The Hard Questions

"When will my right side heal?"
"Why is it harder for me to ride my bike?"
"Why do I have to go to the doctor all the time?"
"Why can't we hug Sydney when we have a cough?"

These are just a few and I know some of you have even harder ones that your little ones ask. What is the right answer? I am learning a lot in this area. My girls are getting to an age where they are very observant about what is going on around them. They see how others act and know when something is different. And so we have been answering a lot of questions.

They way I may answer these questions in a year may change but as of right now we talk about how God has made everyone different. I think kids connect to real life examples, something they can see. So we have watched lots of videos of little kids having a cast put on, or someone putting on a shirt with a weak side. I let them see videos of adults who have overcome so much and still trust God's plan for their life. My personal favorite video is one of Nick Vujicic. He challenges you to be thankful for the things you are able to do and it is amazing to see the things he has pushed himself to learn how to do with no arms or legs.

I have a friend who has children with cystic fibrosis and they visited a family who had boys with asthma. When her daughter saw the boys doing a breathing treatment, she stated that they were doing exactly what she has to do. It was normal. When we expose our children to other things that are different then we can begin to normalize it.

We took Liana to Constraint Induced Movement Therapy Camp about 2 years ago. At the time she wore a brace (AFO) on her foot that had little hearts all over it. When we walked into the camp, there were about 10 other children there. And then Liana got so happy and pointed to me a little girl, "Mommy, her brace looks just like mine!" It was the first real time Liana had been in a room with other children that were in the exact same boat as she was.

One thing we talk about a lot is how we can help others. We talk about the experiences we go through will be used one day to help someone else. We told Adleigh about a little girl with a heart condition recently and Adleigh prayed for her daily because she made an immediate connection with her own heart issues.

As a mom, the best thing I can do is show that with whatever situation we have, that it can be overcome and that God can use those things for good. He can show His glory through those situations. It takes having a positive attitude even when you are having to fight back tears and a lot of leaning into God for His strength. But I know my children will be strong, have their own story to tell one day and will be able to help so many others with their personal experiences.

Let Him inhabit the praises

I've been reading "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young. I am loving it. Thankful for my sweet husband that got it for me.

One devotion that I keep thinking about is one she wrote on praise. I think my spirit has been so open to that topic since Pastor Steven recently preached a whole series on thanks and praise at church. So I loved when I read, "It is impossible to praise or thank me [God] too much. As it is written, I inhabit the praises of my people."

Isn't that such an amazing thought. That when we thank God or when we praise Him that we are in more intimate place with Him. Our praise can be an overflow like when we get amazing news and praise Jesus for His goodness and blessings. Or it can be more planned like when we sing a worship song to focus our mind and heart on Him.

I think one of the most important things moms can do is to praise and thank even when you feel more like crying and screaming. Sarah Young goes further in her devotion by saying "when adversity strikes and you thank Me anyway, your trust in My sovereignty is a showpiece in invisible realms." This reminds me of Job. Even when the enemy threw his worst at Job, Job stilled praised the Lord. And we can imagine God talking to His angels about the events and beaming with pride at his servant Job.

So even if you get bad news at your child's next doctor appointment, praise God that you are able to go to the doctor and get medical attention. Praise Him that you have support around you to get you through this. And praise Him that God loves your child so much more than you ever could and has His hands on your child.

When you get great news that you just got a better job, praise God that He has blessed you financially. Praise Him that you are able to work hard.

What event is happening in your life right now, whether good or bad, that you need to stop and give Him praises. No matter the situation send your praise and thanks to Jesus and let Him inhabit them. Are you giving God enough opportunities to inhabit your praises?

To read more about praying with thanksgiving when you ask something of God you need to read Holly Furtick's blog. Check it out here.

Community

Yesterday, I had my eGroup with other moms who have special needs children. We have moms representing autism, brain injuries, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, paralysis, rare neurological genetic conditions. So as you can tell we have a lot to talk about. But we didn't have this group until a few months ago and I can't imagine a month where I wouldn't meet with the ladies now. It is such a fun group and we encourage each other. When I thought about what we deal with in my family, I knew that we should have an eGroup with other moms like deal with these issues too. It helped that one of the ladies in our group basically told me I had to start it :)

Our first book was Desperate: Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breathe. It is such a great book and talks about the need for our generation of women to have community. Way back in the day, people didn't really leave their hometown. So you lived where your mom, grandma, sisters, cousins all lived. You had instant community. But what do you do now when you live 5 hours away from them all? You have to make a new community.

I am now listening to a sermon series from Craig Groeschel called Friending. He says that we should have around 5 friends that would pick up your phone call at 2am and help you no matter what, but most Americans only have 2. How many do you have? What do you need to do to open yourself up to friendship? It takes work to keep your friendship up but it is so worth it to have people you can do life with. More importantly the way you invest in your friends is the type of friend you will get back. If you need a friend who says they will pray with you then you need to be a friend that prays for them.

The one word I keep getting when I think about making my community is "intentional." What are you doing right now that is developing your friendship with someone? What are some steps that you can take that may be out of your comfort zone that will have a lasting impact on you and your family? I want my children to grow up and remember our home as open, inviting, lively. But that takes work...seriously you have to clean and cook and not burn your food. Are you up to the challenge? It is worth it!

10 Reasons to buy Only King Forever by Elevation Worship

It is release day!!! I am so proud of Elevation Worship and their new album Only King Forever! Our church has been singing these songs for several months and every single one of the songs on the album is seriously amazing!! My personal favorites are Last Word (see the last post) and The Love of Jesus because they mean so much to my family walking through Sydney's cystic fibrosis.

You can get it on iTunes right now and it is only $9.99. Here is the link to download and you will truly be blessed. /elevat.io/n/okfitunes 

If you are on the fence if you should buy it then here are 10 reasons you should:

1. Amazing songs...great quality. Sometimes that a little harder to find in christian music.
2. Our worship team is truly amazing. If you sat down with any worship leader, singer, musician you would love them.
3. So many resources. If you are in a church and want to sing these songs, Elevation Worship has made it so easy to get chord charts, lyrics, video tutorials for each song. Check it out here: http://elevationworship.com
4. These songs are written from our journey as a church. We see what the people of our church are going through and these songs reflect them. If you need songs that speak to the situations you are going through what better album than this?
5. The songs are life-giving, energetic, encouraging, hopeful. Your spirit needs to have more songs like these.
6. Song lyrics stick with you. Would you rather have the lyrics to Miley Cyrus's latest song in your head or songs about Jesus? 
7. You get 14 tracks. That is $0.71 per track. You can't even buy a bottle of water that cheap.
8. If you are going through any illness or hardship then you need this CD. This songs are the words I didn't know how to express with all that we have walked through with prematurity, cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis. I truly get chills each time I hear this CD because of how powerful these words are.
9. If you hold off buying 2 Starbucks drinks you have your Only King Forever album paid for. You can do it :)
10. Finally, because your whole entire family will want to listen to this. I play this CD while I cook, get ready, drive for errands and then I look at my 5 year olds and see them singing along. That's when you know that you have placed something amazing into your children. When we worship we focus on Jesus, not on our circumstances. There is hope, there is peace, there is life.

I am so proud of our team and truly believe you will love this CD. Go get it now: elevat.io/n/okfitunes 

Last Word

I am so excited for this weekend. We just opened our newest Elevation campus in the Lake Norman area! And to top it off the new Elevation Worship album is being released to our church. If you don't attend Elevation you can get it on the 14th :) The sermon was absolutely amazing so you don't want to miss tomorrow!

Every song on the album is seriously so good! I don't cry and I get teary-eyed every time I listen to the album. One of my friends texted me the other day and said, "Ever since I got the new album, I just drive around in my car crying. These songs are my favorite." So with all that being said make sure you get one!

But I wanted to share with you guys one of the reasons this album means so much to our family. Wade started writing the Last Word with our daughter Sydney in his mind. We had been given the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis several months before. She had spent her first 4 months with an ostomy bag, taking enzymes before eating, and her lungs being checked all the time. We were going back in the hospital for her ostomy reversal and kept thinking about how Jesus has the power over her body instead of a condition. We would get discouraged but we heard Pastor Steven's message in the hospital and knew Jesus was in control. I remember Wade sitting in the hospital room humming the melody to this and beginning the chorus of "you have the last word, it is finished." It is so awesome to see how it transformed and became such a powerful song and one that our church sings with so much passion.

Worship music has power. One song can lift your spirits because you sing truth about our Savior. The enemy wants you to think your situation is hopeless, that there is no reason to believe in something better. But Jesus has told us he has all power and his spirit is with us. I love the bridge to the song:

Your word stands through the ages
Your voice shatters the darkness
In you we are more than conquerors
You speak and strongholds surrender
Your name overcomes the enemy
In you we are more than conquerors

Your situation may not go away. We still deal with Sydney's cystic fibrosis. But when we trust in the Lord and when we focus on Him instead of our circumstances you will be able to walk through it. You will be able to see hope in the situation and overcome!

Here are the videos to the story behind the Last Word and the Live Version.

Big Steps

I remember some of our physical therapy sessions with Liana when she was first learning to walk. She started walking around 21 months (18 months corrected). We even have a video where I would say to her "little steps, little steps" as she walked across the room. I posted it on this blog before but here it is again. Isn't she the most adorable tiny walker?!?

I am thankful that Liana has Adleigh with her. I know not everyone has a built in playmate to bring to their therapy sessions but there is something about having someone to race against or play catch with. It is always more fun to turn everything into a game. Today Liana had PT and it was so great to see how she had gotten better at some of the activities in just the last few months from us practicing at home. I loved this picture of her taking big steps to really stretch her legs and she did it 10 times in a row!

Therapy has been so beneficial for her. She has learned so much and gotten so much stronger. But we are reaching a point where I wonder what our next step will be. I know I always want to keep some type of PT or OT in her life as a checkup on how she is doing and to help us with her AFO. But I wonder if taking away some therapy and replacing it with dance, gymnastics, or swimming is the way to go.

Last summer we went down to 1 therapy a month for OT and PT and had the girls in swimming and I saw a lot of strength in her weaker side develop. But then the girls started getting nervous about the water so we had to take a break with it. I know we will do swimming again this summer but more likely just recreational instead of them feeling like they have to go to lessons. So I am now considering dance. Have any of you gone down in your PT and OT numbers and did an extracurricular activity instead? I would love to hear what has worked for your family!

Add Velcro

Liana has to be one of the most patient and determined little girls I know. Of course, she can get frustrated sometimes but she has a spirit about her that will keep trying. I am so thankful God made her this way and it is such a blessing to see her conquer something and the giddiness she has afterwards.

Since the twins were little, we tried lots of different tricycles. We had a radio flyer one, a fisher price one and we tried various ones at therapy. But none of them ever worked that great and the girls were never super excited about riding them. Last year we got them scooters and we finally had some excitement, but Wade and I really wanted them to learn how to ride a legit bike.

So for Christmas, Santa brought a two wheel bike (with training wheels) and the girls were so happy they had their first real bike. That week Wade went out with them to practice and that's when were unsure if we had made the right choice. Liana was struggling to get her bike to move. She would see Adleigh going all over the place and get discouraged. Wade being the incredible dad he is helped push her and told her learning to rides bikes is a process. She came home saying she had fun but I could tell that she was bummed. Our problem was that her feet didn't want to stay on the pedals. It may have something to do with leg strength or how she goes on her toe when she walks but we needed a solution.

We knew we needed to do some kind of modification to her bike so I looked up pedal toe clips, straps, etc to figure something out. It was going to take a while for stuff to get here and I wanted her to have a victory before she decided biking isn't for her. So we pulled out some velcro and wrapped it around her feet onto the pedals. Now I know that when we decide to take off training wheels we will need another option because if she falls then she can't put her feet down, but as of now and with our helmet/ kneepads/ elbowpads/ gloves we should be good.

I let her go around the house to practice since it was cold and raining that night and first started following her on my knees with my hands on her feet doing the right motions for her. Then we progressed to calling out "left foot down" "right foot down" while she moved her feet by herself. And then it clicked and she was doing it all by herself. One time some velcro got loose but she was still able to to push the bike! To say we were excited was an understatement! She was so proud of herself and said "I kept trying and now I can do it!"

How simple was the solution but how incredible was the result. Adleigh and Liana are so excited about their bikes now and all it took was a little velcro for Liana to feel like she was on the same level as Adleigh. I can't wait to take both of them out for a real bike ride now :)

Here is Liana riding with and without velcro:

And then we had 3

I have a birth story for the twins on here so this is Sydney's story.

After you have twins, it takes a little while to get up the courage to think about another baby. I loved having twins but that first year is hard. And when you know you will now have 2 other children running around instead of focusing your energy on the new baby/babies you take your time. Not to mention what in the world would you do if you have twins again! But Wade and I eventually decided that after 4 years we could try again.

This time around we would pray for our baby and we did pray for specific things like a happy baby or a chill baby since we had 4 year olds, but the biggest prayer and the one we prayed everyday was that our baby would be healthy. And Sydney's pregnancy was the best. I even felt good enough to go to Australia when I was 22 weeks with her (hence her name) and we had no concerns. I was getting the pregnancy I had been praying for. Sydney was breech forever but around 38 weeks she turned and then waited until the night before I had to be induced at 41 weeks to decide to come.

I told Wade at 8pm on Nov 5th that I was starting to feel contractions and by 10pm they were about 3 or 4 minutes apart and incredibly painful. I have a high pain tolerance so I figured if I was in that much pain then it must be about time to head to the hospital. When we got there I found out that I was only 3cm dilated but that I had apparently been leaking the amniotic fluid slowly for awhile and there was none left. The contractions were much more intense since Sydney no longer had any cushioning left. I tried so hard to have a natural childbirth but finally at 3am I got an epidural. The contractions were never going down so I had no rest and couldn't get any sleep. Once the epidural happened I was able to rest a little and around 7am I was 10cm dilated.

The next couple of hours were the worst. Apparently Sydney was sideways now so her head was stuck in the birth canal. I pushed for 2.5 hours but Sydney wouldn't budge. I had been praying that I wouldn't have to have a c-section and we were so close but the doctors told me about 3 different times if she didn't come soon then we would have to do a c-section. The last resort was the vacuum and after about 3 pushes with that she finally came out.

It was the best moment ever. Born at 11:12 am weighing 8lbs 6ozs. She was perfect. Big. Full-term. Healthy. Everything we had prayed for. She was even able to nurse right after she was born, something the twins had never been able to do.

Then after a few hours she started spitting up a little blood. And a doctor came to say he was going to take her to get some test done in the NICU. We couldn't believe that our newest daughter had to go to the NICU too, but we convinced ourselves it would be nothing and there would be a simple explanation. About an hour later, the doctor came back and said her abdomen was filled with air and they had to do emergency surgery. We found out her intestine had ruptured and she came out of the surgery with an colostomy bag.

It took a few weeks to figure out what was going on with Sydney. We were told Hirschsprung's disease until the tests came back negative. When the newborn screens came back, we got our answer. Sydney was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, double delta-f508 mutations. Wade and I cried. Getting that news was ridiculously hard for me. All 3 of our children are NICU babies that had pretty intense issues. Sydney had to stay in the NICU for about a month. I was scared and I didn't want to go through all this again.

Even though it has been hard to receive this diagnosis, I began to see how God had prepared our family for this. He brought us through so much with the twins and He had us in a church that always supports us. He brought Wade's family up to Charlotte so that we now had help. God has always been with us and He wouldn't leave us now!

Our biggest prayer throughout Sydney's first year was that she would stay healthy and be free of coughs. And we got that! She has actually been the healthiest one in our family so far this year. We did go back to the hospital in 2013 to have her ostomy reversed and right after her first birthday for some stomach issues but she always recovered quickly.

One of the biggest changes has been in me though. I am now a mom to 3 girls that each have a medical issue/ special need and God has opened my eyes to show me how this is going to be quite a journey. A journey of learning more about God, growing as a mother, learning patience and more compassion, and  seeing each of my girls as His child first. My girls are beautiful, precious and have been formed perfectly by their creator!

Tell your wife to journal these things

So it has been several months since my last posts and a couple of years since I have blogged regularly and honestly I figured my blog was dead. I just kept it here so I could go back and look at certain events that have happened in the last 6 or so years.

But then about a month ago someone told my husband, "Tell your wife to journal these things." I thought about the physical journals I have and most of them either get lost, packed away or who knows what else. The only place where I know I can find stories is here. So instead of letting this sit forever and refuse to post because I got out of the habit, I decided I want to journal these things down here.

The Twins
How fun is being 5?! The girls are full of joy and laughter. Exactly what we prayed for them when they were still being formed. They started TK last week so we can have 1 more year to get a little bigger and stronger and be some of the oldest in their Kindergarten class instead of the babies. I am so happy we made that decision.
Liana is doing wonderful and having this extra year of play and shorter days will be great for her. She has gotten so good at using her "pretty side" and can now turn the wheel both ways on the outdoor Barbie Jeep. She can dress herself now and will remind us to put on her brace so that her ankle can be strong...this is certainly a huge shift from when she would cry because she couldn't wear flip flops (although she still gets some flip flop time too). The cast that she had a few months ago helped her so much. She is doing great now and having a brace to wear at night seems to work really well for her.
Adleigh is doing great and stepping into being a protective sister. We encourage her to help Liana at school. It is hard to encourage your twins to be different people but still not want one to get left out. But I think that is something they will learn to master as they get older. We overheard a child asking Liana about her brace and then Adleigh piped in, "I had a hole in my heart but now it is fixed."
Seeing the girls grow up and watching how twins interact is fascinating. They get along so well at home. I do think they will be incredibly close as they get older.

Sydney
She is the sweetest and the craziest. This kid is vocal and non-stop. She is crawling everywhere, wanting to walk so bad, and trying to tell everyone what is on her mind. I think spirited is the perfect word for her. It is so fun having a single baby after you have twins. Everything seems so much easier and you feel like you can do anything with just 1 baby. So far Sydney has had a healthy first year. We have had 2 coughs that needed antibiotics and we continue to do breathing treatments, chest therapy, enzymes and medicines. I hope we can get the vest soon because chest therapy is the hardest to get her to do. She always wants to chew on the percussor. She has 5 teeth now too so she is chewing on everything! Since the last post, Sydney had her ostomy reversed and did super well! We have had 6 months with no bag and it honestly feels so weird remembering we used to change a bag instead of a diaper.

I am such a blessed mom and so thankful for these 3 miracles. I have been praying Psalm 103:2, "Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits." God loves each one of these girls more than I ever could. I can't wait to see how each of their lives will unfold and excited to know that each one of them already has a story to tell from their own life of God's goodness, love and protection.

ASD, casts, and ostomy bags

The next few weeks and months are going to be pretty crazy at our house and I wanted to let those of you that have been praying for us to know specific things you can continue to pray for. We have significant prayer requests for each one of our children so I am going to break it up by child.

Adleigh: She has had an ASD (hole in her heart) since birth that we were hoping to close on its own, but it is still open. This hole doesn't cause her any problems now but if left untreated she would have significant heart problems as a young adult. She has a surgery scheduled Jan 31st to repair the hole. The doctors will go through a vein with the device to implant it in her heart so our hospital stay will only be overnight. Adleigh gets very anxious about medical stuff so pray for the surgery and recovery to go well and pray for wisdom on how to talk to her about the upcoming surgery.

Liana: Most of you know that Liana has hemiplegia (weakness on her right side) which causes her to walk on her tiptoes. She wears a brace on her right foot but right now she cannot get her foot in a 90 degree position. Based on her orthopedist's recommendation,  in the next few weeks she will get 2 shots of Botox in her foot muscles and then wear a cast for 4 weeks to help stretch her muscles. She has been having a lot of foot pain so hopefully this will help have her foot in a position that is more comfortable for her. We are also in the process of changing some of her therapies so we have more freedom to do fun activities that she enjoys so pray for wisdom in that.

Sydney: We had Sydney's first Cystic Fibrosis clinic this month and everything looked great. We love our team of specialists and they all think Sydney is adorable. We received the results from her sweat test which also confirmed the CF diagnosis. Our goal is to continue to keep Sydney and her lungs as healthy as possible. We are praying that her symptoms as she grows will be nonexistent or mild and that there will be a cure during her lifetime. We also met with her surgeon about her upcoming intestinal surgery so we can get rid of her ostomy bag. The plan is to do that in March. That will be a 4-6 day hospital stay. Pray for this surgery to go well, quick healing, and no complications.

Thank you for keeping our family in your prayers! 

O Lord, you are my God!

I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame.

For you have done extraordinary things,

and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. (Isaiah 25:1 NET)

Pray for Sydney

I thought I had finished using this blog, but it seemed to be the best way to let everyone know how you can stand in faith with us and pray for Sydney and how to update you on her journey.

To get you up to speed, Sydney was born Nov. 6th at 41 weeks. She seemed completely normal for the first 12 or so hours but then started spitting up blood. The doctors sent her down to the NICU and x-rays showed that Sydney had air in her abdomen. She had emergency intestinal surgery and they discovered her sigmoid colon had ruptured because her meconium was very thick and backed up. The surgeons had to give her a colostomy bag and we were unsure of what caused all this to happen. 

However, this week tests came back and Sydney has been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. It is a very serious condition and to find out more about it you can go to cff.org.  When we imagined adding a third to our family we hoped for a healthy full-term newborn with no complications. To have this diagnosis has been difficult for us but we know that there is a purpose in this situation. We have hope in our God who has been so good to us and who performed miracle after miracle in the lives of our twins. We are blessed by an incredible team of doctors and nurses, and are very encouraged by the medical advancements we are learning about for treatment of CF. Ultimately we know that the doctors do not have the last word, and trust that Sydney's future is in the hands of Jesus. So we are going to believe for another miracle, and would ask that you all join us in prayer. Here are the things we are specifically praying for:

• There are mild and severe cases of CF and it is impossible to tell now what hers looks like. We are praying that she will have a very mild case with no symptoms and that she will have a very long life. Specifically pray that her lungs would be strong and healthy and that her pancreas would function normally.

• Pray for her to stay healthy and free from sickness. This first year is extremely important for her long term health.

• Pray that God will get much glory through her story and her  life.

• Sydney has been in the hospital now for over 2 weeks so we are ready for her to be home. Pray that she can make progress with her bottle feedings so we can leave the hospital.

• She will have her intestine reattachment surgery sometime in early 2013, so pray that it goes smoothly.

• We still have weekly therapies for Liana and Adleigh had a heart procedure scheduled for 2013, so pray that God will continue to heal them and help us manage all of the different treatments.

We have been extremely encouraged by our Elevation Church family and feel so supported during this time. The scripture we have been praying over Sydney everyday has been Psalm 103:1-5.

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Thank you for believing with us!

Oh wow, an elephant

Liana does this thing where she will make an elephant sound whenever we see or talk about an elephant. So of course I tried to get in on video forever and like all tricks you say your kids can do they end up never doing it on demand. So I finally got one video where we ask her about a thousand times what sound the elephant makes and she does it! But to make it even more awesome, in the video you hear Adleigh say, "oh wow" super clear. She is becoming quite the little talker.

Christmas Photo Shoot

This is the last set of pictures that I have been meaning to post. But hopefully I can keep thinking of some stuff to post after this so that I don't have a blog drought for 3 months :)

Pastor Steven Furtick gave our family the gift of a photo shoot for Christmas with the amazing Sean Lyon. We got all decked out in our Christmas clothes and we loved the pictures! The girls look so beautiful in their red dresses. Thank you so much Pastor for the amazing gift! I love the picture of Adleigh pulling off her shoe...definitely a great picture of her crazy personality! And you will see in a lot of these Liana is clapping, that is because the best way to get their attention and to make them smile was to sing "If your happy and you know it, clap your hands." She would always participate!

Liana Walks!!!

Liana has been taking a few steps for about a month now, but Thursday during her physical therapy she decided to really go for it. She walked back and forth across the room almost the entire therapy time. Her highest number of consecutive steps (with no help) was 18! Obviously I ended up getting the camera after she was getting tired so her best ones were at the beginning of therapy, but this video will show you just how amazing she is!

God has been so good to us and He has used our girls countless times to show us how mighty He is and that He answers our prayers, even the audacious ones! Liana has come a long way from the preemie they wanted to take off life support and it is all because of our might God! Enjoy the video.

Family Pictures with The Schultz's

I am back for day 2. What up?!??!

I have two sessions of really amazing pictures that our friends did for us and I knew that some people would really want to see. Today I am going to post some pictures done by Cheyenne Shultz. Here is her website. She and her husband Geoff are absolutely amazing and we loved taking our pictures with her. You should definitely check out her site if you are getting married because you would have the most amazing pictures!

Anyway...here are some of the awesome family pics.

Christmas 09

(Awkward moment for how long it has been since I have blogged)

Glad we are done with that now :)

I just starting getting sad the other day that I had all these thoughts captured from the first year the girls were born and lately it has been so long since I have done anything. I am letting too many memories escape without being captured on my blog!

So I have a whole bunch of pictures I want to upload in case any of my family or friends still read this blog. I'll start with our Christmas pictures since that is the most recent.

The girls loved Christmas! This year you could tell that they knew that they had new things and they seemed in awe as they walked/crawled into their decked out playroom and kept going back and forth to all the things "Santa" had brought them.

Here are just a few pics of opening presents and playing with the new toys in the playroom.

VISIT FROM MY PARENTS

My parents were able to come see us a couple of weeks ago. They live about 2.5 hours away so it isn't really far but it is enough so that it is a treat when they come! I got some great pictures of the girls with their Mimi and Papa (at least that is what my niece Pressley calls them).

BABY DEDICATION (babies in our case)

I know that Adleigh and Liana are gifts from God to us, but dedicating them last Saturday showed family, friends, and fellow parents that we want to honor God with how we raise our girls. I don't think I realize sometimes how serious our jobs are as parents. We need to be daily teach our children about their Savior. More than anyone on the planet our children will look to us for answers and maybe more importantly will always observe how we practice our faith.

Our Lord is to be lifted high and His glory to be told to all. Our children need to know of how marvelous our creator is and how he loves them in a personal way. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for our girls and can now see them so healthy and perfect. God has done so many miracles in their life!

Here are some pictures of that special day.

COMING THIS WEEK

I was fully prepared to write a blog tonight but my brain is frazzled. Instead I will let you know I have a few blogs that are coming your way.

1. Baby Dedication

2. A NICU friend run-in

3. Of course the playroom pics...I have to get it clean first!

Those are the blogs I know are coming. I'll be posting soon!

THE TOY ROOM

Even though I am a graphic designer I always have such a hard time trying to decorate my house. I know what I like when I look in a magazine. I know what styles my eye tends to gravitate to. But when it comes to implementing it in my home I just can't do it. I realized that I mostly fall short in the details. Our playroom is one of my favorite rooms in our house. But I feel like it is lacking some detail. So when I saw this Flickr pool of Toy Rooms, I have found some ideas that I might could put into our own playroom. Click here to take a look.

I think my favorite has to be this one. It is practical and full of color. I am loving the wall of shelves so the kids can see all their toys. And the two tables are great for trains, coloring, and all kinds of goodness! I am so sad I didn't paint our playroom before we secured everything to the wall!! I'll post pictures of our playroom soon.

Photo Link