An Outpouring

In the silence of this moment I sit and reflect on these past two weeks. We have felt an outpouring of love and support from family and friends and we are so thankul for the good people God has placed in our lives. Good, good people - sharing homemade ice cream, hugs, prayers, sending flowers, email after email with kind words and thoughts, prayers and more prayers. Thank you. We have felt lifted up and encouraged by all of you. The little life of our small child has changed us forever as this simple poem communicates...

.. how very softly you entered our world, only a moment you stayed, but your footprints shall be forever etched upon our hearts .........

 

A Double Dare from Pierce to Kate

Little Cousin Kate,

I have been hearing all this fuss about you and how much hair you have. So what if it takes me nearly 12 months to grow half as much as you have in 12 days. I guarantee I have more hair than my big brothers did at this age. So - check out this picture below and I dare you....double dare you to see if your fancy hair can do what mine can! C'mon - girls can have mohawks too - can't they? Huh? Huh?

I guess I'll see you soon. Get ready for lots of fun and action all around you because I am crawlin' now. No one is safe. Nothing is safe. And just between me and you...I think I have found the secret to keeping everyone on their toes....I just crawl a little close to the stairs and everyone gets worked up. I love it...even though I have a few bumps since this all started too. Oh well. Don't get too competitive with me just yet - take in a little time of just lazin' around - it is the life! Oh, and one more piece of advice to ya...about now start sticking your tongue out at your parents and coo a little...fake a smile - they absolutely go crazy!!! The simplest things capture their hearts. I dunno?!

Love ya,
Pierce

 

Thanks Mom!

 

My Mom is an amazing woman. She went behind my back and planned, with Benjy's help, a suprise birthday gift for me - showing up on my front door. I was so suprised and so happy! She planned to stay 2 weeks....I convinced her (and it wasn't very hard!) to let us extend her ticket for one more week so that we could take her to see the ocean. She has never seen it (other than from an airplane) and since we are just 4 hours from Acapulco..... She loved it!!! And so did we!

Little did I know what an incredible blessing it would be for me that her ticket was extended. The day she was originally scheduled to leave, I spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the hospital. We had found out on Tuesday that we had lost the baby and it really helped us to have my Mom here - yes, to help with taking care of the boys, etc.. - but to be a comfort to us as well. I am thankful she was with us - she has been with us at the births of each of our children, I am grateful she was here with us at this time of loss too.

My Mom has more energy than I do on my best of days. She has been so much help to me - cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and baking me apple pies! She quickly connects with my boys and is such a fun grandma to them. She has spoiled Pierce - she does whatever he wants her to (poor guy will face reality again when she heads home). Piersen has begun to crawl since her arrival and already cares more about using her fingers to guide him around as he walks and walks. If he fusses she walks him more. She is so good to my boys and I have loved watching them bond with her these past 3 weeks. We have had lots of laughs together and it is really special to me that she has shared this time with us.

Thank you Mom for every kind gesture you have shown our family - whether big or small - we know how much you love us and we appreciate you very much. We are so very thankful for this visit! We love you and will miss you incredibly.

 

The Loves Of My Life

The pictures say it all. I am a very blessed girl! Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

 

 

 

Thirty Days

Well, thirty days can seem like a very short time to experience all of the ups and downs that we have had over these past weeks and days. Although some of you may have heard about this - many of you more than likely have not. On January 12, 2008 - just one short month ago, we received a shocking but extremely delightful suprise....news of another addition to our family! It took us several days to realize it was true but after picking our mouths up off the floor - our excitement and joy took over! We shared the news of our pregnancy with our family and some close friends after going to the doctor for a confirming ultrasound. Much to our suprise the baby already measured in at 8 weeks and 3 days of development - well on its way to moving into our hearts and becoming a part of our sweet family. After a few days of living with the reality - Benjy and I shared the news with the boys. They were all excited in their own ways - Reece expressing happiness and a strong desire to have another brother only...because he does not like girls...they cry too much (ha! but quite a change from the last pregnancy when his prayer was that Piersen would be a little sister). Chase, with his three year old attention span was much more intrigued with the coin he found on the floor - but did stop his pursuit long enough to declare that my tummy would get big and big and big again. Piersen....ya - he had no idea what would be coming his way! Sweet moment for our family. The people we did share our news with all seemed very happy for us and at the same time had that look of "how crazy is life going to be for you" look in their eyes. We received the typical collection of predictions that God must be giving us a little girl this time around. We think that would be a really nice suprise - but probably not likely. My heart began connecting immedietly with this little one - girl or boy - as it has done with all of my pregnancies. Benjy and I shared many smiles together over the reality of another special person to fill our lives and our home. We were humbly thankful to God for His goodness. That statement continues - we are humbly thankful to God for His goodness - even in the shadow of our sadness - the reality that we became aware of yesterday, February 12, 2008. Our little one is gone. He or she has been gone for an uncertain amount of time...maybe even days after that first ultrasound. I had no idea - had been feeling wonderfully great. Even when I began to lightly spot, I was confident and sure that all was okay (it had happened in my pregnancy with Pierce and all progressed smoothly). The doctor suggested I come in for a checkup - I was planning to come in later this week anyway. He could not find a heartbeat. I remained confident and calm (perhaps it was denial?) but he sent us for an ultrasound. I could see the reality the instant he placed the wand on my tummy. No heartbeat. No movement. No life. Just a very small image of an undeveloped baby. His or her body measuring only 8 weeks and 6 days. We are sad. We are hurting. We are as suprised to learn of this baby's death as we were to learn of his/her life. All this in thirty days. What a roller coaster. I had a D&C today and I feel empty and strange - to have been carrying the body of my tiny baby - anticipating life - and yet his or her life already in the safe and perfect arms of God. We have shed tears and received the prayers and comfort of family and good friends. We trust in God's wisdom and His eternal grace. We are confident in where our baby is and we take peace in that. Our little one is in a much more perfect environment than my womb or our home could have ever provided, yet we grieve and mourn our loss. I take comfort in this hymn that I have loved since childhood...

Safe in the arms of Jesus,
safe on his gentle breast,
there by His love o'er shaded,
sweetly my soul shall rest.

Thank you for your friendship and prayers.

Welcome Baby Kate!!

My sweet little niece Kate Elizabeth was born on Friday, February 8th. Congrats to Betsy and Jared - we are so happy for you! Little Kate is the first baby girl to be born on both sides of her family and so with a bunch of big boy cousins (5 on her mommy's side and 2 on her daddy's side)she should be well protected...and will have to be a tough one to take all of their loving affection!

I am dying - not being able to be there to see her but am being somewhat pacified by phone conversations and sweet picutres. She is beautiful and such a blessing. We are excited to see you Kate in just a few weeks. Get ready because March is just around the corner and....here we come!!!

I think I see a little resemblence between her and my boys - check out this picture below of baby Kate and then baby Piersen (okay - not the hair - Kate wins in that department!!!)

Inspirational....

Yesterday was my brother-in-laws' 30th birthday. Brig decided to set a personal goal to run 50 miles on his 30th birthday - I am not exactly sure of all of his motivations for this goal....but I think he just wanted to prove to himself and the world that he could do it! He plotted out his own course and did it! I couldn't believe the distance he ran but it especially impacted me when I heard that he began running at 5am and was finishing around 5 pm!!! Yes, that is 12 hours of running! I was inspired to talk to him near the end of his race to congratulate and give him birthday wishes (he was carrying his cell phone so family could check in with him every now and then to cheer him on!!!)

Brig - I kind of doubt you read my blog - but just know we are proud of you. Benjy was bragging on you to all of his friends last night at the super-bowl party.

Way to go!!!!!

I am still here!

I haven't posted in awhile but wanted to tell the world I am still alive and doing well. Here's our latest family photo. We are having so much fun as a family. These little boys make every day an adventure! They are pretty good buddies (most of the time) and can think of something to get into on a regular basis. Can you tell they are brothers in the pic below?!?!




I just celebrated 33 years of life and must say that I feel pretty blessed. God has given me so many good things that I try to recognize and appreciate more than take for granted. For my birthday, my Mom completely suprised me by showing up on my doorstep! I couldn't believe it!!! She had been planning the suprise visit for weeks and I was absolutely stunned. She will be with us for several weeks and just 2 days into her visit I don't know if I will let her go. She is an amazing woman and grandmother to my boys!

That's all for now - I will look for more time to post again soon...

Happy New Year!

Here is a shot of my blue-eyed boys on the first day of 2008!



I trust that this year has amazing things in store for us and I am excited about the newness and the sense of renewal and fresh perspective that a new year always holds. All the best to you this year. May our great God be exalted higher in our lives and around our world than He has ever been!

I posted a bunch of stuff today - to get caught up on all of the crazy Christmas happenings! Enjoy!!! It has been a wild December with a lot on the go.

Let It Snow....But Pay $$ To Touch It?!

Call me crazy but Christmas and snow are two words that are supposed to go together. Reece had been asking us if we would receive snow on Christmas Day and it was sad to have to tell him no..... So - on the 26th we hunted down this spot in Mexico City - albeit in a mall parking lot - but nevertheless, we let our kids see some snow. Sure, it was manmade and more like ice than nice soft, fluff...and we had to pay money - but it was a memory anyway....and fun too. All of you who are enjoying a white winter, don't take it for granted! We waited in line a long time and paid nearly $10 for Reece and Chase to have an alloted 15 minutes to build a snowman on a fold-out table!





My personal highlight of the experience was to sled down the fake mountain! It was really fun and worth the money. I wanted to go again and again but the lines were quite lengthy and so I just took what I could get! Oh how I miss my childhood wintery fun!

Christmas Morning, Afternoon, and Evening!

We had a really slow going and peaceful day - due to the late, late night the boys didn't awake until about 8:30. We exchanged our gifts and played and stayed in our pajamas the whole day! It was awesome. We took a family nap in the afternoon - all 5 sleeping at the same time - now who says miracles don't occur today?!!! We also talked on the phone to all of our family so that was really fun. It was a very Merry Christmas for us, with much more profound blessings than our material gifts (but those were fun too!) I hope your day was really special also.

Noche Buena or Christmas Eve

We invited several families to eat a traditional Christmas dinner and share the evening with us on Christmas eve. It is hard to be away from family at such a family oriented time of the year, so we felt very blessed to have a house full of good friends and happy children! We ate well, celebrated with sparklers and Christmas carols, and enjoyed the annual reading of Christ's birth and Twas the Night Before Christmas. The kids stayed up really late - and us parents even later - as we prepared everything for the next morning. It was a special time for me - with all the kids tucked into bed and the Christmas lights and music, wrapping gifts and realizing how good my life is! I am thankful for Jesus - in so many ways!

Goodbye AIMers

Beth, Josh, and Michelle have been a part of our team, work and families for the past year-and-a-half. They served as apprentice missionaries through the AIM program and have become very special people to us. Their time of service has ended and we have been richly blessed by their lives and will miss their presence here. They are headed back to their homes to pursue college and future plans. All the best to you - we love you and miss you already!

Reece's Christmas Performance!

We were so proud of Reece and his performance at his school Christmas Festival. His school developed a theme and each class performed a different song representing the value of children and their growth. Although it wasn't a direct Christmas theme (more like jungle animals), it was absolutely adorable and I fought back tears a number of times...and then finally gave in when our shy little son confidently came on stage with a smile on his face - oh how he has changed!



Reece's class dressed as monkeys and they had coreographed an entire dance to the Son of Man song from the Jungle Book. At one point in the song they all turn their bums to the audience and do this little wiggle - it was so funny! He banged his drum and knew his place on the stage and most importantly, had a great time! It is a day I will never forget. We are thankful for Redlands School and all that it is teaching our boy!

Christmas Baking

There is nothing like Christmas baking to get you in the spirit of Christmas! We had our annual bake-a-thon again and enjoyed hours, and hours, and hours of preparing pumpkin bread, sugar cookies, squares, fudge and anything sweet! It is fun to pull out the recipe box and remember the good people in my life who have shared some of their favorite recipes with me. The kids, of course, had fun helping too!



I personally think it was a bit of an accomplishment to teach Josh how to roll out cookie dough!

Feliz Navidad

From our house to yours....we wish you a grace-filled and beautiful time with family and friends this holiday season - remembering the things that really matter in this life! We love you!

All I Want...

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth - or some kind of teeth - I am not picky! I am nine months old and have nothin' but a toothless - but beautiful - smile. (so they say!)

Cruisin' Along!

Here are a few recent pictures of our motoring little boys!



Chase received the tricycle for his birthday from a friend. He has been having a lot of fun zipping around and carrying things in his little basket in front.



Out of the blue Reece decided on his own to take off his training wheels (which he was too impatient to wait on me to help and so just figured out how to do it by himself). He went to work practicing and has mastered the bike really well and really fast - without any help from anybody! He is so proud of himself and I loved watching the face of sheer exhiliration and suprise the first time he went far without falling!



And little Pierce - well, he isn't moving too much yet but he sure does like to be outside, cheering on his big brothers!

For some live action, copy and paste this link into your browser (I chose not to add the video onto the blog directly for my dear family who use dial up internet!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDyO9r-E1AQ

Chase Is 3!!!

On December 2nd, our little Chaser turned 3 years old. We celebrated on Saturday - with a really fun afternoon with friends and neighbors. He had been saying for months that he wanted a party with cars...lots of cars, so we went with a racetrack and cars as the theme. Chase had a great time and it was really good for us as parents to just enjoy him - watching him interact with others, jump and play on the inflatable toy we rented. He was excited to eat cake and hit the pinata and of course....eat candy! Chase is a special little guy and has added much to our family. It is hard to believe he is already three and such a big boy. We love you Chase and hope this year of life is full of learning, adventure, fun, few scrapes and falls, and good times!