Quite the gift!

Hi!!!!  So I thought I better post this video or no one would believe me…but I really do have a baby in my belly!!!  Ryan and I were SO shocked when we found out!  I think we were as shocked about this pregnancy as we were when we found out we were having triplets!!  Seriously - this is just crazy!  But we are so excited that we get to experience the miracle of pregnancy and the stages of parenting one more time!  Is this really for real??!!  Here's the story.. :)

So as many of you know, we have been wanting another baby for a long time.  We tried for 3 1/2 years and then last year…on February 17 actually..we went out for dinner together and talked about how we felt we should surrender our desires to God…He must have something else planned for our life and we wanted to trust Him and we knew that His plans are far greater than our own.  And frankly, the ups and downs of wondering if I was pregnant were just too draining after a while.  So…we cried over dinner and made the server quite awkward :) …..as we grieved the fact that this was it.  We were going to experience parenthood one time…but with three times the chaos :).  It was very hard to give it up…but then this whole year…God really gave us peace and contentment.  We seriously thought we were done and "pictured" our life that way now.  I always said I'd still take a baby if I was given one..but we weren't trying and we were okay with that!  Seriously!  So then…on February 17 this year…I'm not kidding..but I vividly remember laying in bed on that Monday morning and having cramps.  I knew my period was due the next day so I thought…"Oh it's probably here."  But then it never came.. (Now I know that those were implantation cramps!!) I just love the timing of this because to me, it's like God  telling me that He DID hear our prayer.  When we thought He was saying "No" to more kids…He was instead saying "Just wait. Trust me with your life." Ahhh!!!!  Meanwhile, Ryan and I had been planning for about 10 years to do a big trip to Europe in September of 2014…and we had been procrastinating buying the plane tickets.  Well then Thursday night, Ryan said that as soon as the girls went to bed, he was going to book those tickets.  Then Addison sat on my lap to watch the Olympics and my chest hurt.  I was thinking to myself  that I better go take a test just to PROVE that I'm NOT pregnant so that we are in the clear for booking these plane tickets since I was now two days late.  Amazingly, I found out I was pregnant!!!  I cannot believe this!!!  So I came downstairs to Ryan on the computer about to click "purchase."  I said "Maybe you should wait" and put the pregnancy test in front of him.  He yelled "What's THAT?!"  And then he proceeded to drink a few Coronas because our lives and our plans just got turned around again!!!!  Whoa! Haha!

I just LOVE that God's plans continue to surprise and amaze me.  And I love that He really does have a bigger and better plan for my life than I do.  Even though we can't go on our trip now, the timing is great.  We get to experience ONE baby…while the girls go back to school.  I'm due October 28! (Girls were born on the 3rd and Ryan's is the 11th! Super busy month for us!) And….I have always wanted to be pregnant with my sister and have kids close in age but I never thought that was possible since I had triplets and she is 6 years younger than me.  But my sister is due with her first on September 5!  How amazing is this!!  ANNND….I found out about this baby 2 days before my 33rd birthday.  SUCH an amazing birthday gift!  My mom and my best friend from high school both said "Happy 33rd birthday! That's your lucky number!"  And it IS!  33 has always been my number!  My basketball number…Ryan's basketball number…my prayer pager number in high school was 333333 :)…and then I had 3 girls on the 3rd….it's kinda crazy but I love stuff like that! :)  I am just so curious how to raise one baby!  Thoughts that go through my mind are "So you just get to hold the baby right after you deliver?! Can't imagine that! And it will come home with us right away? WHAT?!" "How do you get one baby on a schedule if it isn't at the NICU for 5 weeks? Or is a schedule even needed?" "Do I still need to pump after each feeding?" "I can exercise while pregnant??"
'And travel???" "The Dr. just LISTENS for a heart beat?! What?!" "Do people with one baby keep a chart on when the baby poops/pees/timing of medicine?" "Can I still buy the huge box of Sam's club diapers or is that way too many for one baby?" "I need a single stroller!" And "I get to rock this baby as long as I want and not quick move on to the next one!!!" "But wait - I have to share the baby with three big sisters! :)"  I am savoring every moment already.  SO PUMPED!!!  The girls are pretty protective of their little sibling already….telling me I can't eat so many sweets…saying "Mom, Dad should wipe the counter down because you have a baby in your tummy." And when we went out to eat to celebrate, I said we had a party of 5.  Emily elbowed me and said "Mooom…party of SIX." :)  

So yes, this is no April Fool's joke…I am 10 weeks pregnant today and couldn't be more excited.  I had an ultrasound at 6 1/2 weeks to see how many were in there and I was so happy to see the SINGLE heart beating that early.  Then today I got to see the little one again - this time kicking and waving to me.  We will definitely find out what we are having.  The girls are all guessing girl…and I feel like it's a boy so far just because everything about this pregnancy seems different since it's one baby so it's probably a boy, right? :)  But who knows? I'll be shocked if it's a boy because I don't know what to do with boys…and I'll be shocked if it's a girl because we have so many girls in our family on both sides!  SO EXCITED!

Oh and I've been feeling pretty good.  Tired every day….I always go to bed early and sometimes get a nap in….and then I must eat all the time.  If I get hungry, that's when I feel sick.  Other than that, I feel great and GIDDY! :) So cheers to starting over, huh?!  CRRAAZZYYY!!!!! :)

But nothing makes me feel closer to God than when I'm pregnant….it is such a miracle and I'm so so grateful to be able to experience it one more time.  Our God is a generous God.  Praise Him from whom ALL blessings flow!!

ALL of my babies!!  Whoa!! Four kids is a lot of kids!!! 

"For this child we prayed…" 1 Samuel 1:27

'The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever." Psalm 138:8

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Growing families!

So on January 31st…my brother in law and sister in law had their 2nd baby girl!!  Kate Rebecca is so adorable and made QUITE the entrance into the world!  She was delivered BY HER DAD In.  The. CAR!!!  I will never understand how this actually went down but when you listen to the 911 call…it's pretty hilarious and unbelievable!  :)  So thankful baby and mom (and dad for that matter!) are okay!  I love that they have this super fun story to tell now that we know everything turned out just fine.  :) 

Isn't she beautiful and so squishy? :) :) 

Hailey and Kate

Em and Kate

 Addison and Kate

And we also found out that my sister and brother in law are expecting their first!  We can't WAIT to find out what they are having and I just love that my sister is going to have a BABY!  So excited for them!  Baby is expected around September 5!  Yay! Right now, we have a total of 4 nieces and 1 nephew….we shall see!!! :) 

Last weekend we went up north with some friends to the lake.  It was pretty cold so we weren't outside as much as we'd like…but we did walk on the ice and managed to do some sledding!  :) Here the kids are talking to a local ice fisherman. :)  

 The dads rigged up a little pulley system where they'd take turns pulling the kids across the lake.  It was a highlight!

 Snow angels on the broom ball court! :)

Even though it was a fun winter getaway, WE ARE READY FOR SPRING!!! :) 

Frozen…yet thawing..

This winter has been ridiculous.  SO freezing.  School has even been cancelled 3 times because the temps are so low.  The other day I thought it was actually pretty nice out and then I noticed it was only 17 degrees out.  WHAT?!  So needless to say, we have all be frozen lately…and the new Disney movie couldn't be more timely.  
 Frozen has been a HIT in our house.  We went to see the movie as a family and we all loved it so I had to buy the soundtrack.  Now, almost every day, you can hear the girls and I belting out "Let It Go" while dancing around the house.  Ryan just sits back and shakes his head (but we all know he really wants to sing his heart out too) :) 

Anyway, after I saw this movie, I couldn't help but wonder WHY it was such a great Disney movie.  It really is one of my favorites.  Frozen is everywhere and everyone is talking and/or singing about it.  I feel like one reason so people may love this movie is because to me, I feel like it tells the story of the Gospel, in disguise.  When I watch this movie, it's all I see,  so I just have to share!  (Warning - if you haven't seen the movie, don't read the rest of this blog…and…GO see the movie!) :) 

So the movie starts with Elsa realizing she has something inside of her that is powerful, scary, and hurts other people - the power to freeze.  So she tries to hide it, conceal it.  She locks herself in her room and out of society because she can't let anyone see her faults.   

I saw this and thought that that's kind of like all of us.  We all have something inside of us…this innate sinful nature…that is powerful, scary, and can often hurt people.  We sin.  We are selfish.  We are prideful.  Greedy.  Envious.  You name it.  And so, some of us, know this….and yet we don't want to let other people in and see who we really are (like she locked others out of her life). We try to cover it up by trying to be perfect.  We try to "Be the good girl you always have to be" like the song says, stuck in our own self-righteous sins.  We don't want people to know that we are broken..and so we live a lonely life, suffocating in our own shame, stuck in an image that is impossible to maintain.  

But then people start to discover who Elsa is…and that she is "broken" with mysterious power to freeze  anything and anyone she touches.  So..she embraces her frozen-ness, runs away to her own ice castle, she lets go ("Let It Go") of her "good girl" image... thinking she is now free.  She doesn't have to be limited by rules or by her fears and so Elsa embraces the cold…and lives alone in a kingdom full of ice.   

To me, I see this as how some of us also react to our sinful nature.  We realize we can't be "good" so we just forget it and rebel. We embrace the sinful life and live it up.  No rules, no boundaries, no guidelines.  We can do whatever we want and let it all go.  We think we are free.  But really, we are all alone, not realizing all the pain we are causing ourselves…or others. (She didn't realize she had frozen the entire kingdom of Arendelle). 

So THEN…Princess Anna pursues her sister….and meets her in her frozen castle.  Princess Anna so reminds me of Jesus.  Throughout the whole movie, Anna is wanting to KNOW her sister.  She wants to build a snowman…she sits at her bedroom door and knocks and knocks and doesn't give up.  Is this not what Christ does for us?  He pursues us and loves us so much EVEN WHEN we don't open the door for Him!  Even when we shut Him out of our lives and run away.  EVEN WHEN we sin and sin and sin again…He LOVES us!  SO AMAZING!  So Anna goes all the way up this frozen mountain because she loves her sister, and wants to save the world that is freezing.  Again, Jesus came all the way down to earth because he loves us..and wanted to save the world from sin.  

So Anna starts to freeze…along with the rest of the kingdom.  Arendelle was in a terrible winter storm and the whole kingdom was now overtaken by evil.  Prince Hans…who was once seen as a handsome prince and perfect fiancé for Princess Anna…turned out to be a sneaky, greedy, evil man who was out to kill Elsa and Anna.  (Reminds me of how tricky Satan can be) So when Hans is about to kill Elsa, who steps in her place?  Who dies so that she doesn't have to?  Anna!!   Because only "an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!!"  This amazed me when I saw it the first time.  THAT is true love.  Giving of your life for someone who has shut you out…and someone who wouldn't let you in, who had a frozen heart.  But that is what Jesus did for us…He died in our place…so that we wouldn't have to go through Hell… He died so that we could live and WHEN we see what He has done for us, when we see the incredible sacrifice He made, we can only respond back in love to Him too!!  And the more we love Him, the more our hearts begin to thaw….and we can start to truly live.  We start to grow and flourish because we can be who He made us to be …and we are set FREE because of the love He has for us.  Everything in the whole kingdom began to thaw…the sun came out…and summer came.   That is what I hope for.  

So maybe you see the Gospel in the movie, maybe you just see a nice story about true love.  I know that whenever I step outside the rest of this winter, or whenever I see this movie, I will be reminded to thank God for saving me from the sin that lives in me.  I will pray that He continues to thaw my frozen heart as only His true love can do…and I will continue to hope in what is yet to come. And then one day we can say “For the first time in forever, He has changed this 'winter' weather..and everything will be all right. ”

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Cor. 5:17

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" Ezekiel 36:26

More recent fun...

Back in December, Grandma Kathy gave the girls their Christmas present - a trip to Chicago to the infamous American Girl doll store to pick out a doll!  The girls were SOOO excited and Ryan and I tagged along too!  It was such a fun day!!

 They were in awe and it was hard to decide which doll to pick!

 Addison ended up with Julie from 1974, Emily has Saige (the girl of the year), and Hailey picked Kit from 1934. They LOVE their dolls!

 Reading about their girls… (Em and Hailey)

 They even have a brunch there where you can eat with your dolls.  It is the cutest thing ever.

 I just love seeing Ry carry three American Girl doll bags through the Chicago train station. :)  He loves his little ladies. :)

 And they wear him out too! :)  So sweet….Ry with Emily...

 Every year we get the girls pajamas on Christmas Eve…this year…we surprised them and got them  pajamas that match their dolls!  They were SOOO excited about this! I really love MY three little dolls. :)

 Then here's another pic of our new niece Brielle meeting the girls for the first time! :) (AEH)

 One night in Denver, the girls got to have a highly anticipated SLEEPOVER with their cousin Kami.  Here they are doing Just Dance with the Wii.  I love that they are so close in age! Wish they lived closer!!

 Sleepover!

 And the guys trying out the Disney Dance :)

 COUSINS!!!  (Hailey, Addison, Brielle, Kamryn, Bryce, and Emily)

 Colorado cutie - sportin' Uncle Cory's Colorado fly fish in hat! :)

 And I seriously LOVE my only nephew.  He is the BEST and SUCH a cute little stinker. :)  GOO BRONCOS HUH??!!!

 Christmas!!

 Hailey, Addy, and Em with Grandma Gwen and Grandpa Joel!

 Then we went to the mountains to ski for a few days…on our drive up…I LOVE THE MOUNTAINS!

 Brielle - isn't she SOO CUTE??!!!

 Okay and sorry to scare you but we came home and went to a masquerade New Years Eve party!!

 Happy New Year!!

 The girls love shopping with me…especially when they actually have THREE kid carts available!! :)

 And here's a couple more pics from their Kindergarten class Christmas program.

 It was SOOO cute!!!

 Angels Addison, Emily, and Hailey :)

 At school, the kindergarteners are matched up with 4th grade buddies throughout the year.  Each week their buddies come and help them read.  They play with their buddies every day at recess.

 Bella and Hailey

 Emily and Adriana

 Danielle and Addison

 Christmas pic with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Kim and all of their granddaughters! (Jody is due with her second soon and we are DYING to find out if it's another girl or not!!) :)
And the other day, Addison got invited to a friend's house so I said Emily and Hailey could each ask someone to come over and play.  Who do they pick?  Two boys!! :)  They played walkie talkies, dance party, house, Battleship, and ended the date wrestling and doing karate moves on each other.  I may or may not have been eavesdropping a lot and laughing to myself.  They were tooo cute!! :)

It's been forever!

Hi!!!!! So apparently we have been busy!  I almost thought about stopping the blog…but then I also feel like I need to keep it up to remember stuff!  So here's a big old update with more to come once my computer stops being weird. :)  

I thought I'd have so much more time this year now that the girls are in school but I'm learning that life is just busy no matter what stage you are in.  I feel super busy now but it's a totally different kind of busy than when the girls were home all of the time.  They continue to love kindergarten and my latest challenge parenting three kindergarteners is how to handle the crazy/silly/girlie/hyperness that happens when they come home from school.  I should say MOST of the time this is Emily and Hailey…with Addison saying "Mom, I don't like it when my sisters get silly."  haha.  :)  I'm just not sure if I should just take a deep breath and handle the chaos and TOTAL silliness..or if I should tell them to stop and settle down or what!  I'm super thankful for the days they have soccer or basketball or when it's warmer than -8 so they can go play outside. :)  Here's a pic of the girls playing "school bus" in the kitchen.  

 And this was a while ago but one day I took Hailey out shopping and to Starbucks.  This one on one time doesn't happen NEAR enough.  I can't even tell you how much I love spending one on one time with my girls…it is just so great.  :)

 For Halloween - did I not even post this before??  Em chose to be Cleopatra, Addy a leopard..and Hailey a pink power ranger!  So random! :)

 Part of our Christmas present from Ryan's parents was for all of us adults to go to Chicago and see the Blue Man Group!   It was such a fun day!

 Taking the train to Chicago...

 The ladies :)

 We got a kick out of Grandpa and Grandma sitting in the back of the van. :)

 Could have been a Christmas card I suppose but we just never got around to sending them this year.  Sorry!!!  The girls were angels for their Kindergarten school Christmas program!  It was SOO cute!! (EAH)

 Emily, cousin Erin, Addison, and Hailey

 Getting a little big for Santa's lap!! Em told Santa she wanted new earrings, Hailey said she wanted an American Girl doll, and Addison said she wanted "something special." :)  

 The girls started basketball at their school!  Not sure what is cuter!!  LOVE watching them play!!  Here's Em..

 Addy lost a big front tooth! :)

 And then here we are skiing in Colorado!  My sis and I!  (this was probably a few runs before my brother in law Cory actually fell OFF of the chair lift).  It was the funniest thing I've seen in like 10 years. :)  Him falling almost sent the rest of us on the chair off as well.  He was pretty embarrassed and we literally laughed the entire way up the mountain.  He was okay - no worries. :)

 The girls did ski school one day and had a blast!  They were EXHAUSTED at the end though!!

 Here's some of my sibs on the top of Copper Mountain!  I can't even tell you how much I love Colorado - especially skiing there!!  It is so beautiful and SO. MUCH. FUN!

 We got to meet my new niece Brielle!!! She is the smiliest little thing and SOO SWEET!  Miss her tons!

 And earlier in December Ryan had to go to Seattle for work and then some of the wives came at the end of the week to go skiing!  We had so much fun!!  It was pretty snowy there!

 Ry and I at the original Starbucks! :)

Lots more to come - camera and computer are just not cooperating...