A Weekend "Getaway"

I don't know if a 4 hour drive and an overnight hotel stay with two babies under two is really considered a "getaway," but it was our first traveling experience as a family of four. And other than being SOOO cold, it went pretty well. We definitely learned some traveling lessons along the way, but you've got to start somewhere!

We made the ever important Starbucks stop about halfway to Branson. Mama is ALWAYS happier when coffee is involved. We ran in really quick to let R stretch her legs and let everyone have a pit stop. As I came out of the restroom, I noticed Jeff giving R little tastes of the whip cream on top of my frappicino, so I continued giving them to her as well. Once I was ready to drink it, I stuck the straw in  and noticed there was whip cream coming out of the top, so I offered it to R. What was I thinking?!? Of course before I could even react, she had downed as much sugar-filled coffee as she could possibly swallow. Another proud mom moment for sure : /

We made a stop by the hotel's indoor pool. R LOVES the water and it was a wonderful escape from the snow outside. However to get to the pool, you had to go outside first and that was a very cold walk for those in swimsuits! 

(Yes, her floaty is on backwards. It wasn't working the other way so we tried turning it around... neither way worked for us, so it will be going back to the store.)

This is where Baby Girl stayed most of the weekend- tucked inside her cozy carseat surrounded by toys and blankets. It was too cold to be pulling her in and out in the rain and snow.

I think this picture will forever remind me of one of my favorite memories with Baby Girl. She woke up VERY early in the morning while we were at the hotel. The girls were sharing an adjoining room, so I ran in very quickly to get her so she wouldn't wake up R. After trying unsuccessfully to get her to go back to sleep in her pack-in-play, I finally just laid her down next to me on the bed and pulled her face close to mine so that we were cheek to cheek. Neither of the girls have slept with us before, so this was a first for me. She feel asleep with her face next to mine, her thumb in her mouth and her finger clutching on to my nose instead of her own. I will forever have that mental image etched into my mind.

It was so wonderful to have my nieces and nephew there with us as well. R loves her cousins and since this little girl is nonstop I enjoyed the break!

Yep, this is what happens when you try to sit down for a meal with this little girl. She is either jumping on your lap, dashing across the store, getting some kind of sauce on everything and everyone or just hiding under the table. Can you tell why it's taken us almost 8 months to travel with both of them? This one alone always has me on my toes!

"For the love mama! Just let me run!"

We spent a full snow-filled day at Silver Dollar City. Almost all of the rides were closed because it was so cold. We kept hoping the temperature would rise and we could enjoy the park, but instead we just walked around...in the snow...for hours. But at least we had great people to keep us company and with our season passes hopefully we will have plenty of opportunities to return when the weather is nice.

R didn't seem to mind the weather, but the rest of us were freezing. She would run through the snow and try to make snowballs and and throw them, just like her cousins. 

The one thing R got to ride was the carousel. When the ride started, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

But by the time it had spun around a few times this is what I saw.

What a sweet daddy.

He tried really hard, but the carousel was just not her thing, at least not today.

She did however enjoy thawing out in one of the stores while making some new friends!

I've said it before and it still holds true. She is a full on daddy's girl! Even if she didn't go on many rides, she loved wandering the streets of Silver Dollar City and hanging out with her cousins. She definitely has some of her daddy's Minnesota blood in her because the cold didn't phase her one bit.

These were by far my favorite photos of the weekend! Papa was keeping Baby Girl warm during one of the few times she managed to escape from her carseat. She too seemed to enjoy the cold, but I think I could have enjoyed it more if I had on a full body parka and had people carrying me around! : )

It is a whole different world traveling with babies and toddlers. There are too many stories to tell from our only 36 hour trip in one blog post if that says anything! I am slowly trying to let go of my desire to want to control everything because with babies that is just not possible and that is hard for me. I am learning to go with the flow and enjoy the moment.

Stolen My Heart & Rocked My World

There is never a dull moment around here these days. I'm learning quickly that being a mama is no easy task! You think you understand these things when you get married and decide to start a family, but the experience is nothing you can prepare for and I wouldn't change it for a second.

These girls have stolen my heart and rocked my world. Sometimes I still wonder how I am possibly old enough to be the married, graduated college and own a home and on top of that I have TWO KIDS! Then I shockingly remember that I am 27 and no longer 19, I have no idea where the time went.

Each day is a new adventure with these girls. I may be out of school, but I am learning new things constantly. Most of the time it feels like I am just learning what NOT to do, but that is still learning.

God is daily tugging at my heart and working out all of the kinks. He is opening my eyes to the places I have not yet fully surrendered so that I can be the best wife, mom, daughter, sister and friend possible.

He is allowing me to help lead and mold these little world changers every single day and that excites and terrifies me. I am so honored to be able to have this amazing job of being a mother and am working to push past my insecurities and trust Him to be enough for me every day.

And on those days when I fail...which is often... I know that He is there with grace and forgiveness and I am given the opportunity to teach my children the lessons of  repentance, grace, and asking forgiveness from God and from them. My desire is to use my triumphs and mistakes as lessons to teach them. Experiences are not to be wasted but used. 

I love being a Mama. I love the hugs and kisses. I love watching them try and try until they succeed. And I love holding their hand every step of the way.

I am completely imperfect and in God's eyes that is completely wonderful. Just let that sink in.

I am doing my best to allow others to be imperfect as well. I want to be a safe place for my children to fail because I know they will. I want to love and guide them in such a way that they do not feel as though a momentary situation could ever affect who they will always be to me- my daughter.

With all the joy has definitely come some trials, that is an inevitable part of being a parent. I'm not even two years into this part of my journey and I've already learned that! I don't even want to think about stages of social pressures, make-up, boyfriends, rejection, etc. I adore their innocence and want to keep them this way forever.

But for now, I am just going to focus on the stage I am in. R is 19 months and Baby Girl is 7 months and we have more than enough to work on right where we are at. 

I am soaking in the giggles and cuddles and praying for a full nights sleep at some point : ) But all in time!

I don't know what I did to deserve these two perfect little princesses. But I am more than blessed!

I do my best to constantly catch these little snapshots of our everyday lives. Yes, usually someone's head get chopped off. But two babies crawling on me is my life and I never want to forget these days, so I freeze time momentarily so that I can always remember.

And I keep snapping pictures when my picture perfect moment turns into what I really want to remember- reality. These photos always make me smile.


(I have learned that my constant striving for perfection is part of what has fueled my almost two weeks hiatus from the blog. So this post is fairly unedited. I apologize for any grammatical/spelling mistakes, but I assume that most people who read this blog would rather an unedited version than no version at all : ) 

Get Out of My Way!

How many times a day do I find myself thinking this or even worse, saying it?

I say it to the car in front of me going 10 miles under the speed limit. I think it when the person before me in the grocery store decides to pay in coupons and change. Somehow everyone else should know that this is my world and they are in my way.

I am always in a rush. I don't like to waste time, especially because when I get out of the house I am always "on the clock." I am either on the countdown until I have to pick up the girls or if I have the girls I am counting the minutes until the meltdowns begin. There is never enough time in the day, and definitely never enough time out of the house.

In my heart I understand how God views us as humans, He loves all of us and every part of us. He is all about people. He created us so that He could have a relationship with us. So what am I saying to Him when I treat His creation this way? God is all about people and I have always thought that I truly understood that and took it to heart. But my head and my heart seem to be in different places.

I have come to the realization that I love people only when I chose to. I am sadly more likely to see people as obstacles than opportunities. I am always on a mission and in a hurry, not taking time to enjoy God's most amazing creations- His people. Each person is filled with unimaginable complexities. They all have hopes, dreams and desires, but all are also living with the weight of other's expectations, dealing with pride, and hiding their insecurities. If we look at it that way, we are all the same. In our rush to get them out of our way, we ignore that they are more than just a human shell but an eternal being.

Sometimes it is REALLY hard to believe that we are all made in the image of Christ and that each of us was individually handcrafted by God, but it's true. I know there are those people in our life that we think surely those scriptures do not apply to them, but they do. It is amazing to me to realize that God sees each of us the same and that I need to fix my eyes and my heart to be in line with His.

There are times when I feel that I am momentarily living life like God intended. It was one of those good days as I walked through Target recently and stopped and had a conversation with the barista at Starbucks. I enjoyed our brief interaction so much that later in the day I recalled her sweet spirit and smile and spent a few minutes praying for her. I knew God had great things in store for her and was excited to be able to spend those moments asking Him to work in her life. As I ended my short prayer, I knew that this was how God intended for me to live. What if that was how I chose to spend my days? What if I chose to pray for those I came in contact with instead of trying to push them out of the way? 

Honestly this all comes down to a heart issue. I value my life, my time and my inconveniences as more important than those around me. God is working on me, on my heart, my pride and my eyes. I want to see people as He does. I want to see the opportunities He has given me over the obstacles I have created.

Days in a Haze

I can honestly say that I do not remember much about the past few weeks. It is all a haze. Although I am probably repressing the angst of it all or having selective memory. I can be pretty good at that. 

We have all been sick on and off now for over a month and I am SO tired of it! We spent most of our time inside the house. We wanted the girls to get their "rest" and we didn't want to get anyone else sick. This made for EXTREMELY long days for mama (and the girls too, I'm sure). Everyone is slowly feeling better now, but here are some of the photos from our weeks at home.

I cannot explain to you enough just how ready I was for R to be her happy normal self. I love that she needs her mama, but she wasn't even her normal cuddly sick-self. It was more like- I don't feel well so I will bite, kick and scream in your face. There is only so much of that you can take and by the end of the day this mama was very ready for bedtime to come. Of course with fevers and coughs there was little sleeping going on for any of us!

Somehow Baby Girl managed to stay healthier than the rest of us this go around. She is low-key normally, but it was a blessing to have her go with the flow so easily while everyone else in the house was a bit more demanding (including myself).

One of the many games R enjoys playing with her sister- I will sneak up and sit on you.

And then roll around on top of you.

And then give you hugs until mama separates us for fear that Baby Girl can't breathe.

As always, when the weather allowed, we tried to spend some time outside. Now if I could only find something other than chalk to keep her occupied in the backyard.

I think this may be one of my new favorite photos. R rarely goes anywhere these days without holding my hand (or my finger). She won't go outside to play if she is not holding my hand, so she runs around the backyard with Mama and Baby Girl in tow. She holds my hand as she walks up the stairs, no longer crawling up on her hands and knees. She holds my hand as she walks in to church from the car. Everywhere I go, she goes. I know it is only a stage and sometimes it can get a little cumbersome and definitely slows down my daily pace, but this is one stage I am truly trying to treasure. 

"Ok mom, I'll pacify you just for this one picture."

"Seriously mom? We stopped playing for this? I told you - ONE picture. I've got things to do!"

Yep, things to do! Like play her favorite game of Sit on Sister. It never gets old for her.

However, I cannot say the same for her sister.

But at the end of the day, they both shake it off and enjoy their time playing together.

This was one of those "jammie days." We had many of them. We were always trying to invent new games to play or find toys that had been hidden away that would seem new again. It was a real feat to keep them both entertained all day every day at home and productivity around the house came to a screeching halt. 

Yep! That's my girl!

This little thumb sucker has completely stolen my heart.

This was early one Saturday morning. She went with me on a coffee run before I headed out garage saling. This is one of my favorite time of the year- Garage Sale Time! I hope you will be seeing lots of posts on my steals and deals as garage sale season kicks into gear.

I know. I win "Mom of the Year" award. I was snapping pics of this pretty girl playing at the park when all of a sudden- this happens. Oops : ) (FYI- She was just fine.)

I know how you feel baby. This picture pretty much describes our last few weeks in a nutshell.

We did our best to get outside when the stars aligned and we had tolerable girlies and nice weather. Of course almost all of these trips were short lived because they ended up with both girls about to hack up a lung. Nice. I thought the fresh air would help, not make it worse.

The slide is her absolute favorite thing to do at the park. She insists on climbing the stairs on her own and then will sit herself at the top and push off. No help needed! Now mama waits at the bottom of the slide, but it's more for my need to feel involved than her need for me to be there. I can't believe how independent she is already!

In just a matter of days, we have gone from long sleeves and jackets to t-shirts and shorts. I love it! After spending weeks stuck inside, I am excited to spend more time outside with my healthy babies.