Dedicating to the Lord and Celebrating a Birthday!

We dedicated Martha and Jaina to the Lord during yesterday's service. Pastor preached a message on blessing your children. Chad and I took Martha and Jaina up front and Pastor talked about how not only are we committing to raise the girls to know, love, and honor God, but that we are asking for the church family for help in doing so. He then prayed a special prayer over the girls. After that, he asked every family to join together and for the fathers (mothers if fathers weren't there) to pray a prayer for God to bless each of his (her) children. He asked that if grandparents were present that they also pray for their grandchildren. We were fortunate enough to have my parents present for the dedication so my father prayed over our children. It was a very special and uplifting service.

After church, we headed home to celebrate Eva's sixth birthday. Chad's parents came along with two of his older sisters to help celebrate. My parents were present of course and Charity and her kids were there as well. It was great to see Chad's sister, Donna, who had lived in Florida and then Texas. She is moving to Illinois next. His sister, Tanya, also came whom we haven't seen in quite a while either. It was fun to hear stories from years past. We enjoyed a lunch together before Eva opened her presents. Eva received a croquet set, a study Bible, a doll play set, and new tennis shoes, crocs, and a study book. She was very pleased with all her gifts. After she was done opening gifts, we enjoyed her "Tinkerbell" cake and goat's milk strawberry ice-cream. It all must have been good because we had no left-overs of cake or ice-cream!

I've been tagged!

This is kinda fun--I have never been tagged before in

blog world so here we go......
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I am: a mother, wife, daughter, sister and woman of God!

I think: America is going downhill fast!

I know: that there is a God and that He loves us more than we can fathom!

I want: to be debt free

I wish: I was more patient

I hate: gossip, betrayal, and disrespect

I miss: having close friends

I fear: losing someone I care about

I feel: very blessed to have a great family

I hear: Allyn and Sabra singing

I smell: the fresh smells of spring through my screen door--yah!

I crave: fresh fruit--it's that time of year

I search: all the time for what God wants me to be doing and how I can be a better person.

I wonder: if the house will ever sell

I regret: not living on one income before we had kids

I love: knowing that I'm saved because of Christ's sacrifice

I ache: for those who don't know Christ

I care: about helping women and children

I always: start my day in prayer

I am not: going to hell

I believe: that only through Jesus will we have eternal life

I dance: with my kids

I sing: at church

I cry: a lot--my hormones are out of balance

I don't always: say the right things

I fight: for my kids and what I believe

I write: in my prayer journal, on my blog, and book ideas

I win: every time my kids say "I love you mom"

I lose: when I yell at my kids

I never: have enough time

I confuse: Martha and Jaina in the middle of the night sometimes

I listen: to Christian radio and my Hope College Chapel CD's

I can usually be found: doing laundry

I am scared: of my kids not growing up with Jesus in their hearts

I need: more sleep

I am happy about: Spring!

I hope: God comes soon to take us to our heavenly home

I am tagging:Stacy and Sue (although Sue tagged me first!)

Eva

I made Eva a skirt this weekend. I did it in the same style as some of her friends' skirts from church. She likes it.

I also need to share that Eva asked Jesus into her heart last Wednesday night! Dara asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart and she said yes. I asked her if she understood what that meant and when she said no, I explained that she needed to admit she was a sinner, confess her sins and believe Jesus saved her from her sins. She prayed the sinner's prayer and asked Jesus to help her not sin anymore and to wash her clean as snow. It was so precious; I started to cry. Dara has been praying for her to accept Christ for a couple of months and it finally happened. She did this just a week before her 6th birthday (her birthday is Thursday). Praise the Lord!

Not Ashamed

Sometimes it is hard to admit our weaknesses and faults; yet, when we do, we can not only learn a lot ourselves, but help others as well. It has been hard for me to come to the place where I am willing to write about this here, but one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to share my testimonies with others so I feel I need to share this.

People may think that I have it all together and some have said that I must be some sort of "super-woman" to be able to handle seven kids and everything else, but they are wrong to say that. First of all, the only way I can even make it through a day is to give the first part of my day to the Lord and ask for His guidance and strength throughout the day. The times I don't make time for God in the morning are the days that are horrible. Second, I don't handle everything well. My house could definitely be cleaner. I could not lose my temper and not yell at my kids. I could do more than just cook, clean, and spend time with my kids. Third, I don't have it all together in any way shape or form.

I experienced slight postpartum depression after having Sabra so I knew what to look for after having the twins. People told me that I should really be careful about it because of how much I have on my plate. When things were fine even after they were a few weeks old, I figured I was fine; however, I was wrong. When the girls were about 5 weeks old, I started feeling depressed and unable to cope with all I had. I felt I wasn't being a good mom to any of my kids or a good wife to Chad. I knew I had to get this under control before it got worse, so I contacted my herbalist. She saw me the same day I took the girls in the last time because she was worried about me. She checked my hormone levels and discovered I had no progesterone--NONE! That is why I was feeling depressed. It seemed a little odd to me because just the week before when my hormone levels were checked, I was fine. I guess they can drop drastically very quickly. She gave me an herb to take to raise my progesterone and another herb to help with the depression until my hormones were balanced. Within 24 hours of taking the herbs I was beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel and now feel even better. It has only been five days since starting the herbs, and I don't think my hormones are balanced yet, but I am definitely dealing with things a lot better now.

I guess my reason with sharing this is to let people know that you shouldn't be ashamed of postpartum depression. It is a real thing caused by an hormonal imbalance. Put your trust in God and the things He created for us to get you through.

Martha & Jaina update 3

I took Martha and Jaina back to our Herbalist on Friday. She saw them on her day off because I was worried about Jaina. She had a nasty runny nose and cough. They both have the virus the rest of the family had last week. She put them on two herbs and we started seeing improvements a day later. They still are completely better, but you can tell they are feeling better! I asked about Martha's food allergies again because she had been extra fussy and found out that because of a wheat sensitivity I should stay away from wheat at this time.

Jaina slept for 9 1/2 hours Saturday night and Martha slept for 7 1/2 hours! Boy was it great to actually get some sleep. Of course, Cora had to wake up with still interrupted my sleep, but I was able to go right back to sleep after taking care of her. When Jaina woke up Sunday morning and I was getting her dressed for church, she smiled for the first time! I'm not sure if it is because she is finally feeling better or because she got 9 1/2 hours of sleep. Either way, I don't care; I'm just glad she finally smiled.

We are so thankful of such a great herbalist. She has been a blessing many times over. Another herbalist that works with ours also returned our email about the girls willing to come over to our house on Saturday to check them out. God has definitely provided for us by leading us to them. We pray for God to bless them as they have blessed us.

Sewing project

I have been feeling the want to sew lately. I have done a few things here and there, but would like to start doing more. I am no where near being a seamstress, but practice makes perfect, right?!

Dara had been complaining about not having more skirts/dresses, so I thought I would start with a skirt. I found some patterns for turning old jeans into skirts on the web, so I thought what a great way to recycle jeans with holes in the knees or that are too short. I used one of the patterns for a start and then kind of used an idea from a friend who tried this and my own idea and this is what I came up with. Although it looks okay, I know what I need to do the next time I make one to make it even better. I was able to make it with all stuff I had on hand (an old pair of jeans with and entire knee ripped out, fabric scraps given to me by my Mom when she moved, and thread that I already had).

Dara likes it and now Eva wants a skirt too! I am going to do a different style for Eva. I have also considered maybe making myself one, but don't know yet.

Beginning the Cloth Diaper Adventure

Well, we started the cloth diaper adventure on Saturday. We decided to go cloth this time because, 1. I discovered fitted cloth diapers! 2. We could diaper for at least year for the cost of disposables for a 3 month period. 3. It is better for the environment and 4. It is healthier for the babies (no yucky chemicals!). We had to wait until they were big enough to fit into the fitted diapers we bought so we didn't start on them right away. We also had to wait until we had a five gallon pail to put the dirty diapers in. Chad was supposed to pick one up all week and he kept forgetting or not having time to stop so I finally got one of Friday night. We are going to start with only using the cloth while we are home and using disposable when we go out. This will give us a chance to get used to the cloth diapers and find a system that works for us. Also, we still have a big Sam's Club box of diapers we can use so why not give ourselves a chance to find a system that works! I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to share stories about our "Cloth Diaper Adventures"!

All Smiles . . .Almost!

I was working hard at trying to get a picture of Martha's beautiful smile, but was unsuccessful. I did get some cute pictures, though. I was also hoping to catch Jaina's first smile on camera, but again, I was unsuccessful.

Cora then decided she wanted to have some pictures taken of her. She laid down on the floor and would start laughing if I even got close to her. She is so silly sometimes! She definitely keeps us smiling with all of her funny antics. If she finds that something she does makes us laugh, she will keep doing it until we are crying because we are laughing so hard! She sure is a blessing to me when the days are long and I need a good laugh!

Growing Like Weeds

Martha and Jaina are growing too fast for my liking, but I guess God knows best. They were both weighed and measured today and it confirmed my feelings that they are growing well. They are 5 weeks old and Martha (in purple) weighs 7 lbs 10 oz and is 20 1/4" long. Jaina (in white) is 8 lbs 8 oz and is 20 3/4" long (this nurse measured her as only 19 3/4" at 1 week). I will be putting away their first set of clothes. They have been wearing 0-3 months clothes that say for 5-8 lbs and I will be getting out the 0-3 months clothes that say for 7-12 pounds. It is amazing that these little bundles of joy grow so quickly. God is truly good!

First Smile

Martha smiled at me for the first time yesterday. I am pretty sure it wasn't gas as she smiled every time I said something to her for at least a minute. I didn't get a picture because I was so excited she was smiling that I just kept talking! I'll put a picture up as soon as I snap one.

Photo Shoot

I wanted to get some 3 year-old pictures of Sabra to print for the wall and to hand out to family. She did very well at posing and smiling pretty and even letting her personality shine through. She picked this dress out for her birthday outfit because she wanted a purple dress. She sure is opinionated at 3!

Since Cora just turned 18 months, I wanted to get some pictures of her for the wall as well, but they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped (it reminded me of when I tried to get pictures of Sabra at 18 months!). Although the pictures are cute, they will be used only here and in her scrapbook. I am taking her to a professional studio today and praying they do a better job!

Since I was taking pictures of Sabra and Cora, Allyn wanted in on the action too! She is such a camera ham. She was all about posing and looking like a "princess".