Whatever is lovely...

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

With all the negativity that happens and is constantly begging for my attention, focusing on the lovely, good parts of my life are what get me through the tough days.  Days when it's raining, the kids are fighting, the napping isn't happening, hubby is working late, and I feel like I just need a break before I break down!

There are a number of things that are lovely about my life. My kids.

See...doesn't this picture make negative thoughts disappear?

More lovely things:
Heaven, that will definitely be lovely when we get there!
My marriage is lovely
My friends are lovely
My job (stay at home mom) that's really lovely!
My dog--he can be lovely...sometimes :)

So when things in life fight to make me crazy, I think of this verse and relate it to my life.
Either way, even if I feel like things in life will make me crazy, God tells me this...
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a SOUND mind. :)
God sure covers every aspect of life for us in His word, doesn't he? He doesn't give us any excuse for unacceptable behavior. 

To my kids...

When they placed you in my arms, you slipped into my heart. -Unknown
You help me love.
You take my breath away.
You give me energy.  
You inspire me to be better.
You give me patience.
You surprise me.
You teach me.
You bring joy.
You made me a mommy.
You help me find the good stuff in life.

Firsts...

This last Saturday morning was a morning of a first...Melanie got up while I was still sleeping and went downstairs without me! I woke to the sound of little feet running around downstairs.  I got out of bed and found her playing.  I asked "Did you wake up and come downstairs to play by yourself?" and she just started laughing like it was the best thing she'd ever done.  Luckily she can't get into much in the fridge otherwise she might have pulled what my sister and I used to do when we were little, eating licorice and whipped cream for breakfast. (luckily we don't have either of those things in our house right now)
In the last couple weeks little tummy tumblers have become normal for our newest addition.  It usually happens after I eat or drink something.  It feels like a little gold fish is swimming and flipping around my belly and even though that seems like it would be a weird feeling, I. love. it.  Makes the pregnancy seem more real, and I realize that I don't have 2 kids anymore, I have 3!
When I was younger I thought I would only have one baby, because I didn't believe I'd be able to go through child birth more than once.  Turns out mamas have high pain tolerances. I didn't have to go through child birth, c-sections became my normal.  And being cut open and sewn back together is so worth the love that is placed in my arms afterwards.
Easton started brushing his own teeth and he actually does a better job than Melanie.  It used to be I would have to pin him down and shove the brush in his mouth to get them clean.  Now he opens his mouth voluntarily, (says awe!) lets me brush around, and then finishes by brushing them himself.
While lots of firsts bring joy, there are other firsts that bring heartache and tears.  But it is these firsts that also put things into a greater perspective, bring your heart closer to God, and remind us that it is only through Jesus that we have a hope that inspires us to move on and live better, love stronger, and visit with friends and family more often.
This week brought news that a good friend has cancer.  Since then, I've been in constant prayer and I am asking you all, my friends and family to be in prayer with me.  I'm praying for healing and hope and strength for everyone involved.  Please pray the same and let us all be reminded about what is most important in life and let the trivial things slide.

oh the little things...

It's been the little things lately that make me smile and even shed a tear of joy these days. The tiny daily details that might be forgotten if they didn't make me smile so darn big and make enough of an impression on my heart that I feel compelled to write about it.

For example, Easton's routine of getting really excited and pounding on the table when he sees his breakfast coming in the morning makes me smile big.  Hearing Melanie explain to Easton, "no Eastie, not daddy, daddy working!" when she hears him say "dada?", Guapo being told to go nigh night, while being forced into his bed and covered with any blanket in sight in the middle of the day by both kids, the toilet randomly flushing because Easton has snuck into the bathroom AGAIN. It's these teeny tid bits of our days together that keep me going and it's these little memories that will be fun to share with them when they're older.

Today started something new.  A little jig Easton started dancing to make us laugh.  I caught it on video.  He does it whether there is music or not.  He does it because he is just plain happy! What if we all did that? Pretty sure we'd be laughing more and in better moods.  The first time he started his jig was in the bathroom, trying to entertain Melanie as she was going potty.  Really cute, super funny and I grabbed the camera just in time.  Take a gander...I'm sure you'll enjoy--happy weekend everyone!

Until...

There are some things that are unimaginable, unfathomable, and hard to wrap your mind and heart around, until you become a mother.  The oh so grand, keeps you awake at night, heart wrenching, lovely, type of love that comes with the birth of your children.  The type of love that is unmoved even when the kids are driving you up the wall and you think you can't take another minute of disciplining them.  The type of love that brings you to tears when you see a diaper commercial and realize one of your kids is too big for diapers and the other soon will be.  This kind of love is the biggest kind of love and I believe it to be the closest to the love that God has for us.
It is this love that has made me laugh, cry, swell with pride, learn to give everything I have to someone else, and many other things that have made me a better person.  It is also this same love that drives me.  It forces me to be aware at all times and to think of all scenarios so as to keep my children safe in all situations.  I would climb mountains, dive into the ocean, run in front of traffic, kill a person, if it meant keeping my children safe.  This is how crazy one becomes after becoming a mother.
I remember thinking my mom was crazy..turns out she was..crazy with a love for her kids.  And now I feel that same kind of craziness and I understand what my mom was thinking when I was younger.  As crazy as this love makes me feel, I really hope that I also learn to let go when the time is right.  There are stepping stones in every child's life where they need to be let go, little by little, until, when the all too soon day comes and they become adults and the mother has to give the final let go.  This is the heart wrenching part of the crazy mom love.  Letting go.  Letting go of the person you fed, changed, bathed, taught, and loved like no other.  Letting go and hoping they listened to your instruction along the way.  Letting go and hoping they remember the crazy love and appreciate it.  Letting go and letting God...

Date night...

There was a time when I thought I would be single forever.  I dated, but no one came close to being right.  I remember the Christmas after I turned 24, I joked with my family that I would probably be the one who was 40 and still single at all the holidays.  It was a joke, but I almost thought there was some truth to it.
Who would have thought God had something truly wonderful up His sleeve?  6 months later He introduced me to Mr. Right.  It was very unexpected.
I was leading Young Life for Emerald Ridge and ended up going to Malibu, Canada for the high school camp. So did my husband.  He wasn't my husband yet, but in 5 short days, and a few little conversations with him later, I knew he would be.
While at camp, I was told I should talk to him, so I did.  Our first conversation was awkward.  I could've sworn he was rolling his eyes at me (he says he wasn't), so I thought he wasn't interested.  But after some more quick hellos, and little chats, it was clear God had something planned.  I went home from that trip and texted my sister to tell her that I'd met my husband.
After getting back home to Puyallup, I realized there was a problem, my future hubby never got my number. So I didn't know what was going to happen.  Well, a couple days later I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize and it was him!  He called around to some YL staff to get my number.  He asked me out over the phone and the rest was a whirlwind.
I say whirlwind because it all happened so fast.  Who tells someone "I love you" on the 5th date? We did.  Who gets engaged after 2 months of knowing each other? We did. And who gets married in Vegas after only 3 months of dating and one month engaged?? We did!  People think it's crazy and say you shouldn't move so fast, but when God lets you know something is right and illustrated by Him, why not jump in?  God doesn't lead us astray.
3 years and 3 months and almost 3 kids later, we're still married and still going on dates.  In fact we went on a date last night.  A first date of sorts, because we hadn't really been on one since our anniversary in November.  We had fun. We laughed, we held hands, we shared a dessert, we shopped...things that dating couples do. It's hard to keep dating after marriage, but we're trying.  It keeps our marriage strong.
That's our little love story...kind of fitting to share it on this Valentine's Day weekend.  Happy Valentine's Day to you and your loved ones!

Happy little post...

I haven't blogged in over a month, and I know why.  I've had a happy little secret tucked in my pocket that would explode if I gave myself a chance to sit and write.  I wasn't ready to tell it, so I refrained from writing because this joyous secret was all  I wanted to write about.
Babies, babies, babies....we're expecting one! Another one! And if you can't tell, I'm excited! Early September is the due date--our first appointment is on February 7th, so we'll know more about this little person then.  It was too hard to wait until after February to tell the baby news, plus the fact that my tummy is a growing machine.  There was no hiding it.
Out of all the unknowns there is one thing we do know, if we have a girl, she will be named Skyelynn Faith, if it's a boy...well, we're taking suggestions. :)
So there you have it, the secret threatening to break the seams of my pocket.  Now, the only seams threatening to break are the waists of my pants.
That's all for now...until I have more to say!