Too much alike!

Like mother...

Like daughter... Apparently we both need to learn how to put our shoes away!

A mom's heart

Being a mom is the hardest but most rewarding job I will ever have. It's a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, awake in the middle of the night, then up for the day at the crack of dawn and exhausted before the 10 o'clock news kind of job. It's a job where you're on-call all the time and have to be prepared for anything that is thrown your way. It's a job where you are paid in hugs and kisses. And, it's a job that you will have for the rest of your life. Sure the day-to-day duties will change, but a job that involves your heart, sweat and tears is one that will stick around forever. And, I'm so glad God choose me to be mom to my amazing little girls! I work every day to be the best version of myself for them, not because they demand it but because they deserve it. I want to be a good role model for each of them, and I truly desire for them to both grow up with a sense of who they are, feeling secure in that, and ready to take on the world.

Recently, I have had the chance to just sit back and watch Brooklyn interact with others, and it makes my heart feel so warm. She does listen to everything Kevin and I tell her. She does hear us and she does pay attention. It's a very rewarding feeling. At home, she definitely tests her boundaries (what kid doesn't though!?), and we've both come to the realization that we can be pretty strict with her. I don't know if it's because she's the first child and being a first child myself I know that parents can tend to hold that child to a higher standard than their siblings, or if it's because we know what she is capable of and always want that from her. But, she is a kid after all, and a darn good one, if I do say so myself! She's got an amazing sense of humor, loves to play mommy to all her babies and stuffed animals (she even nurses them!), is quite fiery, but loves a good snuggle.

Tierney's personality is just starting to blossom and I love the chance to get to know my baby girl that much more. I can already tell, she's going to be a risk taker. There isn't much we try with her that she objects to. She'll try anything at least once before she decides if she doesn't like it. She's a pretty calm baby, simply loving to people (especially kid and other baby) watch, but she does love to be held. She's very grabby, gets her hands on anything and everything she can, and boy is she quick! I can't wait to see the person she's growing into. She may be and probably will be my last baby and I am just soaking up everything all the time.

My girls are so very important to me and how they turn out is a reflection of how they were raised. I want them to be responsible, loving, caring, independent, inspiring, strong, courageous, honest, Godly women. And, when they look back on their childhoods, I want them to have the fondest memories. And, when they grow older, I want to be their best friend and the person they can turn to for anything and everything in life because I will always be here for them no matter what. I love them both unconditionally and completely now and forever.

My Blast from the Past

Brooklyn was a few months shy of turning two when this video was shot. I found it today on the computer while I was looking for something else and oh my gosh, she was so tiny, had the cutest curly hair, her voice sounds so little and her vocab wasn't as advanced as now. It's hard to remember those days!! So, enjoy with me, my blast from the past...

Rebirthing

This music video is of a song we sang yesterday at church. It's an amazing song, and what an amazing way to start out our Sunday morning with!! I just had to share.

Here's what we've been up to lately...

Checking out that baby in the mirror...

Building a Lego house...
Making dinner out of Play-doh...
Checking Tierney's toe jam...

Swimming...(Tierney loved the water!)

Decorating the house on laundry day...

Cheering for the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII...

And, having lots of fun being silly!

Why go to church?

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

Why Go To Church?
A church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor.

It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

"When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?"

Finally I feel like an adult

There are times in life, in my life anyway, that you get to examine where you are at and where you are going. And, in the process of doing such, you may find things that surprise you. After becoming a mom for a second time, I finally feel like an adult. I know this sounds crazy because I known I've been adult for awhile now. When I was a teenager, I used to wish and wait for the day that I was on my own and could make my own choices without having to clear it with anyone. I officially mark the day that happened when I moved out of my parent's home and became someone's wife - my wedding day. Of course, I was able to make choices for myself long before that, but it was always in the back of my mind that I needed to run things by my parents, partcularily because I lived in their home and under their roof. Regardless, I made choices. After I got married, I had to make more choices, but this time with the person I chose to spend the rest of my life with. Well, we've recently made a few choices in our life that we decided upon together, and without permission from anyone else, and that's what made me feel more like an adult than anything else.

Change #1: We changed banks. I know insignificant to most, but it took almost a year for us to complete. The main reason I was afraid or better yet hesistant to change was my mom works for the bank we were thinking of leaving. I didn't want there to be any type of hurt feelings there, like the bank she works at wasn't good enough for us anymore. It wasn't that. We wanted a bank branch closer to our home, something that wouldn't take us 30 minutes to drive to simply make a deposit. So, we switched banks and no, this bank doesn't put more money in our bank account each week or give us anything special for banking there, it was just time for us to make a change.

Change #2: We changed churches. Unlike with the bank change, this decision took us less than three weeks to decide. After a Christmas Eve Eve service we went to, Kevin and I both felt that we were missing out on something going to the lutheran church we belonged to for three years. This other church's members were excited to be worshipping God and after all we're all going to the same place after we die, so why shouldn't we be excited and have some enthusiasm in the way we worship. We found another church close to our home that is non-demoninational and where those that worship there have energy, are excited and passionate about worshipping. We've gone to four services now and each service is different with a crystal clear message you can relate to and wonderful worship music. Brooklyn can even attend Sunday school, which has been such a blessing to her. I jump out of bed on Sundays to get ready to go to church, something I haven't done in a long time. And, as we're leaving church on Sunday all of us feel pumped up for the day and ready to tackle the week ahead. Leaving the Lutheran church was a difficult decision, particularly for Kevin because he didn't want to make his parents think that what they taught him growing up didn't mean much to him, because it did. But, the first Sunday the pastor spoke about how parents bring their kids to faith, but it's up to the kids to take off with it and make it their own. And, that's what we're doing and we couldn't be happier about our decision. God is really working in our lives. We couldn't and probably wouldn't have made this change without Him.

And, of course my two beautiful girls remind me everyday that I am an adult, I am their mother, the one that they look to take care of them, to teach them, to raise them and to love on them. But I tell you what, changing banks and changing churches really made me sit back and realize how far I've come, and made me finally feel like an adult...good timing, right since I'll be 29 this year?!