Looking At The Glass HALF FULL

Ahhhh, twins! Gotta love them. Two to hug. Two to kiss. Two to experience them do all their firsts. Two to shop for. Two to laugh with. Two snuggle. Two, TOO cute!!!! I have to admit, they are a true blessing. They are fun. They receive mounds of attention. They are loved, loved, loved. They get gawked over. They love life. The list is endless. I can thank GOD for that optimistic view of life with twins. Without Him above, I could be a walking time bomb. The next one to "go postal" on someone. Praise God that my reality, for me, is a true blessing.

I learned on Monday, at Bible Study, AND I LOVE THIS, that one who grumbles is one who is faithlessness. And it's true. If you grumble or complain, what your basically saying is that you don't have faith that God has placed a particular circumstance your way to grow you closer to Him. Doesn't that just make so much sense? SO... that is why I take the gift of twins as simply that... a gift. God is using them to break me of my constant need or drive to be PERFECT.

On any given day, my home is clean and very organized, but it's next to impossible to keep these hardwood floors pristine AND it's KILLING ME. The other night we had tacos, corn, and black beans. As I've said before, I want the babies to feed themselves as much as possible so they can learn a necessity of life. I decided to take a measuring cup and fill it up with all the food I swept up from one meal. It was almost 1 full cup of beef, corn, and black beans. I decided to look at the cup as HALF FULL instead of HALF EMPTY! And...when you are about to grumble or complain, I hope you can to. Look at life's struggles as a privilege from God. Look at those tough days, those challenging times, and those very frustrating moments as discipline from God. We discipline our children for their own good, right? And so does God. He disciplines us because he loves us. As a parent, I do my children no good to NOT, NOT discipline them. And either does God. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT?

Bye-Bye Baabaa!

After Lilah and Jaxon's 1 year well visit appointment, Dr. Delaney suggested to end all bottles feedings. We had already weened them off of bottles during the day. Lilah and Jaxon were only receiving their early am bottle (4:30 am, right before our workout) and their evening bottle (9:30 am, right before our bedtime), but after the Dr. visit, I felt it was time to say good-bye to bottles. I have always been a fan of "cold turkey". Whether it be bottle weening, passie plucking, or potty training. WHY in the world would anyone allow their child a small taste of something that they are so addicted to? I was sad to see the bottles go. After all, this is what kept them a "baby", but I was excited for a new milestone and thankful to be saying GOOD-BYE to formula.

We figured out how many bottles Lilah and Jaxon were fed, since the day they were born, and how much we spent in formula. Are you ready for this?

Amount of bottles: 4,420

Average Yearly Cost of Formula: $4,744.00

Lilah and Jaxon's last bottle was on May 4, 2010. I think the adjustment went really well. I believe they missed the temperature of the milk (hot to cold) more than they missed the sucking aspect. On the morning of their last bottle, Lilah woke up first and Darren had already left for work, so I allowed her to feed herself so I could snap away. By the time Jax woke up, Kaitlyn was here. Of course, she had to be the one to feed him his last "baabaa".

I found "EGGS"actly the answer I've been searching for!

During our last trip to Myrtle Beach, hubby brought up his desire to have a fourth child. I laughed it away and said, "You're out of your mind!" I could totally have a fourth or fifth child running around in our home, but the desire to ever be pregnant again has eliminated the option of "another" from my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed pregnancy with Tyson. The first pregnancy, the first sonogram, the first, the first, the first. And while with the pregnancy of twins was actually the FIRST of everything "two", LOL, I just had a difficult time enjoying it as much because being pregnant and trying to take care of another child, much less three other children, is something that I feel I wouldn't be the best match for.

I have been praying about this periodically because as a woman who loves the Lord, and her husband, I know it is important and commanded of us to be submissive to our husbands. I do not want to make justifications for not submitting and ultimately if Darren demanded it of me, I guess I would have no other choice than to agree, but is it really something I have to submit to? At least willingly vs. by force? After all, it is my body, I will be the one who has to endure the struggles of pregnancy and motherhood all at the same time.

So... after a few weeks of prayer, not consistently on this topic, I found "EGGS"actly the answer I've been searching for. It's a rather funny story.

This morning I was making breakfast for the kids and myself. I planned on making eggs, whole wheat toast, and fresh raspberries Everything was ready, but the eggs. I always grab 4 eggs from the fridge, if daddy isn't home to eat with us. It tends to be sufficient for our 4 bellies. After cracking the first egg, I reached for the second egg. Cracked it and out popped 2 eggs in 1. TWIN eggs? I've never seen such a thing. Have you? So, in amazement, I laughed, showed Ty, we talked about it, and then I had to grab the camera. We even named the eggs, Tyson, Lilah and Jaxon. See below.

The story goes on however. Then, I cracked egg #3. To my surprise, another 2 eggs in 1. I was dying. I had to laugh because even though I know God wasn't possibly speaking to me through EGGS, I just thought, okay, here is God's sign that if I try for another baby, it will be twins AGAIN. So... I thought and thought and said, "there's [eggs]actly the answer I have been searching for. I am NOT chancing it. I am not chancing that 60% chance, that I have, to conceive twins again."

And finally, the ending to the story. NO, I am not pregnant, so don't go jumping up and down in excitement. I cracked the final egg. I almost put it back actually. I thought, I usually crack 4 eggs and receive 4 eggs but today I cracked 3 eggs and got 5. Do I really need to crack the other one? Without really thinking all of that through, I cracked it. AND LOW AND BEHOLD, two more eggs popped out. What the heck? This chicken had sextuplets. AND THEN IT WAS A DEFINITE. It was revealed to me that I could possibly be the next John and Kate plus 8. NO WAY! I might just have to ask the Lord for forgiveness instead of permission on this one. LOL! Just kidding, but really, I wonder if this bares any foreshadowing? Ty and I got a HUGE chuckle. We started naming them all, but I stopped as he named the "4th"child "Poleon Dynomite" as he says it.