Oh my goodness...

"Oh my goodness" is a phrase we use in our house a lot - and by 'we' I mean myself, Joel and Miss Mylin
It is HILARIOUS hearing it come out of her mouth!

(winter hat...90+ degrees...)

What is not hilarious is a few incidents in our day today...

This morning Mylin took off her jammies and put on her clothes all by herself - YAY!!!
During alone playtime though, she just took off her clothes AND diaper, and didn't put anything else on...
So when I came up to get her she was wiping her pee off the wood floor with her shirt.
What seemed something to rejoice over and put in her baby book in the morning was now something to sigh over and put in her baby book by lunchtime
:)

THEN we had the Zesto's incident
Yogurt in a cone dipped in chocolate is absolutely one of my favorite summer treats
I always ask Joel to go and he rarely agrees (very very sad, pouty face from me...)
So this afternoon after naptime I thought I'd take the kids to Zesto's myself
I decided I would just rough it and eat the cone in the car (instead of in the sweaty heat) and let Mylin enjoy a shake in her carseat

That ended up being my first very large, messy, stressful mistake.

Not only did she keep getting pieces of strawberry stuck in her straw that I had to suck out...Sully began to shriek which caused me, holding my melty dream dessert, to go from one side of the car to the other to help/soothe my kids
I was already making a big mess by dripping when I decided to just head for home, hoping Sully would calm down and I could get Mylin back to sit with her and help her eat her shake

That was my second very large, messy, stressful mistake

Not only did Sully scream louder, Mylin (we all knew this was coming) spilled her shake not on the floor...but in her carseat.
She began screaming and crying (both out of shock and disappointment) and I pulled over immediately
Upon surveying the damage I threw my cone in the trash because I knew I couldn't set it down or finish it before I had to help them out
I scrambled over the console into the backseat and tried to pacify Sullivan while calming down Mylin
Luckily (I thought) there were towels in the back from our trip to the pool yesterday
I reached for those to clean up the mess and realized THAT was what smelled like a rotten diaper in our vehicle - not the rotten diaper I assumed had rolled under a seat somewhere...

So there I was, with a stinky rotten towel mopping up sticky runny shake in between to screaming crying children
It may have only lasted 5 minutes - but it was the worst 5 minutes of my life since becoming a parent of 2.

No more solo trips for treats for awhile :)

6 week quick update

Our Sullivan Joel is 6 weeks old today!
He rang in at 11 lbs and 10 oz at his check up on Monday :) a big boy!
We're not surprised - Mylin was in the 90 % for weight through her entire first year

Little man has just started to smirk this week - a half smile :)

He eats every 2 1/2 - 3 hours during the day and 3 - 5 at night

He 'goes to bed' the same time Mylin does each night which gives Joel and I dependable alone time together each evening - such a blessing and necessity!

I'm really enjoying being at home with our 2 sweet babes each day

I have many moments like this:

and this:

There are MANY more where no one is smiling and I do not want to snap a shot to remember them...but those are to be expected as well :)

Just tonight I realized, instead of letting the enemy win over my emotions and becoming angry, resentful, and bitter that I am up at least twice a night and feel tired most days...I'm going to rejoice in our predictable nighttime schedule

I am thankful that I got the kids out 5 mornings this week for long walks on the greenway, talking to Mylin about birds, the river, bullfrogs, and trees

I don't have to keep worrying about how I'm going to survive the day - I want to transform my mind to be still and be in the moment with my sweet babies, enjoying cuddling, reading, nursing, talking, teaching, and training

It's all in my perspective - all about God's lesson of 'dying to self'

Earlier this week I prayed that He would give me opportunities to do this...(why would I ever pray that?!?!)

And I laughed yesterday morning when I was frustrated, remembering I 'asked' for it...I desire to become more like Him - and He is coming through in giving me those opportunities to be obedient to that request :)

(coming soon: a Draper series on Obedience in many facets of our life)

God has also been teaching Joel and I the lesson that these children are not ours - they are His

This is a scary lesson and can fill me with fear...but I know fear is not from our Lord...so even though I want to control these children...their safety, success, and their lives, that control is only my illusion

I would never want to have to live a day in this family without my husband either...but I know that God is bigger than all these fears and whatever happens in our life, He is not only in control, but it is all happening so He can get the glory

And above all else - that is my heart's desire!

I love every minute with my cherubs and my knight...I hope God grants us many many more minutes together

How I survive

Does anyone else feel like they are just surviving?
This last week has definitely felt like that for me
The fact that I make it from 6:30am to 11pm is a miracle some days!

Here are a few reasons why I do survive!

1. I shower every morning - some days this is the only time I am alone, without holding someone, having someone touching me, or feeding someone!

2. I wear Sully in a SnuggyBaby.  This provides me to do a lot hands free - like swinging Mylin, picking produce out of our garden, changing Mylin's diapers, or chasing her around the dining room table (a current favorite, "Mommy, run run run!").  A lot of times I wear him because he loves to be upright with his head tilted back staring at my face.  I love this too! But don't have the luxury to just sit there for the 30 minutes that he enjoys this actvity :)

3. I am constantly praying for God to 'fill in the gaps' for me - I wake up thinking "Today is the day that I won't be able to make it/take it anymore"  So I immediately pray for patience and grace - and where I fall short in those, God, please make up the difference!
An excerpt from Forgotten God by Francis Chan explains it this way:

"You are most likely familiar with the 'fruit passage' in Galatians 5, which says, 'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law' (v 22-23).  You may even ahve the list memorized.  But look over those traits right now and ask yourself if you possess each to a supernatural degree.  Do you exhibit more kindness and faithfulness than the Mormons you know?  Do you have more self-control than your Muslim friends?  More peac than Buddhists?  More joy than atheists?  If GOD truly lives in you, shouldn't you expect to be different than everyone else?

What disturbs me most is when we're not really bothered that God living in  us has not made much of a noticeable difference.  Most churchgoers are content to find a bit of peace rather than a 'peace of God, which surpasses all understanding' (Phil. 4:7).  We want just enough peace to survive the week (or perhaps even the day).

Certainly there have been times in my life when just getting through the day was possible only with God's supernatural help and presence.  You might understand the kind of desperate season I am talking about; most of us have experienced times like this - times when we really do have to ask for peace and sustenance every ten minutes.  But what I am talking about is when we live our lives this way, when every day of our lives we are just barely hanging on, looking no different from the rest of the world.

When we exhibit the peace that surpasses the world's understanding, that's when the world notices.  That's when people say, 'Your Lord - He is God!'"

4. Joel and I are in constant communication about our feelings, emotions, priorities, and expectations.  Granted, this often happens at like 10:30 at night - or sometimes even at 3am...but we have to make each other a priority even when we're tired or we'd never have alone time at all!  We make our marriage a priority because that came first, before the sweet kiddos, and that will last long after they are raised and have moved on...we have to nurture this relationship above all other earthly ones.

What do you do to survive the newborn stage?
Don't get me wrong, I do thoroughly enjoy it as well...but some days it's all about making it to bedtime :)

Birthday party/Birthday girl

On Monday our sweet Mylin Hadassah turned 2!
Here's a recap in pictures of her small party with family and her celebration on her special day!

 I love how you can tell she just woke up!!! (surprise - her castle was full of balloons!!!)

Birthday pancakes - WITH sprinkles!

While we didn't get an official picture - this does happen to have Mylin with all of my brother David's family - Uncle David, Aunt Jayna, new baby cousin Elliot, and cousins Glenn and Luke

Joel and Mylin with his forever best friend from birth, Trent, and his daughter, Gabriella

Happy Birthday morning playing outside on our new used slide/swingset!!!



So excited about her present from us!

A packnplay, bouncer, carseat, high chair, and baby backpack for her doll - which I totally found at a garage sale for $5 - score!

Yep, that's a matching outfit her and 'Shelby' are wearing - compliments of Grandma!

Ending the fun day with a birthday bike ride with dad!

We are blessed.