Pink and Blue

What we were told 2 times before was confirmed today...we're having a boy and a girl!

This is a picture of our babies, looking pretty much at the tops of their heads. They have their heads together right now, which I think is so cute. They both showed us how they could drink, wave, and reach for their toes. Every time I see them, the reality sets in more and more. I cannot wait to hold them!

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I had the sweetest ultrasound tech today. She talked me through the entire ultrasound, which took almost an hour! She described each thing she was looking at and told me that every little bit of our babies appeared to be measuring and functioning normally. She had no hesitation when she checked the gender so we'll be having a mix of pink and blue this summer!

Baby A is our girl. We're happy for you to meet her...
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And our boy is Baby B. If you look closely, you can see that he is waving at you. His hand is above his face and you can make out the fingers.

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Our day turned out to not go at all as planned. Shane was supposed to go to morning meetings at church then we were going to head over to a friend's house around noon to drop Silas off before heading together to the doctor's office. But poor baby Silas woke up at 3 in the morning with a stomach virus. I heard him crying so went to his room where I found him with a mess all over his crib and himself. He just kept saying, "wipe!"

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We were up the rest of the night and by early morning knew he wasn't going anywhere today. I talked to the doctor about how to keep him hydrated and by 11 the plan started working. He fell asleep a little before noon as Shane got home to take over.

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We are extremely thankful that Shane got to go with me on our unexpected visit to the doctor because that was when we were first told it was a boy and girl. So we were together for that big moment. We're also thankful that Silas napped today and is now sleeping. He did not have much of an appetite this evening but hopefully his tummy will rest and he will be back to his normal self tomorrow.

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I did think as I was driving to the doctor's office that this was probably only the start of balancing life with three kids!

My Random Saturday Evening Post

I am sitting in bed enjoying my latest favorite evening snack, blueberries and whipped cream...yum! And I'm gazing over at the sweet baby things we bought today. I had forgotten how small newborn clothes are. Just looking at them thrilled me. I can't wait to have babies in the house again. I would take a picture of what I bought, but it would give away gender. Our big ultrasound is on Monday and I can't wait to tell everyone what we're having!

While we were at the mall I saw a lady with a stroller that had two tiny babies in carseats. I knew it had to be twins so I stopped to chat with her. It was a fun moment. She gave me good stroller advice so I left feeling like I had not only connected with someone, but had learned something too.

We had dinner with some dear friends of ours tonight. They are adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia who is a doll. Please pray for their paperwork to be finalized. Once their documents are in order, they will plan their travel to go meet her and bring her home. Silas and I pray for that sweet baby every day and we can't wait to meet her.

Friday evening we had our annual middle school girls' retreat. The girls all spent the night in homes but we met up at the church earlier in the evening for a daddy-daughter night focused on real beauty. It was sweet to see the girls there with their fathers. Made me miss mine!

Last year we did a fashion show for the girls. Part of it was a spoof and Shane dressed up in duct tape. We made Silas an outfit, too, which was so funny. I realized that we never shared a picture so here you go...
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And here's our little man this year right before we left on Friday afternoon. Even after his haircut, he still has a wild and unmanageable wavy hair that I absolutely LOVE...

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And just because I don't want to forget, I have to share this little tidbit. Silas came home on Wednesday morning with his first art project from church. Because I keep him with me during the Sunday School hour on Sunday mornings, he doesn't participate in the craft times. So now that I'm getting to go back to Mom 2 Mom on Wednesdays, he is getting his first real structured class-type experience. The teachers said he did great, and I think his coloring skills really show promise... :)

Holiday Favorites

We had such a wonderful time the week of Christmas. Here are our highlights. They are not in order of what was the most meaningful, but in the order in which they happened.

1. Getting to skype with my parents the evening before we headed out of town. We opened presents, read the Christmas story, and prayed together. It was sweet...
And Silas loved the new chair they got for him...

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2. Getting to be in Illinois for over a week. It was wonderful to just be there, not feel hurried, and not be rushing home. We stayed with Shane's mom and Lee. Unfortunately, in my pregnancy haze I did not get any great pictures of them. So because I have been reprimanded by the family before for putting silly pictures of them on the blog, I will refrain. Judy and Lee, know that we so appreciate you letting us crash with you for so long. It was a gift. Hopefully next time I'll be more with it.

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3. ELMO. Oh, the anticipation when he realized what was in the box...

I can just hear him saying, "Mommy, I really love my Elmo."

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4. Time with Shane's brother, Wes and his wife, Brooke. Or as Silas likes to call them, "Uh-Wes" and "Ahn-Book". Silas still randomly asks about them. Sometimes in the car as we're driving or maybe when he's getting up from a nap. It is so cute.

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5. Sleepy Silas still napping on daddy's shoulder after falling asleep in the car after an outing. Isn't the scenery gorgeous? There's a great hill heading down to the lake behind the house that Shane sledded several times while we were there.

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6. Seeing friends that we rarely see. Life is so different now that we all have kids. But so much fun! Some of our friends even have twins, can you tell?

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7. A new backpack. We've left the diaper bag days behind. But he looks so big, don't you think?

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8. Silas in his new Jordan's that Uncle Wes picked out for him. Shane had these shoes when he was younger. Too cute...

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9. How packed our car looked on the way home. There was a sleepy baby next to me...

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Two beasts on one side in the back...

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A whole bunch of stuff tied down on the other side...

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And more stuff in the front seat...

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10. New DVDs that Silas loves. We watched one this morning. Silas got Baby Einstein's Numbers Nursery from us. He tries to count the whole way through. Grandma got him a DVD I asked for because my friend Rebekah suggested it. It's LeapFrog's Letter Sounds Factory. Now that he's watched it about 3 times, Silas is already beginning to put letter sounds with the letter. He can do b, c and s consistently. I can't get over it!

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This picture is from today as he watched his video after our long trek in the snow outside. We both needed a break. Sigh and smile. And yes, Silas got a haircut last week...

Hope You're Sleeping Better than Me

It is 3:20 in the morning. One of the strange things about this pregnancy is that while I am tired most of the time, I have a hard time sleeping through the night. I already get very uncomfortable and if I wake around this time, I usually am so thirsty that I can't go back to sleep. And something about drinking a lot wakes a person up. So here I am.

The thirsty thing is a new phenomenon for me. I've always had to force myself to drink what I considered even a reasonable amount. Now I am so thirsty in the mornings that I easily drink 30 oz of water before 9 am!

I went back to the doctor today for a regular appointment. I waited over an hour to see her. Thankfully I had my little purse Bible with me so I got to have some time with the Lord. I read in Deuteronomy about how He sets life and death before us. We get to choose what path we will take. I was reminded that there is abundant joy and blessing in choosing obedience, which is life. I love that right in the middle of putting life and death, blessings and cursings out to us, He promises that obedience is not out of our grasp. We can obey. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. What a Savior...He gives us all we need.

Our little babies are doing well. We may even know what we're having! I'll wait to fill you in when we know for sure after our big anatomy ultrasound, which is just over a week away.

Well, it is now 3:43, I've drank (drunk? - can't ever remember) a whole glass of water and need more. So I'm off. We're supposed to get snow on Saturday so if we're just hanging out at home, I want to put up some Christmas pics. So late, I know, but it's too fun not to share.

So Now I'm Just Resting

We took an unplanned trip to my doctor's office this morning. A little while after getting up, I started having some pain. It was enough to get us concerned, so we called the doctor and headed in as quickly as possible. Some good friends offered to come get Silas, which was a blessing.

Before I even got out of bed this morning, when the house was still quiet and everyone else still sleeping, I read the following in Colossians 3:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

It was scary to be driving to the doctor, not knowing that might be going on. It was unsettling to hand Silas off, not knowing how long we might be away. I have to admit, I had a lump in my throat the whole time until we heard those little heartbeats.

But still, even when I was in a place that I never wanted to be, the Lord kept bringing His Word to mind: Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ was seated at the right hand of God early this morning when I didn't even know what the day would bring. He was reigning with God as we got the news that everything looked perfectly fine. He was high above all else when we saw our babies kicking their feet, moving their mouths, and looking as much like little people as ever.

But I also know that if we had received different news, heard that one or both of our babies were not well, or left the appointment with a whole lot more on our minds than "get some rest", my Jesus would still be all-powerfully, all-lovingly, all-knowingly sitting at the right hand of my Father. My life would still be hidden with Christ in God.

So tonight, as we sat together in bed as a family of 3, looking at pictures of our babies, joy overflowing, my thoughts were very much on things above. He is so worthy of our praise, just because He is.

Now, are you ready for this? Here's what we get to see every time we visit the doctor...two babies right next to each other. Is that not the sweetest picture you've ever seen?

Looks like Baby B (on the left) has it's elbow in Baby A's ear...just a little sibling love.

A Welcome Ending

We have lived in Louisville 2 years exactly. In that 2 years, Shane completed a 90-hour master's degree that usually takes students at least 3 years to finish. And he did all that studying, going to class, reading, and writing papers while being on staff at our church as well as watching Silas 2 1/2 days a week. Exhausted just thinking about it? Try considering that this last semester he took 18 hours, one of which was Greek Syntax.

I couldn't be more proud of him than I am for how he focused deeply for 2 years, soaking in all that seminary had to offer. But he never did it at the expense of our family. Shane has spent countless hours with Silas and can tell you in just as much detail as I can about his eating, sleeping, and playing habits. There was hardly a night that we didn't all have dinner together. And the puppies always got their walks. Our marriage is stronger now than ever, which is a testimony to how the Lord uses our circumstances to change us to be more like Him. We have never been more sure that we are exactly where the Lord wants us to be.

The actual ceremony was a sweet time of celebrating this welcome ending to a long journey. Here is Shane, receiving his diploma from Dr. Mohler, the seminary president...
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And chatting after the ceremony with Dr. Stinson, whose whole family has been a blessing to us in countless ways. They have the greatest twin middle schoolers and were thrilled to hear about ours...

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Shane's mom and Lee got to come down to celebrate with us, which we loved...

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The graduation weekend was also the start of our Christmas holiday-ing. Grandma and Grandpa brought one of Silas' gifts, a wagon. He loved it. It is still in our living room so just about every day he asks for "wa-wee" (can't quite get wagon) and "ride". Then one of us pulls him from the living room to the dining room while he squeals and says "wheeeeee..."!

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I do not think that Shane quite yet feels the freedom from all his classes because he picked up most of the slack around the house while I was so sick. Hopefully now that I'm feeling better he will get to revel in his accomplishment.

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Love you, babe. We are incredibly proud of you!

SAHM

Yesterday (Saturday) I slept in till 11 am. I cannot remember the last time I slept that long. Thirteen hours in all. It was glorious. I did wake at 8:30 when Silas started to stir. But Shane graciously offered to get him up so I could keep sleeping. What's great is that I also napped a bit in the afternoon while Silas was napping.


Silas decided he really didn't want to fall asleep on his own yesterday at naptime. I'm not sure why, but he kept standing up in his crib crying. So I did something else I haven't done in forever...I rocked him to sleep and just held him for a long time. It was so sweet. I kept thinking what a gift it was that I would get to do the same thing two more times. I can't think of anything I would rather do. It was especially sweet because last week I was extremely busy at work and was away from Silas more than I wanted.

But all that is changing.

I was especially busy because I was finishing up paperwork, tying up loose ends, and getting ready to pass client information on. Friday was my last day at work. As of Friday evening, I became what someone somewhere affectionately termed a SAHM (stay at home mom).

Several people asked what I will do with my time.

Here's my list for this week:

1. PLAY, even if play means dumping out the laundry basket, putting items back in, and dumping it out again. Over and over.
2. Put away the random items that are still laying around from our Christmas travels.
3. Skype with family.
4. Read. I have the best books right now.
5. Blog.
6. Decide whether or not the slippers I got for Christmas are too small. Exchange them if they are.
7. Figure out how to use my new steamer (so excited about this, it might move to #2 on the list; it may revolutionize who does all the "ironing" in our house; I'll keep you updated).
8. Write a note about child speech and language development to a friend; I promised this too long ago and haven't yet delivered!
9. Rock Silas to sleep at every naptime if he wants.
10. Savor long, leisurely dinners with my boys.

Sounds like a full week. I'm now headed to bed so I can rest up for it...