my little stinker.

i love this kid and he makes us laugh every day! this age is so fun and the things he says cracks us up. these pictures are from our very fast trip to new orleans. he wanted to hug the giant stuffed crawfish, and then stood where it looked like it was choking him! he also got to feed some birds at the aquarium (random, I know). his cheesy face makes me laugh every time!

one year ago.

a year ago today, we were told that we had twin to twin transfusion syndrome.  

we were told that there was a high chance that our girls would not live.

you can read about it HERE and HERE.  

we were scared.  

we were overwhelmed.  

we were heartbroken. 

one year ago, we got on our knees and prayed for these little lives.  i poured out my heart, begging and pleading for God to intervene and to heal them.  i cried so many tears over the next days, weeks, months.

and yet i was at peace.  a peace that truly can only be described as passing all understanding. 

because when something is so big that you just can't handle it, you can give it over to God to carry for you.  

and that He did.  

He took our confusion, disappointment, anger, sadness, desperation, fear, stress, anxiety, and brokenness and carried it for us.  

He gave us peace to trust Him......no matter what happened. 

one year ago, we did not know what plan God had for their lives, but we trusted in Him.  

He had never failed us.  

He never fails us. 

we had to trust Him.  

we prayed for crying babies, the whining, the nighttime cuddles, the sleepless nights, the chaos of 3 kids, the first steps, the first smiles, the double everything!

but ultimately we prayed that the Lord's will be done in our lives and in theirs.  that God be glorified no matter what and that our faith in Him would be a reflection of His love for us.  

we would bless the name of the Lord no matter what. 

the Lord answered our prayers....the prayers of many, many, many people.  we had so many people praying for these little girls that it floods my heart and my eyes with emotions just thinking about it. 

the doctors told us that we would need surgery.  we didn't.

the doctors told us things would get worse.  they didn't

the doctors told us that this condition does not regress.  it did.

by the end of my pregnancy, everything was normal. 

 and here we are.  

one year later, with two beautiful daughters.  

we have sleepless nights, we have lots of crying, we have lots of baby holding, we have lots of belly laughs and smiles, we have stressful moments, we have slobbery kisses, we have lots of cuddles, and we have lots of chaos.

but everyday, no matter how tired, frustrated, worn down i am, i thank God for giving them to me.  

having twins is really hard.  i'm not going to lie. 

but i wouldn't trade it. it is so wonderful too.

God has molded me into a better person, and is continuing to do so every day, through the gift of these two girls.  even on days when i have failed in every possible way, God is teaching me and He reminds me of the grace he has shown us through the gift of these two girls. 

i will bless the name of the Lord not because he healed my daughters and saved their lives, but because of what he taught us through that trial.  

i will bless His name because He is good no matter what He does in our lives, no matter what our circumstances are.  

A little bit of houston.

we left for houston on wednesday to go to a conference for me to attend for texas school psychologists. while I was at my conference on thursday and friday, brenner kept the kids and they basically hung out at the galleria mall, which was there the conference was (well, in the attached hotel). I wish I could have gotten more pictures of the trip, but it was crazy and complicated but as smooth as we could have hoped for. one night we went to the children's museum (which was so cool!) and onto a Mexican restaurant that served us the best steak fajitas you will ever eat. and have you ever been to the galleria mall? it is ridiculous and has every store that you could imagine. it also happens to have a branch of the most incredible candy store, dylan's candy bar. cole and I were both in heaven! we have left houston and are on our way to New Orleans for a family gathering so wish us luck on the rest of our travels!

baby dedication.

this past weekend the girls were dedicated at church.  

all the grandparents came into town too for a quick celebration.  

here are a few pictures we took after we got home from the church.  the ones from the church service didn't turn out really well, so these are much better.  

daddy and his girls.

my parents, nana and poppy.

family shot with brenner's mom.

uncle hunt.  boy, does this little boy love his uncle.  

too bad it doesn't look like it in this photo.  he was done with pictures by this point!

but i love this picture anyways!

the girls' dedication verses were really difficult for us to choose.  we wanted to choose verses that represented God's faithfulness to us and them.  god answered our prayers when He healed these girls from twin to twin transfusion syndrome and we want the girls to remember for the rest of their lives who THEIR great physician is, as they dedicate their live to Him.

for clara beth, we chose the verse isaiah 25:1- Lord, you are my God; i will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things

for elise, we chose psalm 52:9- for what you have done i will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people.  and i will hope in your name, for your name is good.

we dedicate these miracles to the Lord, for His work, His glory, for His name to be praised.  

for God's faithfulness to us is shown in their lives.