To Grace, on your 5th Birthday

Grace,

I have so enjoyed watching you grow little girl!  You are getting to be such a big kid!  You told me today that you're 5 so you're big now and that makes you happy happy happy!  You have such a sweet spirit and you LOVE to be a helper.  You are always so quick to ask me for jobs when you see me working on projects around the house.  You are great at doing the dishes and vacuuming!

I love that you want so badly for people around you to be happy.  You like to make sure everyone is included!  Your favorite things to do these days are play board games with mom or Abi.  You LOVE when Daddy takes you on fishing dates (or really to do anything!). 

Bug, I love your heart!  I love how smart you are and how thoughtful you are.  You are growing and learning so much and I can't wait to see how you continue to grow and how you'll impact this world! 

Love,
Momma

For your birthday dinner you asked for:
 Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, broccoli

For your birthday cake you asked for:
 Chocolate - although tonight we are skipping cake and getting ICE CREAM at Youngs! :)

Your favorite toys are:
Candy Land, your Elsa doll and play dough

You don't like:
Being told you can't help or not being included in things.

Pregnancy #5

It's that time again...although not quite THAT time because I'm usually pretty consistent about getting positive pregnancy tests in December or January - but hey, why not do this one a little earlier after twins!  :)

We are in our cautiously optimistic phase of this pregnancy meaning that it has been confirmed by a pregnancy test (ok, maybe three) but I haven't been to the doctor yet.  To answer the common questions, no, we weren't "trying" to have another baby.  No, we still don't use birth control.  Yes, we do know how this happened.  And yes, we believe children are a gift from God so we will continue to be joyful and celebratory about life.

The week of July 21 Grace and Abi had VBS so we were up and out the door early every morning.  I was also training for my first 5k and running three times a week.  I just felt really run down though and felt like I couldn't catch up on sleep and never really felt "good".  On Saturday the 27th I decided to start ruling out possibilities and took a pregnancy test, not expecting anything from it, while Aaron was heading over to the church to help out with a wedding. 

Well, funny story, I got two pink lines.  I called him a few minutes later - I tried really hard to wait until he got back home - and caught him right as he got to the church.  He seemed surprised (as was I) and I told him I was going to go take another test.  The girls were still napping and the boys were crawling around their room.  I remember looking at them and laughing at how they were still so small and there were two of them and this was going to add a whole new level of crazy to our lives - but my goodness, if we can rejoice and love having twins, we can conquer anything!  We told my parents and Hub's parents the next day. 

Side note: on my 30th birthday, July 30, I ran my first 5k, while pregnant in 34 minutes.  This was a HUGE accomplishment for me and a goal that I had set for myself at the beginning of the summer.

I still am grateful that God has seen us fit parents and continues to trust us with life.  And yes, it is hard and crazy and fun and amazing.  I can't wait to continue this journey, this trusting and meet this amazing life that I get to be responsible for!

First doctors appointment was August 29th and we heard a strong heartbeat!  Too early to tell how many might be in there :)