Wait

Alot of people know how much trouble we had with conceiving Hannah. It was the longest 2 years of my life. It was a heartbreaking, terrible, painful time. I often questioned God's desires of my heart and didn't understand His plan for my future. Recently, it seems that God is placing in my path more and more women who are facing the same struggles of infertility. This poem is one that God laid on my heart during that time and I hope that it helps. If you are dealing with infertility have faith that God has given you the desires of your heart and that He will answer but sometimes His answer is wait.

WAIT

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait".

"Wait? You say, wait! " my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate
hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe
we need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting.... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save.... (for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, "WAIT."

My first makeup experience... by Hannah

So i love it when I'm sick and Mommy feels guilty.... take exhibit A:

I did pretty well with the lipstick at first.... but then I really wanted to put on a lot. Mommy says there is an art to knowing when you've had enough.
Then of course a girl needs some blush... unfortunately I had eyeshadow. But who the heck cares... I had make-up!

Like the outfit? That was mom's too! I'm a hot mess!
Next up.... toenails bubblegum pink! You know what I'm talking about if you've read "When I Was Little"!

Beach and Cereal

We have made it to the beach! All of us and half our house arrived safe and sound on Saturday. Jeff was able to stay until mid-day yesterday when he had to return home for a few days to teach at the college. (The money is awesome but it sure does take away some of the perks of being able to work from home.) We have a beautiful place on the water and the kids are loving it. Well maybe not the kids... Hannah loves it; Drew hates it! Everytime we take him down to the ocean he screams. I think it is too bright for him.

Hannah has been getting lots of Nana and Da time. They have been walking the beach, collecting shells, going in the lazy river. The list goes on and on. I'll post pics hopefully tonight.

Drew has started to eat oatmeal for the first time too! My mom and dad convinced me to let him try and he LOVES it! He eats more in a sitting than Hannah does. Guess I was starving the boy!

I am sitting enjoying listening to the waves. I haven't been out of the room yet as they have not been napping in synch; but it is a blessing just to be relaxing. Look for cute pictures to come! Going to go watch the dolphins with my baby girl!

Whoa 4 months!

Yesterday we took Drew to the doctor for his 4 month appointment. It is so hard to believe that he if 4 months already! He is such a good boy. I know that Hannah was amazing as an infant too but I simply don't remember her being this easy or this much fun. Then again this time I am MUCH more relaxed.... plus compared to a 2 year old I'll take a 4 month old anyday! (I guess it's all a matter of perspective!)

Anyway, Drew lost a pound in the week that we were sick. Possibly due to my milk supply being lower because of medication or possibly because he didn't feel good because of his medication or because he didn't feel like eating because he was sick. Either way we seem to be in the clear now and he is still a very BIG boy so they aren't concerned. He didn't receive his vaccination at my request since he is just getting over all of this and was still kind of stuffy; they did say his ear was back to normal though.

His 4 month stats:

WEIGHT: 15lb 14oz (70%)
HEIGHT: 24.5 in (32%)
WEIGHT v. HEIGHT Ratio: 89%
HEAD: 17in (74%)

Fun fact : He is exactly the same height Hannah was at this age... however he weighs 4 lbs more!

We head to the beach tomorrow with my parents. Hannah is super excited to be going to the "ocean". I'm supposed to be packing as we speak... but I'm burned out! We have sooooo much junk to pack. Who knew how much fun packing could be for an infant, toddler, and 2 adults!

Sick Days

And this is the face of sick:

We joined a gym on Sat. We were going to get healthy. We worked out Monday and Tuesday (the kids went to the child care center.) Tuesday night Hannah and Drew both came down with the crude. Any guess as to where they got it? You know it! Our effort to become healthy landed us stuck inside with a house full of germs.

Hannah went to the dr... just a cold. Drew went to the dr. = ear infection. Mommy went to the dr=sinus infection. Daddy is just starting to catch it. What a mess! Needless to say we have been stuck in the house and we will not be going back to the gym!

So what do you do when you have watched every movie known to man, played with playdough until it's dryied out, colored every page in a coloring book, and painted until our skin is tainted a permenant shade of pink. Well once Mommy is feeling better you start to get creative:

Tonight we made pigs in a blanket... or as Hannah called them baby burritos!
We also made quite a mess!


Then you make smoothies together.


Then you are a "naked baby" and eat dinner on a blanket to have a "pink-nick" and watch Tinkerbell. (She does have on her panties... though in this pic she really does look like a naked baby!)


The good news is that she finally ate. After living on pediasure for a week... she finally is on solids again! Maybe we are finally turning the corner!

Mr. Ferber I love You

After 3 months of being so careful not to let Drew cry at night in order to make sure that he didn't wake up Hannah we gave it up. He was only going 2 hours at a time without waking and I was breastfeeding him back to sleep EVERY time. I was losing my mind! So we did it... we let him cry it out. Last week we began the Ferber method of crying it out and it worked GREAT! I am in love with this man. Now the little boy who never slept and was up every 2 hours will fall asleep anywhere! (And he is sleeping 8 hrs plus at a time.) Here are a couple pictures of last week when I found him but up... it was a sad day... my baby is growing up!


(PS- I know he shouldn't be sleeping in our bed or on his belly but he did this all on his own. We didn't leave him there... but I had to take a picture. I love butt up shots of babies!)

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Last week I had to take Drew to an appointment. Jeff had a meeting at work but we decided to try and let Hannah stay at home and see how it went. When I got home this is what I found...


Daddy had moved his "office" to the famiy room where he was working and set Hannah up to "work" on the computer as she watched a movie! It was the cutest thing ever!!

MIA- The quick up to date with pics!

We've been missing lately but definitely not because we have been bored. Things around here have been exciting and full of surprises. Drew is getting bigger and bigger. Our days have been filled with trying to get on a schedule and not go crazy in the process. Although as I catch you up you will realize that it was fairly boring if you weren't living it!

The end of June Wyatt, Hannah's first boyfriend, came to visit. He and his parents moved to Florida this time last year. We have been lost without him and Jessie. They had a great time hanging out together even if it was during naptime.


Mid July Anna and Owen came out to visit us. We packed up and spent the week at Pinehurst. It was great. Jeff was super and took care of Hannah a few times so we could have just a couple of times where we were toddler free. (It's amazing how easy an infant is after you've been dealing with a 2 year old!) We went to dinner and shopping and had a great time just spending time together. Laura came down for the day with her new man and we had a great time catching up!

The end of July was set for Ms. Karen to have her baby. Molly's mommy is the best! Hannah and Molly are BFF's and Molly is going to be a great big sister as you can see from these pictures. Her brother, Ryan, was finally born August 1st! He just missed my birthday!


July marched forward and Drew took his first bottle and now August is flying by. The next month looks like it will be even more exciting. Drew is super close to rolling over and there are multiple vacations planned. Stay tuned! Here are a couple of picture of our growing babes!

What will her preschool teacher think?!

So Hannah has a new phrase. She means it innocently enough but boy will it be interesting if she says it in public.
Yesterday she and Daddy were playing on the floor. He lifted up her shirt and gave her a raspberry on her belly. They did this a few times and she LOVED it. After a while of playing she came up to me and said.... "Blow me!"
After about choking to death I looked at her and ask "excuse me".
She repeated .... "blow me" and preceded to lift up her shirt. "Blow me... you know like Daddy"
I tried to tell her it was called a raspberry but she is insisting "blow me"!

What will people think!?! Can't wait for her to tell her teachers this!