First Half of July 2012

Praise the Lord for a wonderful July!! We got to welcome our niece, Alicia Smith, into the world, spend time with her and spend half of the month in Texas.  Seeing our friends and family in Texas was an exciting break from our calm life in AZ!

July started out with M&M turning 10 months old!!  I cannot believe that their 1 year birthday is rounding the corner!  Mothers always tell me that time goes too quickly and I cannot help but agree.

Shiloh also caught my attention quite a bit when she discussed her prettiness (last blog post) and got me thinking about ways to more intentionally teach all of our girls that they are precious daughters of our Wonderful Creator. 

A few changes Marc and I have made with our girls (mostly Shiloh right now) to help instill this fact are - He tells all of them every night as they are going to sleep that he thinks they are beautiful.
-When I complement Shiloh, I let them her know a character quality that I admire as well as thank her for the action or behavior she just did (I don't do this every time but I try to do this several times a day).  For example, "Shiloh, thank you very much for hugging your sister when she was crying.  That shows compassion- did you know that Jesus shows us compassion in the same way.  By acting like Him, you are not only making Mommy and Daddy proud but also God our Father who created you. Thank you for being compassionate to your sister!"  That may be a mouthful, but for how many time-outs she gets in one day, a lengthy compliment is probably necessary.
-I've also created a bible study plan to do with Shiloh for the next year!  I'm so excited to begin it!

I've also been working on a preschool curriculum for Shiloh.  A few blog posts ago, I mentioned that we have been living on a pretty strict budget.  I've realized recently that a Mother's Day Out program just isn't in the cards for the next year, but I want to make sure Shiloh is learning as much as possible while she's spending time with me at home; to help me make sure I am teaching her, I've made a curriculum for the next 6 months/ish depending on the subject (some things like bible study, math and reading I've got a year plan but for others like science and writing I don't).

At first the thought of making a lesson plan seemed a bit overboard, BUT I get so distracted every day.  I want to make sure I am preparing Shiloh as well as playing with her.  I also have to admit, that because I love a clean house, I can get VERY distracted with keeping it up and will not spend as much time with my girls as I would like.  With my lesson plans, I will give Shiloh my focused attention, which she loves, and teach her subjects in a really fun way. She will never even know she's learning and she will get some great one on one Mommy time.  (When M&M get a little older, they will get in on the fun too)

I have spent several weeks preparing my lessons for our "start of school," and I am so excited for it to begin!  The third week of August we begin Mommy school.  My goal is to treat it like a MDO program- we will take pictures on the first day and have a special breakfast!

Pictures from July:

Mischievous M&M (Zee in pink, Lee in purple)

Sweet girls "helping" with the dishes

10 month Pic (Zee on left, Lee on right)

Playing in the Rain

Zee loving her pasta

Lee loving her pasta

Shiloh's 1st Braids!!

 Showing them Off

Texas trip and milestones- next post :)

I'm Not Pretty Anymore

Reflections from a mother of a daughter:
Tonight I heard a comment that no mother ever hopes to hear from her daughter much less her almost 3 year old.  Shiloh walked up to me and said "Mommy, I'm not pretty anymore."  I looked at her astonished and a little shocked... where in the world would she have ever heard a comment like that and why in the world would she have a thought like that.  I quickly recovered and told her as meaningfully as I could, "Shiloh, you are more than pretty; you are beautiful and by that I mean VERY pretty."

This small conversation got me thinking:
- Could Shiloh have thoughts like that because ME, her own Mommy has felt that? 
- Have I ever made comments in front of Shiloh about not feeling very pretty myself... yes, I have. 
- How can I, a women who fears the Lord, teach my daughter that beauty is inner as well as outer?
- How can I teach my daughter that she is fearfully and wonderfully made... and yes that she is pretty?

I remember reading Captivating  in college and seeing that every woman in the core of her being desires to feel beautiful and knowing with all of my heart that is a very true statement... at least for me I know it is.  For my friends daughter Rylie, who at 18 months looked at me twirling her little dress and said "Am I pretty," this comment is true.  And for my very own daughter this statement is true.

So back to one of my questions: How can I teach my daughter that she is pretty? To touch on that, I have to mention this first,  Marc and I were talking and I asked him why it is that every girl has moments where she doesn't feel beautiful and why those moments could even start under the age of 3.  His response got me thinking even more. 

He said, "People are always telling little girls that they are pretty, and little girls probably watch their moms question their own beauty.  In watching their moms, little girls learn to question themselves."   No, Marc wasn't blaming me... in fact he dismissed Shiloh's comment as a silly thing she just said; however, the fact that the thought even crossed her mind caused me to cry a little. 

I cried for several reasons.  I want to instill in my daughter a confidence that transcends outer beauty and physical appearance; a confidence that will give her the courage to say "No" to peers, "No" to guys and "Yes" to the Lord no matter the cost.  I cried that this confidence could even be slightly questioned when she is so young.  I cried because I believe that I, a pretty confident women, have already somehow transferred some of my self-conscience moments onto my precious daughter.  And lastly, I cried for the moment that she really believes she isn't pretty... a moment that I am now fighting against.

How can I teach my daughter the she is fearfully and wonderfully made... and yes that she is pretty?  I've got to start by believing it in myself.  I've got to know that I too am beautiful... even on days that I don't feel it.  I've got to trust in the Lord and seek him for my confidence... for when I am weak he is strong.  I cannot look in the mirror and find every flaw in myself... rather, when that starts to happen, I need to pray to the Lord and ask him to help me be the beautiful woman he created me to be.  This I need to teach my daughter by doing it myself.

That all being said, yes I work out.  I will continue to do so, BUT my motivation should be more than physical appearance.  It is to be in shape and to be healthy.  I like to be an active person and if I'm not in shape my lifestyle might not be possible.  I actually enjoy running races (10Ks and 1/2 marathons) and I love hiking... to do these things, I must be in shape.  I'm not going to lie, yes I like to look fit too; however, that need not only be my motivation to work out.

I challenge myself to know I am beautiful and I am the woman God has created me to be!  I challenge myself to instill this in my daughter. And lastly, I challenge every mother of a daughter to teach her that she is beautiful by believing it about yourself.

June 2012

June has been a wonderful and relaxing month.  We recovered from all our travels in May (22 days), and spent quite a bit of time together around the house, which was much needed.  I was able to do some more decorating/re-purposing things we already had, and that has made me love being home even more.  I really need to take pictures of our house and post them because it's mostly decorated now! :) (decorating anything is a big feat for me)

In the beginning of June, M&M turned 9 months old!! They are getting more and more interactive with Shiloh and each other which I love!!  They will occasionally fight back when she tries to grab a toy from them and then they will scream to let me know what's just happened.  I love that they will all play together (usually pretty well), and I think it's adorable watching them interact.

Lately, I've been wondering if M&M are starting to develop their own language.  I've heard of twins doing this, and it seems as though they are... but then I also wonder if I am just putting my thoughts onto their actions.  Here are two things I've witnessed quite a few times lately:
- They will be across the room from each other and facing different directions.  One of the girls will make a little noise, and then the other will make a responding noise.  After that, they will crawl to each other and then both crawl somewhere else together.
- In their cribs, they will make little noises back and forth and then proceed to bounce and giggle together.

M&M are so relaxed and happy that their disposition is often contagious.  I love spending time with my two bundles of joy and I have been so excited to see their personalities developing!  They are definitely very different, which is a concept that is sometimes difficult for me to grasp. 

McKinley is much more independent and content, while McKenzie usually prefers another person to be near and is not quite as content.  It seems as though McKenzie often tries to get McKinley, Shiloh, Marc or me to interact with her; although, lately McKinley has been super smiley at everyone while McKenzie seems to be observing everything a little more stoically.  That being said though, McKenzie still needs attentions a little more than McKinley.

ALSO in the beginning of June, Shiloh was fully potty trained... even at night!  All of the articles I read talked about potty training being easy if your child was ready, but I still wasn't sure if she was.  In retrospect, I can say she definitely was!  She was potty trained in 3-5 days and two weeks later we were able to stop using diapers at nap time and night too!!  The thought of potty training stressed me out way more than the act of it!! 

Lately our potty trained, big girl has been exercising her ability to test every limit and to tell us her opinion when we give her instructions.  In general, Shiloh has always been very active and attention seeking, but she has never really been too disobedient. It seems as though the terrible twos are starting to rear their face in Shiloh's direction; however, I have to say that she is still pretty obedient-- she is just into testing us a little more.
The other big change for our family is that we started using cloth diapers!  When I was pregnant with Shiloh, I never thought I'd want to use cloth diapers. My mind really changed when Sami started to use them for her daughter Evie.  I babysat Evie a few times for Sami and changed her diaper.  That changed everything for me... I realized that cloth diapers weren't bad at all. 

When I first found out Marc and I were pregnant, I had been thinking that I'd want to use cloth diapers; however, when we discovered it was twins, I quickly cancelled that idea.  The twins have been really easy to manage lately, so I had been thinking about cloth diapers again... then we had our budget talk and I ran the numbers.  They will pay for themselves in 4.5 months!!! 

Now I want to be the biggest advocate for cloth diapers!!  I LOVE THEM!  If any mommas have ever thought about using them, I say DO IT!  It's been really easy, and it's not near as gross or bad as I thought it was going to be at all... plus their cloth diapers are ADORABLE! 

I'd like to say that month one of our new budget went really well... we stayed underneath our goal and didn't feel too stressed about it. One of the many reasons I was nervous about our financial monthly goals centered around our cutting food spending over half way, which we succeeded at doing!!

Lastly, we ended June with a wonderful trip with Marc's parents to Flagstaff, AZ, another one of Arizona's amazing cities.  Flagstaff sits in the mountains, elevated over 7000 feet!  The weather was amazing as was the city.  Marc and I fell in love with Flagstaff... we will definitely be back.

While we stayed there, we also got to go to the GRAND CANYON!! I have always wanted to go, and it was as amazing as I thought it was going to be!!! 

One other thing that excited me about that vacation was how easily all our girls managed the trip!!  I am SOO happy to say that they can all sleep anywhere now!  We haven't experienced this in TWO YEARS!!  As long as I have pack-n-plays for the twins and a bed for Shiloh, we are set!

Pictures from June and our trip to Flagstaff/Grand Canyon:

McKenzie & McKinley Playing

All Dressed Up

M&M had their First Big Girl Bath (Lee and Zee)

McKinley

 McKenzie

M&M Playing together (Lee in bouncer and Zee outside of it)

 Shiloh let me straighten her hair

M&M 9 Month Picture- with Shiloh

Little Bitties Playing in the Dirty Laundry

Fun Aunt Shelly took Shiloh to a Princess Party

Flagstaff Vacation 

Grand Canyon

At an Animal Farm

On our way to Sedona

Hiking in Sedona



Here are M&M mischievously playing in the cabinets and their CUTE cloth diaper bottoms!

(Zee standing and Lee crawling towards me)

Milestones:
Shiloh:
- she is POTTY TRAINED!!
- she is beginning to identify the sounds that letters make, "b" makes the "buh" sound
- she is starting to identify that words start with certain letters, quoting her: "milk starts with the letter m because it makes the mmmmm sounds"
- beginning to color in between the lines
- she has turned into a little prayer warrior!! (This makes my heart so happy.)  She will randomly pray to God through out the day, quoting her: "God thank you that this wall is not too hot so that I can lean against it," "God, my tummy hurts, please help it to feel better"
McKenzie:
- At her 9 month check up, she was 26 inches long/tall and weighed 15 pounds 8 ounces- in the 25th percentile for height and the 3rd for weight
- can say "mama" and "dada"
- She seems to want Marc and my attention a little more than McKinley
- She will get VERY angry if you (mainly Shiloh) take a toy away from her and show you by screaming
- crawls VERY quickly
- pulls up and walks holding onto things
- opens cabinets and likes to pull everything out of them
- can stand up for about 15 seconds without holding onto anything
- LOVES food that she can feed herself
McKinley:
- At her 9 month check up, she was 27 inches long/tall and weighed 15 pounds 3 ounces- in the 25th percentile for height and 3rd for weight
- can say (or yell) "more" - she is really funny with this one- she will yell "more" at us when her tray becomes empty
- can say "mama" and "dada"
- she seems to be a little more independent and better at self entertaining
- She reacts by screaming about 1/2 of the time a toy is taken away from her, while the other times, she'll just grab another toy.
- crawls VERY quickly
- pulls up and walks holding onto things
- opens cabinets and likes to pull everything out of them
- can stand up for a few seconds without holding onto anything
- LOVES food that she can feed herself

He is enough

This blog may be a little different than most of my posts.  I've had a lot on my mind lately and I'd love to write it here in my online journal! 

When we moved to AZ, Marc was offered what we thought was going to be an amazing opportunity for our family... wonderful financially and a great adventure.  The adventure part has been incredible but not so much the financial part.  Everything that Marc was offered for the new AZ job sounded wonderful as did the salary, but the reality of his working situation was very different.  When he went back to his other job, he took a bit of a pay cut.  This lifestyle change has had it's ups and downs.  It's had me thinking a lot and it's been a HUGE blessing.

First of all, I have to say that if Marc hadn't been offered such a wonderful opportunity, we never would have moved to AZ.  God knows us all so well and I feel like our move here is a testement of how the Lord has given me a desire of my heart.  I have always wanted to live somewhere other than Texas and experience a culture different than what I've always known.  I thought I was going to be a missionary, but the Lord said no to that... how He knows and loves me.  Moving to AZ alone has been a  huge stretch and taken me out of my comfort zone-- I am definitely glad it wasn't another country.

That being said... there are things that are challenging about being here right now, and sometimes I miss my wonderful community and family back in TX; however, I am so grateful for the lessons the Lord has been teaching me lately.  I am thankful for meeting a lot of different kinds of people; I am thankful for experiencing Christianity not in the bible belt; I am thankful for the authenticity of people around here; mostly I am thankful for the ways in which God is growing me as a mother, wife and daughter of the King.

Another huge lesson I've been learning lately is about budgeting even more than we already do and about really striving to live within our means, which has often meant not getting a lot of silly things that I want (not getting sodas weekly, not getting yummy cheeses - brie, gouda, etc, not getting to sign Shiloh up for ballet, not getting Starbucks, not doing swim lessons for all our girls, etc). 
Marc and I both feel very strongly about the necessity to save appropriately, to give appropriately and to spend appropriately.  This hasn't always affected my daily life as severely as it has lately because we now have three expensive kiddos who all have needs that are more important than my own.  I've been learning about sacrificing silly wants to get my girls what is best for them.  Sacrificing these little things allows our family to save each month for our girls college and for a house when we decide to settle down somewhere. In the big scheme of things it is DEFINITELY worth it, but I have to remind myself as I go to the grocery store weekly. :)  This has also taught me about being resourceful.

I've always admired Marc's mom for her creativity and resourcefulness.  She takes the simplest things and turns them into lessons and toys for our kids (empty butter tins, beans and cups, empty jars, popsicle sticks and the list goes on).  I've never known that to be a strength of mine, but lately I've been learning to repurpose simple items around our house... something I've always wanted to do but never really cared to or needed to. 

It's been a fun personal challenge to find activities on Pinterest and then find objects around our house to make those activities a reality.  It's great because it's free fun and Shiloh will never know that I really needed popsicle sticks and closepins rather than cardboard and folded paper to name one example.

The big lesson I've been learning lately is that the Lord knows me and what I need.  If I am being honest here, and well I've probably been a little too open, but if I am being honest, I've always wanted to have enough money to get what I want.  (I know that sounds bad, but it's true).  The Lord is teaching me about how I do not really need $$ to be rich.  We are sacrificing some small little things lately (yes, SMALL little things), but our life has been very rich.  I've been experiencing a creative side that I didn't know I had, and I am loving it.  Not having extra money hasn't inhibited us at all, it's only helped us to think outside the box to do fun, family activities that are free.  Again, I mean it with all of my heart... my life lately has been very rich!  I thank the Lord for teaching me that I don't need everything I want because He is truly enough.

May 2012

After 18 days of being away from AZ, I am happy to be home!!  May has been a crazy month for our family!  We have done quite a bit of traveling, and I am so excited to say that our kids are up to the challenge.  Marc and I both love experiencing new places, and I've wondered how our girls would do.  They were great and adapted really well, which to me means that we can be even more on the go than we already are.  YAY!!

On May 2, Marc and I left for Vegas for my brother's wedding!  It was the first time I've been to Vegas as an adult, and I was actually reallly impressed with the city.  I didn't really think that I was going to like it, but I would love to go back.

We had a great time celebrating my brother's marriage!!  I can't talk about the wedding without mentioning Marc's mad dance skills!!  For the past 4 1/2 years, he was pretty much holding out on me.  He impressed everyone with his worm across the dance floor and his super fun dance moves!!  I had a great time dancing with my hubby, my brother, Stephanie, her family and my family!

I thought my mom looked really pretty, and I loved this picture so I had to include it!!!

My brother and beautiful sister-n-law!!!!

This was our first trip away from all the girls, and we had a wonderful time reconnecting with each other and the Lord!  After the wedding, we stayed at a B&B in Sedona, AZ.  If you haven't been to Sedona, you must add it on your places to see list!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!  We hiked, hung out and SLEPT!! (Although the girls are all sleeping well now, parenting is still tiring!!)  Overall, we had an amazing time together!

Here are some great pictures that Marc's parents sent us while we were gone:

I love that Shiloh's Suzy is also wearing a hat and a shirt :)

Marc's parents said that M&M scooted together like this on their own

Here are some pics of Sedona:

View of where we went hiking

About 1/4 of the way to the top-- we hiked/climbed part of the huge rock formation you see in the background

The day we got back from Sedona, we had TWO hours to get everyone ready and then head to the airport.  It was a little hectic, but we got all the girls packed and loaded up and then went to TX!  M&M handled their first flight wonderfully, and Shiloh loved it because she was able to watch DVDs the entire time. 

Pictures on the plane (this is from TX to AZ):

Once we arrived in TX, we hit the ground running.  Although we were really busy the entire trip, we enjoyed seeing many of our friends and family.  I cannot believe that in 10 action packed days, we were not able to see everyone or do everything I was hoping.  I am really glad that we are coming back in July!

We celebrated Marc's birthday while in TX!! Here is Shiloh helping Marc blow out the candles.

Shiloh held Ty's hand for the prayer!!

Mother's Day!

In retrospect, it was selfish, but I decided that I wanted to celebrate Mother's Day with just my family of 5 this year.  We celebrated my mom and Marc's mom on different days, but I wanted this day to just be good family time for me, my hubby and my girls.

After being in TX for 10 days, I went to Kansas City to see my best friends from Baylor!!  We all live in different states, which gives us the opportunity each year to visit someone in their hometown!  I'm excited to say that I am next!! This year Jenny Bee did a great job of hosting and I had a wonderful time seeing some of my closest friends!  I love you girls and look forward to seeing you all again... I wish it were sooner rather than later but that's okay!

While I was away, my dad and Molli helped out with the girls!! Here is an adorable picture of my dad helping Shiloh roller skate!

When I got home to AZ, I had some great quality time with my family!!  Marc and Shiloh even played chess together.  Yes, he did actually teach her some of the rules; however, she managed to sidestep those and use her pawn to take out all of his pieces.  He jokes that she beat him. :)

Girls milestones:
Shiloh (31 months/ 2 1/2 years old)- 
-She can now hold a conversation with several different thoughts. 
-She can talk on the phone and make sense (mostly).
- She's hilarious and keeps Marc and I on our toes constantly with the stuff she says and does. 
- I love that she adores her sisters!!  She still cannot tell them apart, but I've been working on it more and more lately.
- She is getting really close to being ready for potty training! She has used the potty several times, but still isn't convinced that is the method that she'd prefer.  In a week or two, I would like to do a potty training boot camp.
-We laugh a lot at her and with her.

McKenzie (8 months)-
- She can crawl quickly
- She pulls up on things
- She can take a few steps while holding onto a piece of furniture
- She can babble (making these sounds: mamama, dadada, bababa & gagaga)
- When I place her hands in position, she can hold the bottle for herself.  She would rather not hold it on her own though.
- Still a great eater- she's getting more of an opinion and won't open her mouth for everything I offer, but overall she eats pretty well
- She can pick up food with her thumb-finger/ pincer and feed herself
- She has two bottom teeth and can mash food
- Marc and I have noticed that she is a little higher maintenance than McKinley and that Shiloh seems more drawn to McKenzie.  We are interested if this is just because she's a more mobile or if it's because her temperment is a little more like Shiloh's.

McKinley (8 months)-
- She can army crawl
- She's trying to regular crawl and can make it about 4 movements and then goes to army crawling
- She can wave to say hi when she sees someone
- She can and tries to hold her own bottle.
- She can pick up food with her thumb-finger/ pincer and feed herself.  Her fine motor skills (especially in this area) are more superior than McKenzie's.
- In the past few days, she has attempted to stand up on the stairs but it has not been successful
- She can babble (making these sounds: mamama, dadada, babababa, & gagagaga)
- She hasn't been the best eater lately, but we're hoping it's because she hasn't felt very well the past few weeks.
- She has two bottom teeth and can mash food
- Marc and I have noticed that she seems to be the most independent of all our girls.  We're interested if this will keep up.

Twin moments: Lately, M&M are interacting more and more.  They will follow each other around and crawl places together.  They will pass objects back and forth between each other, and sometimes it seems as though they are talking.  They will make noises at each other and laugh together.  Shiloh loves trying to entertain the two, and they often laugh at her when she is goofy.