Bring on a new decade!

In about twenty minutes I'll turn 30 years old.  30.  I'm not someone who has ever been weird about birthdays -- either over-the-top celebrating or pretending they don't exist.  I don't fear getting older -- I work in a job where I see every day that another year of life is a precious gift.  But I do feel like 30 is significant because somehow in my mind in means that I should be a full-on grown-up now.   Never mind the fact that I've been working in my career for almost a decade now and am a wife and a mama with all the joys and responsibilities of those roles ... turning 30 means I should have some answers by now.  But somewhere between 20 and 30 I realized that being a grown-up most certainly doesn't mean having answers to ANY of my real questions. In fact, my list of hard questions grows longer by the day.- Growing in maturity means accepting the tensions that exists in our beautifully made but horribly broken world.  There is such wonder in this life and such pain that coexist and I've learned a lot in this last decade about how to hold onto and learn from both.  Mostly today I feel overwhelmingly thankful for the people that I get to share my life with.  Tonight my sister and Scott planned a little surprise party and as I looked around the room I felt overwhelmed by God's graciousness to place such wonderful people in my life.  Dear dear friends who have seen me at my lowest and loved me there.  Friends that are laughing and crying with me through motherhood.  My husband, who has taught me more than I could have ever imagined about what love looks like in action.  My parents, who have shown by their lives what it looks like to love well.  My sister, who if anyone had told me ten years ago that she'd be my dearest friend, we both would have laughed!  And yet here we are, doing the messy and amazing work of motherhood together side-by-side. My children, who are gifts in my life and who are shaping me and molding me in ways that NO two other people ever could have.  And when I look around I know this:  when I turn 40 I still won't have answers to most of my questions but if I'm blessed enough to be surrounded by such amazing people and walking life together, I'll be okay.  I'll be thankful.  Relationships are the hard stuff of life -- the communicating, the being willing to change, the listening more than we talk, the humility, the trust, the stuff that sometimes makes me want to go back to bed as soon as the day has started.  But relationships are what makes life worth living. So bring on a new decade!  Another ten years of learning what it means to trust in the Lord, to do life together, to love well, to live fully and serve one another.

Overwhelmingly thankful to get to share my life with these three

My sister, a gift to me on some many levels (and Addy, I'll pay for your chiropractor bills!  Sorry!)

One of those days ...

It's hard to sum up what a day with these two is like right now.  There are such high highs and low lows when you share your life and your days with two toddlers.  So many moments of such joy and exploration and excitement.  And so many moments of irrational tantrum throwing craziness.  We were THAT family today -- you know, the frazzled looking mom carrying two screaming kids to the car and creating quite a scene.  The kids had a great time at their tumbling class and it's right by a playground so it made sense (because packing kids up is half the battle) to let them run around for awhile and play while it wasn't raining.  Apparently I overshot the window (such a delicate window it is) and ended up with two overly tired and hungry kids (guess the bunny crackers weren't enough to make it to lunch time).  The problem is that they're SO STRONG anymore that it's almost impossible for me to carry them both (with a purse and dance bag) to the van when they're in full on tantrum mode.  So I was half dragging, half carrying them across the park.  Yep, Mom-of-the-year.  This is why my advice to new moms is this:  don't do it alone.  It's the most meaningful, difficult, amazing, crazy, beautiful, exhausting thing you will ever do and you NEED other mamas to walk through it with.  I feel so blessed to have the preschool co-op we're a part of.  It makes me realize that much of what I both enjoy and struggle with in parenting is NOT JUST ME.  We all have good phases and bad phases, we all show up some days wearing one step (barely) above our PJs because it was all we could do to get ourselves AND our children ready, we've taken turns crying, we've gotten to watch one another's kids piece together new concepts and learn new ideas ... We have loved each other's children and that is a precious gift.  I am thankful -- especially after days like today.  I am not alone on this crazy journey called motherhood.

Because every 3-year old boy needs a leotard :)

Tumbling class!

When Valentines Day explodes (in the form of stickers) all over your table!

Excited to garden with these two this year!  They LOVE watching their seeds grow.

Fun to watch them take responsibility of their plants (well, in a 3-year old sort of way)

The week in pictures!

The kids have been a bit sick this week so it has saved my sanity that it's been nice enough outside that we can be out for much of the day :)  There are so many hilarious things that they're saying these days that I really need to write down before I forget them ... 

Luke:  "Dad, I love when we wrestle but the sprinkles on your face are too ouchie!  Maybe you should shave?"

Amelia loves to chase Luke around for his check-up time (she pins him down and uses her flashlight and stethoscope to assess him -- they just had their 3 year check-ups so they're very interested in doctors and going in for check-ups.  It's hilarious though because she'll be running him down (she's quite a bit faster than him) yelling, "Wukey Baby (Lukey Baby) come back -- it's okay!  I just need to do your check-up, okay?  Then you can have your stickers!"  As she's tackling him to the ground for the check-up.  Haha!

Boys + mud + trucks  =  Happy toddler!

Favorite moment of the whole week -- she hasn't fallen asleep on me in well over two years.
Love it.  The only perk to sick kiddos is the extra snuggle time.

Love these three!

Bonding time with Daddy!  (Plus the living room is almost painted ... finally!)

When both your parents are nurses ... this might happen :)

Rock painting, anyone?

We had the same idea as every other family in the Portland Metro area,
to spend the holiday at the zoo

It's always a good day to ride a lion :)

Dance!

There are very few things cuter than a dozen toddlers in their "tumbling tots" dance class.  So darn cute!  I asked Amelia about a month ago if she'd like to do a dance class and she gasped and said, "Oh, please?  Please?!  Please?!  Can I?"  So I guess that was a yes!  So to dance class we go ... always gracefully, of course :)  Because this girl of mine is spunky!  Luke also has really enjoyed the last two classes!  He's the only boy (The teacher always says, "Now, Luke and the Ladies, look on over this way ..." or whatever!  Oh the joys of having a twin sister.   He absolutely insists on wearing his "leotarget" (leotard) to class.  Thankfully we had a plain back one so that photos won't become blackmail material in a matter of years.  This is an age that I really love.  So inquisitive and curious.  Forever asking questions (but I don't usually mind because I love how their wheels are spinning and ideas are being connected) and just plain fun!

Almost three?!

Happy (almost!) birthday to my sweet Lukey and Sissy!  We had so much fun celebrating you both tonight!  We kept it super simple -- just family and a few friends ... pizza, ice cream cake and lots of running around laughing and playing.  It was perfect.  You two have brought us so much joy, laughter, growth and love in these three years ...

Keeping My Kiddo(s) Busy!

When it gets dark at 4pm (so thankful the days will be getting longer from here on out!) and it's cold and rainy (although today was actually beautiful and therefore we spent 2+ hours at the park!  Yay!), conversations with other moms of toddlers often revolve around the same question:  how do you keep your kids busy in meaningful ways?  I've picked up a few great tips along the way.  Most of them revolve around keeping toys put away and then pulling them back out so they're new.  Almost all of the kids toys are in bins in their closet or in the basement and every morning I pull one out (legos or dolls/doll clothes or puzzles, etc) and they're happy to play with them for a good long while because they haven't seen them recently.  This tactic might also keep their slightly OCD (who me?) mother from  tripping over toys constantly :)  They're old enough now to get interested in art projects so we'll often spend a chunk of time in the afternoons painting, playing with play doh, etc.  I get a lot of good ideas from my creative sister (it helps that she was a kindergarden teacher too!)  She has just started a blog with great montessori ideas -- you can check it out here.   (She's also started an Etsy shop where a lot of the ideas from the blog are for sale -- it can be found here).  Really great ideas for ways to keep toddlers entertained in educational and meaningful ways!

Christmas!

My heart tonight is full ...

Lukey and Eden Rose!

Birthday cake for Jesus

This sweater?!  Too much cuteness!

New books!  Already read about 50 times today :)

Can't believe my baby girl is almost THREE!

His love language