the mojo life

please excuse the cuteness

2012-01-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

this one

2012-01-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

this one has her first fever today. sad. and is teething. more sad.
she is 11 months tomorrow! and such, such a joy. she is still a stinker when it comes to sleeping, but is a total doll during the day! she gives smiles freely and loves to hug us and hold us.
seriously, i want to eat her up she is so cute! she is also WAY more active then the other two were. she is climbing up stairs, pulling stuff down all the time, crawling like crazy and "cruising" around furniture. she is determined to keep up with her siblings.

more hiking, more snow

2012-01-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

can you see a pattern developing? mojo's days off=family hikes. its glorious! here are a few pics from the last few times we've gone. we've found a little picnic area with amazing views. we are so lucky to live here!!!

because its cold

2012-01-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

because its cold outside and i am missing nashville and close friends from st.louis. and because i forgot to post these earlier. here are some pictures from a short photo shoot my brother in law did the night before we left nashville.

we're 7!

2012-01-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

We spent our anniversary at a pretty amazing vegetarian restaurant here in town. we had time to talk and laugh and drink a whole bottle of wine. then the other pastor and his wife met us there for dessert. it was a good night!
Here are the words to the song that Mojo wrote for me to Walk Down the Aisle too! I'll figure how to upload the song one day...

walk to me

on new years night

all dressed up in white

let the candles light

as our hearts unite

be my bride tonight

i didnt know it was you i was waiting for

but i cant wait anymore

because now i know

i cant count all the stories and the songs

of mad love going wrong

but not us no, it came so slow

and here we go.... walk to me

on new years night

all dressed up in white

let the candles light

as our hearts unite

be my bride tonight

who would have known

back when we first begun

that you would be the one i would cling to

so we arrived at this sacred covenant

never to be rent

til death takes me, yours i will

truly, deeply... walk to me

on new years night

all dressed up in white

let the candles light

as our hearts unite

be my bride tonight

i love you so and i always will

we’ll grow old and i’ll love you still

all my life and all my pride

i let it go to lay by your side

walk to me

be bound to christ

leave behind your life

and now become my wife

walk with me

we’re going home

you dont walk alone

you dont walk aone

you dont walk alone

christmas traditions

2011-12-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

this year the plan was to stay in denver and start all these new family traditions. this was the first year that we had christmas without the kids' cousins and grandparents. instead, this christmas was filled with the stomach flu! ugh! talk about awful! we kept thinking it was over and then another member would succumb. my christmas eve was spent hugging the toilet.
the kids, of course, still had a blast on christmas day and seemed to be over the worst of it. at the end of the day they did say, "wish we we could open presents with ellie and atticus."
so we might need to remedy that for next year!

on christmas eve day (before the stomach bug hit) we went sledding down a huge hill near our house. it was a beautiful sunshiney day and a fun way to start Christmas.

I also took Maggie to The Nutcracker for her first time. It was such a fun day together and I was so glad the stomach bug passed through her quickly so we could go enjoy it together! She barely blinked she was so into it!!!

At the Christmas Eve service, Frankie some how didnt make the family photo! She was there though!

Santa brought remote controlled cars! A big hit!

blessing bags

2011-12-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

one of my sweet friends in California, Julie, had a wonderful idea to give Blessing Bags to the homeless. Now, I am not sure if I told you or not but there are SO MANY homeless people in Denver! I am constantly, what the heck? why are you in Denver? Even though it so cold, apparently, it is THE place to be if you are homeless. The police dont bother you and you are welcome to stand on the side of the road, day in and day out, and ask for money.
So we had a few kids and families over a few weeks ago to make these Blessing Bags....we filled them with toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, granola bars, and things like that... It was a great opportunity to talk to my kids about why people are homeless, how to identify them, what shelters are, etc.
If you want to hear more about these bags contact me! We keep them in the car and hand them out to the "regulars" that we see. The kids love to be on the look out for people we can bless.

hiking

2011-12-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

one of the AWESOME things about living in Denver is that the Rocky Mtns. are just a few miles away! Lately, on Mojo's days off (which are usually Mondays) we head up to the mtns. to hike. There arent many people out then and we have found an easy mtn. for the kiddos with amazing views.
We try to keep the hikes short with frequent stops along the way and snacks on hand. Harriet is so happy in this place, its ridiculous. She runs NONSTOP and then sleeps for two days straight. It seems its the only time I'm not frustrated with her for shedding or trying to take Abraham's food. It's so great to see her in her element. The kids do great especially if we allot time for playing on rocks and general goofing around. We probably only end up hiking one or two miles even though we are on the trail for two hours at least. {little feet dont cover much distance} I end up carrying Abe on my back at the end of every hike...:)
Franks enjoying the view on Daddy's back...

Abraham enjoying the view while climbing rocks!

It was cold this day!

But not this day! Look at that sky! It is so amazingly blue!

Snow on the ground and Daddy in a t-shirt. Denver is weird like that. If you are in the sun, you are plenty warm.

They are yelling, "Mountains!"

The views are so amazing I kept saying, "oh my goodness, its just so beautiful!" We are so blessed to live here!

Harriet taking off....

november update

2011-12-17T18:50:00.000-08:00

so many good things in November, so little pictures.
I had a glorious 25th, I mean, 35th birthday...Good friend watched the kids while Matt and I had a glorious long lunch at a AMAZING vegetarian restaurant here in Denver. Almost everyday here I say, Ugh, can the weather be any better? My birthday was one of those days. We sat outside and enjoyed the cool air and glorious sunshine. I only got two pictures that day... lunch with the minister.

And Me and Mags right before we headed out to eat that night with the other staff of St. Patricks. We have dinner out once a week or cook meals for each other. That night we went out since it was my birthday and it was a fun time to just enjoy each other, not talk ministry, and just laugh and eat awesome food.

Here are the kiddos one night right before bedtime in the family/play room.

Thanksgiving day was unseasonably warm. We "played" football in the yard and had friends over for a big Thanksgiving meal. I realized after the fact that it didnt "feel" like Thanksgiving because there was no joint cooking. The good friends we had over brought dishes, but I missed making the meal together and chatting while cooking and just hanging out...I'll know more for next year! This was the only 'stateside' Thanksgiving I've ever missed. The only two I have missed I have been in Prague with Mojo and in China. And sadly, this Christmas will be the FIRST in 35 years that I havent been with my family! Sad! Here are the Morginskys on Thanksgiving afternoon...

Here is sweet Frankie, almost 9 months old after our big Thanksgiving meal...

And here is our "thanksgiving" tree where we added leaves everynight with more of our thanks. You can tell I am such a good homeschooler with Maggie writing "baba" instead of "dada"...ha! those b's and d's are tricky!

one of the MANY glorious sunsets we get outside of our windows everynight. so much to be thankful for!

candyland and other things

2011-11-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

this was two days ago when Frankie pulled herself up for the first time! look how proud she is! ugh, i want to eat her up!

here is our front yard a few weeks ago when it snowed (again)

we had so much fun trick or treating this year. we walked up and down our beautiful neighborhood, got to know folks and where other kids lived. perfect! Maggie asked to be a ghost and i gladly obliged, i mean, how easy is that? here we are at Boo at the Zoo....candy and animals-my two favorites! Frankie is a monster from Where the Wild things Are and she is on my back and Abe is a dragon!

a little bit of this

2011-10-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

i feel a need to back track a bit and tell you about Maggie's 5th birthday! i'm a lame mom and didnt blog about it! plus, my camera is broken and all the good pictures our on my dad's camera. but i want to write it down for memory's sake.
Maggie had a choice to do a birthday party with friends or a girls day with me and a family party. Much to my happiness she choose a girl day with her Mama! So we both got pedicures. She liked it but not as much as I did! I dont think her feet hurt like mine do so she didnt get the whole soak your feet in hot water thing. It was fun to do with her though! Then we went and got lunch at Panera and then went to a fancy cupcakery and picked out fancy girly cupcakes. Then we went and picked up Abraham and went and saw Cars 2. It was so good! Definitely better than the first Cars. It was the middle of the day in the middle of the week and we had the whole theatre to ourselves. That made it super fun and the kids could keep switching seats and it didnt matter.
Then we had Mellow Mushroom pizza, had her cousins over and more cupcakes and presents!

It was a really special day!

the past two weeks have been filled with new adventures and beautiful weather. we went to the children's garden which sit atop of a 4 story parking garage. sounds weird but its huge and has amazing views for the mtns. there is a river with "spring melt" and an area to dig dirt. who knew a pile of dirt and some shovels could entertain the kids for so long? they seriously played happily for over 30 mins. digging in the same spot!

we have been the denver zoo. and i did not take pictures because i am pretty sure all of denver was there that day (free day). we will be skipping free days from now on and just going straight for the membership! any grandparents out there want to get us a membership so this mama doesnt have to fight 5 million people to see a zebra?

also, another pretty great thing is one of my closest college friends is here! she moved to denver back in the early spring and lives only a few miles away! she is a nanny so a few days ago we had a play date with the twins she watches and my kiddos. she is also a photographer and took these great photos....

this is me trying to climb up a rope. seriously, where has my upper body strength gone?

it really is so much sunnier here. you have to sunglasses at all times! its wonderful!!!!

then yesterday we took the kiddos on their first hike in Boulder. what a great city! we did like a half mile up the mtn. but it was a tough hike for sure! and it was stunning!

it's amazing here folks! come visit!!!!

we're here.

2011-10-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

we're here. tired and ready. happy and sad. denver greeted us with uncharacteristically hot weather. with no A/C in our house, we spent the first few days covered in sweat and up to our ears in boxes.

the boxes slowly became unpacked. and the weather slowly became cool. it actually snowed a bit too. as you can imagine, my sinuses are having a field day going back and forth like this.

we are enjoying getting to know the city and slowly feeling our way around in the midst of work and boxes and three kids. we have been on the search for the closest coffee shop (one block) and library (5 blocks) and yoga studio (half a block). it quite perfect actually. and its a privilege to drive out of our garage and see the mountains! The Rockies! Covered in snow!

It hasnt hit us yet. We are just going through the motions of setting up shop and taking care of the kids. Our house gets amazing sunshine throughout the day so it has provided much happiness as we trudge through the difficulty of moving states.

So we're here at least physically. Our hearts arent here yet, although we know it will get here soon. How could it not? We're exactly where God called us.

very Frank lloyd Wright, no?

afternoon sunshine

into the dining room

denver or bust?

2011-09-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

there are a lot of things going on but i thought i would pause and write about the emotions heading into tomorrow. problem is, there hasnt been alot of time to process our move. leading up to this week i was so very excited but now there isnt a whole lot of time to do much thinking at all.
so here goes nothing. the car is packed and we are headed on a 3 day journey across the country!!!
rocky mtns. here we come!!!!

summer reading

2011-09-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

my summer reading list has been growing and growing. i have been consuming because a)there is nothing on tv this summer and b)my sleeping as all been off. my tiny little girl is not the best sleeper to say the least. so i am up all hours of the night and then Mojo takes her at 6ish and i sleep for a couple uninterrupted hours (if the other kiddos are kind enough to not come in and jump on me.) but then i am not tired enough to go to sleep at 10 or 11 so then i stay up reading and then the cycle begins all over. so although i am tired most of the day, at least i am getting some good reading done!

here is my list of what i have read so far:

Persian Girls-autobiographical of life in Iran as a young girl wanting an education.
When Katie Wakes-another autobiography of a woman in a domestic violence situation who adopts a dog (Katie) and that dog helps her get out of the situation.
The Tipping Point-Malcolm Gladwell-he wrote the next three books and calls them "intellectual adventures". They have been by far my favorite non-fiction of the summer. so Good! and the sociologist in me just loves all the research he presents. a must read (all three!). Tipping point is about what makes trends and epidemics happen...what is the "tipping point" in those situations.
Blink- how our intuition and the few seconds we assess something in a "blink of an eye" is usually correct. fascinating!
The Outliers- what makes a successful person. its not just people who work the hardest and can pull themselves up with their boot straps.
Hunger Games-um, totally awesome. I read all three of these books in the Hunger Games Triology in one week. apparently they are making them into movies. i cant wait! so fun!!! and although they are in the young adult category, like Harry Potter, they are a bit gorey and i wouldnt recommend them at all to anyone under 18. they are so good though! a perfect vacation read.
Catching Fire
Mockingjay (my favorite of the series)

I also read numerous CIA novels but they arent worth mentioning. I mean, they are my favorite kind of go-to book but not really blog worthy. As you can imagine, I spent a bundle on my kindle buying these books. its too easy! I am looking forward to having a library card very, very soon.

my SWEET kiddos

2011-09-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

arent they just edible? my stellar kiddos.

sweet aunt nikki!

2011-08-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

we went to cali in july to see mojo's younger sister get married. she and spencer honored us by having us all in the wedding! it was such a joy. i will post pictures of maggie and abraham later. they did such an amazing job and i was really quite surprised! maggie walked down the aisle, head held high!, and actually SMILED and abraham just followed along and stopped right in front of his daddy (who was officiating)....too cute.
aunt nikki married a wonderful guy and a great family. it was so fun to be apart of that day!

missing friends

2011-08-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

um, hello cute!!!

these are some pics we took before we moved of some dear friends...nathan and isaac. nathan is 6 weeks older than maggie and isaac is 6 weeks older than abraham. needless to say, they were wonderful playmates! we miss them!!!

abe's bday

2011-08-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

a little behind the times. abe turned 3 in june!!! we had a superhero party with water guns and ice cream. he had a ball....

california sunshine

2011-08-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

here are some pics of Frankie's first trip to the beach and meeting her great-grandma Emily for the first time (she is named after Emily's husband Frank)
more california pics to come!

child of the covenant

2011-07-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

we sang Be Thou My Vision right before Frankie's baptism. Rev. Craig Brown married us, and now has baptized all 3 kids. so special! It was great to be amongst family and old friends at City Church. And sweet Frankie did so great and seemed really happy. Such an amazing moment!

my man

2011-07-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

my main squeeze completed his first triathlon this past week!!! he is such a stud. his first race and he came in 13th in his age group-hello awesome!!! i'm so proud of my handsome muscley man!

lately

2011-07-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

july has been a whirlwind of activity. weddings galore! california sunshine, atlanta heat, a wedding in a river...all good things. its kept us busy for sure. my camera is all wonky so i cant download all the a-mazing photos from california where maggie and abraham were in their Aunts wedding and were sooo cute! photos to come as soon as i figure out technology....

my cousin's rehearsal dinner

20 yrs later...

2011-06-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

when kim and i were 13 we met on our high schools cheerleading team. she liked me b/c i had good jumps, and i liked her long blond hair. my jumps arent as good anymore but kim's hair still long. this month our 13 yr. old selves would have been so happy. our children met for the first time. she had twins 3 weeks before Abraham was born. so needless to say, our lives have been too crazy to get our families together. but we had 24 hours together and our kiddos went CRAZY for each other and we hardly saw them as they ran around and played together. it was beautiful! then our two other besties from high school joined us for dinner and late night talking. they are still wild and crazy but oh so good as aunties.

college girlfriends

2011-06-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

once a year, our friend from college, makes a trek back from china where she lives and we all decend upon a city and hang out. friday night we eat in and stay up way too late talking. then we usually stay in our pjs all day on saturday until we get ready to go out to eat Saturday night. this time, three babies were present (although only Frankie is in the picture). we dont do much except eat and talk. its perfect.

The Graduate

2011-06-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

(this is sam, they were interns together at Memorial Pres.)

(this is Andy, you'll see more of him in the future. we are starting the church in denver with him and his family)

(this is jimmy, mojo's basketball and settlers buddy)

(this is josh (another basketball buddy) and bryan (next door neighbor and mya's daddy)

(and their cute wives)

(sorry for the funky red eye reduction....this is Dr. Byers and his sweet Texas wife)

no title

2011-05-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

i titled this entry "no title" because nothing really sums up how i feel. chapter ending? sadness and tears? new chapter? lonely?
we moved out of our apartment in St. Louis yesterday and into my parents house in nashville. we are on a temporary layover until we get to our final destination, Denver. we arent exactly sure when that will be, but hopefully by the beginning of fall.
packing up last week was a whirlwind and not a whole lot of time to be reflective. we had a few "lasts" with friends. last dinners, last tv watching together, last prayer group, last dinner out, last playdate (you get the idea).
I wrote this post right before we moved to st.louis. and this sentence is exactly how i feel again.
"but because we havent gotten to {denver} yet and experienced the joys there, all we are left with today is the sense of loss. tomorrow, i know we will feel different and the sense of loss will be slowly replaced with excitement and love for a new city."

there isnt much i can say again about this chapter closing in our lives that i havent said before. it was a wonderful season. a season of protection. a season of focusing in our family and watching our children grow. i mean, maggie was still sleeping in a crib when we moved. i just think its hard when you love a place so much, people so much, but know there is more ahead that you are called to.

we are so happy to have this time in Nashville. time that the cousins can be together. cousin ellie has already spent the night twice. and man, she is such a helper! instead of US getting up at 5:45, she does! love it! we are so thankful that God saw fit to allow us such great friends and this season.

12 weeks

2011-05-23T18:01:00.000-07:00

time flies when you are bouncy a cute baby on your hip! (her hair naturally goes that way!)

6 weeks

2011-05-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

ballerina girl

2011-05-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

my shy one was amazing!!!! i am so very proud of her-she was in the front row and didnt miss a beat!!!

Easter Best

2011-05-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

ode to my road

2011-05-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

for the past three years, we have lived in a tiny apartment at the end of a cul-de-sac filled with seminary students. three years ago our family seemed completely different. it was complete different. we moved with this:

and now we have this:

we are an entirely different family now. before we moved matt was around a lot. we three would spend our days at the park or our favorite coffee shop, Bongo. Mags was an easy easy toddler. Abe was 8 weeks old (same age as Franks is now!) when we moved. the first semester being a stay at home mom was still quite novel. we LOVED having days when matt would leave at 8 and be home around 3 or 4 and we'd play in the afternoon outside with friends. cooking dinner every night was still novel too. seminary budget but a kabosh on eating out.
the week we moved in, my next door neighbor told me this apartment complex was the Christian Melrose....its been a dream really.
friendships for all of us are easy. not that the friendships themselves are without hardships or conflict but TO BE IN relationship is quite easy. just take my last week for instance: there was a birthday party for a dear friend-it was rainy and cold and i would have hated getting out and driving in that weather but i just walked 100 yards and was there. last night a friend was sick and her husband was working- i walked 100 yards and was able to help her out. friends have walked over and gotten our children while we had the newborn or helped when i've been sick. taking steaming hot meals at dinner time to friends who just had babies or are having a hard time-its easy.
when i get my stroller out for a walk-there is bound to be others wanting to walk with me. when my kids want to run around with other kids-there is bound to be others. when i want to pull out my sewing machine and craft it up with some gals-there is bound to be others. when i want to sit on the deck with some wine-plenty of people to do it with.
i love it. but i realize its not reality. (unless of course, we live on a commune...which i wouldnt mind at this point).
but the lesson i have learned these past three years is that sharing life together with friends is wonderful and no matter how easy or how hard, its worth it. to make friends with the unlikely, is wonderful. to share in burdens is wonderful.
i admit-i will miss the ease. i know i will wake up one day soon and say, 'how do i parent 3 kids without a ton of kids around?' i know my kids will wake up and wonder, 'why arent there a ton of kids outside my door ready to play?'
i'll miss it. i'll miss the friendships that have sprung up just because of proximity. dear friendships.
i'll miss not having to get in a car when i want to hang with some girls. i know mojo will miss watching basketball a few nights a week with guys. i'll miss seeing these people-day in. day out. good days, bad days. oh, my little cul-de-sac you've been good to us.

mile high family

2011-04-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

so the big news is....we are moving to denver!!! we will be planting a Presbyterian Church in the city center where there are hardly any churches. (planting is christian speak for starting a new church).
once matt finishes up his Masters we head to Nashville for about 6 weeks or more until we raise funds for our salary. (since this is a new church there is no congregation to support the pastor...after 3 years the church will, Lord willing, be self sustaining).
we are VERY excited about this new adventure as a family. we are also very thankful we have a job in this climate. we are a bit sad to be so far away from friends and family but we'll have a guest room waiting!!!! come visit us...often!!!
pray for us for all that we have to do in the coming weeks and months. big transitions ahead.

bucket list

2011-04-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

so its pretty overwhelming when i think about it but we only have about 8 weeks left until we move. ahhhh!!!! we have LOVED every second of st. louis and really good live here forever. we love the parks, the free attractions, the city life...its great.
but considering i moved with an 8 week old and now have another 5 week old, there are things i have wanted to do but havent been able to. so i have a st. louis bucket list. we haev decided we are just going to start paying babysitters so we can stay out more than 2 hours and scratch some things off this list!
during spring break we were able to scratch one off the list: the sculpture garden. the other things that i want to do are:
visit the Bush Brewery, have brunch at the Art Museum on a Sunday, take a row in the row boats on Art Hill, drink a Pale Ale at Schafly Bottleworks, go to the City Museum....
st. louis friends-what else am i missing? anyone want to go with me to these things?

we also hit up the botanical gardens during spring break.....i will miss this place so much!!!

3 weeks

2011-04-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

ok, so she is 5 weeks old, so i am a little behind....its to be expected right?
she loves all things snuggle. loves to be held and smiles up a storm these days...her whole face lights up. its awesome.

(this is her face learning how to smile...too cute!)

just want to eat her up!

sibling love

2011-03-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

these guys cant get enough of her....

frankie made a noise and Abe kinda freaked out.

labor of love

2011-03-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

alot of my friends have asked about my labor. it was really wonderful experience. i had prayed that it would be on a weekend, during the day, that she would turn the right way (she was posterior) and that my sister would get here on time. on friday i saw the doctor and i was almost 3 cm and she was turned! all that chiropractor work and sitting on a ball worked! my sister and her daughter drove that day and made it in time for all of us to go to eat with some of our friends. saturday morning i woke up at 5 with contractions about 10 mins. apart. i dont even really count those hours because they were so easy. i laid in bed until 7 practicing my hypnobirthing techniques and the bradley method. at 7 i woke matt up and told him he needed to get ready for the day. at 7 they started coming about 5 mins. apart. i sat in bed until 8 and had my tea and ate a little breakfast.

mojo and my sister goofing off behind my back....nice....

the kids played in their room with their cousin ellie and would come in every once in a while but they were so excited she was here that they hardly realized anything was going on.

at 8 they started coming stronger and i needed help relaxing through them. i made my sister hurry and read all the coaching sections of the bradley book. by 9 they were coming 2 mins apart and we decided to go to the hospital since they were so close. we left around 9:30 once our good friend betsy came over to stay with the kids.

and just like the other two kids, as soon as i got to the hospital i started throwing up. its like clockwork for me. i mean, as soon as i step into the doors (with all 3 of the kids!) i started throwing up. not sure if its being in the car, or the stress of being in the hospital or just the pain ramps up enough....but its weird how timely it all is.

here i am smiling because mojo just reminded me we would be meeting frankie in a little bit.

at 6 cm i started to have the urge to push. this is dangerous to start pushing at this point b/c your body isnt ready. it happened with Abraham so i knew it meant it would go very quickly from that point on.
my zen posture went out the window and no amount of relaxation can help. its a force of nature so strong its like trying to hold back a tsunami with your fingertips. i kept looking at my doc to see if i could push...this part was quite awful but like Abraham's birth i dilated from 6 to 10 in about 30 minutes.

zen going out the window...

i pushed with Frankie much longer than with the other two. i think the most i pushed the other times was like 3 times. i think i pushed around 40 mins. with Frankie. i clearly remember thinking, "man, this is taking forever." i actually preferred with this way, because with the other two it was so quick and intense that i just had to go with it, my body took over and i was not even a participant. i just watched it happened. but for Frankie i really had to work at it. arms hurt for days after from squeezing so hard on the bars. i was really present with this birth and i really enjoyed it. Abrahams was so intense and hardcore that i just had to hang on for dear life and ride that tiger out. Frankies was equally intense but i actually had a break between contractions (which i didnt with Abe and didnt with Maggie after a long time).

this is gross but my bag of waters stayed intact until she came out and it was so intense when the water broke that it sprayed everywhere. mojo, my sister and the doctor started laughing-it grossed me out so i just closed my eyes. my sister video taped her coming out but i knocked the camera over with one of my flaying hands so all you hear is my screaming....its so high pitched when her shoulders come out that its kinda other wordly....i could only listen to it once and it gave me shivers.... she was born at 11:51....

shiny and new

joy. (she looks big considering she was just in my belly doesnt she?)

my amazing birth coach and baby daddy

making sure everything is working right

all in a days work....

juggling

2011-03-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

having 3 is in some ways a lot easier than i thought it would be but also in some ways just as hard as i expected. granted, we are just at the beginning so i know things will get easier. we are all still adjusting. i think the hardest thing is rarely having my hands free. (hence the lack of blogging!) my little frankie loves to be held and her nap times consist of me trying unsuccessfully to get her to sleep in her crib. the times she is sleeping in her crib or swing i run around trying to keep the house in order. we are so very thankful for our dear friends and neighbors bringing us meals. i am sure it would be nightly pbjs without them!
our little frank and beans is 3 weeks old today and i have yet to figure out how to successfully take a shower with all three home. i attempted again yesterday and had to get out 4 times to calm frankie down and then maggie came in and said, abraham is playing with the toaster---i took that as my cue to go without shaving that other leg or conditioning my hair.
we are all in a state of learning. and really, i wouldn't trade it for all the quiet showers in the world. her new baby smell, her new smiles and coos. seeing the kids with her-maggie obsessively getting up at 6 in the morning just to see her and abraham saying (every time he sees her)-is that my baby? and although we are all a bit tired and house isn't as neat as i'd like....we are all madly in love.

4 days old and already a stunner...

2011-03-05T17:50:00.000-08:00

random thoughts post childbirth

2011-03-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

*new baby smell is intoxicating
*i never thought my biceps could hurt so much
*i shaved my legs with ease this morning
*i'm so thankful for modern gadgets like baby swings
*a woman's body is both amazing and scary
*i've never been so excited to see the outline of my abs
*i need some sun. i look like i belong in Twilight
*this new baby of ours is edible i tell you!
*if frankie makes it through abe's love, we'll be happy
*sleep deprivation really is torture
*the thought of giving birth unmedicated again makes me have a little ptsd

baby mine

2011-02-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

Sarah Frances Shalom Morginsky 2/26/11 11:51am 7lbs. 8oz. 20 in.

Welcome dear Frankie! May the world know a little more peace because you were born!

Preparation

2011-02-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks have been a time of preparation for the new babe that will makes it way quite soon. There always seems more to do, one more thing to make clean. And, i have realized lately how much preparing for a baby is like preparing to tackle Life. I have found this to be true in two major areas.

Tension & Contractions
Since this is our third go round, cleaning with toddlers under foot as been a source of frustration. Every time I get the baby's area 'just right' I turn around to see my 2 year old son slowly dismantling everything I had just put together. The basket with all the baby blankets has now been turned over and he has become a 'blanket monster.' Or has spread them all over the floor to make a bed. Some one has crawled into the crib and gotten peanut butter on the newly washed organic sheets. And while stripping said 2 year olds bed, out flew a half eaten quesadillas. While I inwardly groaned, he exclaimed: "Mama, I found my cheese quesadillla!"
Tension much like a contraction has to be recognized, acknowledged, breathed through, and then released. If only I could live like that. Seeing the frustration in my life, taking a deep breath, and then letting it go. Because much like contractions, the more you tense and fight against tension and frustration-the worse it gets.
Breathe deep & ride it out.

Fear vs. Trust
The other major area I have been learning in both preparing for labor and preparing for life is how fear plays a major role in hindering labor and life. I have been reading a fabulous book called Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method. The major premise of the book is believing the body knows exactly what its doing. We need to trust it, not fear pain, and let the body do its work. I mean, if you think about it our bodies are amazing. One hormone signals to another and wham-you're in labor. The body takes over-each muscle knowing its work, each part of the body working in time with the others. It's positively amazing.
Yet as women, we come into with a lot of fear. Control issues really. How long will labor be? Can I handle the pain? What if something goes wrong? Fear-it creeps in.
And fear causes the body to tense up-to shut down. Mammals who are in labor have a stop response in case there is danger or its not a good place to have their baby. Their bodies shut down the labor when they experience anxiety. It's a perfect mechanism but as humans when our irrational fears get in the way, it hinders us.
Trust our bodies. Trust the path we are on. Trust that everything will indeed work out in the end. Accepting that truth frees us to relax all our muscles and let nature and God do the work.

mile high

2011-02-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

just a quick glimpse of our trip out to denver in january. the city is lively, no real bad parts, parks everywhere, and of course, the view of the rockies doesnt get old.

the following pics are in City Park....a nice big park with playground, zoo, science center, etc. notice the kids have snow boots on but no jackets. it was like 50 degrees but the snow doesnt melt because it gets freezing at night. its perfect play weather!!! we loved it!

look at this amazing playground...castles and ziplines!

abe and maggie doing a puppet show at a local bookstore with an awesome kids section.

we headed up to Winter Park one day. the drive up was pretty amazing. at one point it just starts snowing b/c you are high enough and then all of the sudden you are above clouds. the kids are a bit too young to really get into the scenery....we heard lots of "this is taking too long." but Matt and I sure enjoyed it!

considering i was (am) great with child, we decided against skiing or tubing, and decided to take a sleigh through the woods. quite as pretty as it sounds.
our sweet horses that pulled our sleigh through the snow. arent they pretty?

getting ready to head out! isnt Mags adorable?

we had to sit close to Abe because of course he wanted to jump around.

look at those slopes! gulp! one day.....

we stopped in the middle of the snow and the cowboy made us hot cocoa. pretty awesome.

Mags loving the VIP treatment.

one happy girl

do we look like a Denver family?

i could get use to the snuggling....

snow babies

2011-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

these kids love the snow! i feel like kids never really get cold, or at least dont mind it. me, my toes and fingers are numb within minutes. ah well! such is the commitment to having fun! a few weeks ago there was a huge snow storm and we had snow on the ground for ages. mojo took the kids sledding like everyday. he loves it as much as they do. one day we went out to forest park, the big hill had been well loved by some crazy sledders. but my kids joined in too! you can tell by the pictures how cold it was. after a bit, i just sat in the van with my seat warmer on!

here the kids are yelling, "snow!!!!" you can tell how much fun they are having. i love it.

as you can tell, we were the only crazy people out there that day. the tiny specks at the bottom of the hill are the kids and daddy.

running for joy at the notion of going down hill again!

6 years!

2011-01-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

mojo and i slipped away to the mountains for two nights to a little b & b on a huge cliff with a fireplace in the room. mojo got a kindle for christmas, so we read and read and read....and ate, and ate, and ate. and slept in of course. we also saw two movies while were gone- all the things we really cant do while taking care of two kids.

our little babes got sick while we were gone but the 'rents held down the fort and allowed us to ring in the new year cozied up in our bed with the fireplace roaring. happy 6 years babe-so glad we are on this journey together!

christmas eve

2011-01-10T17:01:00.000-08:00

this is maggie's new pose. apparently she thinks is the way she should stand to be 'cute.'

the rest of our break

2011-01-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

when we werent finding out the gender of our new babe, we spent tons of cousin time together. the kids ran around in the snow during our WHITE christmas:) i baked alot with the budding chef ellie, we had girls days and the guys had guys nights. we watched movies on my parents enormous flat screen and i got to nap, nap, nap. glorious.

i sewed these aprons for when the guys enter their chili cook off contests:)

my sister, Sarah and brother's baby Harmony

Atti and his new spray gun

Mrs. Claus' apron

too excited about all the gifts!

uncle bro and the baby who can fall asleep anywhere

sweet cousins

brownie christmas tree creation

santa claus hat brownie bites that ellie and i did

too much fun

2011-01-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

anticipating cutting the cake!

voting for 'a boy'

voting that its 'a girl!'

my sister pulls out the knife with pink icing!

mojo being sooo excited!

sarah pulling out the first piece of cake! it's a girl!

abraham a little more excited about the cake then the announcement!

8 more weeks until we meet her!

annual dinner

2011-01-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

every year my siblings and my cousins get together for dinner, laughs, and heckling. this year we had pre-dinner drinks at a new hot east nashville place and then headed out to my cousin micah's where he and his fiance surprised us by getting our dinner catered at their home. they decorated it like an indian restaurant and we sat on the floor with pillows. lots of laughs, lots of memories. i'm thankful for a family where we are committed to one another, laugh with one another and share in joys and sorrows. its such a rarity, and i do not take it for granted.

dressing up

2010-12-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

its a rarity these days. but i love it. i love pulling my jewelry out and my high heels. i was also glad to take pictures of my 7 month belly. i havent been good about documenting the progress of this little one.
these pictures are Matt and i at the annual seminary christmas banquet. It was fun to finally put some faces to some professor names I've heard over the past three years.

gulf giving

2010-12-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

not sure who came up with the name but Gulf is the street where we live and thanksgiving somehow turned into gulfgiving! (was it josh that came up with it?)
anyway, we shared a meal together before we all left for our homes. these are dear friends who are in seminary with us. (just a few of the wonderful friendships we made). i see these guys and gals as champions for one another as we depart these safe waters of gulf drive and head into pastoral ministry. its not going to be an easy road and i want to champion them as they tend to the brokenhearted, minister to the sick, and share the Good News to those to who long to hear it.
this evening, we sent all our kids to another apartment, got a babysitter, ordered pizza for them, and got to spend hours of fun talking and eating with out little ones biting our ankles. what a night!

josh cutting his first turkey that was betsy's first turkey! delish!!!

the ladies after we stuffed our faces. rachael, on my right is due a few weeks before me!

to. die. for.

kinda i wish i had some right now.

the kids raided the leftover blackberry pie when they got home

a glimpse

2010-11-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

here is a glimpse of the fun family time we had in nashville. too much good food. glad i am pregnant. lots of naps (for me!) and late nights for the kids and their cousins. christmas decorating. laughing. family skits. more laughing. i heart the holidays!!!!

we ate outside on the screen in porched. right when we said the blessing it started to pour down rain. it was chilly but actually we all loved listening to the rain.

decorating the tree with mimi

our crazy family on my dad's firetruck. random, i know.

halloween, finally

2010-11-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

a little late but here is the cuteness you've been waiting for!

maggie saw this make up in a kids craft book and wanted it immediately! she LOVED getting her face painted and the whole dress up part. i hope she stays so sweet!

neighbor kiddos ready to hit the street!

this was Abe's attitude all night. he did NOT want to wear a costume and let us know it. so i gave him his paci and his blanket and said he was Linus from Peanuts.

soaking in st. louis

2010-11-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

is it weird that i am missing st. louis before we have even left? i keep thinking, oh this is the last fall here. or, not many more warm days before it gets too cold for the zoo {although the zoo in the winter is my favorite time to go...}
i just LOVE this city. i love the water falls everywhere (even in the target entrance!), i love that there is a park on every corner, i love getting to expose the kids to the 4 seasons at the Gardens. i love the big buildings and the old houses. i love the coffee shop with the play area.
i love dreaming of where we might end up next year but i wish i could take st.louis with us.

we headed to the art museum one cloudy blustery day to enjoy the quiet and beauty.
my two favorites of the museum. maggie now knows who painted the water lilies. her budding art career is already starting!

and of course, my favorite sculpture in the whole world!

we then headed to the botanicals to take in the fall colors and enjoy the beautiful weather.

i love this pic because it looks like the sheep are moving!

stop it. they are the cutest arent they????

kick, kick, kick

2010-10-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

sweet baby you kick, kick, kick all day long. you are only 14 ounces but you are strong. i can already see your movements. your kicks remind me. they remind me i am already a mama of 3. they remind me you're there and to eat well and sleep well. your kicks remind me to stay present. to not worry about the days ahead. the sleepless nights. 3 kids at my ankles. your kicks bring me back from my worry. my worry about graduation and finding a job and where we will move.
your kick, kick, kicks are much stronger than i remember your brother and sisters kicks. they dont hurt right now. just nudges to remind me to pray for you in there, while you grow strong. waiting just waiting to kick out in the world.
i cant wait to kiss your little toes.

fall is here to stay

2010-10-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

enjoy these photos of our trip to pumkinland. i cant believe God gave us such cute kids!

fight club

2010-10-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

since january my hottie husband has been biking, swimming, and running. he's lost weight but that hasnt been the goal. its a good stress reliever and it helps him stay focused on his studies during the day if he runs in the mornings.
we have a membership to the y, but lately he's been running or biking from our house to a nearby park. its been glorious outside and he says he ends up writing alot of his sermons while he runs. which, to me, is pretty amazing, because when i run, all i think of is when i can stop. but this man, he writes sermons in his head. so since he hasnt been going to the y, he pick up a "mini gym" which consists of a pull up bar which turns into a thingy that helps with push ups and tri-cep thingys. anyway, the kids LOVE it and like to "work out" with daddy. {but i'd like to say they also love doing yoga with me!} i love passing down the importance of keeping healthy and why we need to exercise and eat right. we want to grow kids that love physical activity! here are some shots of Abraham building some strong muscles. isnt that the cutest thing ever?

something in the water

2010-10-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

it feels like around this neighborhood everytime you turn around a new baby is being born. showers galore! here are some pics from one of my dearest friends, jodi, who is due any day now.

i {heart} our seminary

2010-10-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

one of the reasons i love covenant seminary is the way they are committed to the whole family. they understand that ministry as a family is hard. and that having a pastor as a husband and daddy can take its toll. they help you learn about how to do it well and while you are here, they serve you well. i take abraham to a parents morning out each week...for free!
also, they provide childcare for certain chapel weeks when different professors are preaching. and once a month they provide a parents NIGHT out. last year a couple of our neighbors and us started going together. we usually babysit for one another so its fun to put all our kids together (who love each other dearly) into the same childcare and go out to dinner. its become a very fun tradition!

our husbands were out of town so we were each others date!

suzanne and jimmy! our kiddos are the same age, except for their newest addition who came on our date night too!

mike and trish! their son noah is one week older than maggie and goes to the same school!

true love

2010-09-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

i loved those pom poms so much that i had to keep them around. now they hang about maggie's bed as a mobile of sorts. it may even make a bunch of tiny ones to hang above the new babes bed.....too bad we dont know where we will be living...i got a ton of nursery ideas swirling! maggie got a ton of new dress up stuff from mimi and papa joe so now she has a new dress up corner on the right. every little girls dream.

health tip: kefir

2010-09-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

so about 6 months ago i started to see a integrative physician. that basically means he practices both conventional and natural medicine. i love him and never want to go back to a regular doctor! i was wanting help weaning off of zoloft and so he took a myriad of blood tests:

hormone levels, vitamin levels, neurotransmitters, and adrenal glands.

its pretty impressive what they can test! come to find out, i make zero serotonin which helps with depression and anxiety. so good to know and remember its just like diabetes.

anyway, another little tidbit i learned is that 90% of serotonin is made in your intestines! and the best way to help your body work on making serotonin is making sure your intestines are working right. so what to do? well take probiotics of course! also, drinking kefir as much as possible. kefir is a yogurt type drink packed with probiotics. its pretty expensive so i started making it myself! go now and get some!

here is a website that has a good tutorial about how to make it yourself!

Passionate Homemaking

4!

2010-09-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

water guns, watermelon, limbo, and lemonade. all ways we celebrated my sweet daughter turning 4!!! i cant believe it. seems like yesterday she was a tiny baby in my arms. it felt so right to hold her and so normal to be her mama. we are so thankful for her tender heart and gentle spirit.
happy birthday dear one!

pretty sure watching little kids doing limbo is the cutest thing ever!

waiting patiently for cupcakes!

got this crafty idea from my california friend julie

and the pom pom idea came from martha

and the homemade icing came from my nashville friend tracy

mimi & papa joe

2010-09-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

mimi and papa joe came to visit and brought along a favorite cousin, ellie. it was a whirlwind weekend filled with presents, good food, lots of hugs and kisses, cupcake making and sugar eating. maggie was so sad to see them go and kept asking when they would come back.

picnicing and playing at city gardents

my dear ellie has to sleep with an eye mask and she has all sorts of fashionable ones.

maggie in the midst of cupcake making with mimi and ellie

there is nothing better than kite flying on the first fall day

2010-09-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

picasso

2010-09-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

the painting incident that i referred to earlier this summer....oh my kids. they keep me busy.

because you can never have too many friends(or strollers) at the zoo

2010-09-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

first day at Covenant

2010-09-11T08:43:00.001-07:00

here are a few pics of Maggie on her first day of Pre-k!!! She is going to Covenant Christian School and she loves it. In addition to regular Pre-k stuff, she is learning Spanish, Music, Art and Bible.
I am so proud of her, she is doing awesome and regularly says, Hola! Amigos!

{sorry for the poor quality, this was on my phone}

After we dropped Maggie off we took Abraham to eat chocolate chip pancakes. He had a blast but since then he has missed his sidekick during the day. He doesnt like to go to the YMCA or to his mom's morning out without her. he's still adjusting. He loves her and misses getting to pull her hair!!!

my ebenezer final installment

2010-09-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

so i had been fine for weeks until i boarded a plane to see some dear college friends. as soon as the plane closed its doors i started getting panicky. if two large men werent sitting in between me and the door, i would have screamed, let me out of here! i started sweating and took of my scarf & jacket and drank a gallon on water in like one second. my heart was in my throat and i started thinking of ways to get off or at least not fly back home. i couldnt believe it. i love to fly. i have flown all over the world. and flown all ovet the world by. my. self.
here i was on a 45 min. flight flipping my lid. i mean, i have flown to africa by myself! i didnt know what to do, so i turned to the older man beside me and said, "i have flight anxiety i need you to talk to me."
he did not miss a beat. he put his magazine away and then proceeded to tell me his life's story. it was a beautiful thing to be cared for by a stranger. he knew not to ask too many questions but to keep me engaged. he knew to talk about non-stressful things. i wont forget this man (angel?) and how he ministered to me a dark and scary moment.
i was then cared for deeply by six girls who knew intimately struggles of anxiety. we laughed, we cried, we shared our lives. then it was time to board the plane again. i was so nervous i started throwing up. i did NOT want to do it alone. my dear friend got a pass to come with me to the gate. then she paid for me to upgrade to first class, which actually, makes a HUGE difference. i made it home and thought, never am i flying again. i'm done.
problem was, 6 days later i was suppose to board a plane to mexico with matt for our anniversary. we had never left the kids and everything was bought and paid for. i mean, who wouldnt get on the plane? but yall, it was a big struggle. i met with my counselor who said, if you dont get on this flight now its going to make every flight from now on infinitely harder. so i packed my xanax just in case and got a ton of bottles of water. our flight to mexico was bought with miles and our seats werent together. anxiety was mounting until i sat down on the aisle next to an older couple and the man said, i may need to switch with you i am claustrophobic. i said, "dont worry i have some xanax." he laughed and said, "i have some valium." then he proceeds to tell me his 30 year struggle with panic attacks on planes. he remembers each one like it was yesterday. we talked for the 3 hours to cancun about his struggle. he had never been to see a counselor, he just suffered through it for 30 years. i was able to tell him how normal it was, how common, what happens to his body, why he feels the way he does, things he could do to make himself feel better. in essence, it was a 3 hour counseling session with a dear man who truly wanted to be able to be free from panic attacks. again, it was like God was reaching down and allowing me to be apart of someone's healing even in the midst of my own pain. neither of us needed medicine that day. and i have been fine (relatively) on flights ever since.
its been 9 months since that trip and since my last bout with panic. that season did wonderful things for my outlook on life and even greater changes in our marriage. things that needed changing but would have taken years of everyday life to make things better. but crisis speeds things up a bit and i am so very thankful.
but anxiety creeps up on me, sometimes out of the blue, sometimes during stressful times. but what i am finding is that deep below each of us are fears. sometimes that are masked very neatly so that others never know. sometimes, like in my case, they just bubble over to the surface. but fear resides in each of our hearts and thats the daily battle we must face. To trust God who we don't see. To believe in His greater story for our lives. To trust that in midst hard times he doesnt leave us.
The most repeated phrase in the Bible is "Do not Fear!" its no wonder that for thousands of years people have needed to hear that. Don't fear, I have a plan. Don't fear, I will redeem this ugly situation. Don't fear, youre not alone.
It really is a journey and I am happy to be on it.

my ebenezer part 2

2010-08-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

the medication my OB gave me continued to make me sick. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I feared going back to work. Work was the problem, work is what caused this, quitting would make it better.
So I quit, with great humiliation and wondorous relief. I was free! I was back to normal! And, I was. For a few weeks. I stopped the medication and could eat again, and I could sleep again.
I thought for sure this was a minor blip on my otherwise lovely life. No biggie, it would be good for me to understand others that deal with anxiety. But I was better now. For a few weeks.

Then one night I felt it again. The hot flashes down my arms, the cold sweat breaking out... it was all because I had made my first counseling appointment. And it made me nervous, and feeling nervous made me remember what it felt like to panic.
I realized I was far from "back to normal" and that perhaps, I wouldnt be the same again.

The next day I went to see said Counselor. Now, I am obviously a huge advocate for counseling and in reality think everyone could benefit from it at some point in their lives. But me? Needing counseling? It made me feel weak, vulnerable, needy-all the things I didnt like.
This man, kicked my butt in the first session. He is the Head of the Counseling Dept at the seminary and has been counseling for over 30 years.
He said that day that he hoped I wasn't "better" already because he guessed I hadnt learned the lessons I needed to learn. I prayed he wasn't right...but he was.

My OB started me on birth control to figure out my body wackiness. I vomited for a week straight.I couldnt eat, the anxiety was getting worse. I called the doc and said, "is this normal?" Yes, it may take a month.
Oh hell no, I thought. So I stopped taking it. The next day I felt better. Then that night I started taking Zoloft which my doc wanted me to try. I took it at night and was wide awake {and filled with anxiety} the whole night.
The day after I got a sinus infection. I have never, ever gotten one before. I continued to vomit and just wanted to go the hospital and get hooked up to an IV and lay there, for weeks. I have never felt so bad in all my life. My face hurt, I was vomiting, I was having anxiety hot and cold flashes, I was starving.
Matt missed classes that day while I searched for a doctor to go to. All I could find was a Wal-greens walk-in clinic. And that's where God showed his face.

As soon as I walked in, I started to panic. "what in the hell was I doing at a Wal-green walk in clinic! Something is seriously wrong with me and I am seeing someone who can only get a job at Wal-greens!" I started to pace and freak out. I just knew something was really wrong with me. Was it cancer? Was I just crazy? Was I having a heart attack?
Then the nurse practioner called me in. She was my age and adorable and was someone I would be friends with. I told her my sinus problems and then she started asking the regular intake questions. I told her I started zoloft the night before for anxiety.
She then put her pen down and turned around. She sighed and said, 'I think I have anxiety.'
She then went on to break most doctor/patient rules and started sharing with me her struggles as a new mom, a son who doesnt sleep through the night, and working a job she doesnt want to do because she just wants to be home with her boy. She told me her hands shake while she's at work and she worries she has MS.
Here I was, the worst day of my life, listening to someone's life story. And you know what, it felt wonderful. I was able to counsel her and direct to some resources of benefit and use the gifts God has given me. I listened to her for well over 30 mins. and my anxiety melted away. I wasn't the only one. I wasn't the only one!
She gave me a thorough examine and didnt even laugh when I asked her to check extra long when she listened to my heart to make sure I wasn't going to have a heart attack.
God knew I didn't need someone to tell me "this is normal, you'll be fine." because really, I wouldnt have believed them anyway. God knew I needed to get out of my head, care for someone else and realize there are a lot of hurting people out there. He gave me a glimpse, a life raft it felt like, in my dark day to hold on to. I was able to relate to people on a level I have never reached before. I could empathize, I could share in the sorrows. Through this Wal-greens gal He said clearly and boldy- "Sharon, there is a reason you are going through this. This is not in vain." I heard him too.

the next day I was in the trenches again. it was night two of no sleep. i was vomiting all morning, my head hurt, i was sure i was having a nervous breakdown. matt had to go to class and i was looking down the day with two little ones and absolutely no energy wondering how i was going to do it. i walked outside with the two of them. at the same time my neighbor, D, walked out too. he took one look at me and knew how bad i felt. quickly, he said, "Sharon, you wont always feel this way." I believed him.
again, it was a life raft in a day that i felt was swallowing me whole. and hearing him say these words brought me life and when i think back, i dont hear him saying it, I heard God's voice and it brings me much comfort.
You see D had been through hell and back in his four years of seminary. he had been misdiagnosed his first semester with a brain tumor and thought he was dying. he then suffered from lymes disease and went into a steep depression and had medical ptsd. he's had fourteen epiderals and countless mri's....so when D said what he did, i believed him. God used someone who had been through the fire and could still live and love and care for other people. I clung to his words for weeks. They were like fresh water to me.

to be continued....

my ebenezer part I

2010-08-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

in the Bible, the Israelites made 'ebenezers', which were little stone towers to remind them that God had shown up or was found to be faithful to them. it was a physical reminder to them that He never left them. this is my ebenezer.

i want to share with you about the darkest time in my life thus far. i want to share it with you because one-i feel like the more we are honest about our failings and trials the more it can minister to others. when i was going through my hard time it was a breath of fresh air to hear people's stories and hear how they came out the other side better and happier.
the second reason is that its a good reminder to me that God showed up. That even in that dark time we, I, was not alone and that good things came out of it. Even in scary places-there is light.

it all started when I weaned Abraham. because i was still nursing Maggie when I got pregnant with Abraham; it had been four years since i didn't have some strong hormones running through my veins.
i started having anxiety throughout the month. i would obsess and worry about random things- spider bites, potty training, working again.
then i did start working. working with the severely mentally ill. abe had JUST started sleeping through the night, i was chronically sleep deprived. matt had been in europe most of the summer. i had three babysitters and we had one car: it was the perfect storm.
throw in the wacky hormones and out comes an acute panic attack.

it was 11 oclock at night and we had just laid down after a big meal of spaghetti. as soon as i laid down i shot up straight and said, i think i am having a panic attack. {humorously, in retrospect, i realized i was having severe acid reflux which lead to the panic attack....so a can of tomato sauce radically changed my life.}

my heart rate shot up, i started sweating all over, my chest was burning, i had to use the bathroom 3 times in short concession.
as a counselor, i knew what was happening. i knew i wasnt going to die. i knew i wasnt having a heart attack. i knew i needed to pace my breathing to matt's so that i wouldnt hyperventilate. but what shocked me the most, and what i wasnt prepared for, was my thoughts. i knew people had 'racing thoughts' when they had panic attacks but i had no idea what that meant. but heaven help me, i thought i was going nuts. which in turn made me panic even more which made the thoughts even worse. if you have never experienced a panic attack (and i hope you never, never do) then words cant really describe the terror that sets in.

it was all over in 15 minutes. and not to be overly dramatic but that 15 minutes and the few days that followed has changed me. some good, some bad. i went from confident, capable, nothing much phases me to fear ridden, scaredy cat. the fear that invaded my life was (is) powerful and i was shocked at how quickly i crumbled underneath it. i weak, i was vulnerable, i was needy, i was everything i didnt like. fear followed me where ever i went. it still does sometimes. fear of having a panic attack while driving, fear of a panic attack while in a new place, fear of a panic attack when meeting new people. these panic attacks are powerful.

two days later i went back to work. they were hosting a staff breakfast for me. that morning i started taking an anti-depressant that my OB gave me the day before until i could get my hormones under control. at the breakfast i started to get sick to my stomach and then the fear set in and i started sweating. holy crap! i thought, what if i have a panic attack in this tiny hot room with all these new people who are having a breakfast for me!
i excused myself to the restroom. i even went outside to get fresh air. if i had had my purse, i would have just driven off.
i paced the hallway trying to figure out what to do. i almost lost my breakfast as i opened back up the door. i quietly told my supervisor that i started a new medication that morning and i was sick to my stomach. i looked no one in the eye and gathered my things.
i have never been more humiliated nor relieved in all my life.

i laughed when i got in the car. i couldnt believe it. i couldnt believe i couldnt sit in that room. i couldnt believe that i never wanted to walk in that door again. i was done. i was ashamed. i royally tanked it.

things have always come fairly easy to me. grades, friendships, jobs, etc. and honestly, i had never failed at much. {except that one time in 7th grade when i fell flat on my face during a dance performance.}
but here i was failing. failing boldly. i shook with fear and the foundation of who i was suddenly cracked.

But this isnt about my failings, this is about God showing up....

(to be continued....)

finding my craft

2010-08-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

so for about a year now i get together on monday nights with some neighbors to craft it up. usually i just hang, sometimes i craft, sometimes we watch entire seasons of the bachelor while slowly knitting or sewing something. but these girls have inspired me to 'find my craft'...and i think i have!

this summer i brought home my mom's sewing machine and starting giving it at shot. i made some dresses out of old t shirts and made some pillows, skirts, cloth napkins.... here are a few of my creations.

summer recap

2010-08-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

so i seem to have misplaced the gadget to upload pictures. which is a wee bit frustrating since i have some great photos to show you. one in particular of when maggie painted abraham head to toe. thats right....
head. to. toe.
besides that Picasso moment, we have had a wonderful summer. Our california trip at the beginning of the summer seems like a million months away....i wish we were there now. because let me tell you. the heat is oppressive. i mean, really. i can barely go outside. and when it feels 'cool' and 'like fall'-its actually like 80 degrees. surprisingly, we have kept busy inside doing art projects (see above painting incident) and having playdates and running around in the rain.
the past month matt has been taking a class that is kicking out butts. i say 'our' because he is gone alot. way way more than usual and works at night too. thankfully, we have one week left of this stress inducing doozy of a class. then we have a few days to enjoy the awful heat and then its time for fall semester. our last year!
maggie starts school in two weeks and i am excited for her! the school supply list was too cute. and although i am leaning more and more towards homeschooling-i am super pumped she is going to have a wonderful first "school" experience with pre-k.
we are excited about the adventures ahead and to share them with you. til then...keep cool.

nathan turns 4!

2010-07-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

whats better than....
dinosaur painting....

hunting for dinosaurs....

dino tattoos.....

and eating pizza and cake? nothing!

happy birthday nathan! we love you and are so glad you are in our lives!!!!

keepin' cool

2010-07-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

things are growing!

2010-07-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

y'all despite my brown thumb, flowers i started from seed are growing! not only that, but i have watermelon, zucchini, peppers and eggplant that are actually bearing fruit! what! what! its like having another baby, i love going out there everyday to see the growth and change, and sometimes the heartache because of bunnies or bugs. i'm learning though and loving it.

to be like children

2010-07-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

i love this photo. these kids had just met a few days before when they moved in next door for just the summer. the kids didnt miss a beat. there was no reservation, no hesitation. not a million questions, just "whats your name?"
every day since, someone is knocking on someone's door to play or to picnic outside or to run around in the hose. its a beautiful thing how children teach us to love and play. even though they are next door for just the summer, they play like they will be best friends for life. it's wonderful to be a part of.
check out their momma's blog here, her and her husband are pretty crafty.

less than 24 hours

2010-06-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

while in nashville, mojo and i had a little getaway. a less than 24 hour getaway but wonderful nonetheless. it was hard to get there to be sure. abraham got a fever and was sleeping bad for a few nights so we put off going and then i booked our hotel and then 10 mins. later maggie walked down the stairs from her nap with a fever too. the stars were not aligning!! but my gracious mom encouraged us to go and that she indeed knew how to care for a little one with a fever.

so we drove into downtown and stayed at a little boutique hotel. i dont know what it is, but i LOVE staying in hotels. there is no responsibilites-no laundry to be done, no dishes to be washed...just being present... we walked to our old favorite sushi restaurant and ate way, way too much. but it was awesome...

then we went back to the hotel and ordered room service...fudge cake, amazing vanilla ice cream, white russians and vodka tonics....

the room was amazing...aveda bath products, pillows to die for, and a bed i didnt have to make....love it!

thanks mom and dad for letting us be "off duty" for a bit! we appreciate it!

2.

2010-06-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

y'all. this boy is too cute for words. he is so tender, funny, and gives kisses freely. he has surprised us by not having any 'terrible 2' glimpses yet, which we were sure we would encounter. but he loves to please us and is quickly repentant if he is does something wrong. he loves to give hugs and is a major momma's boy, which i adore!
he loves for us to lay in the room with him while he falls asleep at night. he dies laughing when maggie smells her toes and loves anything that has to do with balls, trains, and all things 'boy.'
at dinner his food quickly becomes an "airplane" affect with airplane noises diving into his mouth. he loves to make us laugh. for instance, while in nashville my mom and i were cooking and the kids were playing with play doh, we then heard him say "where's my hand?" -we looked over and he was 'hiding' his fingers in the play doh! THEN we heard his high pitched voice say, "where's my nose?" and the boy had stuck his face into the play doh and kept saying, "where's my nose?"
he is too sweet for words, too kind, too tender, too funny. we are so very blessed with this little guy! he's growing up too fast!

abe actually took this self-portrait himself. i mean, isnt that amazing?

stuffing those cupcakes in fast.

daddy was sad to miss litte guy's bday party

abe scored on bday presents. here is one where maggie is explaining how to use the frisbee golf.

and here we are in his new tent!

we love you so much Abraham!!!!

this season

2010-06-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

this season. i want to remember this season because i don't want to forget how special it is. this season of seminary, although filled with unique stressors is such a sweet time. this season, daddy is home at dinner time and is home to tuck the kids into bed and read maggie as many books as she wants. after we graduate i am sure there will be nights where matt cant come home because he needs to visit people in the hospital, go to meetings, or prepare for a sermon. but this season, this season he is home.
this season we are surround by families that are walking the same path. kids that are kind and compassionate and have tender hearts. i am surround by women who care about the things that make my heart flutter. women who share in joys and share in sorrows and carry burdens. this season, God has granted a slow pace of life. we wake early but our days are filled with fun and play and watching animals at the zoo and teaching the kids about dinosaurs, going to the library, and squeezing fruit at the farmers market. this season, the rhythm of our days is marked by nap times and snack times and play doh times. its not dictated by traffic or school or obligations.
this season is a season of stillness before the pressures of 'real life' and 'real ministry' come crashing in. and we are enjoying it, we are treasuring it, because we will only pass this way once.

nashville

2010-06-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

of course our trip to nashville was wonderful. its never long enough. so many dear friends i want to see, some many little family members i want to hug.
we got to go to the pool alot with my mom and meet and my sister and her kiddos. we got to eat lots of good food and ate our share of meat (we dont eat much red meat here at home but we do when we are in nashville!). the kids love mimi and papa joe's house. there are familiar toys and a cat to chase around and a sandbox! not too much more kids can ask for. papa joe makes big breakfasts while i sleep in, not too much i could ask for too!
here is a glimpse of the kids with the braud family:

touch of sunshine

2010-06-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

we recently got back from southern california and this time really wanted to move. the sunshine, the ocean breeze, the mountains, the sunshine! its almost too good to be true. actually, the housing market does make it too good to be true, we could never afford it! anyway, we had a lovely time with mojo's family and the kids got to see their daddy perform and we got to spend time with the Supertone's families, we feel like family and its wonderful to be with them!

abraham just would dig himself into the sand. it was amazing! what a little boy and a total doll!

maggie, of course, is an angel at the beach. she has her little shovel and bucket and goes to work on a castle. she could stay all day!

i love this photo because great grandma Emily is in the background completely covered because she thinks its cold and we are swimming! We love you Emily!

this is Huntington Beach. we go there at least once every visit because there is a restaurant there that has the BEST calamari in the whole world! on this day the weather was amazing and all the surfers were there and we got to spend time with one of my dear friends from nashville who lives in LA now.

another dear friend Joy. her husband is in the Supertones. she is a kindred spirit. the kids and I spent the day with her kids down in San Clemente which is one of the coolest beach towns.

um, apparently the Supertones make cute kids because wow, arent they all just adorable!!!

mother's day perfection

2010-05-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

i'm so honored to be called momma by these two precious souls. there kindness amazes me. and although it can be trying with all the clinging, i hope they cling for many more years to come.
we spent an amazing day together. outside cafe, botanical gardens, bike riding....a more perfect day couldnt have been!

attempt at family photo....

these roses smell like heaven.

she likes the rose garden as much as i do!

and she and i are both mildly obsessed with the glass art in the water

there is a spout that shoots water back and forth. Abe could watch it
all day. its awesome.

being a mom wouldnt be as fun without him.

another failed family photo!

maggie's first sleep over!

2010-05-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

precious friends, giggles, lipgloss, staying up late....growing, growing, growing....

nostalgia

2010-05-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

maybe because its been raining all morning. or maybe because the kids have been especially trying today. or maybe because i've been listening to my favorite celtic singer today but right now, i'm nostalgic for our traveling days sans kiddos.
when matt and i had been married about 6 months we spent a week traveling the coast of ireland. we rented a car and stopped in little villages, ate horrible irish food, stayed in beautifully quaint b & b's, stopped the car as herds of cattle and sheep crossed the street, listened to great irish bands in old gothic churches, drank plenty of guinness and stomped our feet with the fiddlers in dirty pubs....wonderful.

i've been making strawberry rhubarb crisp the last couple weeks. Rhubarb showed up at the farmers market and i jumped at making the crisp. the first time i had it was when we were in ireland. we were on a tiny island that we had to ferry too. we rented bikes and spent the day riding around the stunning countryside. we stopped for lunch at a little cafe on the cliffs. it was all organic and fresh and amazing. we finished lunch off with strawberry rhubarb pie. i thought surely we were in heaven.

we always tend to remember things better than they were dont we? i guess thats a good thing. because if i really think about it, i was pretty cold the whole time we were there. it might have been june but that doesnt mean anything when you are on a the water in ireland. bring a jacket. also, irish food is kinda bad and i was hungry most the trip too. considering i dont like to eat alot of beef and dont eat pork....well, there are only so many times you can eat fish and chips.
nostalgia is important. it helps us remember wonderful things and helps us dream for the future. it points to a longing thats deeper than what even the most perfect of vacations can fill. i hope to long for that more than just a ride down the coast of ireland.

this is one of our favorite b&bs that we stayed at. the hostess' name was Maggie and we decided then that we loved that name and if we had a daughter we'd use it!

genes

2010-04-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

every once in a while i get inspired. my dad is a painter and my sister and brother got most of those creative genes. as lame as this sounds, i feel most creative when i entertain and can make the table look pretty. i know, lame right?
well, recently our neighbor who is extremely talented made us a wooden dollhouse for maggie. (pictures forthcoming). its huge and just right for maggie's imagination to flourish. i dont like the plastic furniture inside the wooden house so i decided to make some. i'm slowly making more pieces and would make more if i wasnt constantly fixing the pieces that Abe breaks.
anyway, here's my genes coming out....

twin bed with night stand

master bed with curtains

another view of bed with wine cork legs

'wooden' stove with buttons for cooking

city garden, city life

2010-04-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

i know i talk a little too much about how i love st. louis. here is another reason why. on hot days we have lots of water fountains, art for my kids to climb on, and an urban 'garden'.

um, perhaps the best action shot of the year?

new mohawk

too cute for words huh?

and really, this is too. this is nathan, they are 6 weeks apart and great buds.

art you can climb on!

and that makes music!

stop and smell the tulips

2010-04-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

beautiful spring day brought to you by the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

swirling, swirling

2010-04-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

when i read non-fiction i have to read a few at a time. i'm not sure why-although i think its so that i don't read too fast and can actually retain what i am reading. lately, i have been reading three books and its really rocking my world. most of this stuff is information that i already knew but i think because i am reading alot of it together-it is actually taking root. its strange, but i actually feel myself changing. i notice my thoughts are different, my perspective, and my desires. its pretty interesting that its happening slowly enough that i can watch it take shape in my life. my community of friends here are also being shaped by the books they are reading, some of which are the same, and movies they watch. it helps to have encouragement on this path towards betterment.

so whats all this change about? well, let me share the books with you. First off, is a book i fell in love with on page 1. friends from nashville read it last year and i finally got around to checking it out. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle....The author and her family spend a year eating locally and seasonally and this book is her story.

by Barbara Kingsolver.

The second book, by Thomas Kostigen, I picked in honor of Earth day and its been such a great tool to read along side the other books. YOU ARE HERE-

Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet

And finally, a book that has taken me years to read. (i know i am so behind).... Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

These books are really helping me get my thoughts in order for whats best= for not only our family but also the Earth. In the book, YOU ARE HERE he reminds us why people began to "go green." He says now we are being sold "green" things and not even knowing why. He travels all over the world to show us how the daily choices we make really do affect the world on a grand scale. He goes to the decaying walls in Jersaleum, the trash heaps in Mumbai, the felled rainforests in Brazil, the melting ice caps in Alaska, and on and on and on.
Even last night I was reading about the largest landfill in the world. You can even see it from space. Its called, ironically, Fresh Kills Landfill and its right outside of Manhattan. I learned that 13% of landfills (which is actually the 3rd largest substance after paper and yard waste) is from food scraps. I just assumed that the food scraps i throw away would decompose. But actually, it doesn't receive enough oxygen so food scraps take decades to decompose and then emit massive amounts of methane gas (which contributes to global warming). By me taking the steps to compost and commit to that, could lessen that amount while nourishing the earth. Again and again throughout the book he says Reuse, Reduce, Recycle and honestly, i think its finally sinking in.

The other books confirm these things and what is swirling around in my head is this: The way that God intended for us to eat (healthy, whole foods) is not only best for our bodies, but also best for the animals that we eat and also for the earth that we live on. It seems we take the short cut and choose foods that are "cheaper" but in the end, more harmful for our bodies and ultimately for the earth.

I realize that I am like the last person on the planet to begin to make these changes but I figure its better late than never. Buying foods that are local and seasonal not only taste better (& builds excitement much like buying Pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks when they were only available in October) but it also uses less fossil fuels and puts less stress on the earth and there is less packaging (from zero shipping) and no chemical additives.

And choosing meats from ethical farmers not only provides meat without hormones and antibiotics to my children-we are also saying to major corporations: Lets care for the animals that we eat. God entrusted us with these rights to tend to the flocks and we have destroyed that honor.

Well, those are my thoughts lately. We are slowly changing around here. And I hope we are changing slowly enough to make it lasting. I leave with you a picture of great irony. My son in a "Love your Planet" shirt from Target, probably made in a sweat shop in china and the person that makes it doesnt make enough to live on, then it was shipped great distances plus he's drinking from a plastic water bottle. ahhh, i'll get there one day, right?

if you have any great tips on things to do around the house to lessen trash accumulation let me know! i'd love to hear!

this moment

2010-04-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

glorious spring

2010-04-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

we're so thankful around here for some sunshine and for Forest Park. Dinner on Art Hill as the kids run around....doesnt get much better...

egg hunting and chocolate

2010-04-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

really mom? bunny ears? i'm a guy.

just because you put them on me doesnt mean i have to take good pictures

collecting his first egg. he went right to it!

showing off his goods.

mya being cute

torture taking pics while candy is being waited to be eaten

another day, another hunt

isaac worried he is missing some candy somewhere

the masses ignoring my plea for a cute pic

my big boy

2010-04-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

mimi got abraham big boy pjs and my oh my, he really no longer looks like a baby! he's just the cutest!!!

nashville trip

2010-04-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

there are just too many cute pictures to do our trip justice so i'll just give you the highlights. lots of new babies, lots of kisses, learning how to play baseball, family, sweet friends, and of course, sitar indian food.

my cousin's new twins!

my big brother had a baby! Welcome Harmony!

wonderful, chaotic playdate

touch of warmth

2010-03-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

its been quiet on the blog but not in life. we just enjoyed a quick trip to Orange County and enjoyed the warm, sand in our toes, grandma & grandpa hugs, and of course, In & Out burger.

It was a nice break for the cold in St. Louis and I hope it ushers in springtime here! I'm already dreaming of what to plant in the garden, what flowers will spring up, and how the kids can play on the deck while I sip my coffee in quiet. oh spring, please come soon.

laughter

2010-02-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

so we've been putting Abraham on the potty at least once or twice a day. usually before and/or after bathtime. he has actually peed once! anyway, his favorite thing to do it pull toilet paper off the roll and stuff it between his legs. one day while doing that, he made up a new laugh and it had us rolling. enjoy! he is so cute with his curls, reminds me of a little hasidic jew!
Abraham, you keep us laughing!
click on this
i fixed this link. so hopefully this one will work!

orchid love

2010-02-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

ever since i read this article in the National Geographic, I have been obsessed with Orchids.
Lucky for me, the Missouri Botanical Gardens is hosting a Orchid show with over 800 varieties of Orchids. I was in flower heaven. Mojo and I got to take a date there Saturday morning and it was a perfect day. It was snowy out, so it was kinda fun to walk through the gardens and see it so barren when I know in just a few short months it turns glorious.
We always love morning time dates, our brains function a bit better and I am able to dialogue about heavy theology topics. Also, I'm thankful for neighbors who swap babysitting!

this is not an edited photo. these orchids really are this bright that it kinda hurts your eyes. isnt that amazing?

mya turns 4!

2010-02-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

its amazing to be this close in community with little ones. watching them be born, learn to walk and in Mya's case-learn to write her own name! its a privilege.

first position

2010-02-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

i find it fascinating how my talkative and funny child immediately clams up when others are around. she truly is her daddy's daughter! it takes her soooooo very long to warm up and be comfortable around other people. i am learning her personality and learning how to direct and encourage her. her shy personality allows her to be sensitive and thoughtful towards others so i am thankful for the way God made her.
thats why i am so very proud she loves her ballet class! she has to break that shell of hers and perform in front of people she doesnt know very well. the other little girls in her class are extremely outgoing and crazy and maggie was scared stiff during the first class. but she practiced all week and was excited to go back. way to go Maggie!

my little italian

2010-01-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

Maggie with her first (and my first!) homemade lasanga.....

winter olympics 2020!!!

2010-01-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

last week I took Maggie on her first ice skating adventure! We had so much fun and i was so very proud of her! Forest Park has this little quaint outdoor ice skating rink. It was wonderful! Of course, she was wobbly on her ice skates and it took us about 30 mins. to get around half of it. She held on to the edge and I was behind her holding her and the edge.
I thought for sure when she got onto the ice that she would say it was too hard but she kept going! She loved watching the people fly by and wasn't discouraged at all when she would stumble. At the end I asked her if she wanted to do it by herself and she said yes, so I let go and she skated a few feet holding on to the edge and then looked at me and said, " I want to ice skate" so she let go to the ledge and of course, immediately fell on her butt.
She started crying but when we got inside she said, "I am ready to practice again!" warmed my heart! I cant tell you how proud of her I was for not giving up! I obviously didnt get any pictures of us skating but I will next time!
ready to hit the ice

making funny faces while we waited for the ice to get cleaned

freshly cleaned ice skating rink. beautiful huh?

snow daze

2010-01-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

school was cancelled (well, except for the seminary of course)....so what to do when its snowing, below zero, and we are stuck inside all day? why chocolate pancakes& baking bread of course!
the nice thing about living so close to to our friends, is when its too cold to play outside they can run over in the jammies and eat breakfast and play. we love it here!
the older kids

the deep snow

post pancake pigout!

when the weather finally warmed up a bit (a week later) there was still plenty of snow on the ground and we had a great, although short time out playing in the snow! my kids are snow babies!
abraham obviously LOVED the snow. he was a happy, happy little guy. so cute, huh?

and of course, he wanted to lick it.

snow angels!

warming up with some homemade bread