Brother and Sister Love, pictures & video

It's been so cute to see them discover each other. Luke started by staring at his ever-moving sister and now she's finally looking back at him and they enjoy playing. I'm just trying to prevent one of them poking the others eye out. In the morning when I lay them down, I lay them side by side to make their bottles. They always end up turning to touch each other. Taylor usually rolls to her belly to look over him and Luke like to touch her soft fuzzy hair. Cute.

Can I touch your belly, Luke?


No, YOU come here mister.

Luke, you have to pop the collar like Daddy. lol

My fingers taste good, wanna try?

What conditioner do you use? It's so soft.

Anticipating...who's she gonna pick up first?





This morning video

This evening video

Never a Day

Not one day have I ever regretted the decision to stay home with them. Not even on the bad days. Not one day have I longed to do anything more than to be with them as much as I can. I want to see their first everything. I want to be the one who holds them when they cry, the one who feeds them and the one who even changes them. Yeah there are days when I need a break. When I'm ready for Nick to come home and help...but never a day have I regretted our decision. It sometimes bothers me when people complain that they "can't" financially stay home. I don't understand everyones unique situation and I know it's not everyones desire to stay home but I know that God will take care of us if we follow his will. We sacrificed material things to have me stay home. We sold my car and paid cash for one, sold each of our houses and moved to an old fixer-upper to cut our mortgage way back. I see so many people holding on to cars, clothes, houses, entertainment and they say they really want to stay home but they can't financially do it. My question is will you sacrifice and trust God? We prayed and planned for the change and still, for us on paper, financially there was no way it was going to work. We trusted God to provide and he always has. I remember saying to Nick...but we're going to bring in less than half of what we used to and then all the additional deductions from his pay for insurance, how are we going to pay bills? Our household income was going to change a lot. It was scary on paper. Nick was always confident that the Lord would provide, that we were doing what was best and what God was leading us to do. It's been a year since I left my job of almost 12 years, it was really hard for me to leave that job and let go of what I was really good at. He doesn't give us lots extra but he gives us enough. He gives us just what we need. AND then sometimes he blesses us on top of that. I've been able to still freelance graphic design from home and it provides extra which is nice and it keeps me in my field. There are days that it's difficult to get work done but I've never regretted a day. Seriously, what could be more worth it?

Wrestling

We all knew this would eventually happen.
Nick's just a little too eager (for me). lol

First Date Night & Pics

Tonight Nick and I went to Red Lobster for my birthday. It was the first time we've left them at except with each other. My mom, dad and sister watched them. It was nice to get out and talk and the food was YUMMY! It was a nice little break. It always feels weird to not have a baby on me, and I was ready to cuddle them when we got home. :)

The picture above was taken when we got home. Taylor's hair cracked me up this morning. I usually put a little baby oil in it after her bath but last night I didn't and it sticks straight up. I thought it was cute so I left it. It cracked me up all day today so I took a bunch of pics.

Her first hair accessory. Nick rolled his eyes. lol

This cracked me up...I saw that Nick put this bib on Luke.
I asked him why he gave him a girl bib and he said ...
"it's blue" it's not a girl bib.
All except for the "pink" and "love" and flowers on it. ;)
I guess I should be happy he knew it was blue.
We had purple and blue issues with the bottle tops...
We compromised, Taylor is green and Luke is blue & purple
since Nick can't tell them apart.
When I'd give Taylor purple, he thought it was blue
which isn't good because they have different formulas. :)

Are you serious? lol

I love when Nick holds him like this because he looks and smiles at me.
Nick put his hand in front of his eyes and he kept trying to look around it to see me.

Taylor's nap routine. Nuk, bunny, cuddle.

She loves holding her feet right now. It's hard to keep socks on her...she pulls them right off.
That is, if she didn't already squirm them off.

Quick bath

Laundry has increased A LOT! It's an every other day baby load.
Going through bibs and burp cloths like CRAZY!

PCR lady told us to try freezing wet washcloths for them to chew on. Taylor liked it.

After coming back from Brown's orchards. Neat place.

Taylor's Weight Check and More Laughing

Taylor had her weight check today and her official weigh in was 14lbs 7oz. She was in a very good mood today. Did she know she wasn't getting shots this time? Hmm. She was all smiles and even played with her belly when she was in the scale. Her belly is getting bigger....not Luke big but pudgy Taylor big. I asked the doctor about trying to go off of her reflux medicine. I want to see if the problem was only her formula. He said to go ahead and try it for a week and see. I asked about whether she's likely to outgrow the milk protein intolerance and he said most babies outgrow it by 1. He said when it's time for yogurts and dairy foods, we'll see how she does with those. If she can tolerate those, we'd then try milk, if not then she'd have to go on soy milk. Time will tell.

Ticklish babies. I'm loving it.

Other updates I've just not had time to write about. Luke has sleeping in the nursery now. For about a week now. I think he likes not being disturbed by his sister. It was just getting crazy with her rolling and him yanking on her and the divider. So they were ready and Nick had been ready for a long time. It was just about me being ready. lol I just love waking up and seeing them. sigh ...I made a few comments to Nick about soon being ready and that made him just put Luke in the other crib one night. I left him there because I was ready and he to needs to get better rest. I have the video monitor set up. That thing is great! The first night it woke me up a lot. It's so sensitive. It turns on with any sound and in our old creaky house, it kept coming on and it kept me awake all night. I ended up turning it down so I can hear if he fusses but it doesn't otherwise wake me once I'm asleep. Taylor is sleeping on her side and often her belly now. It looks like she's face planted and I don't see how she can breathe. I try and turn her head when I catch her but it's tricky to not wake her. She's a light sleeper. Luke doesn't wake near as easily once he's out. Now we gotta get another camera for Taylor's crib. How long can I put that off? She is getting better at night. I'm almost afraid to type that. The doctor said we should still look into getting the book on helping them sleep through the night because he said it often gets worse once they are toddlers. Lord help me. I figure if I made it through those first 2 months, how much worse could it get??? I shouldn't even think of that. One day at a time has been my motto from the beginning and those one days are flying way too fast already.

The babies have been eating solids twice a day now. Lunch and dinner. Taylor was the pro at first and now Luke is doing great. Taylor has recently decided she wants "dinner and a show" meaning she wants entertained while she eats. She has been throwing fits and Nick makes fun of me but my antics to get the food in work. I might sound ridiculous but she laughs and she eats! Luke is just hilarious...his mouth is wide open when I put him in the chair and he sucks off the spoon and downs his food in no time. They've eaten bananas, applesauce, pears, and sweet potatoes so far. I'll tell ya what....what they say about the way real food comes back out is true...Heavens it smells. They are tolerating everything well so far though. They seem to like bananas the best so far.

Adventures of LT & A Word on Prayer

The babies have been so fun lately. It's so cute. I put them down on the floor in the morning to make them their cereal and I always catch them playing. Taylor would roll Luke over if she could. She always rolls right up next to him and he usually proceeds to touch her. He likes to touch her face and her hair. He'll also grab a hold of her clothes. They are starting to smile at one another more too. Cute. Taylor rolls and rolls and rolls until she can't anymore and then she screams. lol I look back at the pictures of Luke and Taylor and it's crazy how fast they've grown. Luke especially. At 5 months he's wearing 18 month clothes now. Taylor is in 6 month clothes. They both starting laughing when I tickle them. Such fun.

It's been a busy week. I turned 33 this past week and wow how my life has changed in the last year. It's amazing. Last year it was Nick and I and this year, we have a family of 4! It'll never be the same and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm excited about my birthday gifts...I haven't spent a whole lot of money on myself since the arrival of LT but I got some blessings from Nick and our family so I can spoil myself some. :)

I've been really hearing a lot from God on prayer lately. Seems like everything lately is teaching me about prayer. We had a small group at our pastors house and we talked about our prayer lives and what things hinder our prayer and how we can improve it. For me it's being distracted. My mind is all over the place. I've always been like that. I can never do one thing at a time or think one thing at a time. I pray throughout the day when things and people cross my mind. I've learned to pray immediately or I'll forget.

Hannah got me the book "90 Minutes in Heaven" and I've been reading it. I can't even begin to explain the story. Check out the link. This book is teaching me more about prayer and it's amazing power.

Nick and I have been trying to pray more together as well. We started praying for specific things for the babies. Our biggest prayer is that Luke and Taylor will love and follow the Lord. That they will honor and respect God and live for him. We've also been praying that the Lord blesses them with a spouse who will also share in their love for the Lord. Seem early? Well it's something that's very important to Nick and I and we know how important it is to have a marriage that is built on "the rock". There are other prayers I've had for their protection, health and their relationship as brother and sister but those two are main prayers we've been focusing on and we'll be praying those prayers for years to come, along with lots of others.

Prayer has been huge for Luke and Taylor. I often think back on my pregnancy and all the people who prayed for us. I see babies who have severe prematurity health issues and I'm amazed at how blessed we were. How I, as small as I am, carried two babies to 36 weeks, delivered them without a csection and they didn't even have stay in the NICU. It's just amazing. It's nothing I did. That's prayer and God. God pays extra attention to those we pray for and he cared for us. As uncomfortable as it was for me, I knew he wouldn't put me through more than I could take. He knew when those babies needed to be born and he answered lots of prayers.

One of the BIG questions I've gotten from teenagers: "If God has a will and he knows what is going to happen, then why bother praying?" This is why I love teenagers. They ask what adults struggle with...what adults are too afraid to ask out loud. I've had many answers to this question, depending on why it was asked, but the bottom line is...our prayer won't manipulate God's ultimate will. He also knows our motives. We are to pray for God's will to be done. So why pray for his will? Jesus told us to for one. (Matthew 6:10) I'm learning more and more that prayer isn't about getting what we want but about trusting God with all we have. It's about our relationship with Him. It's how we communicate with Him. How could we build a relationship with anyone or trust anyone without communication. I read about an illustration which gives a simple picture of how we can communicate with God. Say there is a maze and that maze represents life. We can only see from inside the maze and we have to make choices to go one way or another. God however is up above the maze we are in. He can see the way we should go, the choices we should make. Now, what if we could talk to God on a cell phone. What if God could lead us through that maze. Well, prayer is our cell phone call to God. He can help us make choices in this maze of life as long as we rely on him and listen to his directions. How can God speak to us? Through prayer and listening and through God's word, the bible. He's waiting for us to contact him. God wants us to surrender our every worry to him, and praise Him for our every joy. He wants us to pray to him out of our need for him as our father and not out of a need to please ourselves. He's not a wish granter, we can't bargain with him. His ways are higher than ours. He knows what we need more than we do. His will for everyone is that we love and obey him and grow more like Christ everyday. Part of that obedience comes by praying and trusting. We don't have to worry about how we pray, he wants to hear our hearts. He wants us to be humbled before him. God looks at the heart and there is no prayer too big or too small. He wants all of us.

This is one of my favorite verses because it's a promise that God will listen when we pray with all of our heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

The After Dedication Pictures

Hold my hand.

They both thought the pattern on Taylor's dress was amazing. :)

He loves touching his sisters hair and pulling her dress.

He just wants to hold her hand.

And touch her dress.

As always somehow Taylor ends up on her belly.

Mommy's girl

Hannah & Luke. She's been a life saver, helping me out 

Sunday mornings to get the babies to church when Nick is teaching.