Teaching a New Baby New Tricks

In my last blog I told you about some of Kate's new tricks. They are mainly just Kate's tricks because Hannah doesn't seem too interested in actually learning things. She is more independent and is off in her own little world, but just as happy as can be. When I ask Kate what a bear says, she's trying to say roar. Just in case you think that she's not understanding my question. Her roar comes out like "whoa." Sometimes, she laughs at herself because she has to think about how to form her lips in order to say roar. Her lips actually move before the noise comes out. This was right before bed time tonight and I tried to do it in a well-lit small area so you can actually see the video. I will put a small disclaimer on the video. At the very end I had to cut it off because not only did Kate shake the table, but so did Hannah. It was cut off so that I could discipline my sweet little girl for doing something she knows she's not allowed to do. Enjoy!

The Search is On

Before I bore you with the details of our life, immerse yourself in these pictures of my two beautiful little growing right before your eyes girls:

Mommy & Hannah

Mommy & Hannah

All of these pictures are mainly for showing you how cute they were in their Sunday dresses!

"Hey you! Yeah, you, on the other side of the screen. Give me a hug you big galoot!"

Hannah

Kate

Kate

Hannah

And these pictures are right before bathtime. The girls definitely know what going to bed means and taking a bath means. They'll run to the bathroom door or run to their cribs. It's pretty cute. They are picking up on so much everyday. Kate now knows how to "roar" like a bear. Hannah points to a picture of a baby and says baby. We were at the park last week for a while with a friend and the girls actually "played" on the playground part. Well, all of that climbing gave Kate the idea that she should climb out of her crib! They were in their crib doing independent play time and I was in the computer room, which is about 10 feet away. All of a sudden, Kate comes walking into the room. WHAT?!?! She must have very stealthily exited her crib because I never heard a thud or anything. I definitely lowered the crib to the final setting that night. My little escape artist has been deterred, for at least another couple of months.

Kate is in the background

Hannah

Hannah

George and I finally signed a lease to rent our house. It would be great timing if we actually had a house to move in to. We looked at four more houses on Saturday, but no luck. The one house that we really liked and put an offer in on, we never heard back from the seller's realtor. We are pretty bummed about that, but are trusting that God has something better planned. I really mean that, too. That previous blog post I did on "What is Your Egypt?" is really my reality colliding with my faith this week. I am so grateful that we are not in a dire situation of needing to find a house, but it's difficult.

So today I am going apartment searching again and hope to have a lease signed by the end of today. It might be a little difficult to find a place though since we have to be out of our house by March 1st. Not sure how much availability people will have on such short notice. Again, I have to trust God that He will provide a place. So I'm doing my best to surrender this situation to the Lord and allow Him to develop a heart of patience within me. The same God who provided this house, will provide another one. Until then, we'll cram our big happy family into an apartment and make the best of it!

What is your Egypt?

"When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you...Hear, O, Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory." ~Deuteronomy 20:1-4

I was spending time with God this morning and reading my Bible and God made these verses stand out to me. We have some close family members who are battling illness and just struggling with all of the "stuff" (tiredness, disappointment, etc.) that comes along with it. They are doing their best to be strong, but it's wearing on them. I don't blame them. I have been in my own "Egypt" many times and felt like I was trapped and there was no way out.

They were actually on my heart before I even got out of bed this morning. What an encouragement this verse is. First thing though, it says when you go into battle. Israel knew that there was a war ahead of them because they had yet to take the promised land. So it's not a matter of if we face battles, but when. However, this is a verse that I want to remember not for the fact that trials are inevitable, but the promise that it holds.

The same God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt, is the same God who will fight for you. When I say He brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he brought them. He sent numerous plagues to punish the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea, provided manna from heaven to eat, and allowed their clothing to never wear out the entire 40 years they were in the desert. So we aren't talking about some little God here. Our God can bring it!

What is your Egypt? That question came to my mind as I was journaling my thoughts this morning. For example, "When you, Lauren, go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who delivered you from singleness (not that that is a horrible thing~just something that I invested a lot of prayer into), delivered you from infertility, delivered you from the grief of a miscarriage, delivered your daughters from weak and frail bodies, and has never let you worry about finances, will be with you."

So, what is your Egypt? What are the things in your life that seemed so insurmountable that God seemed to blast right through and displayed His glory? Maybe some of the things on your list will be the same as mine, most of them will probably be different. Those are the things that we need to remember when we face the next trial. I know it's not easy when you are in the midst of battle and you are worn out and tired, but God is not worn out and tired; He is still fighting for you to give you victory through whatever way He sees fit.

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~John 16:33

Random Acts of Cuteness

We are still trying to rid our bodies of the germs we have been harboring. I only thought that I would escape this round unscathed. My body decided to throw me a curveball though. I didn't end up with the cold that George, Hannah, and Kate have. No, I got pink eye or some eye infection. It hasn't put me down and out; it's just plain annoying. Luckily, I haven't seemed to pass it on to anyone else and I think it's getting better. All this sickness really limits our social interactions though. It has given me some chances to catch some random acts of cuteness.

One of Kate's new tricks is "answering" the phone. If you say, "Ring, ring" her response is to put whatever she's holding in her right hand to her ear. In this case, it was nothing. She answered the phone with her hand. She can also verbalize that a puppy says, "Woof woof."

Hannah is my peek-a-boo queen. She has learned how to do various kinds of peek-a-boo. Her latest is covering her eyes with her hands, demonstrated in this picture. All you have to say is, "Where's Hannah?" and she covers her eyes. Sometimes she cheats a little and peeks through her fingers.

Kate already has control of Daddy's wallet.

I found Hannah nuzzled up in her blanket like this the other day.

She's Right

I don't know if you read MckMama's blog or not, but she did a really good post (http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2010/01/im-gonna-miss-this.html) the other day about being in the midst of the chaos of raising children and wondering how you will ever make it through, but then realizing that one day she will miss it. It brought a huge amount of guilt right now along with tears. There are many days when we are stuck in the house and I get antsy and think, "I can't wait until they are older and we can get out and do more stuff. It's so hard right now." I have also been going back and making a Creative Memories Storybook for myself since I plan on giving the girls' scrapbooks to them when they leave the house a million years from now. As I'm going through all of their pictures, I am amazed at my beautiful babies and I can't even seem to remember so much of the first year. Partly because maybe I have a bad memory (although it's actually fairly good), partly because I had twins and there was so much to do, and partly because I just think that it goes so fast. I'm looking back at babies who were laying on their bellies because they couldn't go anywhere else, but now I have two toddlers that I can't even keep still if I tried. Sometimes I think that I miss out on things because I'm bored or tired and I want to rush to the next stage in life.



I don't want to be that woman or mom. I pray often for just being content and enjoying the stage that Hannah and Kate are at. It's difficult and busy, but I don't want to miss it. I'm trying not to cry right now just thinking about it. I already do miss those newborn days (I know there are probably some of you who have newborns who are thinking I'm crazy) and those that are thinking, "Well, just have another one." To those of you who are thinking the latter, my response is this, "When I can afford a minivan and Hannah & Kate are more independent, we will. In due time."



We are battling colds in the house (except for me) and we can't do much that puts the girls in contact with other kids. So, in light of wanting to make those most of our time, I decided that after our trip to Target today we would play outside. The weather is beautiful in Florida today. I laid out some blankets and set up their play yard and we played outside for about 30 minutes. This was really the first time that the girls got to "play" in the grass. We all had lots of fun! Here are some pictures:

Kate

Kate

Kate playing with the grass and Hannah watching her

Hannah eating the grass

I didn't get any individual pictures of Hannah because she was so engrossed in playing that she refused to look up at the camera. Just so you don't think I'm a bad mother and playing favorites!