{They're Here!}

Well, it's been quite the rollercoaster, but I wouldn't miss this ride for anything in the world!




The twins were born a week earlier than we expected Oct 27th, coming a 36 weeks. "L" was 4lbs 10oz, and "N" was 5lbs 8oz. We brought them home from the hospital on Oct 31st. My mom is here helping ...which is WONDERFUL and I don't know how we could do it without her! We're all walking around like zombies here, but soaking in some newborn goodness when we can. The boys love them and are adjusting well.

I'll be sure to post the whole story when I have a little more brain function. We clearly see God's fingerprints all over this and are overwhelmed with the support we've received from the body of Christ...meals, diapers, clothes, helping hands, taking the older boys for a while....it's a beautiful thing! Now, off to drink more caffeine!

{3}

Our little "O" turned three last week. Luckily I'd started planning for his birthday before we received the call about the twins. The poor guy would have been totally overlooked - I tend to only be able to focus on one big event at a time. We had planned to have "O"'s party at at local park, but it was just too cold, so it was moved to our house. It was a crowded but celebratory atmosphere! I just can't believe he's three already. All the preparations taking place for the twins remind me of being pregnant with "O" at this same time of year. I know everyone says this, but it seems like I just had him! Oh, how time, precious time, flies! Here are a few pictures from the party.

The theme was dinosaurs, and we used purple, orange, green, and pale yellow colors. The scraps of fabric I've been saving finally came in handy with this birthday banner I made. See, I CAN be thrifty!

I put together dinosaur terrariums (inspired by these) to use as centerpieces on the park picnic tables.

A herd of dino cupcakes!

An appliqued dino shirt (more fabric scraps put to good use!)....it was so cold though, he had to wear a sweatshirt under the long sleeved AND short sleeved tee!

Goody bags for each dino-guest....

...filled with non-candy favors.

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet "O"! We love you!

{monkeying around}

Everytime I find myself in the toy department at Target, I'm drawn to the classic stuffed sock monkey. I didn't have one as a child, but for some reason it takes me back to a happy simple place in my mind. It's comforting. I've been tempted to buy one on several occasions, even thinking up excusses for why I "need" to buy one.

Then I stumbled across this....

I could dress the twins up as a squishy, huggable, kissable, cuddly SOCK MONKEYS! How adorable is that??!!! And of course, there are accessories!!!!

Coordinating boy/girl outfits!

And the hat!

And then I noticed these fun sock monkey burp cloths at Target. It just makes me have the urge to go knit something.....if only I knew how how to knit!

{Fun Stuff}

I've obviously got twins on the brain lately! In doing a little research for a few things we'll need, I've stumbled on some fun stuff too.....

Like this sweet little book, Twin to Twin, by Margaret O'Hair.

And isn't this bird's nest necklace beautiful! You can find it here!

(although, I guess I would need 4 eggs in my nest). I just love it!

Check out these darling onsies! So fun!

I'm not sure what you do with these, but aren't they cute?!

How sweet would they look in these coordinating sweater caps?

Ok, I'm having a little too much fun. Please continue to pray for the birth mom. She's been sick and has had some contractions. The babies need a few more weeks to become stronger and further developed. We're just overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support we've received due to these babies! Thank you all and we truly appreciate your prayers!

{Big, BIG news!}

Psalm 30 was a huge comfort to me after we miscarried in 2003. Verse 11 says, "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;..." and I took that as a direct promise from God that even though I was hurting, one day God would cause my soul to dance again. A few months later we realized we were expecting our now 5 year-old........I danced!

Now we have two beautiful boys! God placed on our hearts some time ago the desire to adopt. Of course, I want a girl. And as I posted a while back, we began the adoption application process with an agency and realized we just couldn't afford it, and didn't feel peace with continuing. Our only other option really is a private adoption. I know this can be rare and hard to come by. We have a friend that is a nurse at an OB's office in town. I casually mentioned to her in May that we were wanting to adopt if anything came up in her office. Last week I was just starting to think "who am I kidding? It's not like an adoption is just going to fall in our laps"!!! Then the phone rings. It's a doctor looking for an adoptive family! .....PLOP....right in our laps!

Sooooooo, the BIG news is that we are adopting a baby GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Aghhhhhhhhhhhh!) and ...................................a baby boy!

Yep, you read that correctly! TWINS!!!

Not only is God answering our prayer and filling my heart's desire with a girl, but a bonus boy! He is soooo good! We have given this a lot of thought and prayer! We're overwhelmed with the thought of sleepless nights with one baby, let alone two! And the thought of how in the world we'll be able to afford diapers and formula for two babies has occurred to us a time or two. Our three bedrooms will be bursting with furniture and be far from "Pottery Barn perfect". We'll be cranky, tired, and poor, but we'll have love! (I think I feel a song coming on....) When God tells you to do something, you obey and He'll do the rest. So we're excited to see how this unfolds to watch God at work through this!

The babies should be joining us November 2, unless they come sooner.
Please pray for:
~ the birth mom: this is a very difficult time for her.
~ the development of the babies.
~ a safe and healthy delivery.
~ that God would supply all the things we need to care for these little ones.
~ that the boys would adjust quickly and smoothly (they'll have to share a room :}
~ for our marriage! :)
~ that we'd grow as a family through this exciting time.
~ for healthy bonding with the babies.
~ that all of this would point to Jesus!

Now, there is always a chance that she could change her mind. But we're just going to proceed as if they're ours...if they're not that's God's plan.
We're so excited ....and have so little time to get everything ready! We appreciate your prayers so very much!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go search for the perfect fabric to make baby bedding!

{Welcome to Seussville}

Last night we went to the cutest, incredibly creative, most thought through kids birthday party I've ever attended! It was for our friend's twin boys 1st birthday. The twins posed as "thing 1" and "thing 2" from the Dr. Seuss book series - too adorable.

The bounce house was a big hit!

One of the Grandmas with one of the "things" - I LOVE her outfit!

Lots of good food!...

...and what would a Dr. Seuss party be without Green Eggs and Ham?!!

Can you believe one of the grandmas free handed this sign for the game?

They found this great pinata on Ebay.

The Cat in the Hat stopped by for a visit.

Happy Birthday, to these sweet little guys!

Kindergarten

Sniff, sniff......can you smell that? The smell of new pencils, fresh crayons, and crisp paper! I wasn't the best student, but I've always loved the beginning of the school year - shopping for new shoes, lunchbox ( I had a pink My Little Pony one for a few years), and new supplies. It symbolized a fresh start to me.

This is the first year that our big boy is going off to school - KINDERGARTEN! I spent most of the last school year crying over it, tearing up anytime I drove past the school. I think I've got most of it out of my system - for the moment anyway. I feel more excited for him than sad, but tears will probably come anyway.

So, to distract myself, I've been doing my homework...looking up lunch ideas, searching for ways to ease our family into this new stage...I thought I'd share what I found:

If you're looking for ideas to pack into your little one's lunchbox, there's a great list at build a better lunch box . Family Fun magazine has some good resources with helpful strategies and lunch box stuffers . And Laptop Lunches offer these great ideas.

Let's Explore, one of my favorite blogs, has an entire category devoted to Kindergarten Transition Tips - it's fantastic!!! I printed the section out and highlighted the things I wanted to do with "I".

I also have been making "I"'s lunch in his school lunchbox so he can practice opening everything, and hopefully he can remember to put all the reusable containers and lids

back in the lunch box!

I got one of those hanging organizers to put in "I"s closet. I made labels (Monday-Friday) in a Word document and matted them on card stock, them covered with packing tape (acts as a laminate). I taped then on the edge of each divider. He's so excited to get dressed each morning and I don't have to ask him 100 times to do it! AND he even makes his bed!!!

Wednesday morning is the Open House when we'll take his supplies and meet his teacher. So I thought we'd make Tuesday evening a fun night, starting with a little scavenger hunt leading him to this book that we bought. We'll all read it together and talk about all the fun things he'll experience at Kindergarten.

Since I don't scrapbook anymore, I also picked up this adorable school record book to record each year of school (K-5 - 12th). My favorite part is that it has a place for the child to sign their name each grade, so you get to see how their handwriting matures from year to year. It also has a pocket for each year, where you can store report cards and other small mementos.

I made a tag for his backpack that has a picture of his family one side ( in case he misses us! )....

...and his name, my cell #, and his teacher's name on the other side.

The school supplies are all labeled and packed!

Bring on the paint!

Well, I think (sniff)... we're (wiping tear) .... ready (whaling!!!)