Fun Weekend

This weekend we traveled to Lubbock for Paxton's 3rd birthday party. We had such a great time and stayed super busy! I am pretty sure we are all worn out!

April 20, 2010

Paxton and me on the day he was born!

I got the text at 3 am that he was on his way and then couldn't go back to sleep, I was too excited. So I hopped in my car at 4 am and made it to Lubbock by 6 to surprise Lace. That was such a special day!

The handsome birthday boy and big THREE year old!

We got in on Friday afternoon and since my kids did not nap in the truck it was a little chaotic. But once I got them fed, bathed and jammied, they had fun playing all together. Our husbands went hunting for the night so after the kids were down for bed, us Mamas enjoyed a quite night of chatting and watching Friends!

The girls playing!

Mason loved being chased by Maddox and Harper!

She kept up with the big boys!

Having fun with all the kids!

Princess playing with Harpers little make-up vanity toy. :)

All the "big" kids taking a bath! Making sweet memories!

Saturday Lacye and I decided to get out with the kids to a little adventure to the new children's museum at the science spectrum. It is for kids 5 and under and it is AWESOME! All the kids had a blast! So did we! :)

Ready for our outing. Lacye and her brilliant idea of not only matching our kids but putting them in bright colors so we could easily spot them in a crowd of kids! But really an excuse to make them match, ha!

5 kids ages 5 and under! Look at all those car seats!

Bring on the fun!

Mallory driving the fire truck

The boys playing

Mason driving the police car

Mallory making friends on the slide

Playing some music!

Future news reporter?

Mason loved the water works area!

(If you have young kids, I highly recommend this for a fun inexpensive getaway! They have a huge play area, a veteranarian clinic full of stuffed animals to care for, a market with shopping carts and a scanner, a music making room, the news desk, that water works area, and lots of other fun toys to play on! And it's one gated off area so you can manage without having an adult for every child. So fun!)

Saturday after naps was Paxton's big Thomas the train birthday. Lacye did an awesome job making it super cute!

Blowing out the candles! 

Check out the super cute cake, cookies, and creative train food bowls! Loved it!

Mallory driving the car

Mason pushing the car

The girly girls,  matching of course!

The kids loved walking around their huge yard!

My big boy and his train shirt enjoying the party!

It was a fun weekend watching our kids play together and celebrating another birthday! Now we better get busy preparing for baby Harper's big FIRST birthday in June! Thanks again for a fabulous weekend! Love you guys!

OYW

April 24, 2012

Life this time last year?

Miss Sara came to visit the babies

And she helped me feed them

We went on a walk sitting in the stroller for the first time

My chubby boy

I took these pictures to remind me of the chaos of having two infants in the house! Bottles, lots and lots of them!

My kitchen always looked like a bulk baby supply store! 

Would you believe that this supply would last us only 2 weeks!

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a busy but pretty low key weekend. Those are my favorite. Just doing things with my fam! Our air conditioner stopped working last week right before the cool weather came in, thank goodness. On Friday my smart husband fixed it with the help of the two monkeys of course. I love having a handy husband. Definitely saved us several hundred bucks in labor! Plus his little apprentices looked so cute out there in Daddy's tools.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party for one of our friends boys at a jumping place. The kids had a blast running everywhere. Mallory followed all the big girls around and talked to them. And Mason ran around just yelling at everyone.

Saturday after nap we played outside. I had watered my new grass in the backyard which made a little mud puddle so Dusty thought it would be fun to wet all the dirt and let the kids play in the mud. He clearly decided this while I was inside and without thinking about who gets to clean up the mess!!! It was ok though, the kids had fun jumping and falling in the mud. And hey, I got a couple cute pictures out of the chaos!

Sunday this Mama got to sleep in and then we spent the afternoon hanging out around my parents pool. If the weather would just stabilize maybe the water will get warm enough to actually swim in!

Also on Sunday, the buggies turned 17 months old!! How is that even possible?!

The Miracle of April 20th

April 20th

I write this post unsure of if I am even going to publish it. Today marks the anniversary of a momentous day in our lives. Two years ago we received the news that we were expecting. Although we were still so uncertain of the future, turns out that would be the end of a long painful journey to starting our family and the beginning of an amazing adventure of parenthood. In the 20 months leading up to April 20th, 2011, we endured much heartache and defeat. And although that journey is still much too personal and painful for me to share with you in detail, I do want to share this...

There is hope even in the most hopeless situations.

You see, medically speaking there is no explanation as to why I would be blessed with two beautiful and healthy babies only 7 months later. And although I do believe modern medicine played a large role in helping us receive such a blessing, my hope was in the Lord.

I prayed, many nights in tears with my face on the floor, for that day to come. The day where my bitterness would be turned to gratefulness, and my sorrow to joy. I learned an incredible lesson of patience and God's timing. I hope one day to share the inconceivable details that piece together so perfectly, that it could have only been the work of God. But I just want to remind you, there is hope.

We didn't learn until a couple of weeks later that we were being blessed with two miracles, but here is an excerpt from my private blog post written the day after our incredible news.

April 21, 2011

an update and a surprise

It is official. Mr. B and I learned yesterday some exciting news! I am PREGNANT! Yay!!!

I know it is a little tough to read, but it says "YES+" :)

Here is where the surprise part comes in. I tested again on Tuesday night and it was still positive, very very positive. But I did not want to get too excited until Dr. B's office confirmed anything. I went to the doctor yesterday for my pregnancy test. The nurse called me that afternoon and told me my progesterone was 157 !! First of all, that is a great number but it is also high. Of course I am on supplements so she quickly reasoned the high number to that. She called back about 1 hour later with my HCG result and said. YES, you are certainly pregnant. In fact, your beta levels are very high! At 2 weeks past ovulation we hope and expect to see numbers between 60-200. Your level came back at 1600 !!! Then she told me that this could be a good indication of twins possibly triplets but there are documented cases of singletons with levels this high as well so we won't know anything until your first ultrasound. WOW !! I am so thrilled and excited and nervous and completely emotional.

I return tomorrow for more monitoring of my levels, as we should expect the 1600 to double over a 48 hour period. As long as things are progressing nicely with my HCG levels we should be scheduled for a 6 week ultrasound in about 2 weeks.

We feel so blessed and feel that God has a plan for this pregnancy. We pray that it is a healthy baby(ies) to start our family and we know that He is guiding us every step of the way.

My specific prayer (in case you would like to pray along) is not only a healthy pregnancy but is for a successful first ultrasound. I just pray that we would get to experience the joy and overwhelming feeling of seeing and hearing our baby(ies) heartbeats and that it would be reassuring and a reminder of God's love.

So I consider myself quite blessed. Not only do I get to spend my life loving these two babies, I look into their little eyes and am reminded daily of God's love for me. And it is so very humbling to see the miracles He has worked in my life, ones that I feel quite undeserving of.

As I celebrate this day in our lives, I also ache and pray for those struggling to become parents. I've been there and it is a hopeless feeling. One that makes it very tough to see the other side. One of my favorite songs (Hope Now by Addison Road) gave me much motivation through our journey and brings me to tears to this day...

"Everything rides on hope now. Everything rides on faith somehow. When the world has broken me down, Your love sets me free..."

These two, they're my hope.

OYW

Catching up from last week...

April 10th, 2012

And this weeks edition...

April 17th, 2012