Hannah Turns 2! :)

So Hannah's birthday party was this last weekend.....!  She had a blast, of course!  I think the actual day of the big party she was a bit overwhelmed with all the people, as you will see in the pictures....!  haha.  So here's a recap of what's been going on so far in March.....!


Hanging out on in our jammies one morning...!

Here's KaeLee in her jammies, lounging on the couch too!

Hannah being silly!

The girls love to dance!

And dance.... and dance some more!

Oooooohh..... that kind of looks evil.... haha!

Hannah has become a picky eater!  You can see here that she is picking out the chicken in her chicken alfredo and sitting it far, far away from her!  haha. 

Here is the annual birthday morning picture!  I have been taking a picture of the girls on the morning of their birthday when I go in to get them up out of bed for the day.  Except this day, I went in to get Hannah, camera ready, and she was found here, on the floor, wide awake and playing with toys (with just the light of a nightlight!) That silly girl! 

Getting to open her morning birthday gift! She got a little piano!

This was the night of her actual birthday and this series of pictures cracks me up!! Here, she looks lovingly at her gift, as she begins to open it....

This is a squeal of delight as she sees what it is! 

Continuing to SQUEAL with delight!!  I just love this face!

Then she had to kiss the baby of course!  And, boy, she couldn't hardly wait to get that dolly out of the package!  haha

Waiting patiently to blow out her candles!

She blew them out with perfection and ease!  :)

Reading her birthday card

Her birthday party!  Cousin Jake came to play!

The birthday table!  Yes, you read the sign correctly!  And you can't see it very well in this picture, but there is a sheep after Hannah.  Cheesy, I know!

A pretty sad lookin attempt at a cow cake..... haha!

oops, it's the wrong way!  These were my cupcakes! 

Not nearly as excited about her cake this time around!  Like I said, I think she was a little overwhelmed with all the people...!)

I love this stubborn face!  She was flat out refusing to blow out her candles!  haha!  Even though she just did it the night before so quickly! 

So KaeLee and Jake came over to help blow them out!

KaeLee and Jake

Reading/Listening to a singing card!

I don't know why, but I love this picture! :)

Awe!  She loves her new bear! Can we say adorable!?!

So excited to open another gift!

Loves her pizza dinner!

KaeLee is quite enjoying the party as well!

Blowing her horn!  She was so excited that she could do it..... she would take off running yelling, "I did it! I did it!" it was hilarious!

She did it!!  And she's off.......!

KaeLee playing with Hannah's new gift with Daddy's help!

What a happy girl!  She LOVES this tee ball set! :)

Daddy helps Hannah out!

But she prefers her own way of doing things.....!  haha

Happy 2nd birthday little miss Hannah Banana!  I love you bunches!!  (haha.... no pun intended!)  You are the light of my life and you keep me on my toes for sure! Your bright personality shines through and you turn my bad moods around SO quickly!  You are so bubbly and love to wave at random strangers.  you are talking up a storm and surprise mommy with all your knowledge daily!  You are one smart cookie! :)  You love to dance and sing and your two favorite song right now are "A big big House" and "The Elephant song"!  You love Barney, but you still aren't into watching tv as much as your sister! 


Alrighty, that's the last couple of weeks in a nutshell!  I MUST go to bed now.....!  I haven't been up this late in..... well, probably new years eve.....! haha.  I hope to be back soon with some more thoughts!  Maybe when I am not so sleep deprived! ;)

The Inevitable Is Driving Me Crazy!

I love a clean counter. 
I love an empty laundry basket. 
I love it when I can see the floor, absent of toys scattered throughout it. 
I love vacuum lines on the carpet. 
I love being able to SEE through the windows and mirrors, having them being absent of fingerprints, splattered toothpaste, and saliva (my girls are into licking the windows and mirrors.....!)

Looking at my house, you would really know nothing of this.  It's ridiculous, really. 

WHY, when EVERY time I run the dishwasher, it is inevitable that a water glass, a bowl, or some other dish finds it's way to the sink not five minutes later.  Here I am, working so hard and meticulously putting the dishes in the dishwasher so that all of them will fit.  I love the puzzle solving it entails sometimes!  I even do a quick run through the house, check the end tables, the nightstands, the table, the counter, the desk..... I put the dishwashing soap in the container, shut the door, and give myself a smug smile and a quick sqeaul of delight!  I DID IT!  Such an exciting moment in my day!  (yes, this may just be as pathetic as it sounds..... but it's still MY moment to shine during the day!) 

But this moment lasts for just that.  Because just a few minutes later another dish appears!  Just enough time in between so that you can't just open the dishwasher and throw it in last minute.....!  *SIGH*  You may be thinking, "just wash it by hand if it bothers you so much".  Hmmm..... that's an option.  Though I consider that a disservice to my dishwasher...... haha.  That and the fact that I HATE washing dishes by hand and pretty much just refuse to do it.  I won't even buy dishes that aren't dishwasher safe.  I know, I can be pretty pathetic. 

This is the same feeling I get with everything else on my "list of loves".....!  A laundry hamper gets emptied when the last load of laundry gets put in the wash..... then, again, it's inevitable that two minutes later, there will be more dirty clothes in the hamper.  Ugh.  Sometimes I feel the urge to go hunt for other things I can wash (like hand towels in bathrooms, bath towels, bed sheets, pillow cases....) just so I can make another load to get that hamper empty again.....!  haha. 

The floor looks FAN-tastic while the girls are sleeping, since the rule in our house is that we pick everything up before nap and again before bath time.  But again, it only lasts as long as they are sleeping..... haha. 

So, today, I give it up to the Lord.  As I have to do daily.  I am well aware that these things are not by any means, "important".  I'd much rather be able to spend the extra time with my girls than worry about these things.  But my anxiety level is always hightened when this chaos of a house surrounds me.  It is inevitable that these things are going to happen and that the house will never be kept in perfect condition, or even up to my standards.  Therefore, this verse has been embedded in my brain:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  1 Peter 5:7

It's a verse that we have all heard millions of times (or I hope you have, anyway....!) but I think we often do just that: hear it.  I hope that you will take a moment to really read that again and soak it in.  He cares for YOU!  He cares about all your little anxiety attacks that you may have (even if it IS just about a water glass left in the sink!)  He wants to take those from you!  I think that sometimes God gives us those feelings of anxiety so that we will be reminded that we need Him.  I am so thankful that I have a God that will take my EVERY care away, no matter how big or how small.  He wants them ALL!  He WANTS them all!  So give them up, take a deep breath and know that those dirty dishes will just go in the next load.  And tomorrow, you can give all those anxieties back to God again.  and again and again.  And He will welcome them with open arms EVERY time! 

An "Ah-Ha" Moment!

So I have about 8 books on stand-by that I REALLY want to read!  Yesterday I started reading "I Will Carry You" by Angie Smith.  She is an AMAZING woman!  Simply Amazing!  If you are looking for a great read, one that will having you crying in no time, and also rejoicing through tears, this is your book!

A bit of a back-story about her before I move on.....  Angie's first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.  She went on to have twin girls and then another girl.  She got pregnant again and at 18 weeks she waas told that this baby girl was "incompatable for life" and if she survived long enough to be born, she would not live longer than a few minutes.  She was advised to terminate the pregnancy.  She and her husband refused.  They figured there was a reason that God had chosen her to carry this child and they were not going to cut that life shorter than it was planned for.  So, the rest of the pregnancy, she carried her baby, knowing as soon as she was born, she would also die.  What a heartbreaking story this is and reading about her journey has been amazing and so inspiring. 

I have not yet finished it, but can't put it down!  I am halfway through it now.  Though I was only to page 23 before I was grabbing a notebook and filling it with life changing outlooks.  And I would love to share one of them with you now.  I will just share with you what I wrote (most of it is Angie's words, paraphrased by me......I'd love to take credit for this profound thinking, but can't): 

When Lazarus is sick, Mary and Martha send a note to the Lord that says, "The one you love is sick". (John 11:3)   They did not ask for healing.  They did not offer suggested ways to handle it.  They recognized that Jesus was Lord and they told Him their problem. 

This request is similiar to that of Mary (mother of Jesus) at the weddin in Cana.  She simply said, "They have no wine."  She doesn't tell him the solutionn she is looking for, she just staes the problem and waits to see what He will do about it. 

This is not the way I approach the Lord with a crisis.  I run to Him with a laundry list of suitable responses and beg Him to accomodate me.  "Heal her heart"  "Let her live"  "Please give me a healthy baby"...... and the list goes on. 

Recognize who He is and tell him the problem.  Then leave the rest to Him! 

There are so many other "ah-ha" moments that I have had just in the first half of the book.  I have cried myself through the entire thing but I have learned SO much as well.  It is SO true that God bring the most learning out of trials!  I think Angie also said something about the greatest JOY comes from our deepest SORROWS.  How amazing is that to be able to think that way and be able to truly praise God even MORE because of your trials?!?!?! 

That's all my thoughts for tonight.  Hope your weekend has been as relaxing and enjoyable as mine.  :)