Showing some love....and going potty!

At this point in my life, some days it feels like I spend half the day in the bathroom with the kids. Always aware of how much they have been drinking and how long since their last potty break! That is just the stage we are in right now. And with two of them, I am in that bathroom A LOT!!!

It is not always a glamorous job, but must be done and I am just fine with that. This morning though, the kids did something that blessed my heart...in the bathroom :)

I called out "potty time" and they both came running. Hannah was the first, so I was helping her, Ben was patiently waiting, and here is what was said.

Ben- "MOM I Wub you too!!!"

MOM- "awww thank you!, I love you too Bubba"

Hannah- "I Yub you too mom"

Mom- "Awww thank you Hannah, I love you too"

(remember we are using the potty all through this)

When Hannah was done she started to leave the bathroom, when she stopped and swirled around facing Ben.

Hannah- "I Yub you too bubba"

Ben- "I Wub you too little one" (Dan calls Hannah his "little one")

And then to top it all off...they gave each other a HUGE HUG!!!!

Yeah, that was pretty cool. Who knew taking the kids to the potty could be so awesome!!

Potty Training Memories!

I was going through some pics doing a project and found this one!!!!! I laughed out loud! Now that the kids are potty trained, it brings back memories of when we first started! Here they are, chilling and reading! HAHAHAHA!!! Hannah was right there with her brother, almost training BEFORE he did!!! Crazy..and cute and great. I have a blast everyday being their mama!

I wish I was HUGE!!!!

I wish I was huge.(well okay, huge-er than I am right now)  I wish I was having to pee all the time. I wish I had heartburn like crazy, and I wish I could not sleep, or find a comfortable position. I wish my ribs were sore. I wish I was nervous and worried, and excited. I wish Dan was a nervous wreck and I wish he was calling every hour to check on me.  I wish our bedroom had a bassinet set up with little blankies and diapers. I wish I could be telling my little boy and little girl that their brother or sister was gonna come real soon!  I wish it was my turn. 

But all my wishing, does not change reality. This Friday was to be my due date for our little sprout. I am so grateful for the peace and grace the Lord has given me to handle losing the baby. It is only through HIM! My life is wonderful. I have a great husband, and two beautiful children and I Love My Life!!! But that does not mean there is not sadness or hurt. And this week, it is hurting more than normal. The moment the doctor told me "your due date is Aug. 7th so start planning" I did exactly that. This is not how I planned spending Aug 7th, but things in this world seldom go as we planned. I was so blessed to be able to carry my baby for 8 1/2 weeks, and I am so happy that my baby is in the presence of the Lord. I am just wishing that I was getting ready to give birth, instead of "getting through the day". 

Remembering our little sprout, and looking forward to meeting him/her some sweet day! 

"WOCKETS" and "TRAINS"!!!!

This weekend was great!!! I just have to share!!!  Friday evening I was able to visit with an friend and it was wonderful to catch up and enjoy! 

Saturday, we took the kids to the Library, where Ben got two books about "WOCKETS" and Hannah got a book about monkey's!!!!! (she can sure relate to them!!LOL) Mom and dad each got a book and it was a good family field trip!! Then after lunch and nap we packed up the kids, headed to the high school football field and launched Ben's water rocket he got for Ben day. The kids had a WONDERFUL time and we had a blast watching them!

At one point the sprinklers came on...and then they got really wet!!!! 

Sunday, we went to church and it was great. Two great messages, good food, great kids singing. The Lord blessed our services today! After church was done, we loaded up our tired kids and headed for Orland! Where they have train rides!!! Yes Ben was so excited!!! They have this miniature train there and on the first Sunday of the month they have rides. Kids 2 and under are free and everyone else is only $1!!!! So that fit the budget!!! And with Ben being so in love with trains, we went! It was perfect. Grandma and Grandpa came along too!!! 

ALL ABOARD!!! The kids were sooo excited and had a BLAST!!! They even have a tunnel it goes through!

They let the kids get up in the REAL engine and ring the bell!! For our second ride, the kids chose the cattle car to ride in. 

I think it is safe to say, our boy had a GREAT TIME!!!

Here is a short video of going through the TUNNEL!

What a blessing this weekend was. Dan and I spending time with the kids. As a family! I am so blessed and thankful for time I have with my family! LOVE IT!

Microwaves and Toaster Waffles

I teach the children on Thursday nights at church, and last weeks lesson was about how the Lord provided a wife for Issac. Well we all know that story and Issac married Rebekah. The lesson was all about a "Bride named Rebekah". SOOOOOO I took in our wedding video and showed the class parts of our wedding, including the part where the Bride (me, Rebekah) came down the isle. It is was a good way to get their attention, and go right into the bible story.

While I was preparing for the class, I enjoyed watching the wedding. Ben and Hannah watched too and it was fun explaining to them about mommy and daddy getting married. (when Dan got home I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready and I heard Ben say to Dan "daddy you got married!!") I watched until the end where they went around with the video camera and different guests said hi and gave some advice. One that made me laugh out loud was from Carrie Beard. The camera moved onto her and she was ready with her advice. With a smile she leaned into the camera and said "Microwaves, and toaster waffles. That's all you need!"

This lovely lady is pretty special. Not sure she knows it, but she taught me a lot! One thing she taught me, was that who we are is good enough. She is one of those REAL women. She has a husband and three kids, and it was OKAY to have those microwave dinners. I guess I related to her, in the fact that I am not one of those "Susy homemaker" types, with the home cooked meal, and spotless house, and hair done with make up for my husband when he gets home. I always feel comfortable around Sis. Carrie. She is always so positive and down to earth and REAL! She is someone, I could have stop by my home, and not worry if the toys were ALL OVER and the hamper is overflowing and the meal for the evening is MAC and CHEESE! There are not a lot of women I can say that about! And how nice it is to have those women. (thanks Sis. Carrie!) There is nothing intimidating about her. She is just who she is and it is great!

Now back to the whole, "All you need is microwaves and toaster waffles". Of course for a marriage you will need a little more than that. But I like how simple it is. For me, marriage is a simple straight forward thing. God, in the center of it all! It is as simple as that. If God is at the center of my marriage, then no matter what storm is ragging around us, we will be fine. Life is NOT perfect. Dan and I have been through A...LOT...!!! But strive to keep our marriage a priority and keep God at the center. And instead of being torn apart by our struggles, it has made us stronger. When I heard Sis. Carrie say those words and how simple she made it sound, it kinda hit home and brought me back to the basics. God in our marriage. That's all you need. How much better things go when I am in the Word, following Christ, praying often and learning His ways. This makes me try harder everyday to love my husband more. I need these reminders. Sometimes the day to day living and schedules and...LIFE can put this on the back burner. But oh how important it is. And how WONDERFUL life is when I get back to the basics of marriage. God, and Dan. The microwaves and toaster waffles...that is just icing!

Hannah girl

Being a mama ROCKS! And Hannah has exploded with changes these last two weeks. She is understanding more and the words coming from her little mouth are sounding older and older. I am having fun watching her FALL IN LOVE with "Booty and the Beast" (what she calls it) She LOVES Belle and her pretty dress and is always so concerned for her "papa". Now she keeps asking for "pincess" books!! As a former little girl, this is so much fun watching her get into the girly stuff. 

She is smack dab in the middle of being two. She has started needing her MANY stuffed animals when she goes to bed. Last night I think it was 6 stuffed animals she piled on her bed to sleep with!! And now EVERY night when I tuck her in she crawls up into my arms and asks me to sing her a song!! I am loving this and soaking it up while I can! 

She has also begun to have her own fashion style!! (oh pray for us!! LOL)  She found Ben's old boots. They don't fit him anymore and they don't fit her yet, but she still wants to wear them ALL THE TIME!!! So thought I would share a photo of my princess loving, boot wearing little bundle of spunk!

My Husband Part Two!

In the last blog I wrote a lot about what led up to getting married to Dan. But that was just the beginning of our journey and what a wonderful ride it has been!! 

We started out with EVERYTHING planned!! Hahahaha, I laugh thinking about it now. How FAR off we were with OUR plans!! God had something better in mind! Our plan was to wait three years before having babies. We wanted to get the marriage thing down before throwing ourselves into parenthood right up front. We are so so so so so...so glad that we took that time. Our relationship grew so strong in those years, and the Lord knew we would need the strength of our marriage to get through what was ahead. 

I remember before we were married, we talked about kids and how many we wanted. We wanted to have biological children and then adopt. Both of us wanted to adopt. It was neat to know that he wanted to as well! It told me a lot about what kind of heart he had! But then, he had looked at me and said that if it turned out we could not have children, nothing would change. That he was not marrying me so he could have kids. Kids or not, we would be together. Little did I  know that I would go back to this conversation MANY times!! 

We were told we would not be able to get pregnant without "medical intervention". After time and tests, we had to make the choice to not have medical intervention. The option given to us, went against our moral convictions and not the right choice for us and so we left it in God's hands. This was one of the hardest points of my life. I wanted to have a baby so bad, and at times I was ready to do "whatever it took". But Dan was right there with me. Keeping me grounded and being the solid faithful husband I needed, while I worked through not being able to have a baby. 

Dan was the one who kept us focused on our marriage and made sure "we" were together and doing well. Not letting anything come between us, not even infertility! I am so thankful for his strength.

I do blame Dan for my strange obsession for HOCKEY!!! Yep, he is the one to blame!! Can you believe I went to a game dressed as one of the players on the team!! Yep, they put a split screen up on the jumbo screen and I have to say...I got the look pretty close. I also got on TV that night too!!! I know what you are thinking...not Rebekah! Well, it is all because of Dan and I LOVE HIM FOR IT!! (Go Sharks)

I am proud of what Dan does for a living! His job is HARD. I don't know how he does it. Only through the grace of God. He works with troubled youth who need help and he is right there helping them as much as he can. How proud I am to say that he is a social worker and that He is the best one around!

It was a tough road to travel with the adoptions of our AWESOME kids! Dan was right there. and with him being a social worker, he was able to help explain the paperwork side of things.  I remember riding in the car  to go to court for our Ben, I was going to be testifying, and I was so so so nervous. Dan and I said a prayer together in the car before court and it calmed me. He held my hand and gave it a squeeze when they called me to the stand and I KNOW he was praying for me, the whole time I was in that chair. How wonderful it is to be able to say these kinds of things about my husband.  

He is such a great daddy too!! The kids love him and need him and he is right there, for whatever they need. How blessed those kids are to have Dan as their daddy! And I love watching him be one! 

The Lord has given us much. We have had loss in our life together, mainly our little sprout this last year, but we have had MANY MANY blessings as well.  And Dan is my BIGGEST BLESSING! He loves God, he loves me and he loves our kids. 

So I guess this little two part blog was a way for me to count my blessing. The blessing that Dan has given to my life. 11 wonderful years this Saturday!!  I love ya babe!