Good Medicene

So, in light of some of my sweet friends really suffering and going through some trials of all sorts of kinds...I wanted to post this. I saw this today and laughed until I was crying and then I realized how I haven't laughed like that in a long time.

So, go to you tube and type in Tim Hawkins. Funny: Chic-Fil-A, Things you don't say to your wife, Fire Ants...etc.

And then I was sweetly reminded that God is in the pain and God has given us laughter to medicate our tired and weary souls! So...enjoy and laugh out loud if you can.

our sweet girls

We love them...aren't they fun? And Ashley stopped by while we were playing...and isn't she cute too?

And dance is fun!...I will have to tell you about it for sure...but tonight I am tired :)

And for all of you who like to pray...go to my friend Lisa Smith's blog and PRAY FOR HER please!

prayer, dance and a very cute baby

This week we have all been struck by the suffering of the Haitian people...and we have been sobered once again that life is truly a precious gift. In light of that, I want to start by saying LET'S really PRAY for them...the children and mommies, the pregnant women, the men who are broken, the women who have been widowed...Jesus, be very present in their time of need!

This weekend we will officially kick off "Talitha" dance company which means that all 15 of us will be dancing from Friday at 5:00 until Sunday at 4:00 (with only a few breaks to eat and sleep in-between!) I want to ask for your prayers for this as well...for us to really connect on a deep level with one another, for the dances to come together beautifully, for joy and freedom as we dance, and for Jesus to really enjoy our worship this weekend! Also, on a more personal note: I am 11 weeks post prego body...so please pray for my physical strength and stamina to dance this much! I am the "leader" of this group of dancers, so please pray that I lead well too. I want to love them like my own daughters and I really do consider this opportunity as a gift to me....I really want to bring these "daughters" to Jesus this weekend.

In light of this, I think my family has been a bit attacked with sickness and mental/emotional fatigue. Specifically, please pray for Kiva's little tummy. She is having a hard time going poo...and we just need her to be relieved! Yep, potty talk, but real life! Thanks for that!

And to finish off...here is a really cute baby Kiva on the way to the park yesterday. Seriously! Her cheeks rest on her chest they are so squeezable!

around here...

Sister fun...

Boots, Kiva and Jada

Jada was pretending to "drive" Kiva to the "poke" translated park

at breakfast in her "princess dress" of course...thanks Kat. Phinney!

Jada in her princess dress in the hallway doing "beautiful turns"

...and thanks for your encouragement about my bangs...you are all too sweet! Someone pointed out that my hair kinda looks like the Hannah Montana wig worn by the rest of my family...that was definitely not the goal! Ha!

ok already...

So, my sweet friend Sarah Brown took a photo of me while we were eating lunch to pacify the wonder of all of you who live away from here...

So....

mommy said no and a chunky baby!

In this moment as I sit to blog for the first time in 2010 I am gladly holding a very chunky baby sleeping in my arms and listening to a very tired 3 year old crying "mommy said no and that makes me sad."...I told her that rest time is not over yet :)

Why do I start with that?...because truly this is a wonderful life! I feel like time is flying by and there will be oh so many days ahead that I will look back with joy and remember this season of our lives...

Anyway...thought I would post some random facts about the holiday season and our current state of affairs!

• Jada had an excellent Christmas...she wanted a piggy bank to paint and some walgreens brand fake my little ponies (which she received) along with her first tricycle and train set from mimi and papa

• I have bangs...alot of them...and it is a fun change
• Kiva had her 2 month appointment last week and has almost doubled her birth weight and only grown an inch in length! Told you...chunky baby! Love my 11 1/2 pounder!!
• Grammy got our family season tickets to Sea World and we already went...Jada loved it and pretends to be shamu!
• Jada went to a very precious "Happy Birthday Jesus" party...Julie was so creative with crafts, story time, and of course a birthday cake!

• Brian and I officially started the new year on a paleo diet! We are actually trying to change our lifestyle so we plan to be straight paleo for 4 months...so ask us about it if you want to help keep us accountable! So far we have lost 10 lbs between us!
• We received lots of fun Christmas cards with photos from you guys...that is one of my favorite things about Christmas!...and without getting hyper-spiritual, I have honestly looked at many of the faces of your children with a humbling excitement of their generation...may they usher in a heightened awareness of the presence of Christ in their peers and change the world forever! Lord, help us to parent them well and daily show them the reality of Christ in our lives!
• Com Group Christmas party was fun...you know, you can always count on good times with White Elephant exchange and lots of yummy desserts!

• Brian officiated a wedding and did a great job! Our sweet friends Chester and Jen Blessing are hitched!!!

• Our good friends, the Cavins came in town and we all had so much fun! We are so grateful for them!

• Kiva is officially not a spit-uper! Since Jada was, I want all of you moms with spit-upers to know that I am not taking this for granted!!!
• Jada made her dance performance debut at our church with her "Mary had a baby" dance...instead of dancing, Jada just entertained the crowd by twirling her baby Jesus and falling down on purpose! All of the little ones were really precious!

• My mom wants to fluff my very straight bangs...no, mom, they are supposed to be straight and flat :)
• I realized while we were at sea world that I was living out a dream of mine!...carrying Kiva in a sling close to me while Jada rode in the wagon. Seems small, but that has been a dream of mine since I was pregnant with Mia and that was actually something I grieved not getting to do with her...and there I was with Kiva! I was crying happy tears while walking around sea world :)
• Jada loves her cousin Madyson...and we found out that they have matching jackets! :)

• Kiva met her Great-Grandmommie on Brian's side over Christmas...I thought this picture was precious!

• And I will leave you with this deep thought, thanks to Hannah Montana and her wig: Jada, Mike, Jason and Brian all have something in common...all of them are much better as brunettes!!!

Merry Christmas with pics

We love you all...Merry Christmas from our fam to yours!

I mean really?

Sophie and Jada...I mean really, could they be any cuter? This photo shoot lasted about 2 minutes in the cold wind, but so worth it :)

Another look and upcoming posts...

Here's another look at our little bit getting bigger! Lots of fun! She is so fabulous.

And I wanted to give you all a heads up for some upcoming blog-posts. I will be braggin' on some folks throughout the month...people that we love and are so glad to know...so we will keep you posted!

just growing...

What have we been up to these past few weeks?

• Well, I thought I deserved the best mom of the universe award because I successfully ran errands with two children :) All of you with multiple kiddos...way to go for all this time!!
  
• Celebrated Thanksgiving...and it was so wonderful to celebrate with both sides of our fam.
  
• Grown in a new friendship with the Maness' family...they are stellar and such a life giving couple...you know the kind of friendship that God just knocks you over with His love and kindess?! Yep, the Maness' are those kinds of friends and we have already been so added to by their zeal, simplicity, and simple Christlike love!
  
• We decorated for Christmas with Aunt Aub and Uncle Will. Will wore flashing red santa headbands and of course we had to listen to Christmas music compliments of Pandora...we put our monogrammed stockings on the mantle and it was so fun to pull out the blank/unmonogrammed stockings and know that one of those is Kiva's! (which is now at the monogram shop :)
  
• I have totally gotten into Essential Oils...more to come on that later...but WOW how amazing the Lord is!
  
• Brian and I (along with Kiva) went on a date night! So fabulous.
• Jada has been going through 3 year old/change in our family pains. It has been pretty tough on this mom, I am not used to spanking this often (deep breath) but I am hopeful that this won't last forever! :)
• Kiva has been getting bigger...she has just been happily growing! See...
  

Which leads me to the blog title: Just growing! I read the beginning of a simple book that Aubrey loaned to me called "Creative Counterpart". Here's the sentence that got me "A creative counterpart is more than just a helper. She is a woman who, having chosen (or having found herself in) the vocation of a wife and possibly a mother, decides to learn and grow in all the areas of this role and to work as hard as if she were aiming for the presidency."

Ok, so I never really want to be president of anything, BUT...

I have literally been learning and pondering many many things over the past few months in regards to this type of mentality...simply put LIVING FULLY! Going for life...fully alive! Every day...each moment...ALIVE! You know what I mean? With all of my raw gifts and weaknesses...just going for life like never before and not worrying about being perfect at it all.

Here are some ways I have thought about this and am moving forward in this. I took a knitting class :) I am really bad at it so far, but so? It is fun to learn and who knows, one day I might make one of you a fabulous scarf or something. I am LOVING learning about essential oils and am confident the Lord has opened this up for me to keep learning and growing and seeing Him move through! And I have actually put myself in front of the camera more...which is a strange thing for me. I am letting go of that weird thing that speaks to my insecurities of not being photogenic...and I am just having fun with my unwashed hair and no make-up self and taking pics with my girls! I am experimenting more in the kitchen and it has been fun to not know if dinner will taste great or not, but having fun anyway.

Lucretia said something recently that has stuck to my heart, she simply said that as she has gotten older and is entering a new place in her own life, she is/has learned to really love people (our children, husbands, neighbors, parents and ourselves) right where they are...not loving them by anticipating who they will be when something changes personally, spiritually or circumstantially...just really enjoying and loving them right where they are. Isn't that what Jesus did?

This 'season' of life feels like I am re-learning many things about myself, Brian, Jada, and about how cazy extravagant the love of God is. I have felt uniquely lifted in a spiritual way and I believe a big part of that is God's redemption through our sweet Kiva.

So, in short...we are all just growing!