Taking Time to Smell the Roses Thanks

682. Smelling the peonies.

683. Hangin in the garden with our girls.



684. Freshly painted deck furniture.

685. New toy.

686. Baby sign language. 

687. Successful three days of solo parenting while Brad was out of town.

688. Playdate with Becca and the Bain twins.

689. Negative strep test.

690. Stargazing.

Moments Like These

Awhile back Multiples and More posed the question, "Does it get easier?"

I wanted to respond, I really did. Every time I think about those early days with two itty bitty infants I seriously get tears in my eyes.

It. Was. SO. Hard.

I was incredibly overwhelmed.

I fought tears every day as my husband walked out the door to go to work. He plays in a baseball league every spring/summer/fall--I prayed like no body's business for rain last season.

Being by myself with two infants was incredibly hard. I was outnumbered and felt completely and totally unqualified to be a mama.

I couldn't figure out how to get them down for naps consistently.
It seemed like they cried if I left them for even a second.
I felt like all I did was nurse them.

Hardest thing I've ever done!
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I think it does get easier. Some would disagree, and say it's always hard, just a different kind of hard.

It definitely gets more fun!

There are moments like these:

 Priceless!

All the stress, all the tears, all the "overwhelmedness".

Totally worth it!

The Real Cinderella: True Beauty Conversations

My friend Melissa and I are continuing our conversation about Beauty this morning. We've been talking about True Beauty through a series of letters on Fridays: What is Beauty? What will we tell our daughters about Beauty? We're so glad you're joining us. We would love to hear from you!

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Hi, it's me again! In an effort to respond to both of your letters, Melissa, as I said I would, I'm back again this week, addressing these words.
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I don't think Cinderella's life was all that glamorous. I mean--glass slippers?! Ouch!



Give me running shoes any day!



That's to say nothing about the dress:



I bet she just threw some coins in that fountain, and is peering at her reflection, wishing that cinched waistband felt more like yoga pants.
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Extend yourself some grace, Melissa. Life isn't a fairytale. Marriage isn't a fairytale; not even close.

I think your words resonate with a lot of mamas; they sure resonated with me, and there is no baby cookin' in this oven!

Our princes walk in the door, and all we want is a break. We see them as our knights in shining armor, rescuing us from the constantness of motherhood--and we want that rescue to begin immediately!

Our princes want to rescue their lady, they really do, but they want to kiss their bride and all of that gushy stuff.
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Read the rest at Melissa's.

Ten Kitchen Tricks on Tuesday

1. Juicing a Lemon/Lime. Put the lemon in the microwave for 30 seconds. You'll get more juice out of it if it's heated up a bit.



2. Grating Cheese. Put the cheese and the grater in the freezer for 10 minutes before grating. This prevents the cheese from sticking to the grater.



3. Measuring sticky stuff. Before putting peanut butter, honey, corn syrup or molasses into a measuring cup/spoon, spray it with cooking spray. The contents of the measuring cup all slide right out.



4. Hard brown sugar. Instead of throwing it away, put a piece of bread in the bag. The sugar will absorb the dampness in the bread, and soften.



5. Calcium deposits in teapot. When you see calcium deposits floating in your teapot, pour in vinegar, bring to a boil, let it cool and soak. After a few hours, pour out and rinse.



6. Peeling peaches/nectarines/plums. Cut an X in the fruit then put them in boiling water for about 45 seconds (maybe a few seconds longer for firmer fruit). Then remove and put them in ice water. The skin peels right off. It's quick and easy!



7. Measuring herbs. If the recipe calls for fresh herbs, and all you have is dried, use half the amount it calls for. Contrarily, if you have fresh herbs, and the recipe calls for dried, use twice as much.



8. Separating coffee filters. Instead of fumbling with the coffee filters to get one separated out to make your early morning cup of joe, gently blow air onto them. It's silly, but they separate really easily that way.



9. Peeling garlic. Microwave garlic cloves for 15 seconds, and the peel slips right off.



10. Hard cheese. To prevent cheese from getting hard and crusty at the ends, rub a little bit of butter the exposed end.



Let's hear it! What are your kitchen tips?

I Can Do Hard Things (and be thankful)

The thing about doing hard things...

...is that sometimes it's just so damn hard sometimes.

If you have a problem with me using the word "damn" please read the below quote:

In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer. ~Mark Twain

Yes. Things were just that hard this week.

The girls and I, one by one, have fallen victim to this nasty virus. Like a bad game of dominos.

Coughing.
Runny noses.
Cough induced vomiting.
Lack of appetite.
Clingy-ness.
Fussiness.

Don't be jealous.

Still...amist all the "hardness" there is much to be thankful for. I'm not saying I'm thankful for the virus. I'm not thankful for the coughing. I'm not really thankful for the runny noses. I'm sure as hell not thankful for the vomiting.

To say I was thankful for any of that would be a lie. Especially the vomit.

BUT--I am thankful for God's presence in all of it. I'm thankful for the blessing in the middle of all the foul-smelling, bodily-fluid, feel-like-crap, just plain hard stuff.

So--here it goes:

669. 15 month well check-up already scheduled with the pediatrician.

670. Resting during naptime.

671. Vomit being liquid, not chunky.

672. The weekend showing up when I was feeling my worst.

673. An awesome, healthy (knock on wood) husband that took care of everything for two days, so that I could rest.

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Before the onslaught of sickness:

674. Playdate with Shelly and Max.

675. Footprints.

676. Necklace from Anna Ourth.

677. Gardening with Brynne.

678. Uncooperative walker who had grown out of her shoes.

679. Big step.

680. Riding on the car.

681. More irises

Shout-Outs

A big thank you to Stacey at Ramblings of a Stay at Home Mom... for the Stylish Blogger Award. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I'm flattered and grateful that you thought of me.

From each post that Stacey writes, you can just feel the delight she takes in being a mama--and she's awesome at it! I very much respect the way she parents. Her twins, Blake and Leah, are just a couple months older than my girls, so it's fun to see what they're up to, because I know my girls will follow shortly.

As part of the award, I'm supposed to list seven things about myself. Throughout my life, I've said at different points, "That was the hardest thing I've ever done." It was all relevant. Here are seven items I've said were, "The hardest thing I've ever done."

1. Bikram yoga. The "hardness" of it is sort of addicting.
2. High ropes course. I'm so afraid of heights. Even the fact that I was harnessed in with several safety latches was no consolation; I trembled and cried my way through the whole thing.
3. Spending three weeks in the ICU on a ventilator with a terrible case of mono.
4. 10 weeks of bed rest. This one was, and wasn't hard at the same time. It was hard to go from being active to being completely inactive, unless you count daily showers and trips to the fridge. On the other hand, I would have done anything to keep my girls in my belly for awhile longer.
5. Caring for twinfants by myself. Sometimes I would just get in the car and drive, because I didn't know how else to get them to stop crying.
6. Caring for sick babies, when I'm sick too.
7. Breastfeeding twins. This one stands as the hardest thing I've ever done. And probably the one I'm most proud of.

Passing the award on to:

My friend Cori at Ritz Bitz News. Cori and were best friends in high school. She moved away to Oregon before our senior year. I haven't seen her since her wedding in 1998. I have very much enjoyed reconnecting with her through blogging! Cori is the mama to five kiddos--four boys and one girl. She tells some pretty hilarious stories about life with her five kids! I pretty much can't wait till Brynne and Hadley really start talking. I'm preparing to be very entertained by what comes out of their mouths, if they are anything like Cori's kids.

Krista at The Hursh Family. Krista is the proud first time twin mama to Vivian and Oliver, who just turned 10 months old! She is such a sweet and encouraging person! Krista's blog reflects her celebration of life and her two "gifts".

Affton at Adventures in Raising "A" Family. I  know Affton in real life too. She's a great friend, wife and mother. Affton is married to Adam. They have a son, Austin, and are expecting a little girl, Audrey, in about nine weeks--she admits it, they are "that" family. Affton shares her experiences raising a son with food allergies, breastfeeding, and just about being a mama.

The Ugly Ducking: True Beauty Conversations

Please excuse the lateness of this post. Blogger was down for about 30 hours yesterday and today.

My friend Melissa and I are continuing our conversation about Beauty this morning. We've been talking about True Beauty through a series of letters on Fridays: What is Beauty? What will we tell our daughters about Beauty? We're so glad you're joining us. We would love to hear from you!
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Dearest Melissa,
Before I can really get started, I must ask your forgiveness. Three weeks ago you wrote a beautiful letter in response to mine. You poured out your heart, and offered grace to me.

And my response? Lady Gaga.

The post was well-intentioned. I didn't mean to put Lady Gaga up on some pedestal. To be honest, saying I "love" her might have been a bit of a stretch. Truth be told, I know nothing of her politics, personal life, or even all of her music. I do enjoy grooving to her tunes when I'm working out, or to motivate myself on my way to work out. As I told you in an email---if Amy Grant could kick it like Gaga does, I'd totally jam to that.

I realize, too, that both the song and the Glee episode had implications of homosexuality. I absolutely did not want to go there. There was truth in the message, for what it was, without opening that can of worms.

My letter was on topic, as far as our theme about Beauty, but it ignored the words from your heart. You are right, friend. When things get serious, I tend to find ways to interject humor and fun. All of that is well and good, but not when I ignore you and come with my own agenda.

Thank you for your grace in your response last week. Please forgive my insensitivity?

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So, in light of my words above, I in many ways, feel like I'm responding to two your letters.

A few weeks back you wrote these words:

Our histories are meant to be told because they are parts of His Story. Our histories, however sordid or bleak, are meant to be told, meant to be shared as the beautiful gifts that they really are!


Julia, we can't hide our history. We can't toss it out in the trash like a group of journals and live as if it never happened.

I love this.

It made me think, oddly enough, of The Ugly Duckling, the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Hang with me. I know it's random. I can explain.

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Hop on over to Melissa's to read the rest of my letter.