On A Lighter Note

We are enjoying fresh tomatoes and a few squash and cucumbers! Yummo!

The Sunday after VBS (which was the week we were gone to Mexico) we got to see the kids perform some of their songs! It was so cute!

since we had been gone, I didn't even know we had gotten a red tshirt for them to wear:)

This was EK practicing that morning. She loves to sing!

I follow this stinker around all day and clean up after her:)

How cute are these 2 girls? I took over 300 pictures of them last week and spent forever editing and narrowing them down last week amidst all of our chaos. It was my escape:)

No Rest for the Weary

Thanks for the encouragement and prayers after my last post, but unfortunately I cannot report good news. Things kind of went from bad to worse. Ellie Kate was sick Friday and Saturday with a fever and a sore throat. She wasn't too terrible and seemed to get over it pretty quick thank goodness. Abigail, in the meantime, was getting better slowly but surely. The nystatin was really helping but she was still extremely fussy, not eating well, and not sleeping well until last night really. Jeff started running a fever on Saturday and is still pretty miserable 4 days later. We think he has hand foot and mouth disease. I'm not kidding people, we have had some serious viruses going around. Did I mention that in the middle of all this, we were visiting Jeff's parents because Jeff was preaching at his home church Sunday morning and Sunday night? That's right...he preached with a fever and sore throat. He rocked it and I am very proud of him. He says that today has been the worst day though as all the little blisters are coming up in his mouth, and on his hands and feet. I feel so bad for him, but now he can kind of understand why Abigail screamed for 2 days straight. Poor child probably had HFM and thrush!!

I'm not done...wait for it...

Sunday brought a trip to the ER for Samuel. He was playing at Jeff's parents neighbors house because they have some kids around his age. Apparently, he got the bright idea to ride this motorcycle bike thing that was broken with no brakes down their steep driveway. Since it had no brakes, and he didn't know how to stop it, he flipped the thing at the bottom of the driveway and flew over the brick wall at the end. NICE. Thankfully he didn't kill himself. Instead, he gashed his leg (shin area) and skinned up his elbow. He got 5 stitches and is healing up pretty well now.

I have had a few more breakdowns and even though we just got back from vacation...I NEED ANOTHER ONE!! Ha! There have been moments where I have had a bad attitude, but for the most part, I have been able to bring it all to the Lord knowing that this too will pass. It's not a week I would have chosen for us, but for some reason He will use it for our good. I think one reason I have been able to entrust it all to the Lord is because of the Bible Study we are doing at church this summer about being a woman of wisdom. I actually shared a bit of my testimony on Tuesday morning and I think that in God's providence, He knew I would need to tell myself the truths of what I shared throughout this past week. In the years since my infertility, adoption, miscarriage, and as the mom of young (and sometimes out of control) children...I have learned to cling to the truth and promises of God's word. Even when I don't understand the chaos around me.

"In his heart, a man plans his course. but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

"The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness." Psalm 25:10 (new living translation)

Well, Hello There!

I have not fallen off the face of the earth...although I have kind of wanted to the last few days. Ha! Coming back from vacation is never easy, but this past week has been a doozy.

Ellie Kate has never been an easy child. I know she's adorable and most people don't believe me that she is as strong willed or spirited as I say she is...but she really really is and if anyone had been a fly on our wall from monday through wednesday of this week...you would believe me. She decided to really exert her will and fight me over every.little.thing but especially at nap time. She decided to tantrum big time over and over again. When she has these tantrums, it is very hard to know how to deal with them. She is usually inconsolable and will also sometimes get violent and begin throwing things and hit me of course if I try to calm her down. So, for 3 to 4 days, I was patient but firm in discipline. I affirmed her emotions of being upset, but clearly let her know that it was unacceptable behavior. We prayed a lot an we talked about what the Bible said about having a happy heart. Then I had my own breakdown Wednesday and many times really felt like I was going crazy. It would be one thing if I was only dealing with Ellie Kate, but I also have Samuel who is spirited in his own way and also bored out of his mind a lot of days since he is out of school. And then there is Abigail who is generally easy, but is still only 19 months after all and also has her own age appropriate issues. I had a few "a ha" moments Wednesday night and was going to make some changes in our routine for lunch and naptime on Thursday to hopefully throw off the nap time tantrums. Lo, and behold Abigail was up all night Wednesday with fever, horrible diaper rash that had been building for a week (along with bad eczema), and ulcer type blisters in her mouth (possibly hand foot mouth but she already had that this year and she didn't have any blisters on her feet or hands). We went to the ped and got a little help for her diaper rash, but Abigail cried literally ALL DAY Thursday and into today as well. Ellie Kate is also now running a fever and not feeling well.

All that to say, I have had little time to do anything for myself or this blog or my blog business. Emails have not been returned. Phone calls are not answered when you have had screaming children all week. It has not been pretty. I'm not going to lie...I have felt near insanity all week. I have wanted to quit and walk out the door a few times. I have wanted to go outside and scream at the top of my lungs. But you know what, I'm seriously thankful. I know in the scheme of things, this is just one of those weeks. It's one of those weeks I was reminded to surrender my plans and die to myself so that I could serve my children. And I was reminded that it is God who gives me the strength to do just that!

There have been a few good things...by yesterday, Ellie Kate turned a corner with her behavior. She has been quite obedient and willing to have a happy heart. It is really beautiful to see the training take root in her life for these few days. The cost of parenting is high...but it's worth it. I am exhausted, but I am so thankful that God gave me and continues to give me the strength to follow through in my role as a parent and not give into her behavior and foolish ways. I know it's not the last time we will have hard days with her, but the last 2 days give me such great hope. The other great thing is that Abigail finally stopped crying after two days straight at about 5 pm tonight. We miraculously got some nystatin to give her after self-diagnosing her with yeast/thrush (on top of the fever virus). After 2 doses, she was a different baby and back to her sweet happy self. Thank you Lord.

So, hopefully I can now get back to my more regular blogging. I still want to share pictures from our excursion to Chichen itza, Mexico! We just need to pray that EK feels better and that none of the rest of us get the virus or whatever it is.

Fathers

Happy Fathers Day!!!

"You are the guide, and the weight of her world...so fathers be good to your daughters" - John Mayer

I have been so blessed by the many "fathers" in my life. My earthly father in so many ways was and still is my hero. My dad is amazing and I am so thankful for such a loving example of what a dad should be to a daughter. He really was the weight of my world for so many years and I respect him so much. He is a darn good granddaddy too!!!!






And then there is of course Jeff, the father to my children. I am so thankful and proud to parent alongside him. I always knew he would be a good daddy and he has not disappointed me! He cares for us, loves us, serves us, and shows Christ to us every day. He's pretty cute too:)












Big Papa is the father-in-law. Jeff would not be the daddy he is without the example of such a good dad himself and for that I am so grateful. He is also a darn good grandaddy too:)




We also love our own grandfathers who we are so tickled are still alive and can know our children!!!

Pa

Pee Paw

Granddaddy

Lastly, I am so thankful (and undeserving) to be a daughter of my Heavenly Father...my King.

"This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!" Romans 8:15-17 The Message

Paradise

We are back to reality...and while paradise was wonderful...there is no other place I'd rather be than right here at my home with my babies. This is where I belong. I am refreshed and so thankful for the time away though. I think it is so important for couples to get away! Of course, we are so blessed to have gotten to go to an amazing resort in Mexico! The place we stayed was called the Grand Mayan in Riviera Maya, Mexico (just 30 minutes outside of Cancun). We had such a good time just the two of us, and yet I was reminded so often that as a mom, it was a little hard to just be "me". Mostly, we just relaxed and ate good food, and I read 6 1/2 books (one of them being the 4th Twilight book which is like 800 pages)! 3 parenting books, and 4 fiction books. We also took a trip to one of the 7 wonders of the world that will get a post all by itself since it was so cool. Most of our time was spent by the pool since it was so so so hot. Anyway, it was a trip of the lifetime...one that won't happen for another 9 -10 years I'm sure. The kids did wonderful with our parents and were really excited to see us too!

I didn't always feel like lugging my big camera around so I took a lot of the following pics with my old sony point and shoot which really takes awful pictures (oh well)! Anyway, here is a little glimpse of our trip...

At the beach
(there was a coral reef right where the water meets the sand so it was hard to actually get into the ocean water)

little critter

see the pretty blue fish???

iguana right beside us as we ate the breakfast buffett
(I do not want to get on the scale, but suffice it to say, that I will be working hard the next few weeks to lose what I gained and then I will get back to trying to reach my goal)

there were so many pretty flowers!

Dinner our first night at the Italian place

this was the building we stayed in
(The Mayan Jungle)

some of the amazing pool

We spent an afternoon in Playa Del Carmen which was only about 30 minutes away. It's a touristy town right on the beach with lots of shopping, good food, and a beautiful beach!

anyone that knows me well, knows that I could literally eat mexican food everyday of my life...so being in Mexico was so fun! I did eat a lot of mexican food and never got tired of it:)

Day trip to Chichen Itza (one of the 7 Wonders of the World)

our last night...headed to the Mexican Fiesta

they handed Jeff this hat and me a scarf as we walked in along with brown margaritas (not sure why they were brown)...clearly, my husband is being silly:)

The Mexican fiesta held a buffett of SO MUCH FOOD. I wanted to try everything, but I couldn't. This was my yummy plate of food that stuffed me so I couldn't go back to get more

some of the program (it was fun and we ended up dancing on the stage at the end with about 100 of our "closest" friends - ha)!

if you can't tell...we were quite hot and sweaty:)

That's all folks!!!