Letting Go

Okay, so I have a hard time doing this. I like being in control, and when I have to try to let go of my kids and let them make mistakes and possibly get hurt, the idea scares me out of my mind. Somebody once said "Let go and let God." I have no idea who it was, but I'm assuming they are very wise.

I'm one of those mom's that feels like my child only gets hurt when I'm not around. Sadly enough, I just realized a few days ago, that my child has been hurt the most when I was right there. My child fell backwards off a table seat and hit her head and scared me almost more than it scared her. The other day we were at Breckenridge park and just before we were leaving she started running straight for a metal bar that was about forehead height on her. I told her to watch out for the bar but she turned around and kept running. She hit it so hard it knocked her on her back. Since we were leaving anyway, I picked her up and started walking off. Thankfully she didn't cry for very long and only ended up with a small line across her forhead that was barely visible the next day.

I guess I still have a long way to go before I'm able to let go, but they're still young, so there's hope for me yet. Over the years when I've messed up and tried to learn from it I like to keep saying that God's still working on me, like the children's song says. Of course, Brandon Heath came out with a song that I really like called "Waite and See." The lyrics are below for your reading pleasure.

"Wait and See" by Brandon Heath

I was born in Tennessee, late July humidity doctors said I was lucky to be alive
I've Been troubled since the day that I got here,troubled to the day I
disappear That'll be the day that I finally get it right

Chorus
There is hope, for me yet, because God won't forget, all the plans he's made for me
I have to wait and see, he's not finished with me yet, he's not finished with me yet

I never really was that good in school. Talked to much, broke the rules
My teachers thought I was a hopeless fool all right.
I don't know how but I made it through, it's one of those things you gotta do
I always had a knack for telling the truth.

Chorus

Still wonerin' why I'm here. Still wrestling with my fear But oh... He's up to something,
And the farther out I go, I've seen enough to know that I'm not here for nothin'
He's up to somethin'

So here's my time to be a man, follow my heart as far as I can
No tellin' where I'm ending up tonight
I never slow down or so it seems, but singing my heart is one of my dreams
All I gotta do is hold on tight.

There is hope, for me yet, because God won't forget, all the plans he's made for me
I have to wait and see, he's not finished with me yet, he's not finished with me yet
He's not finished with me yet, He's not finished with me yet"

Lost and Forgotten

Over this past weekend, Jeff and I took the girls to see Mamaw (Teri's grandmother) since Jeff had a day off from school and we don't get out to East Texas as often as we'd like to. We were there from Saturday until Monday and had loads of fun while we were there. On Sunday we attended church with Mamaw, which was nice to sing and hear stories about our veterans who gave their lives for our freedoms.

Jeff was able to go fishing a few times while we were there and caught several fish. My Dad went with him after my parents got there on Sunday afternoon. He took a few photos, but we haven't been able to get them off our phones yet.

Aunt Dina bought some bubbles and everyone had great fun with them, but Rachel probably enjoyed them the most.

When we got back, we had dinner with Jeff's parents, and Rachel got to swim in their pool for the first time this year. We think she had a lot of fun. She accidentally dunked herself a few times, but after being upset for a little while, she enjoyed it and had lots of fun. The waterpark in our neighborhood opened over the weekend and we hope she'll enjoy swimming there also.

Rebekah is changing all the time and even laughed yesterday. We got a couple of videos, but we'll have to wait on those because we don't know how to get the tape from our video camera onto the computer yet. Rachel is coloring more and using her utensils more accurately than before. Jeff has only 6 more school days, and we are eagerly anticipating the end of this school year. We hope everyone has a great summer!

Once Upon a Time in a Far Away Land

The other day as I was on my way home from a play date in Allen, I drove by several of our friends' homes. As I drove by, I thought of our relationships with these different people and tried to say a little prayer for them. I drove by the homes of friends from college that we don't see any more, some friends who moved to West Texas and we miss very much, an older couple in the church whom we respect, and some other friends who attend a different church. I realized it made me sad that we don't keep up with friends as much once they aren't around at church or nearby anymore.

Rachel and Eli

Most people will tell you that long distance relationships don't work. In dating situations I completely understand, but in friendships, if you have a close enough relationship you will find a way to stay in touch. It has become much easier in the technology age where you can communicate through email on a cell phone. While we miss our friends who have gone out our lives, we also understand that you have to make new friends sometimes.

Since moving into our neighborhood almost 2 years ago we have tried to get to know our neighbors which has been somewhat successful. We are still working to build better relationships with them, but we are glad that we know their names. We also just started a home team/care group at our church. We know the couples superficially, but are looking forward to getting to know them better. Most of the couples don't know each other either, so we are excited that we are the catalysts in the process.

Please be in prayer for us as we attempt to get our care group off the ground. We have asked to start working with our Junior High as leaders and have been given the green light, so we will be adventuring into that in the next couple of weeks. Our summer is becoming quite busy and we'd like you to be praying for us, just as we would like to be praying for you in whatever is going on in your life.

In Christ's Love,

Jeff and Teri

Lookin' Good

Okay, so I was looking through our pictures to see if I could find inspiration in something to write on the blog and came across this picture.

So, this picture doesn't have any special significance, except Jeff got Rachel to sit on the ball just for the purpose of taking a few pictures and she actually obliged him. The shirt in the picture did remind me of how frustrated I was when we were trying to find a big sister shirt.

It was very frustrating because nearly every store we looked in only had "Big Sister" shirts that started in 2T sizes. Well, since Rachel was only 9 or 10 months old when we were looking, we didn't think a 2T would fit. I thought they should make the shirts smaller, because people sometimes have kids closer together than every two years. Since I was pregnant and all, I was a little upset that we were either going to buy a shirt that was too big or find a shirt in a specialty shop that would cost more money than I was willing to spend.

Of course, in hindsight I realize that I'm really glad we bought the cheaper bigger 2T shirt, because Rachel was able to wear the shirt to the hospital to meet Rebekah. Had we chosen to buy the smaller shirt just for the purpose of telling our families, we would have had to either buy another shirt for her to wear to the hospital, or do without.

Not to get all spiritual or anything, but I really like how my friend Kara thinks. She sometimes tells me that of course she makes plans for her life on a daily, weekly, and sometimes yearly basis, but God's plans don't always match up with hers. Her plans might have been good, but God's plan is ALWAYS better. She might end up going in an opposite direction than she thought she would go, but it's usually the right one.

I was thinking about that in terms of where I am and my life around me. I'm probably not doing what I thought I would be doing, but I hope I'm doing what God has called me to do.

Longing for summer

Okay, so after today there are only 17 days of school left. Now lets break it down. The last 4 days are exams, and 2 days the week before are senior exams, so we're down to 11 school days. If you need to take time to prepare your students for their final exams you should probably spend 2-3 days on that. This Friday Physics is going to Six Flags, with that said there are only 7 days of school left.

We can't wait for summer. We are hoping to go to the waterpark in our neighborhood more than last year and hang out as a family. We are also starting a new care group/home team with families from our church, so we have a little bit of planning to do and will be busier than we 1st anticipated. I will also be doing a Bible study at a friend's house in Sachse on Tuesday evenings that starts after Father's Day. It never fails that no matter how much you think you're going to get to relax during the summer, plans always change and you end up with 2 or 3 times as many plans than you had in mind. I'm sure we would enjoy getting to go on vacation, but we don't know if we'll have the time or the money.

The girls are growing fast. We even took the girls to the doctor last week for their 2 month and 18 month well visit.

Rebekah smiles a lot and talks to you just before she spits up a lot! She will even watch you as you walk by. She weighs 11 lb 12 oz (75%) and is 23.5 in (90%) tall.

Rachel is becoming more of a toot each day. She knows she's cute and still runs away when she knows she's disobeying. She is talking more and it's such a blessing that her 2-3 most used words are "please" and "thank you." She weighs 23 lb 13 oz (40%) and is 33 3/4 in (95%) tall.

Lucky in Life

It's so amazing to have two children. I thought it was going to be extremely difficult. Don't get me wrong, it's stressful at times, because I'm not in control. Not being in control is difficult to admit since I like to be in control of everything. It's something that I am still working on. Things go much better during the day when I realize I can't control when Rebekah sleeps and Rachel decides to throw a fit.

Things around here have been stayin fairly busy, but we're doing well, and hope to finalize some of our summer plans. We are looking forward to the end of school for Jeff to have a break and so that we can spend some time with him. I feel completely lucky to have him home during the summer.

The girls are growing like weeds. Rachel is starting to talk more intelligably, even though I still can't understand most of what she says. She has even learned to buckle things, so she always re-buckles Rebekah's car seat after we get home. It is very sad however that she is starting to only take one nap a day. I'm still not sure of how I want to handle this, so she still gets put down for 2 naps.

Rebekah is growing and changing every day. Rebekah is cooing and smiling at us often. She has even slept from 9 until 7 3 different times, though not in a row. I'm starting to get used to sleeping all night, so it's hard when she wakes up. Well that's all I can think of for now, so from our house to yours, have a great weekend, and don't forget your mothers next weekend!!!

Little Ones

Things have been busy around here lately. It seems like we have been on the go since Rebekah was born. She has grown a lot and gets more attentive each day. Rachel is still quite the helper with Rebekah and other household chores. Rachel is also using more words that we understand which we like.

Rachel is:

• 18 months old (in 5 days)
  
• still takes 2 naps a day (most days)
  
• eats like a teenager (without the sugar)
  
• weighs 23.5 lbs
  
• is 32 3/4 inches tall

Rebekah is:

• 5 1/2 weeks old
  
• weighs just over 10 lbs
  
• is already getting her chubby cheeks
  
• already had her 1st smile
  
• she coos at us occassionally
  
• only waking up 2 times per night on average
  
• still eats every 2 hours during the day (most of the time)

Mom and Dad are:

• Tired, but doing well
  
• Getting out of the house regularly
  
• Finished with soccer for the year
  
• Looking forward to summer
  
• Working on losing baby weight