Iowa

Leo and I had planned to go spend the week with Katie, Mollie, and Bret.  We had our plane ticket bought so we could fly down early in the week and our plan was for Ryan to join us on Friday.  Due to the unexpected turn of events last week and my parents being in Jamaica we ended up with a few more people at Katie's than planned. Tim, Crosby, and Aimee joined the fun. 

We. Had. A. Blast.  We didn't go anywhere or do anything but it was so fun.  It was so what we needed.  God is so good in his ability to fill our tanks as we head into hard things.  

We:

 Spent lots of time snuggling.

Taught all of the little the awesomness that are shamrock shakes.

 Watched and laughed as our littles played together.

 Took the crazies outside for some time in the fresh air.

 Everyone needed some time outside.  Even those who had to borrow pink shoes. 

 Ate. And ate. And ate.  (Katie is an awesome cook just like my mom)

 Took "selfies" (after I learned what the term meant of course)

And then of course, there was the eaten crayon. . . No week would be complete without a little mischief.

We are so thankful for family and the love that surrounds us.  We know that God has a plan in all of this and we are just so thankful to have such awesome people by our side.

Words

Words.  I have a lot of them.  Some of them are stronger than others. I just can't seem to get them into a whole lot of order.  I have verses and stories and songs.  Questions and diets and supplement suggestions and the whole nine yards.  I have lots of words, I just can't get them right to talk about how I feel.
Angry- doesn't quite do it justice
Sad- doesn't quite explain enough
Afraid- will never explain an iota of the feeling that threatens to take over my life.  if i let it.  IF I let it.  IF I LET IT.
Guess what?!?!  I WON'T let it.  I CAN'T let it.
You see, God has already begun to remind me of his faithfulness and willingness to provide.  Example 1- Earlier this week I made plans to have lunch with The Ulrich's (a family I nannyed for a couple of summers up in Fargo) today.  God knew I would need that lunch.  Need to see these awesome people.  Need to have my heart feel light after having a heavy day yesterday.  Example 2- my phone, Facebook, and email have been absolutely bombarded with messages of love and support.  God knew I would need each and every one of these too.  Example 3- Peace.  I know I have talked about this before but I am finding peace in what is happening.  Only God can give this peace.  It can only happen when the body of Christ lifts you up in prayer.  I know that people are bringing my family to the throne minute by minute because I am able to have that unfathomable peace.  So blessed to have the most amazing team of prayer warriors.
For today I am simply going to choose to say Get behind US Satan!  (yes, us.  Jesus and me). Jesus will be my Rock and my Redeemer.  My Healer.  My Helper.  My Very Present Help.  My Comforter.  My Shepard.  My Light.  He will help me to take that fear and doubt that you love so much and crush it under his mighty hand.  For today simply: Thank you Jesus for this opportunity to trust you more.

A Sensory Experience

Last week I thought I would be a good mom and let my little boy have a sensory experience.  He was having a no nap day and I needed something to keep him occupied while I made dinner since he had already emptied his whole toy shelf and my his kitchen cabinet.

 What I did not expect to see was him with about 1/4 cup of flour in his mouth when I turned around. . . 

 He wasn't thrilled that it didn't taste too good. . . He quickly moved on to eating measuring cups. . . 

And then all he wanted was out.  

Let's just say we took an early bath!

Good try mom, good try.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was a few weeks ago. . . 

We started the morning off with an ooey gooey cinnamon roll!

It sure was yummy!

 Then quickly moved on to a little present

And then we spent the day celebrating Uncle Tim's birthday because Uncle Tim is a really cool guy and we believe that we should show people that we love them all year long each and every day and not just on one day of the year.

Haircut

Leo had his first haircut on Sunday.  

 Jessica at Kids Hair gave him a bus to hold and he was a happy camper.  He sat right there the whole time and just let her do her job.

 I guess his hair was pretty long. . . I wasn't convinced until I saw this that he needed a cut.

Cutest mohawk I ever did see!

 Leo wanted nothing to do with the comb or the blowdryer. . . Just that bus!

 Here he is all styled up afterwards with a little banana smelling gel:

And of course, a haircut isn't complete without a sucker. . . Well only if you have a great dad to help you figure out what to do with said sucker.

Yeeeeah Cobbers!

Leo was lucky enough to attend his very first Cobber basketball game on Saturday.  He was very excited about it.  Very.  Grammie and Papa showed him how to cheer for the Cobbers.

 I squeezed that belly into a 9 month Concordia outfit just so he could match Papa.  Papa was supporting the current #34.  We don't know her but its a great number!

It was fun watching the Cobbers play.  Reliving old moments in the Macalester gym.  Seeing the same old referees, Larry the radio guy, and the Red River Trails bus.  Just like the good old days!  Maybe there will be more Cobber games in our future. 

 The best part: A Cobber Win!  #Rollcobbs

Once a Cobber, always a Cobber!!  

Maybe Leo will play for the Cobbers someday?!?!

Gifts from God

Remember Chelsie who took our fabulous wedding pictures???

Well she has become a friend of ours.  We have similar families and are around the same age and we email back and forth every now and then about things like family, financial peace university, freedom from debt, babies, etc.  She also follows our blog and when I was diagnosed she reached out again to let us know she was thinking of us.  She then sent us a FREE photo session after Leo was born.
Talk about a great person and God using people and their gifts to bless us! We had the pictures taken in October.  Every time I look through them I can't help but smile.  They capture our family so perfectly.  (Prepare for picture overload)

See what I mean?!  I don't think I could print enough of them off or make enough books using them.  They are that great.  Talk about a gift from God!  Capturing our family just as we are.
If you need pictures taken for anything, look Chelsie up!  Here is a link to her website  She lives up in Pine River but also is down int the twin cities pretty regularly.  LOOK HER UP!  She rocks!!  Seriously!