What's Ahead...

Even though our family is not involved in the school system yet, I feel our year of activities is coming to an end and summer is approaching. Tuesday was our last MOPS meeting and yesterday was mine and Philip's last day of BSF. We're joining some friends for a short camping trip this Saturday and Sunday, and then three weeks from Saturday, we'll be on our way to a relaxing (Lord-willing!) week at North Myrtle Beach.

However with all that said, the Lord has led me to a few exciting opportunities for this summer and next year. Through this last year's study of Matthew in BSF, I have grown in my love for Jesus and want to fulfill all the plans He has for me, not just set out with a to-do list of my own. He has clearly taught me that my job while on earth is to tell others of His love for them. I pray He will use me to do that on a daily basis with every person I come in contact with as well as through teaching Bible School and facilitating a Bible Study this summer.


The week of July 7-11, I will be leading the rising 6th grade girls' class at our church Vacation Bible School. I have a love for teenage girls and so I enjoy teaching the older ones in VBS knowing when they reach the youth group in a few years, we would have already made a connection. This world is a tough place for young girls to grow up in so the sooner they can have their heart planted in God's love, the better. I am also excited about VBS as this will be Philip's first year to attend at our church. I can see cherished memories coming from this week as he and I drive each night to church, enjoy dinner, attend our respective classes and then discuss the night on the way home. It will enable Matthew and Braewyn to have special time too at home (unless he's recruited to help with something too!).


Starting June 5, I will be facilitating the ladies' Bible study, "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" by Angela Thomas at our church on Thursday mornings. I was hesitant at first to say ok to facilitate, but God showed me (and is continuing to do so) that this is how I should serve this summer. It is a seven week series so I have some breathing room before and after it (BSF starts back in September). I recently saw Angela Thomas speak at a women's conference and she is hilarious as well as so spiritually grounded. I pray new blessings and new friendships might come from this Bible study.


Finally, I am praying over which position to serve in at MOPS next year. Through a few different conversations and a peace from the Lord, I feel most led to be the Table Shepherd (Discussion Group Leader) Director. This person is the Table Shepherd to the Table Shepherds! MOPS is set up with assigned tables so women can get to know each other in a smaller group with a woman assigned to each table to lead in discussions and be an encourager. The position includes meeting with the Table Shepherds once a month to grow closer to the Lord via devotionals and with each other via prayer requests. After having taught Sunday School to teenage girls for 7 years, I feel the Lord is leading me to "shepherd" this group of women. In four to six weeks, the group should have its Steering Team positions filled (meeting soon to review evaluations and position applications) and then I will know for sure.

Around the House...

We've been changing things inside and outside our house. Hoping to put our house on the market next spring, Matthew and I decided to have hardwood floors installed in the living room, dining room and hallway to add value. This involved moving everything out of those areas and into other rooms. Thank you Matthew for all your blood, sweat and tears. Well, he didn't really bleed or cry, but he did make it all fit and Sunday night it looked like we just moved in (albeit with a lot of carpet stains). The installers have been working yesterday and today and are about half done. It looks great, and the new acoustics have been really fun. Matthew and I were whispering to each other about 20 feet apart, and Philip has found that sad, soulful songs sound great with the echo.

The living room almost clear. Matthew's latest woodworking project is an entertainment center for our new television. We sold the other wall-sized one and tv because he wanted to go ahead and buy a flatscreen tv before the digital switch next year. The loss of the other entertainment center makes our living room look much bigger also.

Yeah, I don't have to cook or wash dishes all week! Just kidding. The installers moved the couch back into our empty dining room as they wouldn't be working in there until tomorrow. Oh, well.

Here's where the bulk of our stuff ended up. Yes, this is the office and the other couch, Philip's train table and our computer desk are still in there somewhere. I'm posting from Mom's house as we've been coming here in the afternoons so the kids can sleep as there is constant pounding in our house right now.

Now for the outside improvements. We've been growing vegetables for the last several years; tomatoes for the past 4 years and attempted squash, cucumbers and some herbs last year. Each year our "garden" has grown in size, and this year's finally deserves to be called a REAL garden. Matthew worked so hard in tilling the ground, mixing in potting soil, cutting the timbers and hammering them in place. We planted the vegetables (squash, okra, tomatoes, and corn) just as a downpouring rainstorm hit our area. I'm so excited as to how everything is growing. We've also added green pepper, eggplant and cucumber plants to it. Matthew works with a woman who is a true gardenered and she gave him the green pepper and eggplants. She grows her own lettuce and broccoli which we've enjoyed too. We pray that the Lord allows our garden to produce lots of produce!!


The garden a few days after we planted everything.

Look how it's grown in just a few weeks!!

Lastly, we're going camping with some friends in two weeks. We "practiced" setting up our tent in the backyard and slept in it Saturday night. I can't wait as I grew up camping every fall with my family. This is the tent we used all those times. Several years ago, my parents were getting rid of all their camping gear so Matthew and I bought it. This will be our first camping trip so it's about time. Philip can hardly wait!!

Braewyn's Birthday, Part 2

Like Philip on his first birthday, Braewyn also found herself getting two birthday parties. We were leaving my grandparents' house on her birthday so the day before we enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream. I have a video of that which I'll try to post soon. The second birthday bash for my sweet one was at our house on the following Monday. Her Grandma, Nana, Papa, Great Aunt Elise, Mollie and Michael joined us for some cake and ice cream. We had a fun evening together. Philip was a very helpful big brother. We told him he could help Braewyn with the present opening if she got stuck. He decided she was stuck about 1.5 seconds into the first present! Obviously, we asked him to give her a little more time.

Here are the cakes and a party plate. At Party City, there were two designs for baby girl first birthday parties. I picked the cute "Hugs & Stitches" design over the "Diva Princess" design. And people wonder why kids are growing up too fast!

"Why is everyone looking at me? What am I supposed to do and what is on my head?"


"Ok, now I get it!!!"


"What? You want me to eat the cake too? But all I really want is the icing?" (Like father, like son!)

Sweet teamwork. I didn't mean to have them both in yellow. Braewyn hadn't been feeling that well, but I wish I had changed her into a cute party dress.

Michael and Philip had fun playing together with Braewyn's new Busy Ball Popper from her Great Grandparents. While in Georgia, they gave me some money and let me pick her something out at Walmart.

Our Daughter is One!

My how the year has flown! Well, I have much to post about overall but little time to devote to it. However, my baby girl's birthday is something I must thank God for. I still remember the morning I found out I was pregnant, the feelings of anxiety about having two children, the high-speed delivery (she was born 3 hours after I arrived at the hospital), and those early sleepless nights. But tonight, I now have a beautiful, cheerful, laughing little girl who loves her brother and sleeps soundly through the night! Thank you, Lord! I am so excited to see what lies ahead for Braewyn in her life. Mostly, I pray that she would come to know Jesus personally and follow His will for her life. Whatever that might be, I will always be grateful to be her mommy.

Just a few weeks old.

Tonight, chowing down on her little smash cake. Braewyn's birthday was Friday, May 2, but we were out of town. More photos and recaps to come.

Friday's Feast # 188

Well, it's been a looooong time since I posted a Friday's Feast, but I needed an easy reason to post as it's been a while since doing that too. Things are good however. I'm really trying to work out my daily schedule with the kids and regular stay-at-home-mom stuff. Philip is all boy so he needs lots of physical play time as well as brain-stimulating activities. We're working through a barnyard preschool workbook which he really likes. He's getting pretty good at puzzles. And I'm slowly weaning him from wanting to watch television ALL THE TIME! Here's a sample of something Philip considers to be really, really fun...

Braewyn likewise is full steam ahead... crawling everywhere! It's so precious because Philip never crawled so we are really enjoying being able to call Braewyn from one end of the hallway, and so thereafter, here she comes. I can hardly believe her birthday is next Friday!

Speaking of which, here are my Friday's Feast answers.

Appetizer: Name something you would categorize as weird. Not loving the beach.
Soup: What color was the last piece of food you ate? Brown and beige (a chocolate-covered Crueller at Krispy Kreme!)
Salad: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone? These days 7 because it happens very rarely and I wish it would happen more (or that I could have time to do whatever I wanted, i.e. sleep in!!).
Main Course: Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______. I will not vote for Obama in November.
Dessert: Describe your sleeping habits. Go to bed too late (now for example), toss and turn for a few minutes, wake up when sounds come through the baby monitor (I really think Braewyn spoke in her sleep last night!), and wake up at 6:00am to, Lord-willing, have a few minutes to myself to spend studying the Bible before it all starts again!

More Prayers for Matthew's Uncle Gary

For those who didn't see my first post about Matthew's uncle, Gary was in a serious car accident on March 11. He broke all the bones in his face, underwent major reconstructive surgery, had a tracheotomy inserted as his jaw was wired shut, and then experienced several complications from the tracheotomy. He finally returned home last Friday, April 11.

The prayers are needed again as he in now again in the hospital. On Wednesday, he experienced trouble breathing and passed out. The doctors determined that two massive blood clots had passed through his heart and we inside his lungs. This called for a filter being placed in the largest artery in his abdomen to keep the multiple other clots in his body from traveling to his heart. He will be in the hospital for a few more days and then some time in rehab again.

Please especially remember his wife Debi and children Casey and Brian (both married with one child each) as this is such a traumatic time for each of them also. For more details, please read Casey's blog.

Laughing Kids

Matthew and I got a digital camcorder for each other for Christmas. I love using it and videotape (Hard drive record? There's no videotape involved!) usually a little something the kids are doing every day. Well, that proves to be close to accurate because the camera tells me there are 86 clips saved on it. Well, that proves to mean now that I finally figured out how to download them to our computer (Lori, I did it without Matthew's help!!) that our computer does not have enough free memory to save them all! Matthew is going to buy more (I wish I could buy more memory for myself), but in the meantime, I'm just saving a few here and there that I want to add to the blog.

With all that said, here's the first of many (I pray!). My commentary should be self-explanatory. (I'll try to get a video posted soon of Braewyn crawling as that's the newest development around our house!) By the way, the video is somewhat squeezed as the camera shoots in widescreen version and youtube.com shows in normal version (whatever that is technically called!).

Here's what Philip said today...

I left a glass of milk on the floor while reading to Philip on the couch. Braewyn was crawling around and of course knocked it over. I thought it a great moment to explain to Philip the meaning of the phrase, "Don't cry over spilt milk." He was listening very intently. I then said, "So I really can't do anything about it because it's on the floor and I can't put it back in. I really wanted to drink my milk, but it was my fault for leaving it on the floor." Philip looked at me and said, "You can do something. You can clean it up." I said,"Well, that I can do." And he said, "That's the trueness."

A few more pics...

Just can't resist putting these on here. Anyone who comes to Braewyn's high school graduation recognition service at church in 18 years will see this first picture again! Mom told me I had chipmunk cheeks as a baby, but Braewyn got the teeth!


I love catching Philip at a calm moment. Normally, he's all wound up and raring to go. These eyes show that he has wisdom beyond his years (at least I think so!).


And here are my two little ones. I love this picture because it shows just how big they are these days.


Also reminds me of another picture I took once...

My Day...

At the moment, I don't feel like throwing up. Before you ask, no, I'm not pregnant. If you had lived my last two days, you'd feel like throwing up too! I’ve been cleaning up vomit and diarrhea today… lovely I know. Both from Braewyn. I’m weaning her and have been using Enfamile Next Step formula sporadically for a few weeks. Matthew gave her several bottles over the weekend as I was at a women’s conference (I hope to post about it soon), and she was perfectly fine.

Well, yesterday morning, I nursed her (the little that is available) and then gave her three ounces of formula to supplement. She threw up all over me about 10 minutes later. However the baked beans which I tried her on Tuesday night came back too so not sure if they play a role. Well she seemed ok throughout the day, but I gave her a bottle of formula on the way to church last night and she threw up in the car a few minutes later. This morning she was ok (I nursed her and gave her some oatmeal – no formula). At lunch she ate Gerber Banana Pudding as it was the last jar in the pantry (we met Matthew at Subway after going to the library). She fussed a little but ate the bits of bread I gave her from my sandwich just fine. I brought the kids home and both slept from 2:30 until 4:30pm. Walking in their room, I knew someone had done something. Yes, Braewyn had diarrhea. Cleaned it up but she had more an hour later. Awful!! Well, I threw the formula away yesterday and since her pediatrician said she was old enough, I gave Braewyn a bottle of whole milk with dinner. Not five minutes after drinking about an ounce and eating some food, she threw up all over her high chair! I changed her clothes, let her sit with me to see if she would drink juice and eat a little more (I know, I’m dumb), and within 5 minutes she threw up all over me and my plate!! After getting her out of the soiled clothes, she goes crawling down the hall happy as can be! Tomorrow I’m giving her bread and water and nothing else!! I pray she’s not allergic to milk.

And to get the yucky visual out of your mind, here are some precious shots of the kids from Easter. We had a good morning at church followed by lunch at Ruth Ann's house and our third annual Easter Egg hunt in her backyard. I was videotaping outside so no pictures from that.


Braewyn in her pretty Easter dress. This was the first time wearing a bow in her hair! Thanks, Jessie!


Here are the kids a few days before Easter when I had them try on their outfits to make sure they fit. It's the only one in which you can see all of Philip's little suit.


My precious babies! They love each other so much.

Heartbreaking...

A friend asked me pray for her very good friend who is going through a tradegy. I don't know her friend personally so I'll call her "Susan" since I didn't ask if I could share this need. Susan and her husband have been trying to have a child for 4 1/2 years. They have no children although she has had four miscarriages. Susan was finally pregnant and doing well. At her 37- week check-up, the baby girl was great. Sometime during week 38, the baby strangled in the umbilical cord and died. Susan had to deliver her unborn, full-term baby. I'm sure the nursery was all ready by this time. My friend did say Susan's uterus was shaped like a heart (a partial wall in the middle) and the baby may have been caught on one side and unable to swim away from the cord. I cannot imagine the heartache involved here and wonder why God would allow this degree of tradegy to take place. There's really nothing we can do other than pray for the Lord to comfort Susan and her husband like no other can. What makes it even harder, is that Susan's sister had a baby last month and they live in the same neighborhood. If there was anything which might tempt me to turn my back on God, a situation like that might make me do it. However, another friend there while I was hearing about Susan's story reminded us that our children are not really ours, but just gifts from God whom we are blessed to raise. I thank God daily for Philip and Braewyn and try to keep that same mentality. If they both left me today, I would be grateful for the time I had them and everything they have taught me. But Lord, please bless them as I don't know what I'd do without them.

Matthew's Uncle Gary

Please be in prayer for Matthew's uncle Gary who lives in Kentucky. He was in a serious car accident two weeks ago and has been in the hospital ever since. He broke all the bones in his face including his palate (the roof of his mouth). His mouth is wired shut to allow that to heal and also had a tracheotomy to allow for proper breathing. Needless to say, his wife Debi and children Casey and Brian and their families have been through a horrific time these last 17 days. For updates and the entire story, visit Casey's blog.

Odds 'n' Ends

No More Fire! Last Monday, Sharlene and I decided it would be fun to take the kids to Shogun, a Hibatchi-style Japanese restaurant, for lunch. Philip and Hayden enjoyed the chef's display and Philip even tried to flip his fork around like the man had done with his spatula! Jordan probably ate the most; although Braewyn would have held her own had I let her at the food on my plate! It worked out nicely as we were seated at a table with a couple and their 4-year-old daughter who eat there "twice a week". After the "display" at our table (as I had built up the fact that we'd get to see fire!), Philip decided he didn't want to see any more fire and would get panicky when a chef arrived at any table around ours!

A Doorstep Visitor On Friday, I was in the livingroom with the kids. I looked up and noticed a girl standing at my front door. She was probably in her early 20's and casually dressed. I opened the door and said hello. The first words out of her mouth were, "What is John 3:16?" (My mom was over that day and she has a John 3:16 sticker on her back windshield.) I was completely caught off guard and so stumbled through the Bible verse which I have had memorized for years, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". She commented about it being a religious motto or something and I said that yes, it is a verse from the Bible. I then asked her if she knew who Jesus was. She said yes and that she was Catholic. I told her that Jesus died for her. We talked a few more minutes about Easter being on Sunday and then she began to talk about the program she was involved in (selling magazine subscriptions toward a goal in which to receive a laptop). I might never know if she thought more about our conversation or not, but it was a real eye-opening moment for me. I don't want to fumble over my words when talking about the greatest thing that has ever happened to me: knowing Christ personally and receiving forgiveness for my sins and a promise of eternal life in heaven with Him. It awestruck me even more because just the day before at BSF, we were talking about how stay-at-home moms don't have that many day-to-day chances of sharing the gospel, and low and behold if someone shows up the very next day and asks me point blank about it. It reminded me of another Bible verse which I have heard but had to look up to list here, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15). If you are reading this and have a question about Jesus, please just ask. I'll try to be better prepared this time.

Philip's Latest! I was flipping through the channels yesterday afternoon and stopped for a minute on one of the multitude of home-renovation shows. One of the designers said, "That white wicker screams beach cabin!" Philip, very nonchalantly with almost no expression says, "Why does white wicker scream?" I laughed!!!

Thank you, Fly Lady! After going the entire weekend without cleaning the kitchen (I know some of you are shreeking!), there was not one inch of visible counter space or sink. Nevertheless, I was not going to bed without finishing it. It was a daunting task which I thought would be 3+ hours! I get slower and slower washing dishes as I get more tired. Well, I remembered Fly Lady's crazy holiday cleaning plan which basically says clean for 45 minutes, do something you enjoy for 15 minutes, and repeat until done. This is what I did. In the kitchen for 45 minutes washing as fast as I could competently and knowing that the new box of hand-me-down clothes for Braewyn from Matthew's cousin Lindsay awaited me in the livingroom (thank you Lindsay and Cheryl SO MUCH!!). Next looking through the box for 15 minutes and back to the kitchen for 45 minutes!! I love my microwave timer! I was shocked to be finishing the last item just as the timer sounded. I cleaned the entire mess (yeah, I ain't too proud!) in 1 1/2 hours as opposed to my suspected 3+ hours. Now if I can only keep on top of that sink daily!!

Mommy Day Care... No I am NOT starting a home daycare, but I am a caring friend who enjoyed spending yesterday and today with two of my neighbors' sweet, sweet babies. Yesterday morning, Sharlene asked if I could watch Hayden (2 1/2 yrs.) and Jordan (14 months) for a short time as she had to take a test for work. I said the morning would work better as I would be putting Braewyn down for a nap shortly and the "workload" would be cut down to three kids. Thank the Lord, Braewyn did sleep through half the time the boys were over. However Hayden loves Braewyn and she was excited to see some new faces upon waking up. Today, I watched Frances' girls Lucy (2 yrs.) and Bella (14 months) while she went to a doctor's appointment. Again Braewyn was napping through most of the morning and Bella actually slept in our Pack n' Play for about half the time the girls were over. I do love each of these four precious little ones, but tomorrow morning will be fun just having some one-on-one time with Philip! After that Sharlene and Frances, I'd love to keep your babies again sometime. Each morning did make me grateful that I had not had twins at each of my pregnancies!

I finally did it!

I have been considering changing my blog layout for a while. For me when other people change theirs, I'm usually thrown out of whack until I get used to the new look. Well, I hope you like the new look of mine. The picture at the top is actually one I took myself; it was the view from our front yard one day. When God gives you a rainbow like that, you just can't let it go without taking a photo!!

Easter Thought

This Easter season has been so special as we have a preschooler in the house who is really beginning to grasp the true meaning of Jesus's death and resurrection. No, I don't mean he's ready to write a thesis on it or anything, but the simple gospel truth is taking root in the rich soil of his tender heart. I feel blessed to attend a church with a wonderful children's program. Over the last few weeks of Sunday School and Mission Friends (his 3-year-old program on Wednesday nights), Philip has made palm leaves, a popsicle-stick church, an Easter flower from a yellow-painted hand, and brought home his Sunday School lesson sheets which we review with him.

It warms my heart to ask my little one, "Philip, how do you get to heaven?" and hear him say, "Jesus."

In keeping with the innocence of where he is spiritually, God gave me a realization which is so simple yet something I had never acknowledged or heard anyone reference. Jesus rode to his birth on a donkey (inside Mary's body) and then he rode to His death on a donkey (the Triumphant entry into Jerusalem). In Bible Study last week, our lecture leader said that today donkeys are seen as lowly animals and horses are seen as regal. Yet, in Jesus's day, horses were used in war and donkeys were seen as peaceful animals. Jesus came to this world not to display violence and wrath, but love and peace. If you don't know Him, believe me when I say He loves you immensely! May this be the Easter when you ask Him to forgive you of your sins and you can then celebrate His resurrection personally.

Not Suited To Be A Super Spy

This past weekend out church youth participated in Disciple Now (D.Now) weekend. The premise is that the students attend a conference together on Friday evening and most of Saturday and spend Friday and Saturday nights separated by gender and grade in church families' home. The idea is to draw them closer to Jesus (the conference) and closer to each other (the home time). Prior to having Philip, Matthew and I had been a "host home" for several years, but this year Matthew manned our fort (i.e. stayed home with Philip and Braewyn) while I helped out at the 11th grade girls' home (these are the girls I teach in Sunday School).

Friday evening after having supper at my house, I was getting ready to meet Kim (host home "mom") and Kristie (other adult helper) at Walmart. The three of us have been friends for about five years. As I was leaving my house, Philip was asking Matthew if he could watch the rest of "The Backyardigans' International Super Spy" movie. I didn't know then how my weekend would turn into that movie.

Well, there weren't enough tickets for adults to attend the conference so we served as shuttle bus operators between Kim and Bobby's house (they got married last November and are still newlyweds!) and the conference host-church. The girls didn't say much about the conference, but we stayed up chatting about random things until 1:30am Friday night. Ah, lights out as we would have an early start on Saturday.

Saturday started at 6:00am for me as we made breakfast, got the girls to the conference at 8:45am, and I headed home to take Philip to a "Breakfast Birthday Party" at McDonald's for a friend from MOPS. Next to the grocery store, back home, shower, back to Kim's, made desserts and cut tomatoes and lettuce for our 11th/12th grade cook-out that night. Oh well, suddenly no cook-out as the severe thunderstorms all afternoon left the barn we were to use unusable. Everyone met at a location to swap cook-out ingredients and take portions back to their own homes. Matthew brought the kids over to enjoy dinner with us.

Now comes the super spy part...

Last year, Kim's house was visited late Saturday night by one of the guys' groups who "decorated" her front yard. They hinted that they would be returning this year so Kim was on high-alert. She didn't want them to arrive and us be unprepared as this was her new house. (When they married, she moved into Bobby's house on the farm! His parents own a lot of land surrounding their house and cows literally roam all around it.) We strategized for a few hours after Matthew took the kids back to our house (around 9:00pm).

(Before I get into the details, let me say that I really don't think this stuff should be involved in a D.Now weekend, and will hopefully be more tightly restricted in years to come. With that said, my strict mommy attitude melted into girls' slumber party mode as the hours passed and staying up past my bedtime brings out the silly side of me.)

Bobby had bought a camera to mount over the garage as their driveway is pretty long and it would enable them to see who was approaching (this would be for day-to-day use but just proved extra fun on this night). We also had positioned the garden hose to spray onto the driveway. Our cars were all turned with headlights facing the driveway. The plan was when the boys came down the driveway, douse them with the hose and hit our cars' panic buttons setting off the horns and headlights.

In the meantime (and in the gaps between groups arriving-I'll explain in a minute), we were sitting in the kitchen with all the lights off, watching the TV which Bobby had connected to the camera, crawling to windows trying to peek out the blinds to stare out into the pasture looking for black silhouettes. Yes, we turned on the hose and hit panic buttons several times. We came to find out on Sunday that three grades of boys had planned to deliver plastic Easter eggs to their front yard. They came in separate missions and that's why the multiple "defensive maneuvers". Each time however, we thought they were just outside the garage and so we hit the alarms. Turned out they were still half-way up the drive and would just run back to the street.

Overall, it was fun at the moment but now just seems like a really weird, bad dream. Matthew and I agreed that D.Now should be more Christ-focused and that includes going to bed at a decent hour so as to be alert during the conference on Saturday and church on Sunday. We do have great kids at our church, but things will just run a lot differently if we've involved next year.

Here are some pics from the weekend.


Here is their conference booklet.


The highlight of Kristie's weekend was petting the bull! She fed him some grass too.


Kim and Bobby, a.k.a. "Mr. Wonderful" as the girls call him.


Here are Brittany and Meredith being crazy girls.


Me getting ready on Saturday.

Braewyn's new favorite toy was Kim's ceramic, chicken centerpiece! From left, Bobby, Meredith, Brittany, Kristie, Braewyn, and Cassie. Lauren was our fourth girl, but she had to go to work at this time.

Philip was showing everyone how he carries Braewyn on his shoulders. Matthew looks like a ghost! He says this is the Brooks family totem pole.

The students asked Philip if they could curl his hair, but he said, "That's for girls!" Guess he said yes when they asked if they could gel his hair.


Here is our spy-vision TV. Yes, that's really what we looked at for 3 hours -- a lot of nothing.

My Dynamic Duo

I cannot thank the Lord enough for my beautiful children. One of the best parts about raising these two little ones is watching the relationship grow between Philip and Braewyn. She brings out the sweetest side of him and he brings out her best laughs. Philip told me once (and these are actually the words he used), "Mommy, you know why I always wanted a baby sister? It's because I wanted someone to be in my house who I could play with." His prayer was answered. Here are some photos of them together.

Playing with Little People toys in the livingroom.

This one didn't turn out as planned. They are still so cute, but my first thought was, "This could be on the front of a welfare brochure."

Just hanging out at the Elmo workbench. Braewyn loves standing and being with Philip, so here she's in paradise!

And right before I took this next picture, Philip told me, "Mommy, boys wear glasses so they can be rock stars!" Looks like he's already found his first groupie!!

Where Have I Been?

I know, I shouldn't be asking myself this question; you should be asking me. Either way, I have been busy. I could rent my two kids out to you so you'd understand but I think reading this post will suffice. Just back to the beginning of February with me.

On Friday, Feb. 8, I took the kids to visit Mike, Andrea and Holden for the day. It's just over an hour so a really easy drive but long enough for Braewyn to get a good nap going there and back. We had fun playing with Holden, taking a walk together and enjoying a delightfully warm February day.



Sweet, sleeping boy.



Mike is such a great daddy!



Andrea and Holden, all ready for our walk!





The next day, Matthew and I went booster carseat hunting with the kids. Braewyn had grown to capacity in the infant carrier carseat, and since Philip weighs 30 pounds, the minimum for the toddler booster seats, we would just buy one of those and give his big carseat to Braewyn. The booster seats are also less expensive than buying another infant-to-toddler carseat. Philip was excited to get a new "rocket ship" chair! Here are the before and after shots. You can tell Philip was still expressing his excitement.










By the next Wednesday, Feb. 13 Braewyn had starting running a fever. As she's in the teething age, it's hard to know why she has a fever sometimes. Well, when Philip came down with a high fever over the weekend, we knew they both probably had some sort of virus. I took Braewyn to her pediatrician when her fever was still popping up over a week's time and yes, she had her first ear infection. 10 days of amoxicillin, here we come!

We knew Braewyn felt pretty bad when she fell asleep on the livingroom floor. I had left her sitting with some toys while Matthew took a nap on the couch next to her. This is how he found her when he woke up a few minutes later.


This shows Braewyn at her worst! Poor baby girl.





It was a blessing they were better by the next weekend, Feb. 22-24, as we packed up the car with us and Grandma and headed up the highway to visit Jonathan, Lori, Hannah and Madeline. We would be visiting to celebrate Madeline's 1st birthday. We had a great time together despite Madeline being sick. Poor little girl felt pretty lousy the entire time, but still enjoyed some yummy farm cake and had fun opening pictures.


Here's the birthday girl. More photos to come!






I had Monday, Feb. 25 to rest and repack as Mom, Philip, Braewyn and I had plans to head out the next morning to spend the week visiting my Aunt Cindy, Uncle Greg, their daughter Courtney and her new baby boy Cameron. He arrived on Feb. 18 after a scary emergency c-section, but now mommy and baby were doing well. As the family member who most recently had a baby, I really wanted to spend some time with Courtney soon after her baby boy's birth. We ended up going later than planned as Mom had a stomach bug and was sick Tuesday. We drove down on Wednesday, Feb. 27 afternoon and spent the rest of the week and weekend with them. I really hope I was an encouragement to you, Courtney! Not really sure as I was solo-parenting my two (albeit with help from Mom, Cindy and Greg). Mom would be staying longer into the next week, but I had plans to drive home with the kids after going to church with them on Sunday. However, just as we didn't arrive as planned, I couldn't leave as planned. My car battery was dead after coming out of church! We spent the afternoon getting another from Walmart (20 minute drive from their house -- they live in the country!), and Aunt Cindy suggested I just leave the next morning. And that we did.


Here's a great photo of proud Mommy Courtney and baby Cameron. More photos to come!






After arriving home Monday afternoon, we went to MOPS on Tuesday, cleaned house on Wednesday, attended BSF on Thursday, ran some errands on Friday, visited with Mike, Andrea and Holden yesterday (they came to spend the day at Mom and Dad's) and went to our church's new contemporary service this morning. Whew!! I'm caught up.