Happy 2nd Birthday, Baby Girl!

Today is EmJ's Birthday! Her second birthday! Two years! What? Can that really be? I can't believe that she is already two! She's so precocious! And Sweet! And Wonderful! Like her brother... she is full of life! She absolutely has her own ideas about things and loves, loves, loves her brother and daddy! Right down to loving and playing Superm@n with both of them! I am honored to be her mommy and blessed to be in her life! Happy birthday, sweet baby girl! I love you more and more and am really enjoying getting to know you!

SNOW DAY 2009!!

Goodness... I haven't been in here in a long time! And even now I'm too tired to write, so I'll just post some pictures from our sweet snow day at home!

2009

WOW! 2009. Crazy. So, now that all our New Year's Eve Company---well, most of it-- has headed home, here I am still wide awake. (too much coffee and energy drink. :) ) I was just thinking about how much I can't believe will happen this year. My little boy will turn 4!!! And my little girl will turn 2! Rob and I will be married for 10 years and will have been a couple for 13 years!! My family will have been a blended family for over 10 years... seems like longer some days and like we went from being an at home family of 3 to 8 about a blink ago. I will have been at my job for 6 years in February and still loving almost every day of it! (aside from the being away from my babies and Rob thing...)
Amazing how quickly it seems like time is going. Didn't we just get married? Weren't G & E just born? Tonight, my little man was running around, playing with his cousin and sister, and he just seemed so grown up. Where'd my baby go? Seriously! How'd he get this big? And EmJay! She is one ornery little miss. When she has her mind set... Good Grief!
Rob is still at home with the kids full time for the winter. If someone would have told me that one day we would have a complete role reversal in this area of our family... I would have laughed them out of the room, but here we are... neither baby has been to daycare and has only been with either Rob, my mom or their Auntie Shell! Amazing! It's so crazy how freaked out I was when I found out we were pregnant and now here we are and daddy still loves being home with his kiddos.
Rob and I are leading worship at two churches and even with the business of it, I know that we are doing exactly what God has called us to do!
I'm pretty excited about 2009. I'm continuing to learn to trust God everyday---sometimes every minute! :) And learning to wait EXPECTANTLY for what God has. Not hesitantly, but with anticipation and expectation that God has good things for us!
Happy New Year! Bring on 2009!

Christmas Photoshoot

Too busy to say much, but I thought I'd post some pictures from our attempt to get some good shots for Christmas presents.

Weekend to Remember...

We were given the gift this weekend, by my mama and step dad, of spending the weekend at the Family LIfe Weekend to Remember marriage conference. It was really amazing and I would recommend it to any couple... married, engaged, or thinking of getting married! We learned so much! Too much to write all about in this short post... :) I realized a few things while we were there. 1. I am so thankful for my husband. His willingness to put our family and me before his own needs and desires is really amazing. 2. For someone who communicates for a living, I've really sucked at communicating with my best friend. I am quick to unsheathe my sword and draw blood from the belly... I really want to communicate with him in a way that he will both hear and understand me. 3. Rob really loves me. And he completely trusts me. He is my gift from God and a treasure! And my job is to respect him for the authority that God has given him. I am to be his helper... Not is mama. (wow... ok, so there's even more that I've learned, but I'm still pretty worn out from the weekend, so I'll have to save the rest for another post!)
Anyhow... we went up there with an already pretty great marriage! And even though it's not as if things have just become some fairy tale, happily ever after thing, I already can see how God is using this weekend to the benefit of our marriage, our family, and to God's glory!

Thanks, Mom and Wes. Thank you for investing in us. We love you!

And to my best friend, lover, father of my children, my partner (sometimes in crime!:) )... When I say I love you... I love you!

My Family Throws The Best Birthday Party...

I love my family so much! When I got home today they (they, meaning daddy... of course!) had made me a fantastic dinner and my sweet, creative husband had made me the cutest cake! Then the babies said that we needed to play our new family game. (See previous post. :) ) I LOVE my sweet family!
Here's a picture of my adorable cake! :)

Oh, yeah. It's On!!

So... in this time of economic hardship, my family has found a fantastic way to occupy our time and have a little cheap entertainment! N-E-R-F G-U-N-S!! We are having so much fun! We take turns hiding and then the kids and the not hidden parent go find the missing parent! The kids love it! Then... when the kids go to sleep, we turn all the lights off and... It's On!! We've even pulled my brother into the game! I'm exhausted by the time we go the sleep, but I haven't laughed this much forever!