Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Overwhelmed With Love
I am truly overwhelmed with how much I love my boys! I'm looking out the window at them playing and feel blessed in a way I can't even describe. Earlier today, I did "preschool" with Dax and some of his friends. Since then, he's been walking around proudly with his little bag of 6 valentine's that were given to him. In the car ride home from picking up Tayven from Kindergarten, Tayven went through and read all of Dax's valentines to him, telling him who they were from. Then there's Harper who's up for whatever his crazy older brothers will let him do. A few minutes ago they were pouring cups of ice water on his head. Before you call CPS, note that Harper was laughing so hard, he could hardly breathe. Maybe that makes you want to dial it faster? Now they're riding in circles on bikes outside singing endless, cute, made-up songs. Another moment of cuteness that I want to hold on to forever. I suppose today is an extra "giddy" day for me as Tayven gets his cast off in an hour! Celebrate good times! We're having a family dinner celebration tonight. I think I'll be smiling all day. The other day Josh and I were reflecting on an awesome day of playing and hiking with our boys. I feel so blessed by these days in our lives. I love my boys and want to freeze these moments. I still see the look of amazement and wonder in Tayven's eyes when we tell him new things about life... as he holds on to our words as absolute truth. I know those days won't last and that it won't be long before he has a mind of his own. What a huge resposibility we have to instill truth in these boys while they are still actively listening! These days are precious, I don't want them to end. Most of all, I wan't to be found faithful to the Lord in how I use them. I know these little ones are a gift from God that are an opportunity to bring Him more glory with. I get emotional thinking of how much I want to hold them close, love them, and enjoy them... but as I take a step back and remember my purpose in this short life, I can only cling to God's grace and pray He is pleased.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Snow!
I know, I know, you can barely see the snow... but to us Auburn folk, this was a great day! Doesn't it make you want to come visit? on your way to Tahoe? C'mon, we've got plenty of room :) I'm hoping some snow will come when Dad, Angi and Danielle come to visit!
Dax loved the way snow felt on his belly and got lots of smiles outside the grocery store.
Playing in our front yard...
Dax loved the way snow felt on his belly and got lots of smiles outside the grocery store.
Playing in our front yard...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Anything to disguise their identity...
Aunt Erin (tia loca!) and Uncle David came to visit bearing gifts. The most supreme gift of all was definitely the horse costume. This treasure not only makes galloping noises when you lift your feet, but it makes 4 different horse "naaay" sounds depending on how you move your head. Yea, who wouldn't want that? Me and Josh even fight over it... but Harper was lucky enough to sport it in the picture above. We had such a great time with Erin and David!
Tayven had a "Soc Hop" at his school so we had to dress the boys in 50's attire. Are we creative with our costumes or what? Here are the boys flexing with their slicked back 50's hair right before we left.
The boys with the Vincent kids at the Soc Hop. It was a really fun night!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
The holidays were hard...
This is a long one, but there is much to say... and there are some fun pictures at the end :)
This has been an interesting week to say the least. We've been anticipating our next baby, enjoying making plans, and even announced our "baby news" on our Christmas cards. I had no idea that this would all suddenly change. On Christmas Day, I miscarried and we lost our baby. It was an emotional, awful, and heart-breaking experience that was absolutely devastating for us. I was definitely not expecting this and felt very blindsided. I had past all the common miscarriage weeks as I was heading into my 2nd trimester. I was also growing, having nausea and preparing myself for a 4th. With complications several hours after the miscarriage, I ended up in the ER Christmas night from 10pm to 5am. What a night. The Lord softened me and broke me. I felt a peaceful sadness... with much weeping.
There was no incident to bring this on, and was merely a "genetic failure" as the doctors like to put it. I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse? I know that it was out of my control... yet that brings a new fear that I can't prevent this from happening again. I have to continue to learn that I am not in control of my life and that I can't have such an agenda in my head. We have so much to be thankful for... I hope to live more in the present and be grateful for all the blessings in my life. I can't remember the last time I have cried this much. Going through this without the Lord would feel so empty. It is a sweet thing to cling to a relationship with Him in a time like this. We have a peace and hope in His perfect plan for our lives. When I saw the tiny creation He had made, it absolutely crushed me and broke my heart... but in the midst of it all, I was amazed at the miracle of creation. I am awed by this verse now more than ever, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works and my soul knows it well" (Ps 139:14b)
It is so hard to write because it is all so fresh and vivid. I praise God for His grace and peace. I am thankful for family and friends who love us and encourage us. I have heard so many miscarriage stories and have found a new empathy for women who go though this and much worse situations. I pray for comfort and humility through this.
"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deut 33:27)
We are continuing to learn and be reminded of God's truth from the encouragement of others. I was reminded today that this is all for the glory of God. Even if I never see what "good" comes out of this in respect to my little life, I know with confidence that God is to be glorified. We are taking it one day at a time.
On another note... our life got even more "interesting" a few days later when Tayven was dancing around and fell. He cried, went into shock and couldn't walk. When we took him to get x-rays, they found a fracture and he was put in a cast yesterday afternoon. He was pretty pumped to pick out the color (light blue) and was giddy when he came home. When friends stop by, Tayven asks them to sign it. Everything is pretty cool in his world. Hmmmm.... but I'm guessing that will last for a day? Maybe two? I'm trying to anticipate the hard days and think of creative things to do with him. I am sad for him to go back to school and sit during recess. He is still very independent and still likes to do things himself. He tries to crawl everywhere- bathroom, to his bed, and even races his brothers. What have we learned? We've learned through this that dancing = wrong = consequences = broken legs. Naaah, he'll be dancing again happily in 4-6 weeks. We've also learned to find humor as Josh has him limp or crawl up to people when they come by to visit and say "God bless us everyone" in a Tiny Tim voice. Truthfully, we hope this spurs on much conversation in Tayven's life about God's plans verses Tayven's, sympathy for others, and opportunities to talk in general as his life has slowed down quite a bit! I know this month or two will be a time to look back on someday. For now, we'll take it slow.
A few fun pictures during Christmas time...
This was taken right before Tayven's Christmas performance at school
Waiting to go in to a bouncy house place. A taste of heaven for Dax and Harper
Christmas morning
Tayven's broken leg and awesome cast!
This has been an interesting week to say the least. We've been anticipating our next baby, enjoying making plans, and even announced our "baby news" on our Christmas cards. I had no idea that this would all suddenly change. On Christmas Day, I miscarried and we lost our baby. It was an emotional, awful, and heart-breaking experience that was absolutely devastating for us. I was definitely not expecting this and felt very blindsided. I had past all the common miscarriage weeks as I was heading into my 2nd trimester. I was also growing, having nausea and preparing myself for a 4th. With complications several hours after the miscarriage, I ended up in the ER Christmas night from 10pm to 5am. What a night. The Lord softened me and broke me. I felt a peaceful sadness... with much weeping.
There was no incident to bring this on, and was merely a "genetic failure" as the doctors like to put it. I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse? I know that it was out of my control... yet that brings a new fear that I can't prevent this from happening again. I have to continue to learn that I am not in control of my life and that I can't have such an agenda in my head. We have so much to be thankful for... I hope to live more in the present and be grateful for all the blessings in my life. I can't remember the last time I have cried this much. Going through this without the Lord would feel so empty. It is a sweet thing to cling to a relationship with Him in a time like this. We have a peace and hope in His perfect plan for our lives. When I saw the tiny creation He had made, it absolutely crushed me and broke my heart... but in the midst of it all, I was amazed at the miracle of creation. I am awed by this verse now more than ever, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works and my soul knows it well" (Ps 139:14b)
It is so hard to write because it is all so fresh and vivid. I praise God for His grace and peace. I am thankful for family and friends who love us and encourage us. I have heard so many miscarriage stories and have found a new empathy for women who go though this and much worse situations. I pray for comfort and humility through this.
"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deut 33:27)
We are continuing to learn and be reminded of God's truth from the encouragement of others. I was reminded today that this is all for the glory of God. Even if I never see what "good" comes out of this in respect to my little life, I know with confidence that God is to be glorified. We are taking it one day at a time.
On another note... our life got even more "interesting" a few days later when Tayven was dancing around and fell. He cried, went into shock and couldn't walk. When we took him to get x-rays, they found a fracture and he was put in a cast yesterday afternoon. He was pretty pumped to pick out the color (light blue) and was giddy when he came home. When friends stop by, Tayven asks them to sign it. Everything is pretty cool in his world. Hmmmm.... but I'm guessing that will last for a day? Maybe two? I'm trying to anticipate the hard days and think of creative things to do with him. I am sad for him to go back to school and sit during recess. He is still very independent and still likes to do things himself. He tries to crawl everywhere- bathroom, to his bed, and even races his brothers. What have we learned? We've learned through this that dancing = wrong = consequences = broken legs. Naaah, he'll be dancing again happily in 4-6 weeks. We've also learned to find humor as Josh has him limp or crawl up to people when they come by to visit and say "God bless us everyone" in a Tiny Tim voice. Truthfully, we hope this spurs on much conversation in Tayven's life about God's plans verses Tayven's, sympathy for others, and opportunities to talk in general as his life has slowed down quite a bit! I know this month or two will be a time to look back on someday. For now, we'll take it slow.
A few fun pictures during Christmas time...
This was taken right before Tayven's Christmas performance at school
Waiting to go in to a bouncy house place. A taste of heaven for Dax and Harper
Christmas morning
Tayven's broken leg and awesome cast!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Christmastime
I love being in Auburn where the light parade brings the whole town together. Every year we go, we wish we would have participated. All we'd have to do is jump on our scooters with a string of lights attached. Hmmmm, maybe next year (we always say). These are a few pictures from that night of festivities... which later included decorating gingerbread houses with the Garates. They have more pictures from this night on their blog if you want to see more...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Thanksgiving
The days surrounding Thanksgiving were eventful and fun for our family. We miss everyone throughout the year. It is always exciting to see the extended family that we rarely see. It is especially exciting when there is news to share. This year we were blessed to be able to tell our family that we are expecting another baby! We are thanking God already for the exciting potential of having a 4th child added to our family. Will we have a family of boys? Or will we have a girl with 3 older protectors? It's exciting to see what God has in store... as we patiently wait until July. Here are a few pictures from our trip:
Family picture with cousin Cal at the Santa Barbara zoo
Fun day with Cal and Rye at the zoo
Cousins
Family photo at Colleen's parents house the day after Thanksgiving. Top row is David, Erin (tia loca), Danielle, Missy, and Chris... awesome aunts and uncles to our boys!
Family picture with cousin Cal at the Santa Barbara zoo
Fun day with Cal and Rye at the zoo
Cousins
Family photo at Colleen's parents house the day after Thanksgiving. Top row is David, Erin (tia loca), Danielle, Missy, and Chris... awesome aunts and uncles to our boys!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Friends
"A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:17
(try not to be jealous of the film quality in these pictures)
Two of Tayven's soccer buddies, Charity and Drew. It's crazy to be at the "soccer mom" stage of life. Soccer season has been so much fun for Tayven and our whole family
Even Dax has a soccer buddy, Aiden, to hang out with on the sidelines
After some inside rainy day games, candy, art, and cartoons, we got our crew to pretend to love posing for pictures. We always have so much fun when the Andersons come! We miss you guys...
Tayven's dear friend Gwen. They are getting older and going to different schools, but continue to have a sweet dynamic when they do get the opportunities to hang out.
(try not to be jealous of the film quality in these pictures)
Two of Tayven's soccer buddies, Charity and Drew. It's crazy to be at the "soccer mom" stage of life. Soccer season has been so much fun for Tayven and our whole family
Even Dax has a soccer buddy, Aiden, to hang out with on the sidelines
After some inside rainy day games, candy, art, and cartoons, we got our crew to pretend to love posing for pictures. We always have so much fun when the Andersons come! We miss you guys...
Tayven's dear friend Gwen. They are getting older and going to different schools, but continue to have a sweet dynamic when they do get the opportunities to hang out.
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