I am 30

I turned the BIG 30 yesterday! It was such a great day. It started out with Brent and the kids bringing me a doughnut in bed, with candles, as they sang me "happy birthday". Brent completely surprised me with an IPad!! Was NOT expecting that. I think it will be a fun addition for everyone. During the day, I did NOTHING. It was so nice. Ezra had a playdate with a friend during the afternoon, so while the girls napped, it was actually quite throughout the whole house. Ezra isn't a big napper these days, so it was so peaceful. After I went to pick Ezra up from his playdate, Brent had plans for our evening. He told me that we were going to meet up with some friends of ours at BIGZ, which is a burger joint. I was so NOT on board. I was just thinking, "really!?! Bigz for my 30th!" Ha! I honestly was praying the whole day that I would be content in ANY situation that Brent had planned for my birthday, because, he planned it in the first place, and that is a HUGE thing for Brent. Anyway, he informed me that we were going to Bigz to eat and let the kids play, then Lisa and Rob (the friends we were going to meet) were going to take the kids for a while so we could go do somethings. After he said that, I was like, "okay, I can do that." Well, we show up at Bigz and ALL of our friends were waiting there with cake, balloons and presents! BRENT PLANNED A HUGE SURPRISE PARTY FOR ME!!! It was AWESOME. As we walked in, everyone started singing "Happy Birthday." I just stood there, shocked and crying! It was so sweet. I was overflowing with LOVE and JOY. As the night went on, I found out that Brent had been planning this for a MONTH! So NOT Brent Eilers style. I had the BEST NIGHT EVER! I am so blessed by Brent and all of my friends who took the time to come and celebrate with me. Oh, I still get teary over it! It definitely was so much more than I could have asked for.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

So, as I turn 30, I am not at all upset about it or feel "old". I am excited about my 30's. I had some great times and not so great times in my 20's where I grew from those not so great times and flourished from those great times!! Now, I am excited to take what God blessed me with in my 20's and grow them for HIS name and glory. I am way more confidant in Who I Am and Whose I Am now. I just want that to shine so bright, from the inside out! So, as I go into my 30's, I am hoping and praying that God will use me to move mountains!
That's what I am telling myself, anyway. Ha!

Elynn's 6 month pictures (finally!)

She loves to sit up and grab whatever she can!

So serious this day! Couldn't get a good one of her smiling.

I thought this one was sweet of Em and Elynn

Siesta Scripture Memory Team

I haven't posted about this, and now that I think about it, I am not sure why. Me and my best girlfriends are memorizing scripture together, along with Beth Moore. If you go to Beth Moore's website, http://blog.lproof.org/, you can get the full picture of what we are doing. We are committing to memorize TWO scriptures a month, starting a new scripture on the 1st and 15th. We are currently on verse 15 and will have 24 verses memorized by the end of the year! How powerful is that!?! Lining our thoughts with God's word and TRUTH is powerful and beautiful. It has been an exciting time. God has definitely used these verses encourage me through the day and even to encourage others. It is pretty crazy how powerful these verses become in my heart and mind.

Here is our verse 15:
"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still"   Exodus 14:14

After I make lunch, I am going to challenge myself to write all 15 verses down, from memory, on a new post!

The Marshall's

Today, I watched one of my best friends 3 kids. Her husband broke his ankle last night riding scooters with their 6 year old. They had to take him to the ER last night and then had an appointment today with the doctor who will do the surgery, to repair his ankle, on Tuesday.
Back to the 6 kids: I am sure you are thinking, "wow, that makes SIX KIDS total!" Now, that is a lot of kids, but not with this group. My kids LOVE the Marshall's! They ALWAYS ask about them and want to talk to Ms. Ashleigh on the phone when I am talking to her! They are in LOVE. Ashleigh's kids: Cooper 8, Jackson 6 and Kate 4, are very well behaved and love my kids too. Ezra and Kate were in the same preschool class this past year and just became the best of friends. Kate and Emersyn are "best friends" too. At least, that is what Emersyn thinks. When they come to play, Emersyn and Kate will play together for hours. It is so fun to watch. Ezra thinks of the world of Cooper and Jackson. Both boys are good at baseball and love to set up baseball games to play in our backyard. Ezra is always talking and wanting to play baseball, so he is pumped to have these boys over to play. I seriously, MAYBE, said, "be nice", twice the whole time they were here. The rest of the time they entertained each other and played so well together. I sat and watched. It was great! We had a fun day with them.
Here are some pictures I snapped of them:

Cooper and Ezra building Legos

Emersyn and Kate playing in the Playhouse

Jackson was trying to hide from the camera

The "dreaded" 4 year old appointment

Gosh, I was so nervous to take Ezra to his four year old appointment. I had heard such HORRIBLE things about it from EVERYONE. So, of course, on the day of his appointment, Brent gets called in and I have to take all 3 kids by myself. I also had Elynn's 6 month appointment scheduled for the same time, too. Before the appointment I forewarned Ezra of the shots. I didn't know if that was the best idea, but I think that really helped. I know that if I wouldn't have told him, he would have really started crying when he heard the word "shot."  When it came time for it, he just looked at me, sat on my lap and did so good! He got 3 shots in his arm. He didn't cry when he got the shots, but cried for maybe a minute after the shots were done. His arm was sore, but not pain. I let him have a sucker and all was better. He weighed in at 38 1/2 pounds (75%) and was 3'6" (75-90%). He looked like such a big boy getting weighed and measured. They also took his blood pressure and checked his hearing and eyes. He passed the hearing test and has 20/20 vision!
We are so thankful for our sweet healthy boy.
The appointment went so well and was very easy, even with Elynn's 6 month appointment!

Elynn: 6 months

My baby girl is 1/2 a YEAR!! How does that happen so fast!?! My sweet girl is so SQUEEZABLE! I love to squeeze her 24/7, and I DO! She is HAPPY ALL THE TIME! She is still getting over a little sinus junk, so I do not have a 6 month picture to post yet, but even though she has been a little under the weather, she is still so happy! She would wake up with such gunky eyes and once we wiped her eyes clean, she gave you the BIGGEST SMILE! Love her, love her!
Her 6 month appointment was great. She weighed in at 17 pounds, putting her in the 75th % for weight. She was 26 and 3/4 long which put her in the 75th-90th %! She reminds me more of when Ezra was a baby. She is not as big as Ezra was, but has those lovely rolls and round shaped head with her Lindig cheeks and lips!
She is such a growing girl. She grabs everything. She loves to sit up and when you put her inclined on her back, she tries so hard to pull up to sitting. She can rollover all over the place and loves to do it. She is a talker, but at the same time, she will just sit and watch Ezra and Emersyn. I am pretty sure she is taking it all in, and then one day she is going to start talking and walking like she has been just waiting. She definitely has her daddies laid back personality. We just love her and are so thankful for her!

I will post pictures soon, when her allergy/sinus stuff dies down.
I just started

Grover: The Hermit Crab

 

Ezra and Grover (look how excited he is!)

Last night I had just finished putting Elynn, then Emersyn, down for bed and I was going to get Ezra to have him start his bedtime routine. (Usually we do this all together, but last night, it worked out a little different.) He comes running in with something in his hand. He was so excited. He had been outside with Brent doing yard work, so I thought, but our neighbors had come out to talk. They had just gotten back from Florida, after being there for a week. Their present to Ezra was a LIVE HERMIT CRAB! I am SO NOT one to have things like this. I am scared they will get out and get lost in the house, or, better yet, PINCH YOU! He was so excited. I couldn't tell him "no". So, it is 8 already and now we have to make this thing a house to sleep in. I went upstairs and got a wipes box from Elynn's room and cut out the side and made roof. While I am doing this, Ezra goes outside and collects grass and the "perfect rock". I asked Ezra what he was going to name his new pet and right away he said, "I think I am going to call him, Grover!" What a great name for a hermit crab! Needless to say, I was NOT to excited about our new addition, grover, but I was excited that Ezra was so excited. It was fun building the house with him. After Grover was settled and in Ezra's room, I was giving Ezra a quick bath before he got in bed. He looked at me and said, "mom, what was your favorite part of the day?" I thought for a minute and said, "Well, I had fun swimming with you guys today." He smiled and replied, "Ya. But, my favorite part of the day was making Grover's house. Was that your favorite part of the day too mom?"
So sweet! How could we not love Grover!

 

Grover!

 

Grover's temporary home. We will have to get a real home and food for him, I guess.