tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69301549926561970462024-03-05T12:39:45.034-07:00What's Cooking?My journey through marriage, grief, life, parenting, friendships, and of course, all things culinary.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.comBlogger167125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-73035440639806718592015-05-18T15:07:00.001-06:002015-05-18T15:07:13.643-06:00Laurel BoxI'm so excited to share with you all this very dear and necessary new company that my sister in law, Johanna, has just started with her cousin, Denise. I've never been asked to review a product or website before, so bear with me as this is a new way of writing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.laurelbox.com/" target="_blank">Laurel Box</a> is a small company that was recently started to provide thoughtful, hand selected gifts for women in seasons of grief, difficult change, or loss. Each item has been thoughtfully created to bring comfort and tenderness to a woman who has recently experienced the loss of a child, a miscarriage, or a significant change in her life.<br />
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For Johanna and Denise, this idea was born out of the desire to want to help several friends who were experiencing losses of babies and loved ones. These precious women were feeling at a loss for what to send to their friends as a way to show love and support. So they created laurel box.<br />
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One of the cool things about their company is the desire to create unique items that can only be found on their website. They found a local tea shop in Denver who created three unique tea blends just for their company. And the same goes for the three essential oils they have for sale. A wonderful woman who makes oil blends did the same and created them just for laurel box and for seasons of grief. There are precious necklaces and charms so you can wear your baby's initials, or a lovely silver or gold locket to wear with a photo of your loved one. Two beautifully stamped tea towels to hang in your kitchen or bathroom are a great reminder of God's promises to always be with you in your time of grief and sorrow. One of my most favorite items is a birthday candle to light for your loved one on their special day. I can't wait to do this for Molly! There are even more products to share but I think a look around their website would be better than reading about it here.<br />
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Please check out their <a href="http://www.laurelbox.com/" target="_blank">website</a>! It's so amazing what these two beautiful souls have done in such a short time. I plan on ordering a few items for Molly's birthday and when I get them I will write another review with pictures of what I got.<br />
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Thanks for reading and taking a peek at Laurel Box. It's sure to inspire you and be a perfect place to go when you want to offer support and love to someone going through a difficult season of life.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-3739057715216976952015-05-18T14:08:00.001-06:002015-05-18T14:08:43.144-06:00Zeke turns ONE!!<br />
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Can you tell what the theme of the party was?? Bow ties for our little nugget Zeke! It's pretty amazing how fast a year goes by. He's so darn cute and loves his big sisters so much! He's also pretty fond of his Daddy.<br />
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His party was a success in pulling off when it came to the decorations and theme, but as for the attendants, it was a smaller group and one of the partyers had food poisoning and lost his lunch all over the floor shortly after Zeke bit into his cake. The two families who came were leaving and I was nursing a very fussy Zeke in his room when he decided to join the "puke party" and lost his cake all over his white carpeted bedroom. The thing to note here is that his bedroom is the only bedroom upstairs with carpet. In fact, most of our house is hardwood or tile with the exception of the basement bedroom, movie room, and his room. <br />
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I promptly bathed him and spent the next half hour on my hands and knees scrubbing and willing the purple mess out of the carpet. (He'd had some purple carrot baby food prior to cake) I was pretty irritated to be cleaning up this kind of mess on the night of his special birthday but then quickly reminded myself that this was part of the process and something I would soon forget or that would fade with time.<br />
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You probably were looking forward to reading about babies throwing up when you opened this post, right?! <br />
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And since there's more to Zeke than his tummy troubles, I will give you a quick flyby of what's he's currently into and what life is like for him.<br />
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-He can crawl pretty fast and pulls up on furniture, but is thankfully NOT walking or attempting to walk yet. I am perfectly happy with this mode of transportation.<br />
-He is a stair master and makes a beeline for them as soon as possible. But remember the floor situation in our house?? The stairs are all wood and so we make it a point to follow him up the stairs whenever we hear his pudgy little hands smacking the stairs. <br />
-Zeke and Rainey love each other. Rainey loves to giggle at him and run away from him squealing, as if tempting him to chase her. He usually grins and starts crawling toward her for more laughs. <br />
-We all love to tickle him and get him laughing, especially me.<br />
-He's learning what "No" means, in particular around mealtime and the throwing of food off the high chair.<br />
-As it turns out, we're pretty sure he's allergic or has some sensitivity to dairy which means no milk or cheese or homemade frosting on cake! Bummer!!<br />
-He also loves swings, his rocking chair, and anything that lulls him to sleep. Jake gave me a hammock for Mother's Day and I got in it with Zeke and within 10 minutes he was snoring. It was a sweet little time with my little guy.<br />
-His first haircut was a success! He doesn't look like a baby much anymore now that his hair is trim and clean cut!<br />
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Hope you enjoyed the photos!!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-64027524503027917022015-05-18T13:05:00.001-06:002015-05-18T13:05:41.182-06:00Halfway to double digits!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our sweet Piper and Lily turned 5 last month and had 8 of their little friends over for a tea party complete with handmade hats, white gloves, necklaces made by the girls, and ring pops to complete their outfits! I had so much fun with their party and they enjoyed it too. It was so sweet to see them welcome their friends and offer them gloves and necklaces to wear. </div>
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Enjoy the pictures!! Zeke's 1st birthday photos to come next. </div>
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-65883527336443931422014-07-31T15:11:00.002-06:002014-07-31T15:11:11.390-06:00The lunchtime scrambleAs I sat down to make yet another feeble attempt at eating lunch, another request rang out from one of my kids. I smiled to myself and got back out of my chair to meet yet another need and I thought about how much can happen in less than an hour. It feels like a marathon sometimes. I decided I should write this down, one for the memory books when I miss the days of having toddlers and small children running around our house.<br />
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<i>One hour earlier...</i><br />
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I check the clock and it's nearly 10:30 a.m. My mental alarm goes off that it's time to feed the baby again which will take about 20 minutes to do. As I'm quietly rocking in his nursery while he eats, I realize that as soon as he finishes eating it will be close to 11:00 and not far off from lunch time so I know that when he's done I will need to get lunch started. Zeke finishes nursing, which is just about my favorite thing I do each day, and I head back downstairs to the kitchen where it feels like I live all day long. I start a pot of water for a box of bunny pasta mac n cheese for the girls and as soon as I say bunny pasta the twins start getting super excited as if we haven't had it every other day for weeks now. Wow, if only I could get that pumped up about what I ate for lunch!<br />
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While I'm putting Zeke on the play mat, they eagerly ask if they can help with lunch and I decide it's worth it to slow down and take the extra time to teach them how to cut up the strawberries I had just pulled out of the fridge. After washing their hands, Lily and Piper both drag a little kid chair over to the counter and ask me to tie on their aprons. I hand them each a pile of strawberries and a bowl and they start cutting away. <br />
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Meanwhile the water for the pasta is angrily boiling on my stove and Rainey is tugging at my legs with that starved look in her face as if she hasn't eaten in days. I balance her on my hip while I show her how to pour the box of dried pasta into the hot bubbling water. She wants to eat one first so while she's crunching away, we pour the pasta in together. I set the timer for 8 minutes and then ask Lily to get three plates and bowls out for lunch. She and I lay them out on the counter, complete with spoons and forks. I dump strawberries on each plate while we wait for the pasta. This is when I realize that I need to eat too. I put Rainey down on the floor and she promptly runs over to a very vulnerable Zeke lying on his play mat and lays down next to him. I'm just thankful she didn't lay down ON him. <br />
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The timer on the microwave goes off and I set about draining the pasta, mixing the sauce, pouring it all together and then into various colored bowls. As I'm getting their plates filled, Rainey discovers how close she is to stuffing her face and with all the noise she can muster, she wildly gestures toward the island where the plates are.<br />
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As the three girls eat, I load my plate with leftover lasagna from the night before and start cutting it into bite-sized pieces before I realize that I don't need to cut my food up like I do for the girls. Oh well, I guess it will heat up quicker this way. I pop it into the microwave and fill up my water bottle bottle while it heats. <br />
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I'm setting my plate at the table where Rainey is eating and just as I'm sitting down to put a forkful in my mouth, she starts making the sign for "more" and saying, "deh, deh, deh, deh, deh, deh...". I am amazed at how fast these kids eat. I start getting her more pasta when the older two start asking for something to drink. I give Rainey back her bowl and start filling cups with water. Just as I'm handing out beverages, Zeke starts crying and flailing is chunky little legs and Rainey is saying, "deh, deh, deh" and signing for more food again. I scoop out more strawberries onto her plate and more pasta and then I go to pick up the baby and fully intend to sit down and eat this time. I am swallowing my third bite of lukewarm lasagna when Rainey tells me in her cutest 22 month old voice that she's, "dah done" and waving her hands in the air. OF COURSE she's all done and I am just getting started!! I tell her to wait while I eat a few more bites and then I have to put Zeke in a bouncy so I can clean her up before she smears cheese sauce in her hair. Not that the addition of cheese sauce in her hair would matter since there's a nice thick layer of greasy, water resistant aquaphor lotion in it from a few days before. Oh but that's a story for another day.<br />
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I'm wiping her hands when the doorbell rings and it turns out to be our painter with some samples for me to look at. Sure, I have time to look at samples, it's not like I need to eat so that I can continue to make milk for my chunky little guy.<br />
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The girls run off to do more playing and Rainey is content to read books in the corner of the living room and then chuck them to the side when she finishes. After I select a paint sample, I quickly finish eating before I get interrupted with...<br />
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"Mommy!!!! I had an accident in the bathroom!!"<br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-43104443251074168672014-05-06T20:55:00.002-06:002014-05-13T06:52:20.052-06:00May I introduce you?<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Once the fourth kid comes along, some things get moved to the back burner right? In our sleep deprived state, the mind gets a little fuzzy and forgets things such as telling family members the entire name of my newly born child, how much he weighed, or even how the birth went. </span><br />
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And so it went for us this time around. It's not like we didn't know a baby was about to be born and join our family, it's that we were busy doing other things with our little ducklings that we forgot about the whole birth announcement email thing. </div>
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SO... here it is. Just shy of 4 weeks late, but who's counting?? And oh yea, if you don't have time to read the enclosed tale, skip to the end for the important details.</div>
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Friday morning, April 11th, I got a phone call from my doctor asking where I was and what about that induction we had planned for that day. "Well," I told him, "we have three small children we can't find childcare for, that's what happened." I had been having pre-labor contractions for 3 straight days (and nights) now and was six days past my due date. I was beyond ready to meet this baby and so completely done with being pregnant, it wasn't even funny anymore. But I wasn't about to drag my three little girls to the hospital with me to be traumatized by the birth of their brother or the fact that their beloved momma was screaming in pain. So I was fine waiting till we could get some help with the girls. </div>
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My doctor invited me to come see him at the office and get checked to see if I had progressed since I had been in, 3 days prior. As I sat in the exam room, with my two 4 year olds holding my hands, I muttered under my breath, "I seriously doubt there's any change in my cervix." Much to my surprise, I was 4 cm. Three days before that I was at a 2 and had been for almost a month at that point. So to go 2 more cm in that amount of time was progress, people. Dr. Austin told me to come back to the hospital in an hour to get checked into a room and get ready to have this baby. Apparently they were understaffed and needed 60 more minutes to get ready for one more patient. I guess I wasn't the only one about to have a baby. </div>
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So we went to Chick-Fil-A where I ate breakfast in between contractions while the girls played on the indoor playground. Did I mention we had all three of our children with us this entire time? My phone rang and it was Dr. Austin, again, this time telling me to not delay and get back to the hospital. They were ready for me. And I was ready for them. </div>
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Jake pulled up to the hospital to drop me off, making me promise that I wouldn't have this baby without him there, because he had to drive back to our house to leave our kids with some amazing friends of ours. Before he left, I hauled my huge self into the back of the minivan to hug and kiss my sweet babies. Jake asked the twins if mommy was going to be strong or weak when I had the baby and Piper yelled out, "Weak!!!". We both laughed and then Jake asked it again and once more they called out the same answer, "Weak!!" Oh well, so much for a pep talk from the twins. </div>
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I checked myself in to the hospital, signing papers for me and my sweet baby boy. Then they led me off to my room where I got my IV (after three, painful tries), hooked me up to the monitors, and made me pee in a cup. My doula (that's a birthing coach for you non-hippy folks), Kyla, showed up around the time they started digging for a vein in my arm and that was nice to have someone else to talk to while my arms were hurting, not to mention the contractions I was STILL having here. </div>
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Then Jake called to ask me where I had put some box or cord to a computer. "I don't know. You'll have to look yourself, I'm in labor!" I spouted off before reminding him to hurry up and get there. </div>
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I don't know what time it is at this point, probably sometime around 12. Jake arrived and we set the room up with pretty white christmas lights and a sweet labor blessing flag that was made at my baby shower complete with prayers and verses from my friends. </div>
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Dr Austin then waltzes into the room and proceeds to ask if we want my water broken to speed things up. I wanted to avoid any pain meds or drugs that could interfere with labor so we figured we would go with the most natural route. Plus, he had broken my water when I was in labor with Rainey and she was born 68 minutes after that. So I figured it had to be fairly quick since this was my 4th time around the block. </div>
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At 1:00 p.m. he broke my water and nothing happened for awhile. I was having contractions still but it didn't feel like it had with Rainey so I was a little nervous. Turns out, I didn't need to be nervous because pretty soon I was feeling everything in my lower back. Good old back labor. I basically had to have both my doula and Jake pressing on my hips and lower spine throughout each contraction. It was so ridiculously painful, I was wondering why I had chosen the natural route but cursing myself for even thinking there was an alternative since I knew I was pretty much committed at this point. No going back, I tried to remind myself. </div>
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Around 3:00 p.m. I asked my nurse to check me and see what kind of progress I had made. She told me I was 7 cm and I nearly passed out. I was so close to the end and yet not really close enough. My doctor came in and told me I could push through the final 3 cm and then keep on pushing until the baby was born. Jake looked at me and nearly shouted, "Did you hear that babe?! He said you can push and then we can meet Zeke!!" I looked at him and frantically spewed, "Yes, yes!! I heard him! Uhhhhhhhhhh!!!" as another contraction came over me.</div>
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So that's what I did. I pushed harder than I ever thought possible in my life. I leaned into Jake in between pushes and wished for a reprieve. I was exhausted but was unable to rest. My doctor and some of the nurses were all cheering for me and yelling at me to push. At one point I was unable to ignore their coaching and I yelled back, "I AM pushing, people!! I'm doing the best I can!!" I think one nurse got the point and sweetly said back to me, "Oh honey, I know you are, you're doing a great job. Keep it up!" I wanted everyone in the room to zip their lips and be silent. </div>
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And then in an instant it was all over. At 3:33 p.m. on that same day, April 11th, our sweet and precious little Zeke was born. Jake cut the cord and I swam in disbelief that I had just given birth to a sweet baby boy. He was perfect in every way. He had so much hair on his little head and his cry melted my heart and made me forget what I had just gone through. Or rather he made it all worth it.</div>
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They laid him on my chest and I was sold. He snuggled in and even made his Daddy nervous with how quiet he was. But I knew he was just so happy to be so close to his Momma. I finally relinquished him to get weighed and measured and cleaned up, and then they gave him back to me for more snuggles and oohs and ahhs over his very adorable body. </div>
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So there it is. The longer version of his birth. Probably more than you wanted to know. :) But hey, I warned you!</div>
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Zeke William Mutz</div>
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Born April 11th, 2014</div>
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3:33 p.m.</div>
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8 pounds 10 ounces</div>
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A current update on life with Zeke: </div>
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We are loving having him around!! He is really a sweet baby and pretty laid back. He eats well and sleeps a ton. He's already sleeping really well for me at night, only waking up once to eat and go back to sleep. I consider myself utterly blessed by this new life I'm a momma to. </div>
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Thankful to God for all these good gifts that are ultimately from Him.</div>
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Thanks for reading. </div>
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Jake, Rebecca, Piper, Lily, Rainey, and sweet Zeke</div>
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Post Script: Oh and I have to brag on our doula, Kyla. She was amazing and so influential in our story of Zeke's birth. We could not have done it without her there. And not only does she provide excellent doula service, she is also a pretty awesome photographer. You can visit her website <a href="http://kylaberry.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. I'll have to share more of her photos in another post. She did prenatal, delivery, and newborn photos for us. So awesome!!</div>
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-83617905472257737422014-03-21T09:33:00.002-06:002014-03-21T09:40:19.275-06:00Shameless PlugI was recently given the opportunity to have photos taken of my 37 week belly and also share my story about this pregnancy and the ones that came before it.<br />
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I realize it's not super common to show off ones large belly and have pictures taken of it, but I thought this would be another unique way to share Molly's story with others. And it proved to be just that.<br />
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Here's the blog with my photo and story. Feel free to share it with others. The photographer is on a mission to capture the bellies of 100 pregnant women and share their stories. I believe it might even become a book someday. All in all, very cool to see what others have experienced and just how different one belly is to another.<br />
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<a href="http://joelpetersonphotography.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/100-bellies-in-100-days-number-98-the-story-behind-the-belly-with-rebecca/" target="_blank">100 Bellies in 100 Days</a><br />
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Enjoy! It won't be too long before that belly will be gone and our sweet baby boy will be here! I cannot wait!! If he's anything like his sisters, it could be we won't meet him until around April 13th. But you never know....Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-25872599554192993562014-01-29T18:21:00.003-07:002014-01-29T18:21:58.902-07:00Warning: Long post ahead... read with caution and a hot beverageIt's been awhile, I know. Somehow my time is filled with running errands, traveling... a lot, leading a MOPS group (which I absolutely have loved), fixing princess dresses, kissing ouchies, teaching our 17 month old to say please before I pick her up, and explaining that my appointment to see my OB doesn't mean the baby is going to be born. The girls love to ask about my belly and comment on how huge it is, isn't that nice? (Oh wait, did I mention that we're pregnant again?!) They can hold their little hands steady on it just long enough to ask, "Is the baby kicking?!" with much excitement in their voices and body language. I can feel kicking, but they can't because they can't stand still long enough to feel a difference between the baby moving and the movement they are creating themselves. :) It's really so sweet and precious. They can't wait for the baby to get here.<br />
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If you feel like reading, grab a cup of coffee or tea and stay awhile. I want to bring everyone up to speed on yet another year that has come and gone and what we are up to now. Christmas is over and I don't plan on leaving the great state of Colorado before this baby is born, unless I have to. And if I wait for my life to slow down long enough to write another blog post, well then I might as well sign off for good. There is no slow season to my life and I've decided to stop waiting for it to happen and just embrace the chaos that our life is currently.<br />
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A few highlights of 2013 (I hope you're sitting down, I said a few but I might have just lied):<br />
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The twins celebrated their 3rd birthday in April with a sprinkles themed party! They had a great time celebrating with their friends and thankfully the weather was nice enough to let the party animals outside for a bit.<br />
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We spent our summer traveling as we always do. Taking a tour around Boston via a red bus was hot and yet very engaging for our two-3 year olds, 9 month old, and my ADD hubby. For the 4th of July, we spent a week in a non-air-conditioned, one bathroom house in Ossipee with close friends of ours (and their three kids), swam in the lake, and watched the fireworks from a canoe. The three munchkins and I spent two weeks in Arkansas with my parents and some of my siblings at a Rainey family reunion while Jacob went to Wyoming with some close friends from his Wednesday morning Men's group. <br />
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I found out I was pregnant at my family's get together in Arkansas and got to tell Jake the news over the phone. He was so excited and, as if this were our first, couldn't believe we had to wait until I was 20 weeks before we would find out the gender of our baby. <br />
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Piper and Lily started preschool in August at a nearby private Christian school. They go twice a week and I quickly discovered what it's like to have only one child. Rainey and I have lots of fun together and she even seems to have more fun when she has the house to herself. The twins are loving going to school and have made lots of friends, not to mention they are learning a ton about the Bible, their ABC's, colors, and how to say those colors in sign language. I'm even learning some too!<br />
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Rainey-girl celebrated her first birthday with her very own smash cake and a roomful of people admiring the way she ate it. At first she dipped her little finger in the frosting and then a fingertip turned into all 5 fingers which turned into fistfuls of cake and frosting going straight to the face. Classic cuteness!<br />
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In October, I traveled to Kansas City for the MOPS Convention and had an absolute wonderful time. I went with another friend and close neighbor of mine and she and I had a delightful time eating junk food on the plane and marveling at how easy it was to fly when we were all alone. After three days of sleeping in, great conversations, and really awesome speakers, I came home to a sick family and the awful realization that I had left a treasure back in Kansas City. A precious pink baby blanket that belonged to our dear Molly was left behind as I packed my bag to head home that Sunday morning. Lost in the sheets or stuck behind a pillow, it never got packed and I came home without it. Going to bed Sunday night without it for the first time in five years, I was wrought with tears and utter sadness as I realized what had happened. I called the hotel, left messages and cried to Debbie, the head of housekeeping and after a week of searching, the verdict remained the same. The blanket was nowhere to be found and no amount of my crying to Debbie made it re-appear. Losing her blanket is one of the worst moments of my year. I know it's just a blanket and it doesn't mean I have forgotten her, but I slept with that thing for 5 and a half years. It was a sweet, pink ruffle edged blanket with dainty flowers on one side and plain baby pink on the other. It had a small classic Pooh and Piglet in one corner where Piglet is handing a flower to Pooh who exclaims, "A flower for me? How grand!" While it was an incredibly huge loss, it brought fresh words and a new stage of grief to my life. I felt old wounds re-open and grief take on a new look. <br />
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In November we experienced a great excitement and learned the gender of our newest addition to the family. As we cut into a beautiful cake made from a local bakery, here was our reaction:<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngd7OdWCkuE">Gender Reveal Video</a><br />
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After finding out some really great news, we hopped on a plane and left Colorado for 3 weeks. We spent a few days in Florida before joining about a million other people on a 7-night Disney Cruise which was an absolute blast!! More on that later. After the cruise, we stayed in Florida for a few more days and then flew to Arkansas for Thanksgiving with the Rainey family. We were there for 11 days when we flew home to Colorado which was one of the worst days of travel, ever. I will spare most details but basically we spent 5 hours in the Little Rock airport before finally flying to Atlanta where we missed our connecting flight to Denver (due to the delay in LR) and ran (me and my pregnant self, three kids, and the hubby) to make a flight to Colorado Springs where we rented a car and drove the two hours home, in the snow, without our luggage. It was crazy, but the girls were actually pretty good about the whole thing. I had never been more happy to see our house and sleep in my own bed than I was that night. Don't forget we had been gone for 3 weeks.<br />
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In December we traveled to Florida for Christmas with the Mutz family and then spent New Years at our cabin in the mountains. We rang in the New Year of 2014 by going to bed early, wah wah. We are so old now! <br />
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So... that was 2013. Now you see why I suggested you sit while reading this.<br />
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Onto 2014. While we never know what a year will hold for us, and it's a good thing we don't, we do hope to share more of it here. And a big new years resolution of mine is to get my silly computer running better so that I can share photos easier and make photo books without a trip to the Mac store. Hence there are no photos here. Darn iPhoto is a thorn in my side.<br />
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Maybe the next post will be about our Disney Cruise, because that was so awesome and worth a whole post. Or maybe I should write about Christmas 2013 and how we celebrated it FOUR times! Or maybe I could write about our new baby BOY coming April 2014! I am SO excited!! I can hardly believe it's really happening! <br />
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Until next time.. thanks for reading!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-14643326254194759892013-10-22T20:24:00.000-06:002013-10-22T20:24:05.843-06:00I frantically dug through my suitcase, my hands moving clothes and books aside as I looked for the only important item that I had taken with me on my trip. It was nowhere to be found. Aside from my light pink shirt I had packed, nothing else of that shade existed in my bag. <div>
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It was Sunday night and I had just returned home from a wonderful and enjoyable weekend with 3,400 other moms for the annual MOPS convention. It was my first year to go and I was so glad to have been able to attend. I had left Daddy in charge of the three munchkins and headed off without a single child-like article anywhere near my body or in my purse. I was kid free for 3 full days. It was just what I needed and at the time that I needed it. </div>
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I take that back. I did actually have one baby item, but this item belonged to my first baby, sweet Molly Ann. I had packed her pink baby blanket that we had wrapped her up when she was in the hospital and had touched her skin and wiped her tears and mine when we were sad. It holds immense value and is one of my treasured items from that week with her. My other treasured item is a set of photos that an angel from Heaven took of Molly, just a few hours after she was born. In these photos, her entire face is free of tubes, tape, and wires. She is beautiful and whole, just as I imagine she is with Jesus. </div>
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So I took the blanket with me, to sleep with at night like I do every other night whether at home or away. I have slept with this blanket for 5 and 1/2 years. It's even gone with me to the hospital when I delivered my other three girls. </div>
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Back to the present. It's nearly midnight on Sunday when I am finally ready to fall into my bed when I realize I don't have her blanket on my pillow. I dug through my suitcase for it, willing it to show up underneath a sweater or pile of books from the weekend. Please, please let it be here. But in my heart, I know right where it is. "It's probably stuck in the sheets of my bed in the hotel," I sob to Jake as I keep looking. I can't believe it's not here. I can't believe I left it! </div>
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That was 2 days ago and it feels like forever. Molly's blanket is still missing and my heart is missing her even more. Last night Jake asked me how I was doing and I told him that it felt like I was grieving Molly all over again. It's hard to explain but it almost feels like an old wound has been opened back up again and I thought it was getting better. Or like getting a new wound on an old scar, it hurts pretty bad. </div>
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Someone told me today that this is just part of my story and God would use it to weave something new into it. She's right, I just wish it didn't have to mean losing another piece of Molly. </div>
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Will you pray with me that someone finds it?? </div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-1040739311266059292013-07-31T21:29:00.000-06:002013-07-31T21:29:37.678-06:00May 2009<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">*Disclaimer: I wrote this post in May of this year, but never posted it that month due to the busyness of life. So it's finally happening. As you read it, imagine it's still May 2013. :)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Four years ago to the month, Jake and I found ourselves driving along the Peak to Peak Highway in agony and anger. We needed an out, a place to get away to. To breathe, to cry. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We finally stopped at a National Park with a glistening lake tucked away in the valley of Longs Peak and Twin Sisters Peak. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We got out of the car and started walking, holding hands and silent. We couldn't get away from what was coming but it felt good to try. To physically exert ourselves with the pent up emotions and hurt in our hearts.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We rounded the far side of the lake and took a trail off to the right and up into the hills. After walking for a bit, we decided to spend some time alone, to think, pray, and process. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I continued to pound my feet along the rocky path until I found a large stone that overlooked a valley and snowy peaks. I sat and gazed at the beauty around me and wondered where God was in my suffering. The wind picked up and I thought about how God must be in it. Strong and fearsome, and yet right now, so quiet.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We had just learned the day before that the little one being knit together in my womb had stopped living. This baby was gone. Not to be carried to term. Not to be brought home like I desperately longed to. And yet again we were being plunged into grief.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We had gotten away to think, to process this new loss. Eleven months out from watching our first baby, Molly, die from a rare brain aneurysm, we were just 14 weeks pregnant with baby number two and starting to tell people of this new life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">On this walk by the lake we both struggled in different ways. Me with my anger and questions of how God could do this to us. Extend hope only to pull it away. Jake struggled with his faith and attempted to make deals with the Creator in order to make sense of this fresh loss.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That was four years ago. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Today, after an early morning surprise date in which we road horses in Estes Park and walked around a historic hotel, we found ourselves back on that same highway looking for a good place to hike and talk. No agenda, just looking for something to do before we had to be home to relieve our sitter. We have discovered in our 7 years of marriage that long car rides or walks often yield really good conversations between the two of us. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And where did we end up? At that same lake and trail we had been at only four years earlier. Oddly enough, that lake is called Lily Lake and across the road is Twin Sisters Peak and trailhead. Pretty neat, huh?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The twins' middle names are a reminder of what God allowed to happen in our lives by giving us Molly only to take her back a week later. Piper Marah (which means bitter turned to sweet) and Lily Mataya (which means unexpected gift from God). </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">On that hike today we realized so many things. God was indeed with us when we felt Him the least. Even though we had lost another baby, He had other plans in store for us. Plans that we couldn't fathom or see possible at the time. And isn't that so gracious of Him? To give us more than we asked for? To bless us even more than we imagined? That is our God.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Piper was our baby A, the only baby we were expecting when we discovered I was pregnant in August of 2009. Because when most women take a pregnancy test, they think, "woo hoo!! We're pregnant! We're going to have a baby!!" Most people don't expect to be pregnant with twins. Well, several weeks later, we discovered an "unexpected gift from God", Lily Mataya, our Baby B. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This second time at Lily Lake, I experienced so many emotions. Jake and I stood at that same rock that I had sat on 4 years earlier and I just cried. I cried for the babies we had lost, the road we had traveled, the hard days of not understanding why God had allowed us this cup, and how much my heart was missing my babies in Heaven. And I also cried tears of immense joy. Tears for the incredible gift that we have in all three of our living daughters: Piper, Lily, and sweet little Rainey. I am overjoyed at what God has given us. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">He has given us so many gifts. And that's just what our girls are: unexpected gifts that we do not deserve, on loan to us from our Sovereign God. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Thank you, sweet Jesus. </span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-87493700987465844582013-06-24T14:51:00.002-06:002013-06-24T14:51:18.946-06:005 BirthdaysFirst year we gathered with my parents and Jake's parents, each of us wrote her a note on a pretty 4 by 5 card and read them aloud. We spent time in prayer and reflection over what God had done in the last year since her birth and death. That time was so neat as all six of us were together again in honor of Molly and her life. The last time we had all been together was when she was alive. So in some ways I felt like her memories were even brighter that first anniversary having everyone together.<br />
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In 2010, we celebrated with two extra special guests: Molly's little sisters, Piper Marah and Lily Mataya. The twins were just a few months old and we ate cake while they laid on a blanket watching the balloons that were tied to their wrists. That year I felt like I had sort of accomplished a huge feat, carrying twins and bringing them home felt so good. And they were healthy too, such a praise!!<br />
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For the third year, a close girlfriend of mine asked me how we were planning on celebrating that year and I told her I had no idea. With the twins being 14 months and starting to walk, I was a little busy and overwhelmed. She suggested that we get together and have a picnic there. It was a perfect idea. Several close girlfriends and I gathered together on a denim picnic blanket and had little sandwiches, fruit, and birthday cupcakes and looked through photos of Molly. Through tears we sang happy birthday to Molly and then we sang Jesus Loves Me. It was so nice to get together with friends, most of whom had never been to her doorway before. I was honored to get to share that time with them.<br />
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Then in 2012, it was Jacob, myself, and the twins. I was pregnant with Rainey. I made a chocolate cake, one that Jacob requested and we all sat together by her doorway. The twins wandered around gabbing about this and that and pausing every now and then to smell the roses in Molly's vase. It was really sweet and fun. We stayed late and let our balloons go in the dark. Lily didn't want me to write on her balloon so she grabbed it and let it go. It was pretty funny. <br />
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This year, 2013, as we celebrated the fifth year since Molly's birth, I was struck with the realization that I didn't know what I wanted to do to celebrate her. I was having a hard time deciding how we were going to honor her for the five years that had flown by. After talking with my family and some friends, we decided to do her birthday party like we had every year before: At her doorway, singing to her and Jesus, and celebrating with cake and balloons.<br />
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Besides our family, we had Jake's brother Ozzie and his wife Johanna, their baby boy Shiloh and we also had Mark Mutz there, another brother of Jake and Ozzie's. The time at her doorway was easy going, relaxed, and just wonderful. We ate a delicious picnic lunch provided by Johanna, had tasty high hat cupcakes with pink sprinkles on top. After we ate, we blew up some balloons and started writing notes to the birthday girl of honor. I read some entries from Molly's red journal and a few of us cried.<br />
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Then we sang Happy Birthday to Molly, Amazing Grace, and then we kissed our balloons and let them fly high into the blue Colorado sky. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful celebration. Especially perfect for our Mighty Molly and her Fifth Birthday!<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-78300741709804000442013-06-12T17:05:00.003-06:002013-06-13T14:21:40.770-06:00Happy 5th Birthday Molly Ann!Sweet Pea,<br />
Today marks 5 years since you were born! It's amazing to me what has happened in these past 5 years. In some ways, I feel that I am living the life I hoped I would after handing you to Jesus and then in other ways my heart has a perfect Molly sized hole that will only be filled in glory. <br />
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Lately I have been volunteering at church in the kids ministry. It's something we haven't done since I was pregnant with you. In fact, the picture I have when I check in to serve at church is a photo of me carrying you in my tummy. It was taken when we served in the 2 year old room and hasn't been changed, which is always something I think about each time I check in to volunteer. Instead of serving with the 2 year olds, this time I was placed in the 5 year old room. Each week I am there, I get a little taste of what it would be like to have you here with us. A busy little girl, who would choose out her own clothes and shoes and maybe take some money for the offering. Your hair would be golden blonde, held back by a headband at your Daddy's request. You would dance silly and wave your arms during the songs and probably spend most of the free time at the coloring table or in the dress up section. You would make friends with some of the other little girls and you would giggle and talk about how you don't like bugs or how your shirt matches your friends' shirt. While I will never know exactly what you would be like, it's been soothing to my heart to be able to serve with that age group.<br />
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Oh Molly, I am so ready to be with you in Heaven. I miss you so very much!! I looked through photos of you just now and was taken back to our days with you. They were so wonderful and so short, too short. I wish I could jump back in time and spend an hour with you, talking to you and rubbing your back or little hands. Having your baby sister, Rainey has given me a small glimpse into what life would have been like with one baby. I think of you often when I snuggle her or hug her tight. Her skin reminds me of yours, so soft and smooth.<br />
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I imagine your birthday party in Heaven is a smash hit!! The cupcakes I will be making for you won't compare to the sights, sounds, and tastes of glory and being with Jesus. I love you sweet girl. I cannot wait to see you again.<br />
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I love you so much precious girl!! You are and always will be my favorite Molly Ann!<br />
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Hugs and Kisses from here to there,<br />
Mommy<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-3032576420904266392013-05-21T14:48:00.001-06:002013-05-21T14:48:51.058-06:00Happy Mother's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am blessed beyond measure.<br />
I am filled to the brim with joy.<br />
I am delighted to be called Mommy!<br />
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Three beautiful daughters to hold and kiss as much as I want!<br />
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My heart is happy and full!!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-58875852202849472222013-04-18T21:51:00.000-06:002013-04-18T21:51:24.705-06:00Easter Fun 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-75745853257482838372013-04-18T21:46:00.001-06:002013-04-18T21:46:55.588-06:00I had a baby 7 months ago...And about four weeks into that tiny little girls' life, we decided we needed more chaos so we started potty training our twins who were just 2 and 1/2 years old.<br />
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People told me I was crazy. And they were right. I was sleep deprived, hungry, hormonal, tired of changing three sets of diapers multiple times a day, and yet we did it anyway. I stopped nursing Rainey multiple times to run a toddler to the potty with pee running down her legs, or to clean up an accident before it became part of our carpet for good.<br />
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The twins are now truly potty trained. Even at night, they stay dry which we are super grateful for. Now I am only changing diapers for one small child, which I don't mind one bit.<br />
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Rainey is now 7 months old. She likes to sit up, smack her hands on her legs and the floor, grasping for anything to wrap her delicate fingers around. She loves sweet potatoes, carrots, yogurt, and chewing on anything she can get her hands on. She especially loves it when I wear long, bubbly necklaces that she can stuff into her mouth and gnaw on as drool pours out of her mouth. It's messy, but pretty sweet.<br />
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Sweet girl!!She is so happy and loveable!<br />
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Play time with cousin Shiloh!! They are best buddies!!<br />
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Bundled up in the front pack on Mommy for a nice long winter hike!!<br />
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Bathtime with big sisters!! Rainey absolutely loves this. She is so enamored with all that the twins are doing on either side of her.<br />
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She is sweet, giggly, and brightens our spirits whenever we see her. She loves to watch her big sisters running circles around her. One evening, I was trying to feed her some solids after her bottle and I had a hard time getting the spoon into her mouth because she had her eyes trained on Piper who was opening and closing the shades in the kitchen, over and over again. <br />
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We have had a busy season since she came into our lives. When I find time to write again, I'll tell you about some of our adventures and trips we've been on. For now I'm so tired, I'm not really focusing on the computer screen, just trying to think of how to finish this post. Oh.. I know!<br />
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The end.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-76429435138073948832013-01-18T17:50:00.001-07:002013-01-18T17:50:17.090-07:00A New TraditionI know it's a little late to be talking about Christmas, but I just felt so compelled to write this very moment. I started a new tradition with our little family last Christmas, in 2011. I can't remember where I thought of it, but it's a really sweet one and something I hope sticks around for awhile.<br />
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If you were to visit our home during this past Christmas season you would see all the great decorations that I have an absolute blast hanging up and displaying. It is probably my favorite holiday to decorate for. You would hear Christmas music playing throughout the house and you would probably smell a warm scent of cinnamon or peppermint as a candle burns on our kitchen counter.<br />
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You would also see our mantle and what's hanging from it. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the typical group of stockings dangling from their perch upon the mantle. And your eyes would glance from left to right and enjoy the various details on each one. There's Jacob's stocking with it's incredible needlepoint depiction of the three wise men, one his amazing Grandma made for him. Then you would see mine, also a needlepoint but from Lands End and not someone's Grandma. :) It has an angel on it that I think is declaring the glory of God. Then there's Piper's with a ballerina on it, Lily's with a red doll, and then Rainey's with an ice skater. And then your eyes would stop. Hang on a second, you've got an extra stocking up there. Let me count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Six? Why are there six? Oh. There's a stocking for Molly hanging in the midst of the rest of our girls' stockings. <br />
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Sweet Molly. Her stocking has a beautiful angel on it dressed in white, with blonde hair. I bought it for her our first Christmas without her in 2008. And in 2011, I finally put something inside of it.<br />
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We had my husband's family in town for Christmas that year and since we spent the holidays in the mountains, we brought our stockings with us.<br />
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I have never really known what to put in her stocking or how to incorporate her during Christmas. I have some ornaments that are hers and sometimes I add another one that made me think of her. But quite honestly, that was all I had done to remember her during Christmas.<br />
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So in 2011, I bought a small notebook with sheets of colored paper in it and propped it up with a pen on the ledge above her stocking. And then I waited. And then someone asked, what's the notebook for? Yes! I get to tell them my great idea!<br />
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It's for Molly, I say. You can write her a note and stick it in her stocking. Draw her a picture or do whatever. No pressure, of course, just wanted to throw it out there for people if they wanted to.<br />
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Several days after all the family had gone home and we were back in our usual routine, I sat down at the kitchen table to read those six precious letters. Something I treasure more than any gift I could be given on Christmas day. I remember crying through each one, even the one Lily had down where she scrawled on it with a pen and then I wrote her name on it, the date, and a short note, I love you Molly.<br />
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And then today, January 17th, when I should have been making dinner, I finally sat down to read five more letters placed in her stocking less than a month ago. And I just cried. I did. I wept like we had just lost her. The pain was so fresh and the memories so clear. I glanced through photos of her precious face, already with Jesus, and I sobbed. Hunched over at my desk, I felt that familiar ache and the longing that I have to be in the presence of my Savior and my sweet Molly.<br />
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I realize that we may not always do this one tradition and one day we will probably forget. But for now, it's sweet and something I cherish as I think of our sweet girl and long for the day when I will go to be with her.<br />
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(Now I gotta go make dinner for my family!!)Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-9765490058790372602012-09-25T09:04:00.000-06:002012-09-25T09:04:26.340-06:00Meet Rainey Elizabeth MutzThe newest member of our family has arrived! It has only taken me 2 weeks since she was born to make the time to share about her arrival. Something about now having three kids, all under 2 1/2, might have something to do with my lack of posting these days.<br />
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In any case, here's the story in pictures.<br />
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Before leaving for the hospital, we took a few family photos of the four of us.<br />
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Seconds after she was born, I had the prize in my arms!! Well worth the hard work it took to bring her into the world.<br />
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An incredibly, super proud Daddy!! He did an amazing job supporting me through the labor and delivery process. That story to come later, when I have more brain cells.<br />
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Some snuggle time.<br />
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Beautiful blue eyes, just like her sisters!!<br />
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The weigh in: 8 pounds 8.8 ounces, 21 1/4 inches long. <br />
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Rainey Elizabeth Mutz: Born on Tuesday September 11th at 6:58 p.m.<br />
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The twins were SO excited to meet their baby sister!!<br />
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Our new family picture! Now a family of five!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-46749317524533443312012-07-09T17:20:00.002-06:002012-07-09T17:20:34.954-06:008 weeks to goBeing pregnant and chasing around two toddlers is a far cry from being pregnant and propping my feet up anytime I felt like it. I had quite the luxurious life when I was pregnant with Molly and then again with the twins. I wasn't chasing anyone around except our dogs when they weren't behaving. <br />
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This time has been different and I have decided that even though I have been pregnant several times, each time has a unique set of differences all its own. And I am reminded once again that carrying this sweet life inside is such a gift that outweighs any sleepless nights, complications, aching back, or the effort it now takes to get off the floor at least 20 times a day.<br />
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We found out about this little stowaway just after Christmas was over and my husband's family had gone back home from being with us for the holiday. I was in a bit of denial that I was even pregnant because I had taken a few tests that had come back negative and we had experienced two miscarriages earlier that summer. And if I was pregnant, I sure wasn't going to get my hopes up or anything just yet. So we told our families and kept the secret close until we saw our tiny baby's heart beating wildly at 9 weeks along. <br />
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Fast forward to 18 weeks, we had an ultrasound to check for any abnormalities or complications with this new life and were grateful to hear a good report with no findings. We also had the ultrasound tech share the gender of our baby with my sister in law, Johanna, who came with us to our appointment. She and the twins' babysitter, Hillary, worked hard the following day to put on a gender reveal party where we ended up finding out what gender our baby is. We invited lots of friends and even had my older sister and her family there for the big reveal. No one knew the secret until Jake and I both bit into delicious cupcakes where we found a yummy filling tinted a soft baby, PINK!! Another girl to grace our home!! We are delighted!<br />
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That party seems like just a few weeks ago and yet here I am with only 8 weeks to go. I am 32 weeks and still enjoying every kick, squirm, and wiggle. I have learned her little schedule and she wakes up every morning around 7:30 which means I am also awake. And I'm pretty sure she gets the hiccups every day which always keeps me at ease, knowing she's still with me.<br />
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We are excited to meet this little one but hopefully not just yet. I still have a nursery to paint and decorate, not to mention we still haven't settled on a name for her. I told a friend recently that I will be unprepared if she comes early as none of her older sisters ever came early. Molly was born at 41 weeks and the twins were still comfy when we went in for a scheduled c-section at 38 weeks. So if she comes early, I will be shocked and not prepared, to say the least.<br />
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Hope you enjoy our little update. I would share pictures of the reveal party but I am in the mountains and don't have my computer with all my pictures on it.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-64792605325366944062012-06-13T15:35:00.000-06:002012-06-13T15:35:40.395-06:00Mommy Sad...Today marks the 4th birthday of our precious, Molly Ann. It really seems like just yesterday that she was here and then again it feels like it's been forever since I held her and kissed her soft, sweet skin. <br />
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I've been thinking about this special day for over a week. Trying to process how I feel and what I want the day to look like. I have learned in the past few years that the days leading up to a birthday or home-going day are often harder than the day itself. When the day comes and then passes, it feels almost like I've been holding my breath and am finally able to breathe again. As a mom of two busy toddlers, I have to admit that finding time to celebrate and grieve has been quite the challenge this year. Last year I don't remember a bunch of what we did, except that I probably had two nap times that day to sit and think and the girls were younger and not even walking just yet.<br />
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As I was folding laundry today, I thought back to the first 2 years of missing Molly and how I had all the time in the world to grieve, cry, sleep in, take a nap, write in her journal, go sit at her doorway, etc. I thought to myself, "Wow, I envy those days." And those that have experienced a loss know exactly what I am talking about. I do not wish Piper and Lily weren't here, I just wish I had a few more hours to myself that I used to have before I had kids. Grieving has taken on a new look as we have been blessed with additional children.<br />
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So today has been really hard for me. I mean, I feel depressed really. I didn't want to get out of bed, I didn't take a shower and I really needed to, I don't really care what the girls eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and I just want to sleep, sleep, and sleep some more. But since I can't just sleep the day away, I have pushed on and done the bare minimum until it was getting close to the twins going down for naps.<br />
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I was feeling really lonely in my grief and heavy with sadness and that's when God used one of my daughters to whisper to my heart that He cared and was listening more than I realized. <br />
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I was standing in the upstairs hallway taping a photo of Lily back to her birthday poster when I heard her come running down the hallway from my room and saying something that sounded a lot like, "Mommy sad." Surely she isn't saying that, she is probably just repeating something that Piper said or talking about Mommy's hat or something that sounds like sad. I am realizing that a lot of words they say sound alike so I honestly didn't think much about it.<br />
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I continued what I was doing until she came right up in front of me and repeated the phrase. Yeah, it really sounds like she's saying I'm sad. How did she know that? Surely at age two, she can't tell that I am fighting tears and so sad. How could she have known that? <br />
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She stood right in front of me and I asked her what she said and she just repeated it again. "Mommy sad." I asked her if she said that I was sad and she nodded her head with a little "yeah it's true Mom" look on her face. I smiled and then she put her arms out for me to pick her up, which happens a lot these days. But instead of me just holding her, she wrapped her sweet little arms around me and hugged me tight, with her head on my shoulder. Her little voice whispered in my ear, "Hug." I told her thank you and then she wiggled out of my arms and ran back to whatever she had been doing before.<br />
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Apparently she had been sitting on her Daddy's lap and pointed to a photo of Molly that we have in our bedroom. He told her that it was her birthday and that Mommy is sad and probably needs a hug. He said that she hopped down off his lap and ran out of the room. He figured she would forget or get sidetracked and he also didn't know that I was just down the hallway where Lily was on her way to warm my heart.<br />
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God is so good to us. So gracious and loving to come near to us, even through the simple words of our kids. I am so grateful for Lily's tender heart and spirit that knew something was making Mommy sad and that I needed a hug as well. What a sweet little gift it was.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-44383769438570705092012-03-06T15:40:00.008-07:002012-03-06T15:56:01.090-07:00Just picturesA few photos and captions for your afternoon amusement and enjoyment. :)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCBOruvUYjl0Z9cbaVcPq67ctNaACDw2YOLARZEtXmjZEPU0nZ4wB7a09ij_f-xov9h6eSYOK1UsrRvvOpf8oCv_enm13Pfp35JjSGKm9TQds13RhUfLjlEnh3AGdaCF1iB5dMQ53pp8/s1600/IMG_2974.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCBOruvUYjl0Z9cbaVcPq67ctNaACDw2YOLARZEtXmjZEPU0nZ4wB7a09ij_f-xov9h6eSYOK1UsrRvvOpf8oCv_enm13Pfp35JjSGKm9TQds13RhUfLjlEnh3AGdaCF1iB5dMQ53pp8/s320/IMG_2974.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716919109588846626" border="0" /></a>At the Denver Garden Show where we "bumped into" a beautiful "flower", Lily and Piper's Zaza Mutz (that's the name she chose over Grandma..) We had such a fun time!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1M4uIPL5Ph9HsqXkb2KCOQpKzE1-VRXToLJQSFj5IqvZvKZmfuifY1IVHfifKimVxvooiPYgQ8xpNttbp0QAOhzs32LLvTUAOSHu8k4J8l2EYaRk5pT4djiQsSZaSyUvEMlYxYBiNBkY/s1600/IMG_2928.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1M4uIPL5Ph9HsqXkb2KCOQpKzE1-VRXToLJQSFj5IqvZvKZmfuifY1IVHfifKimVxvooiPYgQ8xpNttbp0QAOhzs32LLvTUAOSHu8k4J8l2EYaRk5pT4djiQsSZaSyUvEMlYxYBiNBkY/s320/IMG_2928.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716918810649025714" border="0" /></a>Finger Paint at Monkey Bizness!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczW-BIJgjb2WFuLJ1yiLj9mKYBO2ZogqCS8BGJfXENjfsQh8vvrE4ALvpxfjDQ5-42WwaX9KIV3Ebtw-RHaBJG9D7Lnbifhee2__zweGEZQXd3VqnZB8jcunz5PxEj30EnwclCozfRdw/s1600/IMG_2929.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczW-BIJgjb2WFuLJ1yiLj9mKYBO2ZogqCS8BGJfXENjfsQh8vvrE4ALvpxfjDQ5-42WwaX9KIV3Ebtw-RHaBJG9D7Lnbifhee2__zweGEZQXd3VqnZB8jcunz5PxEj30EnwclCozfRdw/s320/IMG_2929.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716918824313407986" border="0" /></a>Lily didn't understand that the brush end went into the paint, but she had fun anyway.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5mLzOfwf0eXB5zK_sk1dvXV_MS-QSfdV39ppj7eWUZweu2njjdD41aPPv4GTFXkrl5TGmiHkl_vGMN46Pw39uDkkc2qqODqNFGu92b5TjJu2x2f1QpWsuyuqmu7wRCMlvbvZZmyZuQE/s1600/IMG_2932.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5mLzOfwf0eXB5zK_sk1dvXV_MS-QSfdV39ppj7eWUZweu2njjdD41aPPv4GTFXkrl5TGmiHkl_vGMN46Pw39uDkkc2qqODqNFGu92b5TjJu2x2f1QpWsuyuqmu7wRCMlvbvZZmyZuQE/s320/IMG_2932.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716919103211912210" border="0" /></a><br />Lily discovering what finger paint tastes like...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgct7gwwn7qnorT9GARJ-wthlsM71ZO5FlZmmlfDCtwlHWMhKxoUdVKjahkV2swuGR1gZciaZ-s6ePZZiSt_UNoJF2xPq0mgPmuxEPtILvlXD3xmfkOfx3NThANMP4Fox9lMZbZ98ycoKM/s1600/IMG_2909.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgct7gwwn7qnorT9GARJ-wthlsM71ZO5FlZmmlfDCtwlHWMhKxoUdVKjahkV2swuGR1gZciaZ-s6ePZZiSt_UNoJF2xPq0mgPmuxEPtILvlXD3xmfkOfx3NThANMP4Fox9lMZbZ98ycoKM/s320/IMG_2909.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716918807375970722" border="0" /></a>On a beautiful snowy stroller ride in Fraser, CO!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmafNwL3Snj0Fa48KwstNRiGdgRLc7HC3tNEb2P9p9wnE6dr1Sia2cfV2C62idGOGwLX1PF7NyHY5orqBoXVIQ-0l-VmRhzvbLB1JDgzNgAdzpoYfylWlv5dWrtTvOopLpomSZZoJOMk/s1600/IMG_2916.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmafNwL3Snj0Fa48KwstNRiGdgRLc7HC3tNEb2P9p9wnE6dr1Sia2cfV2C62idGOGwLX1PF7NyHY5orqBoXVIQ-0l-VmRhzvbLB1JDgzNgAdzpoYfylWlv5dWrtTvOopLpomSZZoJOMk/s320/IMG_2916.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716918804579419954" border="0" /></a>Also while in Fraser, they learned how to climb up the ladder to the top bunk bed.. Hmm, guess who taught them that?!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ0HsvkiCEmGGhQ5bVOukubjYh7Ef9-gvsST6axyI3n1XSjmc4p1256e4afY4GxCaAsKHSn4fsQKEvGTu8oQYE0jvv-9rHJaLIQqdE8QlaPCOSoDnjdpwngop9iDnznkrCxInaqOMcoM/s1600/IMG_2950.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ0HsvkiCEmGGhQ5bVOukubjYh7Ef9-gvsST6axyI3n1XSjmc4p1256e4afY4GxCaAsKHSn4fsQKEvGTu8oQYE0jvv-9rHJaLIQqdE8QlaPCOSoDnjdpwngop9iDnznkrCxInaqOMcoM/s320/IMG_2950.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716918001506508322" border="0" /></a>Reading books together with a blankie over their laps. A must for any book reading session.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CyRYCcqcBmQ21N8CSNDhIu2jXySizTJAjuncjwVhtraZbdDJ_CARGZ-UVqNxZ9Fjd9e4BuvBnZOMw_k861_anmc60pvKhZN4QI_5KvAarBu9sQj7KyBU1bLXe0K2Q7INHEXz64frhj4/s1600/IMG_2845.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CyRYCcqcBmQ21N8CSNDhIu2jXySizTJAjuncjwVhtraZbdDJ_CARGZ-UVqNxZ9Fjd9e4BuvBnZOMw_k861_anmc60pvKhZN4QI_5KvAarBu9sQj7KyBU1bLXe0K2Q7INHEXz64frhj4/s320/IMG_2845.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716918794835389186" border="0" /></a>Lily's encounter with Barney at Chuck E Cheese, and likely her last. Although she loved the rides, her parents weren't too thrilled with the max load of patrons there. And Piper didn't like the rides at all, just stared in wonder at all the lights, sounds going off, and people everywhere.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmRxUZ5h_26HNBKliEVid-bmdnuKpE_aUlB-itXHgY6mZRxl4CgymTL6qq0ywjPjsH63G6blE9IgT8eLRU9fNGt_6Ymstu4Kpu8rjpItXJiDmarWfvD_HLeTACXl1AhN8ciLc-M5JRGQ/s1600/IMG_2922.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmRxUZ5h_26HNBKliEVid-bmdnuKpE_aUlB-itXHgY6mZRxl4CgymTL6qq0ywjPjsH63G6blE9IgT8eLRU9fNGt_6Ymstu4Kpu8rjpItXJiDmarWfvD_HLeTACXl1AhN8ciLc-M5JRGQ/s320/IMG_2922.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716918012875049314" border="0" /></a>Dressed like one of their sitters, Lindsey, for her going away party!! The theme was to come dressed like Linds and so the girls wore leggings, furry boots, and puffy vests! Complete with Mardi Gras beads. :)Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-20163999853049746792012-01-03T16:49:00.003-07:002012-01-17T11:43:29.351-07:00An eggstravagant trip to Wal Mart<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVta6UDOH1GdXJJFkDk7t0dxlvDazAd_9itBbr84ZqS1HFgmElmg1Paw9sxpJhvbivoE72XQ5AeaRPJpn4SF9W9BHlGDJzw6bcownBlyWdfd7eksr5HodBydK5MfDsSI8juCsEg_tIa4/s1600/photo+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVta6UDOH1GdXJJFkDk7t0dxlvDazAd_9itBbr84ZqS1HFgmElmg1Paw9sxpJhvbivoE72XQ5AeaRPJpn4SF9W9BHlGDJzw6bcownBlyWdfd7eksr5HodBydK5MfDsSI8juCsEg_tIa4/s320/photo+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698673283021368258" border="0" /></a><br /> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal">A few days ago I had to make one last run to the grocery store for a few things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I had been to the store a few times that week already, so what was one more trip.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Grocery shopping with twins is a challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>With toddlers who don’t walk very fast and don’t fit together in the front seat of the cart anymore, I had to resort to putting them in the basket and our groceries in the front seat, underneath the cart, and all around the girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s especially challenging if I end up getting lots of canned goods, which Piper loves to stack and then un-stack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m pushing my cart through the aisles like it’s an obstacle course, Piper was moving cans around and Lily was standing up and then sitting down.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </p><p class="MsoNormal">A few items multiplied into something like 20 and I found myself standing in the paper towel, zip-lock, and trash bag aisle for my last item.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I had been telling the girls to sit down the entire trip so I decided that they could stand up while I looked for some extra huge zip-lock bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Plus, I parked the cart next to the paper towels so I figured they couldn’t hurt those, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Right.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </p><p class="MsoNormal">It turned out that allowing them to have some freedom wasn’t the brightest choice in my brain that morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As I was squatting down by the lowest shelf inspecting too many choices, I heard these sounds: SPLAT, DRIP, CRACK, CRUNCH!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And then I heard the girls say, “Uh-oh!!” which happens to be their favorite thing to say, by the way.<span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style=""></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I whirl around to see Lily pulling the egg carton lid up and subsequently dumping nearly all 18 eggs out and onto the floor and through our cart with its load of groceries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As I surveyed the scene, there were raw eggs dripping everywhere, eggshells hanging from the metal bars of the cart, and egg whites and yolks making little puddles around my cart like it had rained on us.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I’m not really sure what all I said in the next 90 seconds, but I’m sure it sounded something like, “No! Sit down! Yucky! No touch! Ewww!! No! Sit down, Lily! Piper, no touch, yucky! Oh this is so gross! No touch! Yucky!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Piper was eyeing her precious cans that were now oozing with egg whites and broken yolks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>She reached out for them and made her toddler-like, universal noise that says, “I need that!!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I hurriedly told her an emphatic “no” that she couldn’t have them because they were now contaminated with raw grossness!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Lily continued to sound the alarm with gleeful shouts of “uh oh” and “wow!”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </p><p class="MsoNormal">My brain was going 900 miles an hour trying to figure out what to do with my children and this mess we were now in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That’s when I realized that I really could not have picked a better aisle to be in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Just down the row lay my saving grace: antibacterial hand wipes! I grabbed a tub of them, yanked open the top, pulled half of them out, and began to rub down the girls hands, our groceries, and anything else I saw that had been contaminated!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </p><p class="MsoNormal">And while standing in our eggy mess, a mom with twin boys walked by and one of the boys asked me what happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I told him the story and he then said to me, “Well, you’re going to need some more eggs!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And he was right.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-45911411385140962272012-01-03T16:17:00.008-07:002012-01-03T16:48:05.331-07:00Happy New Year and Happy Thanksgiving??A new year and new resolutions, right? My latest edition of Everyday Food magazine had light recipes on every page! The TV will soon start playing commercials about slim fast, joining a gym, or buying some machine that you can store under your bed and it will make you look like a weight lifter if you follow these three easy steps. It's everywhere folks, so I might as well accept that a new year has started and either make goals or don't.<br /><br />We were talking about goals the other day with some friends over lunch and one of mine was to blog more. And so, to start the new year off right, I thought I would go ahead and check one thing off my list of resolutions! You're so jealous of me right now, aren't you? With more blogging in mind, since I promised an update on our Thanksgiving feast and photos, here they are. I'm just a little over a month late, not bad!<br /><br />And, check!! That one is done!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95nRcVQVPbeD0Q65Z55RbjZKDfScAmcqSenvOvMTRHR_SQsnspYB7qow0PaPphqeWeN_6qjoqsare2NGtuX7H_ZejT7nnEASHuNPmgH32m6lFvKvmHdPmvpgqWccLJeNz7Qnh4s2ZjWY/s1600/IMG_0427.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95nRcVQVPbeD0Q65Z55RbjZKDfScAmcqSenvOvMTRHR_SQsnspYB7qow0PaPphqeWeN_6qjoqsare2NGtuX7H_ZejT7nnEASHuNPmgH32m6lFvKvmHdPmvpgqWccLJeNz7Qnh4s2ZjWY/s320/IMG_0427.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693550055826199666" border="0" /></a>The view of our dining room before we all descended upon it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82bs9VWw1OSwag5uINWGeBSR8xAvgbu_sJlZQUVJX9y3xMTqbHEPA1L8JMUSyCLXmkDRvHDktzoCm1wsvU1HrxnczAuPLbS35NISPCAAgbfzM9pKKbtialHRv73aqCpBPmeuRb3SoU8I/s1600/IMG_0423.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82bs9VWw1OSwag5uINWGeBSR8xAvgbu_sJlZQUVJX9y3xMTqbHEPA1L8JMUSyCLXmkDRvHDktzoCm1wsvU1HrxnczAuPLbS35NISPCAAgbfzM9pKKbtialHRv73aqCpBPmeuRb3SoU8I/s320/IMG_0423.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693550067416399618" border="0" /></a>Each person had a paper plate for brunch, a regular plate for the big meal later that day, a cute card made by yours truly for writing down the 5 things we were thankful for, and 5 kernels of corn to signify each. I also gave everyone as a gift the cute little glittery pine cones that served as place cards. Great idea Crate and Barrel!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jYjOAUoDZJWot56a1Z3g3Q_TgVIg3SeLNm_A5wCIM1Y8F1aw50dyGkJLrL02FwExdHiDaYPKm3pKwOGAF9xuJNKT3p_Ls716An-KulFsCEAWq9eV9r2Y1H-d20ctGFVTlgco60nVkyo/s1600/IMG_2532.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jYjOAUoDZJWot56a1Z3g3Q_TgVIg3SeLNm_A5wCIM1Y8F1aw50dyGkJLrL02FwExdHiDaYPKm3pKwOGAF9xuJNKT3p_Ls716An-KulFsCEAWq9eV9r2Y1H-d20ctGFVTlgco60nVkyo/s320/IMG_2532.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693550073253478930" border="0" /></a>Here we are having brunch and reading the story of the pilgrims, also writing down our list of 5 things. We shared them later after the story and over dinner/the feast!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzV8eY48xZd5pXqO93HANjmh2KHxOICI3OpVtAcUm7UGwznDkwv_5AgfEsnzSRkW55snsA5IhOObi7fmm0ODDQWqTmZ4CJ_6BeE07kDq0b9DTknUArIOpzECnf9HOwJcCnxdSbNoljths/s1600/IMG_2533.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzV8eY48xZd5pXqO93HANjmh2KHxOICI3OpVtAcUm7UGwznDkwv_5AgfEsnzSRkW55snsA5IhOObi7fmm0ODDQWqTmZ4CJ_6BeE07kDq0b9DTknUArIOpzECnf9HOwJcCnxdSbNoljths/s320/IMG_2533.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693550083690369186" border="0" /></a>Lily and her friend Caleb, playing under the table while the adults kept on reading. All the kids did remarkably well for the meal!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsSmsUrHj9xDiRTBqCQCRFkJbzheTRH20WF0DUbN5RGGgWXi0Sy03ZI-_ioWSfGHQyuUEpIXW6ZWWTlqlPSMsfkFPrIDvun7JvXTSGcXm1Ssqm-RpKrRrNT9VswG59GKbrtHJR48a2lU/s1600/IMG_2539.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsSmsUrHj9xDiRTBqCQCRFkJbzheTRH20WF0DUbN5RGGgWXi0Sy03ZI-_ioWSfGHQyuUEpIXW6ZWWTlqlPSMsfkFPrIDvun7JvXTSGcXm1Ssqm-RpKrRrNT9VswG59GKbrtHJR48a2lU/s320/IMG_2539.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693550106460411842" border="0" /></a>And the spread for the feast! Yumm-o!! Big time deliciousness!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdqlObNZdWFJWutLJi8hE1B8eqp9h_FA50lb1megv-jzOui0Pi6FU9wg_JlWRr7CUi5UuS8_TkF8G4D5bz6qzfh07ku6IYbBQ1iQ1m914Wi6qswdaGfGO34SzPYcUGY_VMRnqItaUrzwQ/s1600/IMG_0466.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdqlObNZdWFJWutLJi8hE1B8eqp9h_FA50lb1megv-jzOui0Pi6FU9wg_JlWRr7CUi5UuS8_TkF8G4D5bz6qzfh07ku6IYbBQ1iQ1m914Wi6qswdaGfGO34SzPYcUGY_VMRnqItaUrzwQ/s320/IMG_0466.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693553896730005458" border="0" /></a>Everyone brought a dish or two to share, which made the meal so yummy and so fun!! And so unique!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCa__l29jfoXX_534nL_Stj2GVNwMV6en5mGRpVw8frWtCmbtQt9ILj7TZXj_ldsjGNAHEIUtW5rMvzpKAUv47NYD1HIaX2WdxynJnsIjPpErHHqekAgoa0PnXvd9l-KHatWJPc1R9AfA/s1600/IMG_0451.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCa__l29jfoXX_534nL_Stj2GVNwMV6en5mGRpVw8frWtCmbtQt9ILj7TZXj_ldsjGNAHEIUtW5rMvzpKAUv47NYD1HIaX2WdxynJnsIjPpErHHqekAgoa0PnXvd9l-KHatWJPc1R9AfA/s320/IMG_0451.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693553881425077874" border="0" /></a>And of course, I went a little overboard and made some compound butters to go with our rolls and potatoes. The bright pink one was a cranberry and cinnamon butter and the tan one was my favorite: sage and brown butter! So good! As we were sharing what we were thankful for, one of our friends said he was thankful for compound butter. :) I thought he was joking but he actually wrote it down on his card!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTGeAfCbCJNCBC5DyySHxQIblR4jwIMh6ffA90yvT1rrycqxVNBvwPWdjdzmTRo3uqi949Kiw-Jzt8DlvBTu0Ah2AhMddmw0EFY-Lbi5qpLYAfCjhvUfehrQIkj6g-FMMAq-HbTtawRo/s1600/IMG_0448.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTGeAfCbCJNCBC5DyySHxQIblR4jwIMh6ffA90yvT1rrycqxVNBvwPWdjdzmTRo3uqi949Kiw-Jzt8DlvBTu0Ah2AhMddmw0EFY-Lbi5qpLYAfCjhvUfehrQIkj6g-FMMAq-HbTtawRo/s320/IMG_0448.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693553873368268818" border="0" /></a>The turkey that I conquered!! I know you all were hoping I would post a pic of it. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXXtVB2Y-XIagM_wvWGVWeUiv3X-lyLf8VLFa454Vb1X3YR21RHZLBCkkUOtUG3q9qpt4R4WLYY0M61TotDjI_PyY3oU2182Ckv29vVLXiQqOoJYCEBU9TaEmV0ze8YcbWUqjk5h6kHc/s1600/IMG_2545.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXXtVB2Y-XIagM_wvWGVWeUiv3X-lyLf8VLFa454Vb1X3YR21RHZLBCkkUOtUG3q9qpt4R4WLYY0M61TotDjI_PyY3oU2182Ckv29vVLXiQqOoJYCEBU9TaEmV0ze8YcbWUqjk5h6kHc/s320/IMG_2545.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693553919127804674" border="0" /></a>And the carnage of the pumpkin pecan praline cheesecake that I made. So yummy and decadent! I could have eaten the praline by itself it was so good!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPw1qdNlKtEPtYzO5bivXkCowAQSQpkAwvzKTreem_pO3LPkC1S8jeUBD5QWjCWu0c1gpywZ00U975XmZpH9IbZrRcmaORtfVsPWm82HNWuG3P8OnUbFYYPK8qTkOGasukWRbTSKBSJxw/s1600/IMG_0468.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPw1qdNlKtEPtYzO5bivXkCowAQSQpkAwvzKTreem_pO3LPkC1S8jeUBD5QWjCWu0c1gpywZ00U975XmZpH9IbZrRcmaORtfVsPWm82HNWuG3P8OnUbFYYPK8qTkOGasukWRbTSKBSJxw/s320/IMG_0468.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693553902727904162" border="0" /></a>And a shot of the hostesses! We gave Jacob a turkey leg for the meal, for being the turkey that he is. :)<br /><br />It was a grand time! Really fun and lots of great people!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-4445553939146599792011-11-23T22:45:00.003-07:002011-11-23T22:51:09.811-07:00Day 2323. I am grateful for a few things today. One is for how I felt my day was extended and am totally amazed at all that I accomplished today. I am so grateful for days like these when I can get in bed without feeling super rushed or that I forgot to do something important. <br /><br />The second thing that I am grateful for is that even in a grocery store there's grace to be found. Even when it involves twin toddlers, mommy looking on the shelves and not paying attention, and...wait for it... an 18-count carton of eggs. Yep. That's right. Eggs, all over the floor, our cart, dripping down our cans, and on my kids clothes and hands.. thank goodness also for being in the aisle where there were sanitizing hand wipes! The rest of that story along with some photos to come after Thanksgiving. <br /><br />I get to host tomorrow! Oh and, we've upped our numbers for Thanksgiving. Eleven adults and eight children! Woo hoo! I'll also post pics of our Thanksgiving feast once I wake up from my food coma. :)Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-37077684806771661762011-11-22T09:30:00.002-07:002011-11-22T09:37:47.862-07:00Day 2020. This might be a strange one but, I am thankful for pain. For how God uses pain in our lives to help us trust him better. Pain also helps me appreciate the times in my life when I experience joy and delight! <br /><br />21. I am grateful for new days. The chance to have a fresh start. The reminder that God's mercies are new every morning. What a gift!<br /><br />22. I am thankful for Panera and some time to myself!!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-1773233194473491272011-11-19T15:29:00.000-07:002011-11-19T09:32:17.368-07:00Day 1919. I am thankful to be hosting Thanksgiving this year, at our house! We will have 9 adults and 7 kids, ages 4 years old to 6 weeks. It is going to be exciting, to be sure! I'll for sure post pics on what we end up having, it's going to be epic and delicious!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6930154992656197046.post-13045029525143379132011-11-18T15:27:00.002-07:002011-11-18T15:27:07.746-07:00Day 1818. Everyday, I am so thankful that Jesus Christ is always the same. He never changes, never fails, never leaves us. And while my life will shift and change and take on new form and challenges, He will always be my constant, my Rock, and my Fortress that is strong and can never be moved.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04104586178325771559noreply@blogger.com0