fear and faith

fear is the opposite of faith. i dont' know who said that or where i heard it...but it makes sense. please pray that i will have faith. there are some changes coming. change is always fearful for me... thanks! :)

green onion and the birthday blues......... :)

so, i'm trying to get back on the blog wagon. i'm not doing too bad so far, i guess. :) i'm trying to get my house clean today....always a small miracle with three toddlers running around making more messes. i just put them to bed with a few books each...i figure if they would read for 15 or 20 minutes before they go to sleep, then i might could buy some more time. in fact i need to keep this entry short so that i can get on the cleaning wagon.

i was cooking dinner the other night and was using some green onion. i used about half the bunch..we ate dinner...got the kids ready and in bed etc. i went back in to clean up the kitchen and i noticed that the green onion was gone. i was looking for it because i was going to use it the next night for supper. anyway, i just assumed i had accidentally thrown it away without realizing or kyle had. well, i little bit ago, i was making the kids lunch when kade walks into the kitchen with a fist full of green onion. there is nooooo telling where he has had it for the last three days and even crazier is that i haven't smelt it anywhere. it must have been in his room. he is such a boy!!!!!

tomorrow i turn 32. ugghhh. i still feel 18...hopefully, i'm a little more mature however :) birthdays just aren't what they used to be. i think i live vicariously through my kids on their birthdays now. it is so fun to watch their excitement. the twins will be three on june 24 and they cannot stop talking about it, they are so excited. ahhhh...to be young and carefree!!!!

potty training nightmares X 2

ahhh...the wonderful world of potty training. the twins will be 3 next month. i haven't pushed in the whole potty training area for several reasons. a) i like my sanity. b) i battled rylee for the longest until i finally just told her that if she wanted to wear a diaper to kindergarten that was her choice. (she didn't potty train until she turned 3) c) i figure when they are ready....they will do it. Now...if they turn four and they aren't potty trained we may have issues :)

lily will occasionally tell me she wants to poop on the potty......and she does great when she wants to. she loves wearing a pull-up or "big girl" panties like her big sister, however, i just don't think she is ready to commit.

kade likes to tell me he wants to do something on the potty, gets up there and as fast as he sits down he says, "i done". (complete waste of time:)

now to a funny story... lily had told kyle she wanted a pull-up on this morning. so he put one on her and she stayed dry for a little while...we praised her etc. then i was sitting at the dining room table and she walked up to me and looked straight at me with those big beautiful blue eyes...leaned into me and whispered, "mom, i poop in my puwup". so i told her to wait just a minute so that i could finish what i was doing. meanwhile, she walked over to the table next to the recliner and picked up one of my little devotional books... she opened it up and began "reading" :) "Jesus say no poop in your puwup..no..no..no..no..........no poop in your puwup". I cracked up! Many times when I discipline my kids we discuss what makes Jesus' heart happy or sad and what the Bible says about certain things. However, we have never discussed how Jesus feels about the pooping in your pull-up issue................hee, hee! when my kids aren't driving me crazy, they are cracking me up :)

have a blessed day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my sister is home :)

the following is an email that my sister sent out yesterday. she is now home and blissfully happy to be there. she said that even little things are making her soooo happy. thanks to all of you for your prayers and support over the past months. she's not sure when they will schedule her c-section, possible around may 25th.


I just came from my doctor's appointment this morning. My fluid was 9.73, and I am being discharged! They said that I can safely go home now and deliver with my doctor in Beaumont. I'm so excited! God is so good! I think my c-section will probably be scheduled for either May 18 or May 23. I can't believe I'm going home after 11 weeks, and I can't believe that I will be holding Kate in just a couple more weeks! Please continue to pray for her safe delivery. We also continue to pray that she will not have Downs or any mental retardation, but we pray knowing that God's plans have a purpose and we desire His will above all else, and we are just so thankful that she has just about made it to term. What a miracle! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are where we are now because of your prayers!
Love,Mindy

email update on baby kate...

Happy weekend, Everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I had my Level II Ultrasound yesterday, so I wanted to share a quick update. My fluid level has dropped quite significantly down to around 8. It's still high enough that it's okay, but it dropped 2 and 1/2 points in less than a week, so that's a little concerning...if it keeps going down that quickly, I won't make it the three more weeks I need to in order to go home and have the baby in Beaumont. So, I'm definately praying for it to either go back up or hold steady, but I also know that God knows what the best scenario is and maybe for some reason that I don't know, it's to have Kate here. I'm 34 weeks and 2 days now, and I know I say this all the time, but I never thought I would make it this far, so I'm so thankful! As far as Kate's size, six weeks ago she was over two weeks behind in her growth placing her in less than the 5th percentile; yesterday, she was only one weeks and two days behind in her growth, placing her in the 25th percentile. This is wonderful news. Since I have gotten here, she has continued to gain ground in her growth. This really is good news, but I was actually a little bit disappointed b/c last Friday (as I shared with a few of you), I was told that she had actually caught up in her growth, so it was kind of a bummer to find out that wasn't the case. BUT her growth has still be excellent, so that is definately a praise!
This week the kids didn't get to come see me on Wednesday, so I've really missed them. Kent was supposed to bring them tomorrow (Sunday) b/c we had a moonwalk rental today (we have a little moonwalk rental business). At about 11:30am, Kent called and said he had good news and bad news. I groaned, figuring it was something to do with childcare for next week. I said I wanted the bad news first. He told me that the moonwalk rental had been canceled. Then I said, "Well, what's the good news?" And he said, "Look outside your window." I looked and he and the kids were getting out of the van. I have been SO good this whole time about never crying in front of the kids, but when Faith ran up to me, I couldn't hold it in. I just held her and cried. So, that was a GREAT surprise and we all had a wonderful day together.

Well, if I could take up one more minute of your time, I would like to ask each of you to take just a few minute and lift up the following prayer requests to the Lord. These are all situations that make me realize I have no reason to feel sorry for myself, and they are all people that truly need a touch from the Lord:

1. My friends Natalie, Erin, and Tia who have each experienced the tragedy and pain of a miscarriage over the last couple of months.

2. Ruth, the six year old daughter of one of the other ladies who was here at the domiscile (she delivered Friday), who has a brain tumor and has been undergoing chemo each week at MD Anderson, WITHOUT her mommy being there to hold her hand. And for her parents as they face so much right now. Her mom, Ana, has a strong faith in the Lord and obviously experiences the peace that passes understanding on a daily basis. She is an inspiration to me!

3. Ava, a little girl just over one year old, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Pray for her complete healing and for her parents...I can't even begin to imagine their pain.

4. Jenn, my cousin's wife, lost her mom a couple of years ago and now her father is fighting cancer. Pray for his healing and for Jenn and her sister as they deal with this terrible situation.

5. Ashley who suffers from MS, for strength and new treatment options that work!

6. Amanda who is also experiencing a high-risk pregnancy with her first child.

7. Polly and her husband, a precious, goldy couple who are awaiting news that will affect their future decisions about children.

8. Elain, the mother of a friend of ours who is battling cancer.

9. Four couples who are struggling with infertility (God knows their names!).

10. And, of course, the families of the students and professors who lost their lives at VA Tech this week.

Prayer works. Thank you for your prayers, and I continue to pray that God will bless each one of you in exactly the ways you need it!

Love,Mindy

it's a struggle...

Chloe - 6mths old

my photography business is coming along. these are a few pics of a session i did saturday morning for my friend kim's little girl. she was the perfect model!!!!

so, i'm finding it a little more difficult to blog these days. life seems to be in full force! i'm crazy busy and have started wandering if i have too much going on. i don't know what i would let go, however. i love everything i'm doing! oh well, i guess things will slow down when i die!! ha! sorry...a little morbid, i know...

lily is getting a replacement tube for her right ear in the morning. we have to be at the hospital at 6:30am. why am i sitting here right now??? good question...i should be in bed. i just got back from rockwall. i have been practicing with my dad's choir at fbc for a recording we are doing on mon. and tues. of next week.

kriste and i got up this morning and walked. sadly, we haven't walked in 30 days. ughhhhh...... we are trying to get back into the swing of things... it's just hard to make the time and lose the sleep.

tomorrow night we are taking the kids to ennis where kyle works on fridays. the kennel has 24 acres of bluebonnets in full bloom right now. i'm going to take some pics of the kids.

well, that's all for now. :)

skiing...

well, it's 2:26am and i'm having trouble sleeping. it could be because i slept until 11am this morning, then went back to bed around 2:30pm and got back up at 6:45pm. now before you start thinking that im' lazy.....i'm sick. i have been feeling yucky for over a week. the worst part is that we leave tomorrow for a ski trip to winter park. i'm so excited and have been looking forward to this trip for the last two months. and now...i'm sick. bummer. i've been doping up on all kinds of meds and vitamens hoping that i'll feel better before tuesday...first day of skiiing. we'll see.

my kids are with my parents for the week. i miss them, but i'm glad to be missing them...if that makes any since. i really needed a break!!! after this week, my parents will be needing the break...........thank you mom and dad!!!!!!!

my sister is doing well.....which makes me feel a lot better about going skiing this week. kent is with the kids this week, my dad next week and me the next. i'm looking forward to spending some more time with my niece and nephew.

my oldest baby turned four last week. :( they grow so fast. she wanted a noah's ark birthday party. so we had a party in the gym at church. she had a great time. it was fun.

ok, i'm going to attempt to go to sleep now. kyle is snoring loud!!!!!!!! :) hee, hee! good night!