Wordless Wednesday

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I look forward to seeing many new pics of all your new Christmas memories! Much Love, Kate.

I'm Not Behind, I'm Just Taking My Time.

Or maybe I'm just in denial. Have you ever let the laundry get so behind that you thought it might be easier to just drag the baskets to Goodwill and buy new??? :)

Beyond Measure

5 little women

1 bedtime routine

5 baths

3 little sets of teeth to brush

4 diapers to change

5 sets of pj's

100 nails to trim

3 bedtime snacks

2 babies to feed

5 love-bugs to cuddle with

5 sweet faces to kiss

1 daddy who is wrapped around some little fingers

1 happy & thankful mama

1 Amazing and Sovereign Lord

Who Needs A Drink?

Soakin' It Up

What A Wonderful Maker

I have been reading a book by Sally Clarkson called "The Mission of Motherhood". It has been a super read, and has offered many encouraging words for me lately. It is so hard sometimes to fully understand the importance of being "called" to motherhood. It can be such a stressful job, leaving us mom's feeling a little crazy at times...don't you think? How many times have I stopped and thought, "am I even making any kind of impact on these little lives??"...probably about a million times. But I am so very thankful, and it is only by God's Grace that I am able to savor these moments with the girls...even in the midst of the chaos. Praise the Lord that He is letting me try to navigate my way through this huge calling. Here are a few things from the book:

"...those same years when I thought I was accomplishing nothing - have had a lasting effect on almost every aspect of the rest of my child's life."

"I still hear my mothers voice in my heart as I face different situations. I still have a need for a cheerleader who believes in me when I have failed, who will pray for me in the stressful moments in life, lend me money when I need it, and help me through times of difficulty with wisdom and perspective. A mother's relationship with her child is one that will encompass a lifetime. How blessed is that child who has that anchor of strength and support."

"...saying yes to the Mission of Motherhood has certainly not meant giving up my ministry, to a great extent, it is my ministry."

Just thought I'd share in case anyone was looking for a good book!

A Tall Skinny Peppermint Mocha Please

Caffeine & Peppermint, it's a beautiful thing.

40 Weeks

Today is my original due date for Kinley & Raya.

40 Weeks

December 8th, 2008

I just wanted to post this so I would remember what my original due date was, and how lucky we were to make it as far as we did, only 3 weeks shy of December 8th. I can't believe that we have had these sweet babies for 3 weeks. Sometimes it feels like we have had them for months, and then sometimes it feels like we just got home from the hospital. It is hard to remember what life was like before they arrived, and honestly there is still a lot of adjusting going on in our big family. The older girls are doing amazing, they love Kinley & Raya and seemed to have settled into this new life with 2 new sisters.


Now for a little bit of the hard truth. I think the one who is adjusting the slowest is me! I feel like I can't get my act together. I usually run a pretty tight schedule around here and as of lately, I just can't seem to nail that schedule back down. There are lots of moments that I feel stressed and I am pretty much always exhausted. With taking care of 5 that are 4 & under, cleaning, cooking, breastfeeding/pumping, middle of the night feedings, diapers, more diapers...I guess this would make anyone tired. I tend to be real hard on myself and I know I need to give myself some grace through this season. It is a hard job to have 5 little ones. I had no idea, I thought I did, but you never really can grasp it until you're in the middle of it.

The Amazing up side to all this chaos??
I am loving the new-ness of the babies.
We have some serious cheeks going on.
I love watching the older girls love on them.
Being a "big family", it is an amazing thing.
Kinley & Raya are great babies.
We are approaching the holiday, and we have lot's of family to celebrate with.
All the girls are healthy.
Ella is such an amazing little girl. God has let me see what a sweet little heart that He has given her...she is such a help.
Reese & Charlotte are cracking us up. Talking, laughing, joking with each other. Coming and telling me "babies are crying mom...need pacifier..." Too cute.
Ella, Reese and Charlotte standing and looking through the cribs at the babies. A kodak moment for sure.
God is showing me what it truly means to NEED Him. Where would be without the hope of the Lord, without the peace that He gives us, without knowing that we are living out His plan for our family?
We have each other, and we're in this together.

So many ramblings, so little time...literally. You think those pregnancy hormones haven't worked their way out completely!?

Who's Who??

Which one is which?? When they are all bundled up, it's hard to tell the size difference. I had to post the 2nd pic with the hat halfway over her eyes, they always slide down! Don't you just want to love on all these chubby cheeks!?

A Little Over 2 Weeks Ago, 37 Week Twin Baby Belly

This post is long over due! I know I would regret it if I didn't post a little something about our delivery. I was scheduled for a csection on Sunday, Nov. 16th at 10am. On Saturday I decided to get everything done. Cleaning out closets, washing clothes, taking things to Goodwill, etc. I headed out to Target at about 6pm to stock up on things for the following weeks. I hurried home because Eric's parents were coming over for pizza and to work out some details for the following week while we were in the hospital. When I got home we took this last belly pic, I felt gigantic. I told Eric, "something is different, my contractions are different, I feel strange." I tried to blame it on nerves and sat down for some pizza. During dinner my contractions got worse and I knew that this was it. I told everyone, and paged our Dr. at 9pm. He said head on in, we are going to have some babies tonight!!

I was so not expecting to leave for the hospital that night. I had planned on tucking my older girls in bed one more time before this huge change, and talk to them about the new babies we would have in the morning, but that wasn't God's plan for that night. We packed the girls up and sent them home with Eric's parents, I cried...and cried. For some reason it was so hard to let them go knowing that things were never going to be the same. We'll just blame it on the hormones :) :). I was having contractions every 3 minutes and was dilated to 3 by the time we got to labor & delivery. They took me into surgery a little before midnight, and at 12:15am & 12:16 we heard those sweet little first cries. God had added Kinley and Raya to our growing family.

36 Weeks 5 Days

Reese & Raya

Charlotte thought the babies were amazing!

And our Ella wanted to hold them all day, she is such a little helper.

Life is a little crazy here in our house, but we are adjusting a little more everyday. I can't believe it's been 2 1/2 weeks. The babies have brought so much joy to our family, we feel so lucky to have them. I have so many pics to come of all the girls, we are trying to capture as many moments as we can. I know this crazy time will fly by so quickly, and I want to remember as much as possible. Now if I could only get a chance to update my blog layout! Hope everyone is doing well!