A Warm Sunday at Peachtree Farm

The day before my crazy vertigo incident, we spent the afternoon at a local farm, Peachtree Farm. It was WONDERFUL. The day was unseasonably warm as it was in the upper 70s, and we so enjoyed our time. We had a hay ride around the farm, picked out a pumpkin, fed the goats, petted the rabbits, saw a teepee, had a picnic, got a nose painting (Faith requested a butterfly on her nose :) random :)), and loved the sunset. We all love to be outside the "city," and were thankful for time together to get away and have some open space!

Faith burying herself in the straw

 Lainie held captive in an old fashioned jail cart

 Our little scarecrows :)

 Found a pumpkin...we actually ended up taking home a different one...but the picture is still cute!

 Lainie petting the rabbit. She has a love/hate relationship with animals right now. She gets SO excited to see and pet them. But, when it comes down to following through with the petting...she gets a little nervous :)

Faith holding the rabbit. Not many hesitations for her!

On a different note: Lainie had tubes put in her ears today. We were all a little nervous about it as she had to be "put to sleep" to have it done. But, it was a great success! She did awesome, and wasn't even crying when Mommy came back to get her in the "recovery" area. She was snuggling with the nurse who said, "Just give her her thumb and bunny and she's a happy camper!" We are very thankful for prayers that were said for her, and hope she has less/more manageable ear infections now.

Moments that make things not so bad...

So...I woke up Monday morning feeling extremely dizzy and a little nauseous. We had a GREAT day the day before (blog to come...), so there wasn't any warning with it. I thought, surely it will get better as the day goes on. Nate left for school. The girls and I start about our day...except that Mommy can hardly stand straight and the room keeps spinning?! I take a moment to sit down. Think closing my eyes will help. Nope. Room still spins when my eyes are closed. What in the world? Next comes the dry heaves. Oh, dear. So, I eat some toast. Maybe that will help? Sudden terrible morning sickness? Quintuplets perhaps? But, in time I realized I only felt nauseous when I moved. No smells did it, none of the other "flu" symptoms came...just movement.

Okay, so sit still then. With a 14 mo old and a 3 year old?! Right. After violently vomiting a couple times, I decide it is time to call Nate home from school. Daddy saves the day once they find a sub, and he and the girls take me to the ER (where I happen to work part-time. LOVE that place. They were so good to me). Our great friends Gene and Nancy come over to watch the girls for Nate and he comes back to the ER to be with me. They tell me I have an inner ear imbalance--positional vertigo. Thankfully I was given good meds for the vomiting and dizziness. Then the next morning I had a physical therapy appt where they re-positioned my inner ear. Today I am finally feeling mostly back to normal. So random!

And what did God provide to make it "not so bad?" First, the hubby. He really did rescue us (and Mommy most of all). He took off work to come home, then to take me to the pt...he made dinner, all the clean-up, bed time routine, made me a "special" bed so I could stay at a 45 degree angle, etc. He's a for sure keeper :)

Then there's the girls. As I was slumped over the toilet bowl, Faith joined me in the bathroom and quietly put a sweet hand on my back. She said, "I'm just going to put a hand on your back, Momma. I call it a healing hand." Tear. Then today with hands on my cheeks, looking me right in the eye, "Mommy, I love you when you're sick and when you're not. I always love you." And little Lainie. The girls spent the last couple days at our (amazing) babysitter's house. When they got home yesterday, Lainie went full-force, fast as those short little legs would take her...right to her momma. Oh, and she actually says Momma these days! That's nice to hear :)

It's kind of been a rough week around here...but it's not so bad...

Twin Time!

We decided we were overdue for some twin time, so we headed to IA last weekend for a visit. Due to summer flooding we took a crazy detour, but the girls were troopers (Lainie is not such a fan of long rides during the day we have found out....good to know for next time...we will be traveling at night :) ). And it was well worth the drive to see family! We hadn't seen the twins since they were about 7 weeks old, and they have changed SO much! Faith and Lainie had a great time too. Faith is a little Mommy these days, letting Lainie know what she should and shouldn't be doing :) The girls gave lots of hugs and kisses to the twins which was fun to see. 

We got to see Dan and Der's new house which is BEAUTIFUL, visit their church, take some walks, have a Mary Kay party (Der hosted one for me which was alot of fun). Aunt Kristy even came over for the party and a little visit. All in all it was a great weekend, and we were sad to leave...so until next time we have some cute pics to tide us over...

Roots N Blues 2011

Hodge & Co. (that's my new nick-name for my sister and her family :) ) came to town for the Roots N Blues festival so that Momma D could run the half marathon (7 wks after baby Adrienne was born, mind you!). She is such a rock star, and we are so proud of her. She didn't just survive the race, she ran an awesome time. We are so thankful they braved the drive with 3 kiddos ages 4 and under. Here are some of the pics from our time together...

seek the wonder: starting fresh...

I am so excited for this fresh start! I have kept a blog for a few years now, since Faith was born, but I have really been thinking and praying about "starting fresh." When I started our blog, it was mostly to update family on the going-ons of our girls. While this will still happen (of course!) my prayer and hope is that this blog will also be a space for...me. I have decided to forego facebook (or will after I send out this new link and contact info to friends :)). For me, at this time in my life, it's just not a great fit. I'm hoping that this blog can be a better fit!

So...what's in a title? I thought long and hard about what the new title could be. First, I started with something that would describe our family specifically. As I started to throw around ideas, I realized that my desire was for something that would encompass our family and also reach into some of my interests like photography, art, reading, writing, etc. This brought me to thinking of inspiration...and to the photo at the blog's header. Today the girls and I (Nate had grad school :( ) spent the morning in a garden here in town. Light streamed through trees that had begun to turn, seasonal flowers bloomed, the grass was still plush and thick. The girls LOVED it...and so did Mommy. I dressed the girls up a little and took some photos. This was my first time trying to "photograph" the girls a little more seriously...and I have to say...it was ALOT harder than I anticipated! Any suggestions are VERY welcome! 

The girls and I were meandering around, when we saw this huge, billowing willow tree. The sky was brilliant behind it and it truly was beautiful. Faith spotted it, and before we could talk much about it, she took off running full force to try and reach the swaying, hanging leaves. Lainie took off behind her at a much slower pace, hence she is not in the photo :) Faith stood under that tree in awe, reaching on her very tippy-toes for those leaves, "LOOK Mommy!!!" I was struck by her wonder at the world around her, and I was inspired. 

Our life isn't perfect (whose is?!), but even in the struggles I do believe God provides wonderment if we will seek it. So...here's to seeking it!!!