Picture Overload

Okay, so I know that there are too many pictures in this post but I just couldn't decide which ones to add so I added them all! :) I know the grandparents will thank me, so if you want to take a few minutes and scroll down, enjoy pictures of my cute little ones! And again, if you actually want words with a post...come back next time!

Some Pictures are needed...

So, I realized when looking at the blog there wasn't a picture in sight! So for your viewing pleasure, I have added two pictures! Now granted they are not too recent...the first is of Sadie a 4 months old, I thought you might just need to be reminded of what a cute baby she was! And the second is of Jack with our friend...Sadie and Jack love her and I am so thankful for her friendship!!
So, for those of you who needed to see pictures...here are a few and I promise to take more in the future...hopefully the near future.

Needed to read today...

I read this blog post here and I thought I would share it with you all today. It was encouraging to me as I go to the day to day tasks of being a mommy. May it encourage you too....

"Our natural reason looks at marriage and turns up its nose and says, 'Alas! Must I rock the baby? wash its diapers? make its bed? smell its stench? stay at nights with it? take care of it when it cries? heal its rashes and sores? and on top of that care for my spouse, provide labor at my trade, take care of this and take care of that? do this and do that? and endure this and endure that? Why should I make such a prisoner of myself?'

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful and despised duties in the spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels.
Its says, 'O God, I confess I am not worthy to rock that little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of a child and its mother. How is it that I without any merit have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? Oh, how gladly will I do so. Though the duty should be even more insignificant and despised, neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor will distress me for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.'" --Martin Luther qtd. in The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot, p. 87

Long Night...

So, last night was super long! Sadie was up at 10, 2 and 4 and then Jack had to throw in a midnight feeding, which he rarely does anymore!! Needless to say I didn't wake up at my usual morning time, I slept in until 7 and just skipped exercising this morning. I was super sad about that because I really wanted to get out and walk but I did get to read which I am thankful for. Keep those prayers coming for my little one! Not sure what the dreams were about this time...but thankful that it is morning and they have passed!! Now, you can pray that I can make through the day...I am pretty tired!! :)

Lions and Hippos and Bears Oh my...

Sadie has been having some really bad dreams lately. It has just been so sad. She will wake up screaming and I will go in and comfort her and try to put her back down. Clark and I have prayed over her and sang to her and she would still be scared. She was even verbalizing what was happening in her dream which surprised me. She said that lions, hippos and bears were getting her booty, her head and her feet. Oh that made me sad. I have no idea where she was getting it from. She hasn't watched anything that had any of the three things in them. The only thing I could figure out was her Eric Carle books. She was afraid that they were behind the curtains. Oh it was so sad, I have been praying this specifically over her: the peace of God surpasses all understanding and will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:7. Father gave me this verse to pray over her and I have been doing this each night. As I have been praying over her and singing to her I will go back through the days events and remind her of all of the fun things that Father allowed us to do. Praying she will have this fresh on her mind and not those crazy animals! :) So, will you join me in praying for Sadie? Many of you are in America and can pray all day while we sleep. I have asked many to do this the past two days and it has made a huge difference! She has slept all night. So, please, pray that God will give her peace and comfort and that she will ask Him for help when she needs it. And pray that there will be no lions, hippos and bears....don't think we will be watching Wizard of Oz anytime soon....

Those Days...

Ever had one of those days when you wish you could start over or that it would just end? Well, it is only 3 pm here so I think I would rather it already be bed time! :) It started off this morning by receiving an email with news I wasn't expecting. We owed more for our plane tickets than was originally quoted and it was a bit of a shock. After sending a few emails we got it all taken care of but not without a little panic in the process. I am so thankful for great people who are encouraging and reminding me to take it easy through it all :) But after all of that was finished we headed into town to renew our visas and it just wasn't as easy as I had wished. The part where I almost lost it was when I was told to fill out this form in Chinese and I couldn't remember all of the characters and the lady wouldn't help me fill it out. With tears streaming down my face I heard the boss say, just let her do it in English and the other lady said, no she needs to write Chinese. So I just wrote it in English and handed it back to her. It was a moment when I had to take a deep breath and remember things that I had read from the Word that morning. Life is not easy here, many days I just want to throw the towel in. I am tired and weak. But Father is so good, merciful and gracious on days like today when I have one of "those days". I debated in writing this today, I had all of these fun things that I wanted to share. But Father impressed on my heart that I needed to be transparent with you all and let you know that "those days" can also be used for His Glory. He has given me over an hour to myself this afternoon as my family is sleeping and I am listening to some new music off of i-tunes and I will rejoice for He is good...even when I am having one of those days.....

Quiet House..so, I will update....

I love my kids. I love the noise that they bring into our house. I love hearing their squeals of excitement. I love hearing the laughter, especially when they are laughing at each other. But I also love the sounds of quiet, or rather no sound that is. My kids have been sleeping for 3 hours, at the same time. That is a rarity around here. I feel so blessed at the moment to have this small moment of peace on a day when it wasn't expected. I know you mommas of young children can totally relate to this.
We have been having a pretty good week. Sadie has gotten a hold of potty training and done fantastic! I am so proud of our little girl, but yet weepy eyed as I look at her little tushy with big girl panties on. Where has the time gone?? I look back now and wonder why I was dreading it...and yet, I am beyond thankful that she did so well!
I have still been getting up early each morning, going on six weeks strong!! I am so thankful that Father has given me the strength to get up early to spend that time with Him. I have been able to see how spending 45 minutes to an hour each morning with Him has changed my whole outlook on my day. It was getting ugly people. I needed that time and I am so thankful that He opened my eyes to it and now I feel renewed and refreshed each day. Now if I can just get this exercising down pat! I am doing it but just not quite as consistent as I would like. And even more than that my eating habits are just not the best!! I have got to be better and it just seems so overwhelming at the same time!
Jack is growing like a weed and it has been such a precious time with him. The second child is just such a different experience. I always heard that it was, but yet I now know. I am so much more relaxed and so much more confident of things. Now don't get me wrong, I still struggle with, am I doing this right quite a bit but at the same time I have an idea of things that might work. I started him on solids this week. We have tried bananas and now rice cereal. This boy is eating like a champ! I am sad because I wanted to try sweet potatoes...but they are out of season and hard to find around here! Sadness!! :)
Let's see...what else to update you on while I have a semi-quiet house...both kids have started to stir, so my time is getting short!
Oh this one is funny! Sadie says the word tepa for pizza. Yes, random isn't it? But she does, and we can't get her to change it for anything. I will say...say pi and she will say pi and then I will say pizza and then she says tepa. Oh it is funny!! And she also says, what a mess all the time! Got that from me! And my friends who know me well know that I say glory all the time. And yesterday, she said it! Oh these little ones and their desire to mimic. Makes me nervous and scared all at the same time, what is she picking up from me?? :)
Okay..well I better post this and go get my kiddos up. It's tepa (pizza!) night! :) Yay for not having to cook!!
Have a fantastic weekend!
Oh two more things....lift up my MIL tomorrow please. She has to have a small surgery and ask that Father will give her a peace as she will be spending the night in the hospital.
Also keep Vanessa and Kris in your thoughts as they are still in Guinea, I am dying for them to get home to hear all about their trip!
Okay...I really am finished for now!
PS. My house is still quiet...I love it! :)

A Fun Weekend

We had some dear friends come to visit us this weekend. We knew them from our time in the states and haven't seen them in a year and a half. The last time they saw us, Sadie was Jack's size! Time sure does fly! We had such a great time with them. I feel like we talked non stop for two days...we had a lot to catch up on! One of those days we took the kids to the park and Sadie enjoyed playing in the bounce house. She had a great time and got lots of energy out!

I hope that you guys enjoyed the 4th. We had a time of W*rship this morning and then he had a good ole american lunch of pulled pork, chips, and cupcakes for dessert. Can't beat that, we loved it because it was easy and not much preperation! We had great plans of playing games and all of this fun stuff...but being parents of small children, we decided on a Sunday afternoon nap instead! :)

Hope you guys enjoy the 4th! Yours is just getting started and mine is ending...gotta love being on the other side of the world! :)