Let it Snow. Or not.

Before we moved to NC, we lived in Lexington, KY.  Lexington is a beautiful place and would make my list of the top 10 most beautiful places in the country.  Horse farms make the scenery beautiful and one of the things that I loved the most was that we got all 4 seasons – including lots of snow in the winter.  Every winter, I get jealous and miss Kentucky even more when I see pictures of friends who are getting snow.  This year was no exception.

Well, the Lord decided to help that a little by sending us some white stuff all our own.  First, we had ice which caused schools to be closed for an entire week and Kinsley to miss two days of preschool because they closed.  Then, this morning, we woke up to snow falling like crazy.  Needless to say, Kinsley missed school again today.  We are expected to get 2-3 inches and even as I type, it is still falling.  So beautiful!  I love that the snow reminds me of how God, through Christ’s sacrifice, washes us white as snow and views us as perfect, holy, and complete because of Christ.  Thank you God for such a visual reminder!

Here are a few pictures of the girls enjoying the ice and snow – and I will let you make a guess as to who wanted to stay out in it all day long and who wanted to come in after 10 minutes.

Speaking of freezing and the cold, this crazy man (aka my husband) decided to join his swim team to participate in something called the Polar Bear Plunge hosted at our gym.  It was actually quite comical to watch everyone’s faces when they hit the water and tried frantically to get back out of the pool (and then run to the indoor pool to soak in the warmth).  Our girls started crying because they wanted to participate and we hadn’t brought their swimsuits – we promised them when they could really swim, they could do it.

We traveled to Georgetown, SC (my hometown) this past weekend to see my family, let them meet Blake, celebrate my birthday, and to visit two churches that partner with us in ministry.  I loved seeing Blake be held by those who have prayed so hard for him through all the roller coaster happenings of the pregnancy and his short life.

Whenever we visit churches that partner with us in ministry, we know the Lord uses our words to show and bless them with how He is moving on college campuses, but we almost always end up being blessed by them.  This weekend was no exception.  The Lord used a little church that we adore and that has become like family to us to bless me and speak to me very, very clearly about something that I had felt the Lord being silent on for a long time.  Though the weekend was super, super busy, I left feeling very refreshed and feeling like the Lord really does see and is aware of what is happening, even when we don’t think so.

Little man dressed up for church and I loved catching a picture of him smiling.  He has been smiling for a while now, but I haven’t been able to capture it yet.  I seriously can’t handle all the cuteness!  And on top of that, he decided to start doing 5-6 hour stretches at night, which this momma is very, very happy about!

The Greatest Show On Earth

This past weekend, we did something our girls have been anticipating for a very long time – we went to the CIRCUS!  For Christmas, Ed’s parents gave us money for our whole family to go to the circus.  We knew that Blake would still be so young and it would be a risk to take him, but we were excited for our girls to experience the circus.

The few weeks before the circus, we checked out circus books for the library, so the girls loved learning about what they would see.  Then, the day of the circus, the girls could hardly contain themselves.  I don’t know if I have heard “Are we almost there?  We are going to be late (though the show didn’t start for a few hours)!” so many times before.  When we got there, we were pleased to see that we had awesome seats!  It felt like we were in the middle of the action!

The girls loved seeing the animals, the clowns, the unicorn, and the fun snacks they got to have.  Funny thing that unicorn.  Not too long ago, Kinsley and I were talking about animals and I asked her what her favorite animal was.  She said her favorite was a unicorn.  When I informed her that a unicorn wasn’t a real animal and for her to tell me her favorite REAL animal, she kept insisting unicorns were real.  Well, at the circus, she saw a horse with wings and a horn (that were added to the horse, mind you), but now she makes sure to let me know that “See, mom, unicorns are real.”  Oh, to be a kid.

My favorite part was seeing the motorcycles in the ball of steel.  I liked lots of other things, but this act was verifiably crazy.  I kept thinking, if someone messes up, they will die.  Yes, so would the man with the lions and tigers…but for some reason, they seemed crazier to me.  I think they ended up putting like 7 or 8 motorcycles in this one ball.  Are these guys nuts?!?!

Here are a few other fun pictures:

It was fun and something the girls will always remember.  Another big thing happened in our house this week?  No, Blake didn’t sleep through the night yet (yes, I know, he is only 4 weeks old) but when he does, believe me, I will shout it from the rooftops.  This getting up a few times a night thing is for the birds.

Blake did, though, turn ONE MONTH OLD!  How is that even possible?!?  Time slow down, please!  Other than a few tummy issues (aka mommy ate the wrong thing and it came back to bite her in the butt), he is a super easy baby.  The girls LOVE him and Kinsley is a great helper!  She even got him to go to sleep in her arms last night – I see babysitting in her future 🙂  We are loving seeing him awake a little more these days and the girls always ask “Are his eyes open?”  Can’t believe he is over 10 lbs now, too!  So thankful for this sweet boy!

 

And Yet Another…

Today we had another doctor’s appointment.  Yes, they are becoming second nature to me.  I feel like we visit some doctor’s office at least once a week.  That being said, I am thankful that we are surrounded by some of the best doctors and hospitals in the country.  Today, we had a followup appointment for Blake at UNC Pediatric Cardiology.

Honestly, last night, I started struggling.  I started to let fear and anxiety creep in because I started running through the what if’s.  What if the hole in his heart isn’t gone and it should be?  What if they find something more and want to do surgery?  What if? What if?  And yet again, I was reminded by the Lord that he wants me to trust him – not just in speech and not just with ministry, but in my life – moment my moment, hour by hour, day by day.  You think I would have learned that lesson by now with this roller coaster pregnancy.

At the appointment, the cardiologist came in and talked about what they had found previously, listened to his heart, and then asked lots of questions.  She shared that Blake has something called Ventricular Septal Defect, which is essentially a hole in the bottom of his heart that could cause higher than normal pressure in the blood vessels in his lungs, leading to heart failure or lung disease.  After listening to his heart, she again confirmed that he does have the heart murmur still, but after asking lots of questions and seeing how much weight he has gained from birth (babies who have large amounts of pressure and are really struggling have a hard time gaining weight), she was fairly confident that he is going to be okay and the hole will close up on its own without further treatment like surgery.  She gave me some things to watch for in him, and then made an appointment to see us again in 2.5 months.

I am so thankful for great medical care.  I am so thankful for a God who knows my tendency to trust in myself and my own efforts rather than Him.  I am so thankful for a God who won’t let me stay there, but provides a pregnancy and itty bitty, precious baby that challenge me in my walk with the Lord and call me to rely on Him because I literally CAN’T rely on myself.  I am so thankful for a church body who prays, loves, calls, provides for us in amazing ways (like giving of their time and watching our girls so we could go to the appointment today uninterrupted) and truly makes us realize how blessed we are for the body of Christ.  I am thankful.

So even in the midst of this crazy transition to 3 and feeling like I never have enough hands, I will choose to be thankful.  When one kid is throwing a tantrum, another is singing at the top of her lungs, and another refuses to be put down, I will be thankful.  When I am cleaning up an “accident” from one kid, trying to wash up the other kid, and see that the dog has pulled the food down from the counter and is eating our leftovers, I will be thankful.  When I have been up countless times throughout the night, look over and see that it is time for the older ones to wake up, and wonder if I will ever sleep again, I will be thankful.  Because these three littles are a blessing from the Lord.  The days are long, but the years are short.  Lord, help me to be thankful, see them as blessings, and cherish the little years.