10 things I've learned in the last 10 years

Today is my 31st birthday. In celebration of my special day I thought I would share with you some things I have learned in the last 10 years. They have been a significant 10 years with lots of major changes along the way. Lots to be learned!

1. Patience is something you can grow in.
2. To major on the majors, not the minors.
3. A Friday night of fun can be as simple as having a hot dog dinner at Costco.
4. My parents do know more than I thought.
5. I don't know as much I think did at 21.
6. Don't judge others, because more often than not I'm in the same situation in the future and I do exactly what I said I wouldn't.
7. I'm more of an introvert than I thought and I'm ok with that.
8. I'm a loyal person and I hold that as a high standard for others.
9. The hours of 4-7 pm before kids used to be relaxing, down time. Since kids they are dreadful, 3 life sucking hours.
10. I need God more than I ever thought, because I see how messed up I am, but I experience His grace that much more.
    

Tis the season!

M has really been enjoying playing outside in dirt.

I have the holiday spirit and I love it! We enjoyed a nice family Thanksgiving dinner. Well as nice as it could be with 3 little ones :) Oh, and the run that I had mentioned in the previous post didn't go so well. Here's the short version= flat tire on one of the joggers, 3500 people on a very narrow path, it took us 8 minutes just to get to the starting line and we weren't even in the back!, we completed 1 mile at a slow walk and then cut it short by 2 miles and headed to the car. We gave are ourselves an "A" for effort! Anyways, the next day I took down all the Fall decorations, cleaned and then decorated for Christmas! I even got so inspired I put lights up outside! M has loved all of the decorations, although it has been slightly confusing to him because he thinks Santa is coming now! He's probably asked about Santa 20 times in the last 48 hours. We also got our family Christmas card pic taken yesterday which by the grace of God actually tured out pretty well. Hopefully soon they will be ordered. Go Costco! And today I started and almost finished Christmas shopping! All in about 3 hours. I was a woman on a mission with a plan and I accomplished it. We don't have that many gifts to buy because I'm trying to make some of our gifts, but still to have the shopping done feels oh so good! We hope to get our tree tomorrow. I'm looking forward to decorating it. I really enjoy this time of year and celebrating the most amazing gift of all...Jesus!

Speaking of celebrating, I'm turning 31 tomorrow!

Birthday Party Pics...movie still to come

Birthday Weekend...and we're done!

The last 3 weekends we've had pretty big parties at our house. This weekend was the final one and I must say it was my favorite. It was the girls first birthday party! My parents were also in town for the weekend so that also made it an awesome weekend. We packed in as much as we could while they were here. Thursday we went out to dinner at one of our local favorites. Friday we went to open gym at gymnastics which was a blast! Who had more fun? Me or M? We both loved it and so did the girls, crawling around everywhere! And of course mom and dad loved watching us all. Friday night we had the annual Barn Blast with CRU. Lot's of fun fun doing line dancing and being in the "farm atmosphere". Saturday we went to the farmer's market downtown and checked out all the side walk sales downtown. Then it was party planning time for the afternoon. I did an initial party, lots of k's and t's everywhere. Party time was Saturday night and it all turned out really well. Even though the girls didn't really nap all day they did great. They went right after their cake and thoroughly enjoyed it! Brian made an amazing slide show to music of their first year. Tear jerker. I am hoping to get it uploaded to the blog soon. Along with lots of pics from our fun weekend. All coming soon! So finally I feel I can sit and relax a bit now that all of our big stuff is done. Whew!!! We made it:)

Happy Birthday K & T!

Birthday Girls!

Our girls are one year old today! And to be honest it's kinda been a roller coaster of a day for Brian and I emotionally. It hasn't been a happy celebration day (that comes Saturday at their party) but more of a day of looking back and remembering where we were last year at this time, and where we have come from. There is so much to be thankful for but at the same time it is hard to think of where are little girls were at this time last year. Oh, what a year it has been! Here are some remembered moments...

• bringing them home and putting them together for the first time
  
• lots and lots of diapers
  
• bottles and bottles everywhere before they were nursing
• little little sleep
• pumping around the clock, so it seemed
  
• laundry, and more laundry
  
• learning to nurse the both of them at the same time
  
• teeny tiny bodies to wash poop blow outs off of
  
• cries of hold me, I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm dirty etc.
• lots of spit up
• little sleep
  
• special moments in the middle of the night feedings
• seeing them both snuggle together, inseparable 24/7 for the first 3 months
• their smell
• those 5 am feedings Bri and I would do together in our bed and then they would sleep on our chests
• the proud big brother who was instantly protective
• watching Wheel of Fortune at their 7pm feeding as a family
• our first family car ride

Well on to the pictures of the girls first birthday. It was nothing special really, just our normal routine. Church for mom's bible study, naps, dinner and then family walk. But they looked super cute because I got them new outfits for their special day. Happy Birthday T & K we love you!
Hello Sunshine!
Good morning birthday girl!

Mommy and her big one year olds!

Miss T

Miss K

what's going on...

There's been a lot of sickness going on around here in the past 2-3 weeks and I'm definitely over it! This past weekend it was my turn.... cold and an eye infection that looks super gross. I affectionately call it my "pirate eye sty". Because that's what it is. A sty that is really infected and I think just look weird with a half shut eye, like a pirate. It made me look real nice for the party we had for 50+ people that I've never met on Saturday at our house! What are you going to do? The dessert party was for the freshman's parents who were in town. We wanted to expose them to CRU and show them we are normal people just in case they were wondering who their kids have been hanging out with. We went all out with lots of desserts, cute decorations, rented tables and linens, white lights (it was in our backyard) and heaters (a good last minute decision for the major drop in temp). Anyways, the party went great and we our so thankful for the encouraging responses we had from many parents. Also, we are thankful it is over! Now I can focus on my parents coming this week, and the girls birthday party on Saturday! Get ready for birthday morning pictures tomorrow.