These are the days....

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but these really are the days..... the days I never want to forget....the days I dreamed of in our infertility journey.....the days I know that will be gone way too soon.....the days I often forget to just sit down and take in......these are the best days......that I am sure!

The first time you give your sissy a kiss without anyone asking you to do it...

The days of being silly...

The days where they can sit side by side and play nicely with sissy's doll house..

The days they love each other enough to just sit, snuggle and watch Veggie Tales....

The first time your little guy reaches up to hold your finger while he walks....

The date nights with your princess...

Silliness in the tub...

Being goofy with Daddy on a lazy Sunday morning before church...

Wearing silly mustaches that really itch!

Even daddy joined in on this one....

Rapping out with Daddy...

Waiting for sissy to get home from school....

And getting soooo excited to see her!

Watching more Veggie Tales together....

Just hanging out and playing right after you get out of bed with no where to go...

Snuggling with Daddy while he reads you book after book after book after book...

Teaching daddy all about shapes...

Snuggling with mommy and watching cartoons....

Watching for puppies outside every morning out your window...

Busting into Daddy's office on a Sunday afternoon while he's trying to work to let him know that we love him and we're proud of him for all the hard work he does......and enjoying a few snuggles

Snuggles on a Monday after work when it's just me and this guy and we're waiting for Daddy and Sissy to get home.

Playing in our PJ's

Watching them learn....

Getting pictures like this from the sitter and knowing that he's having a great time..

Finding our your kids are braver that you thought...

Letting them get messy..... really messy!!

Letting them stay up WAY past their bedtime when they just want to play....

Enjoying Sissy's day off with cartoons in mommy's bed in the morning....

Kissing their boo boos when they cry....

Finding great deals on the clearance rack so you can justify dressing them super cute...

And watching them grow before your very eyes.....

Yes, these are the days.  They are crazy.  They are nuts.  They are awesome.  Yes, it gets stressful and no there are definitely not enough hours in the day.  Part of me is dreading tax season and the really busy times that are coming up and part of me knows this might just be one of the best tax seasons - because who can get stressed when there are these sweet, cute silly faces to put a smile on your face and make you forget about all your worries. 

We love you, Sissy & Bubbers!!

Dilly Bar

Tonight Alex got to try his first dilly bar

Which lead to his first ice cream headache. 

He did a great job sharing it with daddy. 

But shook his head no everytine mama asked for a bite. 

Sassy boy!

Celebrating Great Grandma

Today we are heading to Green Bay to celebrate the life of Brads Grandma. I'm so very thankful that We were able to bless her with great grandchildren before she passed. She loved these kiddos and they brought so much joy to her and grandpa whenever we would visit. 

She died on Tuesday, one day after she and grandpa celebrated their 70th anniversary. How cool is that?!

We love you grandma and we'll miss you!

I'll always remember seeing the smile on your face when Makenna and Alex came to your home. You loved them so much and they are so lucky to have known you if only for a short time. 

Such a boy

This what happens when you decide you have to poop while you are in the tub...

Big boy!

Too bad we didn't quite make it in time...

We ended up with a floater in the tub. Ewwww!

That dirt...

You see that dirt in this picture?  The dirt right in front of us?  I still remember when we first got our wedding pictures back.... I LOVED this picture - so much symbolism with us holding hands, one foot forward heading out into our married lives.  But I HATED the dirt!  I felt like it ruined the whole picture.  

But we got married in May and while the grass was beautifully green and the tulips had already started blooming, this particular flower bed at the park was still just dirt.  I hung this picture on our fridge at our old house and for so long I wished our photographer would have found a spot with beautiful tulips or at least somewhere without the dirt.  

I smile now looking at the picture..... and you know what, I love that dirt now!  That dirt totally epitomizes our journey.  11 years later (almost 12!) and without that dirt we never would have made it to the green grass on the other side.  

  

We had no idea at the "dirt" that was waiting for us as we got ready to start our family.  We had no idea how hard it would be to walk through the dirt.  There were times when that's all we could see was the dirt.  It was at those times that we had our heads down, rather than looking up.  We were consumed by the dirt.  

Had we just lifted our heads, we would have seen the green grass in the distance.  How true has this been in my walk with God?  It is the times that I keep my head down that I get discouraged, I feel "stuck" in my current situation.  But when I lift my eyes to Him, He gives me hope.  When we dig into His Word, He shows us that He overcame the dirt to bring us new life - new life in Him.  A new life that requires us to keep our heads up, our eyes on Him.

One of my favorite verses in our infertility journey was Jeremiah 17: 7-8

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be a like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

I studied this verse, I meditated on this verse.  I could do another whole blog post on this verse...

But one day, I focused on the first word - the "but" and decided to take a look at verse 5-6 to figure out the context....

"Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.  That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes.  He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, it a salt land where no one lives.:

Yikes..... sounds an awful lot like the dirt....

Today, I am praising God for using that dirt to bring us to the green grass.  I am praising God for rescuing me from that dirt, when some days it was all I could do to reach out my hand to Him and ask Him to pull me out.  

I am praising God for giving us the dirt not only that He could bring us closer to Him in it, but that He could use that dirt to bring us to where we are today.  

My plan was tulips.... my plan was genetic children of our own.... my plan seemed so much easier...

But His plan....... It was perfect!

And you see how the green grass in the first picture gets greener the further you look in the distance......

Yup, it sure does!!  God is SOOO good! 

I hung these 3 pictures on our wall so that I can remind myself daily that without the dirt, without the heartache and pain there wouldn't be the green grass.... there wouldn't be my Kennagirl and my sweet Bubbers.  

And to remind myself to keep my head up, not focused on the dirt but focused on Jesus and on His plans for me.