Take a Look ...

So, each morning the very first thing I do (after making sure that Sophie is still breathing - IF she wasn't the one who woke me up!) is take a trip to the little girl's room. This time of the day is the ONLY time of day that I have 100%, completely ALL to my self, so this is the way I chose to start it:
I have me some time with God. I pray for my family and friends and give to Him all I have ahead of me for the day. I also have a devotional book that I keep on a shelf above the toity (strange place, I know ... did I mention that I am A*L*O*N*E?!?!?! 'Nuff said?) written by Max Lucado.
All of this to share with you what God - and Max - layed on my heart the other day ... and it still hasn't left. Now, I cannot tell you how many mornings that I read that book and think to myself "self (that's what I call me!), you need to share that with the bloggy buddies!!" and then I leave the bathroom and enter into the realm of Hurricane Hattie, Cyclone Sophie and the chaos that IS my day and I never get it shared. This time though, God has not let me walk away. So, here it is:

"Are you still in love with Jesus? Before you remember anything, remember Him. If you forget anything, don't forget Him....
...Has it been a while since you stared at the Heavens in speechless amazement? Has it been a while since you realized God's divinity and your carnality?
If it has then you need to know something. He's still there. He hasn't left."

This has me stopping to think, remember and realize. I have thought about the fact that my life is such a combination of miracles that I cannot even begin to share them all. I have an amazing husband - he is the very best man I know and is SUCH a man of God that it startles me at times. He TRULY makes me want to be a better person. A more Godly person. And the way that we came together is SUCH a work of God - ONLY He could have done it! And then there is Hattie ... the story of Hattie coming into my life is a long one (I will share the details another time) and is FILLED to the brim with divine promises and follows a trail of crumbs that could only have come from the bread of LIFE! To have her as a daughter is such a miracle. SUCH a gift from God! And Sophie, oh my sweet Sophie! I knew her even before she was born and I was privileged to WATCH her come into this world. And, oh my word, has she made my world a better place. She has a spot in my heart that I didn't even know was there to fill and I cannot remember life without her - or imagine life without her anymore!!! Two sweet miracles. I am their mommy. They are my children. I did not give birth to them, but my HEART KNOWS that they are mine. Sophie - the spitting image of a childhood Hubby. Hattie - so much like a childhood me. Only GOD could bring it all together. Only God.
I have remembered times that I looked into the Heavens - literally - and SAW God! The day that Paula passed away, at the moment she died, someone she knew was taking a picture of the sky. This picture shows a cloud, the sun poking through a hole shaped like a human form. (I sooooo wish I could show you that picture. I will try to find it for later.) It was - in my mind - a picture of my best friend entering Heaven. AMAZING! And once, as a child, we were on a trip to the Grand canyon. I can remember my mom sitting outside the hotel room on the grass and waiting for what seemed like FOREVER for the sun to set. I didn't understand why ... til it hit the horizon. I was sitting with her, holding her hand and felt her gasp. I looked up and saw it. It was like she KNEW that that day's setting sun would be beautiful. And just for her. And finally there was the time that we were on an outreach with Generation Of Promise. This was a youth ministry with kids from 4 to 18 reaching out to the community. We were having an evening off and were barbecuing. The kids were letting off steam and it was, in a word, CHAOS. So, Lesa and I took a walk. We walked far enough way that you could kinda hear the voices of the kids playing in the background - loud enough to be sweet, soft enough to be peaceful - and we stopped and sat. Lesa is an amazingly special person to me. I have shared things - details - with Lesa that I have shared with no other person on the planet. She is that kind of friend. I love her so very much. That evening we shared a sunset, with beauty I had never seen before and have never seen since, that I believe God sent just for the two of us. We both needed peace and God gave it to us then and there. Oh, my friends, He is so GOOD!
And I REALIZED that, truly, if WE do not praise Him, surely His creation will. A flower, a cloud, a child's smile, a sunset, an ocean view, a mountain view, a prairie view ... so many ways that He shows Himself to us every single day! Do we take the time to see it? Surely not enough. But if we look, He is there. He is ALWAYS there!
I will say it again ... He is SO good! Just take a look.

Too Sleepy To Think Of A Title...

OK ladies and gentlemen (ha ha - like any gentlemen read this!!!), it is 2:34 AM. And this is the second time tonight/this morning/this-period-of-the-24-hours-when -all-is-dark-and-most-are-asleep that I have been awakened. This, after not going to sleep until 11:45! The first was a shorter, "say shh shh shh over and over for a few minutes and she will fall back to sleep" kinda awakeness. This one has become a "change the diaper, make a bottle and leave the room so the other bleary eyed parent can sleep" kinda awakeness! Hubby, he took the first one! Tonight was his lucky night! I must say that he really is very wonderful and amazing and AWESOME about taking his turn! THANK YOU JESUS FOR MY MAN!!!!
Why, you may ask, is this awakeness happening? We have been asking ourselves that very question for a couple of weeks now. Why has our good eater/sleeper suddenly turned into one who refuses to open her mouth for the spoon and wakes up at LEAST once a night? Why does our sweetnatured baby go from happy and joyful one moment to Crying her eyes out the next - this is NOT an embellishment (and excuse me, but when are they gonna fix the spell check thingy already ... I am having to use big words like embellishment 'cause I can't figure out if I am spelling exageration correctly. And truly, I am not even sure that I am spelling embellishment correctly... it is 2:39. AM. should I really be expected to SPELL?!?!?!?!)? Well, today the mystery has been solved. I caught a glimpse of her the inside of her mouth. That glimpse made me feel the need to get a closer look, for which I had to stick my fingers in her mouth, pull her bottom lip one way and push her tongue the other and peek fast. And there they were ... two little wite nubs tryng to poke through her swollen and sore little gums. Yes, that's right ... we are teething! This is not fun. I am not liking this. Sophie is liking it even less. I want to cry for her.
Now, with Hattie, teething was not an issue. She would be going about her business and one day you would notice, hey! There are more teeth today than there were the other day. When did that happen?!?!? I consider us Blessed by that! Truly, I do! Poor Sophie is not so lucky - and by that token, either are we, this time around. I love my baby and would honestly take this pain for myself if I could. How I wish I could!
Anyhoo, it is now 2:45 and I think she is finally asleep again. I am going to attempt to get her to bed without waking her or Hubby up ... pray for me (I am all for backdated prayers!!!! And, as I am sure you are reading this at a sane hour of the day, that is what they would be!).
Blog at ya later.
Forgive the typos and misspellings (stinkin' blogger spell check!!) and rambling ... Did I mention it is 2:49 ... no wait, 2:50 in the morning!!!!

Everybody Say "Aaaaaaaaaawwwwww"

Ok, picture day has come and - thankfully - gone. I am always a stressed out mess thinking that I have to do all things necessary to keep my girls happy till the last frame is captured. Well, I FAILED my friend - F*A*I*L*E*D!!!! Praise the Sweet Lord in Heaven, you cannot tell it from the pictures ... except for the lack of choices in shots!
I was more worried about Hattie than Sophie because H is notoriously moody, grumpy and downright yucky on picture day. I was sure that Sophie would do so very well and be her utterly charming and sweetnatured self. Oh, so wrong was I!!! Oh, so very wrong! But, again ya can't tell.

Here is Hattie:




and my favorite



And here is Sophie - to be noted, we had a pretty dress for each girl and BOTH of them refused to wear them ... We did get Sophie into the silky bloomers though:




Ya gotta love the rolly polly chubbiness that is my sweet baby girl!!:)


And, for your viewing pleasure (and if not yours, well, then MINE!!!), here are the two cutest girls on the PLANET:



Oh yeah, them are my girls! How I love them!!!!!

What I Did This Weekend ...

So, Friday night Hubby and I had a date ... an OVERNIGHT date!!! We went to Ypsilanti (yes, that it is a real place)!!! One of our favorite bands was playing there - Casting Crowns!!



It is a pretty good drive away though, so Aunt Kathy came and took care of the girls (along with Nicole) and gave us enough peace of mind that we were able to get a goodnight's sleep. We did not wake up til 9:15 AM!!!!! They had some people there from World Vision and, so, we picked up a "brother" for the girls. His name is Jono (we call him Jo!!) and he is from Indonesia. He is on our fridge and we will be praying for him as though he is right here with us! Hopefully, with a sponsor now, he can go to school and drink clean water and have a better life!!! He shares a birthday with Hattie and we are hoping that the girls can learn a litle bit about giving back to the world through this. Welcome to the family Jo!!!!
We also made a few stops on the way home. No road trip is complete without a stop here:



Comfort food at it's very best!!! It was crazy busy, a very long wait and so-so service, but hey, I got me some heavy duty carbs and had a date with my man ... can't ask for more that that!!!!
He also let me stop at Old Navy and do some shopping for my girls. Oh so cute clothes at rock-bottom prices!! It has always annoyed me that stores bring in the summer stuff in January when I still have another 4-5 months of cold weather to dress for!!! Of course now that I am trying to be a responsible shopper and have a CONSTANTLY growing little one, I am SOOOO appreciating that all of the winter stuff is on CLEARANCE!!! Add to that the fact that by the time I need warm weather clothes for her THEY will be on clearance!!!! Good times!
In other news ... Pray for us today as we take the girls for Easter/6mos./4 year pics. Hattie - who will be four on Sunday!!!!! - does not like to have her pic taken and there is the language/communication difficulty to factor in... Could be a long evening. But, there is pizza for the girl when it is all over!! All wrongs are made right with pizza for that girl!
Blog at ya later!!!