuck a pea up her nose. Good thing tweezers are long and skinny and can fit up a 2 year old's nose!

And our oven broke and will remain broken until at least next Tuesday...we need to wait on a part to come in.



Maybe God is telling us to quit cooking so my daughter will quit putting food up her nose

My Spiritual Journey

This is the week of setting goals.
I've been floating along since Justus was born and have been slowly and surely sinking into my tiredness. The girls are out of control, Brent hasn't been home in a week because of Easter stuff, Justus has acid reflux but I'm trying to control it with my diet instead of medicine so I'm starving because I can't eat anything or else he will scream all night in pain and yet he still screams all night in pain, and I just have continued to sink lower and lower into myself.

Until last night.

Brent looked at me and asked, "how long has it been since you've spent good quality time with the Father?"

I just cried. Quality time? Early morning is out because most of the time I'm just crawling into bed at our normal wake up time. Afternoon nap is out because they don't always nap at the same time. Its going to be 12 weeks before everyone's schedule is how I want it and I can find some quality time.

Brent wasn't satisfied. Neither was I. So this morning I'm back to making goals, structuring my time as best as I can, and am determined to find quality time during my day to sit with my Savior.

How it looked today:
I sat on my lap top and did an Examen on www.examen.me while the girls sat on the PC and played Mickey Mouse on Playhouse Disney and Justus sat in his chair. Not a silent moment with Jesus but definitely a quality time with Jesus.

What are my goals:
I only have one: To be in the Word every day at least once but preferably more than once. I was reading through Psalm 103 this morning and God was so faithful to remind me that he alone satisfies and redeems me. I need to be in His presence in order to survive this transition. I'll let you know how I do on my one goal next week =)

Grandma was Stranded in Texas

Here are a few reasons why I'm grateful my mom was stranded in Texas for a few extra weeks!

1. This week, Brent had to work until 10 or 11pm 3 nights in a row. Without Grandma here, the kids would not have gotten baths, probably would have gotten a miserable dinner, and may have still been up waiting for me to get them to bed when Brent walked in the door =) Plus, 3 days and nights in a row by myself with a 2 week old, a 23 month old, and a 3 year old may have pushed me over the edge!!
2. We had doctor's appointments on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of this past week. Grandma was able to stay home with at least one of the kids each time so I didn't have to lug all 3 of them to every doctor's appointment!
3. Those nights when I was up all night with Justus and just couldn't stand to hold him for one more second, Grandma was there to step in and take over so I could shower. Sorry Brent. Without Grandma around, I may not get that shower for awhile. Elliana likes to "tickle" Justus too much when I'm not watching! =)4. I have a bachelorette party Tuesday night, a wedding rehearsal on Thursday, Justus' kidney test on Friday, and a wedding Friday night. The girls can't go to any of those with us so it would have been a week full of babysitters if Grandma wasn't around!

5. I made it to church ON TIME the past two weeks.

6. She's done many grocery runs, snack runs, and dinner runs so that there is always food to eat. My girls aren't going to know what hit them once she leaves and the pantry is bare again!
7. Finally, I just love her to death. I'm so glad she got stranded here! Thanks for living with us and putting up with us for a few weeks mom. We're going to miss you!!!