Spring is Here!

Finally! Today it is so beautiful outside. I have a ton to do around the house, especially laundry, since we're having company and then traveling soon, but I couldn't resist going to the park for some time in the 70 degree sunshine! We went to Creve Coeur Lake and walked for a bit, ate ice cream, and then cried all the way back to the car. Well, I didn't cry, but I bet you can guess who did! :)

Morning Hair

Gotta love that little mo-hawk!

Surprises

Russ came home with two surprises for me last night:

The dog is a sweet Australian Blue Heeler (we think) who ran up to Russ as he was coming home from work. She has tags, but apparently someone stole them because we have been unable to find the owner. Unfortunately, that means she'll be picked up later today by animal control. She sweet, gentle and good with the kids, but we just can't have another dog right now. And, I just don't have time to track down the owner. Poor Belle! :(

The flowers are sunflowers that Russ brought home for me! I love having fresh flowers out, it just brightens a room! Thanks love!

Cowboy Up!

Recently, on one of his late night snowboarding trips, Russ managed to score some free rodeo tickets off a drunk guy who had won them earlier that day! He lived too far away to attend, so after Russ spent some time boarding with him while he sobered up, he just gave them to us. So, this afternoon, Russ and I ventured off on a date to see the Professional Bull Riders compete downtown. Having grown up in Texas, I have managed to make it to a few rodeos here and there, but never have I had the privilege to see a show of just bull riders. I actually kind of missed all the other events, especially barrel ridin' and calf ropin'. I didn't really feel like I fit in with most of the crowd as I didn't have wranglers, boots or camo on. I used to have some cowgirl attire, but over the years most of it has been outgrown. Never-the-less, it was a fun show, complete with pyrotechnics and the return of my Texas accent!

So Grown Up!

I've decided I should start doing a monthly post about the girls and their developmental milestones. I'm horrible at keeping track of things, so maybe this will be a reasonable way to keep track of how they are growing! I've given up on the baby books...

Little Tori is our "big" girl in the house. This month she has advanced quite a bit in her speech. I've been worried about her because she hasn't started saying too many words, unlike our neighbor who talks a ton! I know you are not supposed to compare, but sometimes you just can't help it. Just when I was really starting to get worried, she started saying a whole bunch of new words!

Here's a list of what we hear regularly: Hi, bye bye (which she also says when going to bed), mama, dada, yeah (apparently we say "yeah" more than "yes"), no, uh-oh, please ("eeee"), Jude, car, woof woof (whenever Cosmo barks), head, nose, eyes, mouth, and mole (while pointing to the one beside my nose.

Most of her communication includes gestures, her favorite include pointing, waving, flapping her arms and blowing kisses. She really understands quite a lot, it's just a matter of time before her babble is understandable.

Tori also enjoys helping me around the house. She likes to help bake cookies, get spices out of the cabinet (I often find spices stashed in random places), vacuum and sweep. We're working on putting things away and now after she empties a cabinet, I can often coax her to fill it back up! Thank God! :)

Baby Sophie is also growing fast! She has almost outgrown her bouncy seat, so I'm going to borrow an exersaucer from a friend for her to sit in while I cook etc. This is necessary for two reasons, one because I don't quite trust her older sister to take great care of her, and two, because she is now mobile! When I lay her down on the floor, she rolls and scoots all around! Often she ends up under the coffee table.

Sophie is definitely a people person. She loves to interact and smiles so big when Tori or Jude give her attention. She looks you right in the eye and coos and squawks quite intentionally. She also loves exploring faces, which is often painful because her nails are constantly in need of clipping. Her bottom two teeth are in, and I suspect more will arrive soon based on the amount of drool and hand chewing that occurs. She is really quite sweet. We ofter refer to her as our "jolly baby."


The girls have been getting along pretty well. Sophie loves it when Tori gives her attention and talks to her. This has started happening more and more. Now, when Sophie is laying on the ground scooting around, Tori will end up laying down next to her for a little while. Sometimes in the morning I let Tori sit in her high chair eating a leisurely breakfast and Sophie will sit next to her in her bouncy seat while I work in the kitchen. This month, they've started "talking" to each other during these interludes. It's so cute!

As well as they get along most of the time, as sisters, of course they have their moments of jealousy. As of now, this is occurring more on Tori's part than Sophie's. If I'm sitting holding Sophie on my lap, Tori will come up and squeeze her way onto my lap between us. Recently, she's especially wanting attention while I feed Sophie. I try to talk and sing with her and teach her that she doesn't have to be in my lap to have my attention. Tori also finds it difficult to share toys with Sophie. If Sophie touches something she is playing with, squawks and arm flapping are sure to occur. To combat this, I've had her bring Sophie a toy instead. This seems to be working well. Working on sharing will be a continuing project.

That's all for now, more milestones to come next month!

A Steal

My wonderful mother taught me from a young age that it's worth waiting and looking to find a great deal! Because of that, I almost never buy anything at full price. If I see something I like at a store, I wait and watch it until it goes on clearance! This week, I bought a vest I first saw back in December while shopping with Janelle. It was then $60. I now own it after paying $8.97. Man, I love a great deal!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

The theme of my life for the past 3 years seems to be change. In that time, I've graduated college, gotten married, adopted a pug, moved twice, started a new job, and had two babies. Just when I think things are settling down, we get another big change thrown at us. Whenever I think I'm getting the chaos that is my life under control, a tornado storms through and I start from square one. I just can't seem to get on top of everything, and I'm not sure I know how to handle all of this anymore. And to top it off, we just found out last week that we our landlord is selling the house so we need to move again this summer. I was already anticipating the stress of moving in a year and a half after Russ graduates from seminary, but my comfort was that we didn't have to move again before that. Oh well, such is my life, so it seems.

Some days I feel like dealing with all of this change is impossible. Especially when the babies are cranky and I have to work. Today is a day like that. Other days, I actually feel optimistic. I can see God's hand through all the change and see how He is weaving that beautiful tapestry with my life. Today, however, I can only see the loose strings and knots on the backside. Today I am tired. Today I'm so overwhelmed I just can't make myself do anything (which just makes everything worse).

When I feel like this, I have really difficult time sensing God's presence in my life. Sometime I even feel like He's forgotten about me, and sometimes I stoop low enough to get angry at Him because I don't understand why He's allowing all this to happen in my life. But I know those feelings are wrong. I know that, but I don't always feel it. So, how do you take the knowledge of God's sovereignty, His grace and His peace and make yourself feel those things? One way that works for me is to sit down and really think about the ways I have seen God's hand through the trials over the past years. Another way is to find fellowship among fellow believers. Sometimes it's just finding some quiet time.

One recent blessing to me lately has been a class I decided to take this semester at the seminary. It's called Ministry Matters and it is specifically for wives of Mdiv students and covers topics such as raising kids in ministry, how to deal with criticism of your husband and family etc. So far, both classes I've attended have contained content I needed to hear at that exact moment. One thing in particular that really hit me the first week was the topic of "battlefields and blessings." We talked about how in ministry there are always battlefields (difficult situations) and blessings, never one without the other, and how sometimes when you are in the trenches of the battle, you might have to look really hard for the blessings. It sounds pretty simple, but really, our discussion of the concept really hit me hard. It was like God was whispering in my ear saying, "See, you are not the only one who feels like this, AND I've helped others get through their battles, I will help you too!" It helps so much to know I'm not alone, even when I feel like I am. Not only are there other believers walking along the same path I am, God is there helping me through the journey.

This post is getting long, and I could make it even longer trying to list all the blessing God has provided, so I'll conclude by saying, I need you, those who love and care for me, to know that I'm struggling in a lot of ways and I really need your prayers. I feel kind of dumb writing a blog post about it, and maybe some of you will think it's too much personal information, but it helps somehow to be open about struggles. It feels freeing to be able to put feelings into words, it helps me deal with the difficulties. Thanks for being a "listening" ear and know that just by reading this, you are helpful! Just through writing all this, I'm already feeling God's grace, peace, and joy. I'm struggling, but I'm OK. I'm just experiencing growing pains as God is stretching me and preparing me for the future. I'm learning to trust in Him in new ways and even though that is hard, it is good.