january

So I vowed to get back on track with my blogging this year and so far have failed. Such is life, huh?!

Each year I do a family yearbook that includes pictures and short stories of what we did each month of that year. My kids love them, they want to look at it all the time and for me it makes me feel better about never printing pictures as a keepsake for my kids. Instead I print a book for us at home and one for each of them for their memory box to take with them as they move out of our home.

For some reason I've been thinking a lot about that time lately. That time when they will be old enough to move out of our home, continue their education, start their careers, and start their own families. How is that actually possible?! Sometimes it seems like those days will never come because the days can be so slow. And then I think about how quickly it will come, whether we're ready or not.

Each night we pray over our kids. Every night I pray a similar prayer. I always ask the Lord to bless them with kindness and love for others. That they will be patient and find true love. That they will follow their dreams and be whoever and do whatever they want to do. That they will love Jesus. And that God will be with us as we parent through the tough parts.

When I think about those desires and those requests I continually get stuck on one part "God be with us as we parent through the tough parts" I can get somewhat excited about those adult years to come. To think of my kids loving someone else like I love Jimmy, and like I love them is fantastic - of course I want that for them. And I look forward to those years with Jimmy when the stress of jobs, kids, and life clouds our time together is no longer. But when I think about parenting through the tough times, that's hard. It's hard to think of your children being disobedient in bigger ways than not picking up their room. It's hard to think of your children make poor choices. It's hard to think of your children giving into peer pressure. It's hard to think of your children not loving Jesus. It's hard to think of your children having sex or doing drugs. It's hard to think of your children being mean to others. Those things about break my heart. But then I think about God. I think about the difference that it makes for those of us parents that love God and make Jesus a part of our home, a part of our marriage, and a part of how we parent. That's a huge difference, a difference of eternal life or not really.

So when I pray those prayers over my children every night I need to be assured that Jesus hears them. I need to be assured that Jesus is preparing our hearts now for the trials ahead for our children and for us. I need to be assured that He will hold our hands as we navigate through those tough years. God assures us that this life will bring us hard times. So instead of praying for them not to happen I hope that I pray for the strength, guidance, and peace that I can endure them hand and hand with Jesus.

This is the verse we selected when Lily was dedicated and that we have prayed over both of our children every night since:

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:14-16

its been a long time!

So to say its been a while since I've blogged would be a HUGE understatement :) But this year a goal of mine is to get up to date on my blog and get back to blogging semi regularly! So here goes.....

Since my last post Twirl has been up and running for 8 months and it's been fantastic! It's been challenging of course as I've navigating through all the ins and outs of owning a business and learning lots along the way. I'm continual amazed that every time I think it's not going to be that good of a month or sales haven't been great we have a fantastic day or online sales pick up - it reminds me that God is good and faithful and that His hand is in this business. We have big goals for 2015 and hope that we continue to meet and serve new women along the way!

At home our kiddos are just growing and changing. I'm amazed at how fast Preston has grown into a toddler and it makes me really sad lots of times. We are praying for a third child and I trust that God will provide that in the right time but my heart longs for another baby to love and sometimes that makes having Preston grow so quickly even harder. Lily is in preschool and absolutely loves it - she has made new friends, learned how to write her name, learned new numbers and letters, and become quite the little artist. She still loves to sing and dance and put on a show for any and everyone that's willing to watch! She's also in dance this year at National Dance Academy where she goes once a week and her class is half tap, half ballet. She loves it and the small class has really allowed her to learn lots - it's so fun to watch her! As for Preston he is at home with me all the time and he is a ball of energy. He makes us laugh every single day and has the biggest smile of any 2 year old you've ever seen. He's definitely entered the terrible 2's and has begun to test our limits a little more each day. He loves all things boy - trucks, tractors, trains, books, wrestling, tackling, basketball and football - oh the fun!

Jimmy and I are going on a kid free trip to the Bahamas in just a few weeks and are definitely looking forward to that time alone, and warmer weather. We are looking forward to another year, a fresh start, and have some new "goals" that go along with that. So as a start to this year I thought I'd document our goals once again since it is a tradition of ours.

Family Goals

• Be an active family
• Spend one on one time with each of our kids by taking them on special outings at least every other month.
• Take a trip to Colorado at least once this year
• Take a family camping trip this summer
• Take 2 kid free weekend trips away this year
• Become involved in the church we choose

My Goals

• Focus on me this year - fitness and weight loss
• Grow my business by 25% this year
• Be more intentional during my time at home with the kids
• Give Jimmy uninterrupted time every day
• Date Jimmy intentionally - meaning at least twice a month we have a date night with good meaningful conversation, figure out how I can better serve him, and grow spiritually with him this year.

So that's how we're starting the year this year. I feel like the underlying goal to everything I want to focus on and improve this year is intentional. I want to be more intentional in the relationships I'm in - my marriage, as a mom, as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend. The relationships I have at this point in my life are meaningful and important to me and that takes time and investment. I know I can't be perfect but I know I can be better, and I know that with God's help and faithfulness I will grow this year, and I hope you do too!

twirl

Doing a little catch up this week and realized I hadn't written about Twirl since our first open house and the "official" announcement of that venue. Well a lot has changed since then!

We now have a store front on Main St in my hometown and my heart is overflowing with gratitude, joy & thankfulness! I literally can not believe I am a business owner and that my dream of owning my own boutique is actually my reality!

A little background - my mom and I started Twirl as a business that we were going to use to sell via open houses and Facebook. We'd been talking about our own store for a long time and finally felt some doors were opened for us to do this. Shortly after that we had the opportunity at a fantastic retail space and decided to go for! This was of course after in depth number crunching, endless conversations with husbands, and lots and lots of prayers.

So here we are - we officially opened on May 1st and haven't looked back since. We have literally been blown away by the welcoming we've received from downtown, from friends that have stopped in, from friends that haven't yet had a chance to stop in but have assured us they've been praying, from our families endless support and encouragement, and for the new friends we've made that have stopped in the last few weeks! We continue to hear positive comments from those that come to shop and we are so so encouraged by that.

We feel such a strong sense of belonging and purpose through this adventure and I know in my heart that it's exactly what I needed in my life! I feel like I am challenging myself, learning so many new things, loving my time with my kids now more than ever, and so appreciative of my mom and her willingness to learn and take this on when she could have just stayed in a job for a few more years before retirement. 

Logisitically things are coming together as well - we have hired a summer nanny that will come to our house just twice a week, which will allow me an office day at home in Ankeny and a working day at the store. We have hired a few additional women to work at the store which will free up mom and I's Saturdays as well. My hope for Saturday's is that it will be 1-2 a month once we get going a little more - allowing me to maintain that time with my precious family. 

So yes things are good with the business. I feel like it's slowing down a bit from all the start up craziness and we're getting into a routine of ordering, buying, responsibilities, budgeting, and all that fun stuff!

So to those that have been praying - thank you! God is good and God is faithful! I have seen Him work so clearly in my life a handful of times and this is definitely another one of those times. I know that He will bless us for being people that aren't afraid to share our hearts, conduct our business in a way that's honoring to Him, and constantly look for opportunities to help others.

our very first piece of inventory

loading the car for the first time

our last open house

Add caption

painting day at the store

chicago ikea run

chicago

the fashion show at our first market!

putting together mannequins

our exterior sign going up!

inside the store

back room

display window

lily is 3!

My gracious it has been a long time since I've actually had time to sit down and write about what's been going on with us. We've been BUSY!n Good busy but just busy and life just continues to pass us by.

But before I write a few posts catching up on other things I need to reflect on my sweet little girl's 3rd birthday! On the 10th of this month our little Lily May turned 3! While sometimes that's hard to believe, most times she seems older to me, and it seems she's been in our lives forever! She really is such a joyful little girl that has changed my heart in so many different ways.

We celebrated this year a little differently than the big parties I enjoy throwing at home. Since her birthday was on Saturday and we just had opened Twirl the week before, we decided to do a family only party in Cedar Falls at the dreaded Chuck E Cheese. I really wasn't looking forward to it but knew it was the best decision this year with everything else going on. None the less, it was great!

We spent some one-on-one time with Lily that morning/afternoon by taking her out for breakfast together, then Lily and I went to the nail salon and she had her fingers and toe nails painted for the very first time (at a salon)!, then Jimmy took the kiddos back to Grandma and Grandpa Grovers for the afternoon before her party at Chuck E Cheese.

We invited grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to join us for dinner and fun at Chuck E Cheese that night and they had a blast! The kids never stopped running and giggling - it was so cute! Lily even got into the ticket blaster machine - which I couldn't believe. We had a Doc McStuffins theme this year because that's one of Lily's favorite cartoons. So we had a Doc McStuffins cake, name cards, and party bags and it turned out great.

For her birthday Lily got tons of dress up dresses and accessories and she is obsessed! Literally every morning she puts on a different outfit and enjoys it so much. We got her a trunk for her dress up things, some dress up accessories, her own little make up kit, and some Doc McStuffins stuff as well.

Lily has grown so much this past year. She is such a smart little girl knowing her ABCs, her colors, most her shapes, how to spell her name, how to dress herself, and how to count to 20! She loves to play dress up, watch cartoons, color, dance to music, and sing lots of songs she knows as well as ones she makes up :) Her favorite foods are green beans, broccoli, chicken, chicken nuggets, pizza, and cookies! She loves to play with Preston and is such a sweet and kind big sister.

When I say she changed my life I really do mean that. She has taught me more than she will ever know (until she has her own kids someday). My love for her is immeasurable and she is adored by so many!

Our prayer for her every night is that she would continue to grow strong and healthy, that she would be kind to others, that she would learn to love Jesus for her own someday, and that she will always know how much her mommy, daddy and Jesus love her!

You are fearfully and wonderfully made my sweet angel - happy 3rd birthday Lily May!

trying out her new makeup

some of the ladies at the party

all her chuck e cheese gear on

in the ticket blaster

blowing out her candles

happy birthday my sweet girl!

18 months

Just a week or so ago our little guy turned 18 months. He is officially a toddler, no longer a baby, but still in so many ways seems like my baby. 

He is challenging and sweet, tender hearted yet sassy, aggressive yet timid, and so many other things. He officially walked at 14 months but now he runs all over the place doing his very best to keep up with his big sister. They really have turned into quite the playmates and it just melts my heart to see them interact in that way. 

He has almost all his teeth including the one year molars, and just waiting on a few more in the front to pop through. He'd been an awesome teether until these last few, we didn't even know when he was teething before but now you can definitely tell!

This for me is always such a hard age of them not really being able to tell you what they want but becoming frustrated so they whine, which makes you get irritated and less patient, and then frustrated, and so it goes. But overall Preston's communication skills are doing great. He knows most all animals and their sounds, he knows and point out most parts of his body (or yours!), he definitely knows the difference and verbalizes the difference between yes and no, he knows most all the member of our family that he sees on a semi-regular basis, and so much more. He just recently began forming 2 word sentences and repeating everything we say - fun fun!

He loves to wrestle and roll around on the floor with daddy when he gets home from work, crawling on my lap to snuggle with a book he's brought me, play Emo games on the iPad, and sing along with a few songs he now knows when I sing to him. 

He really is just such a light to my heart and to our family. There are so many days when things are challenging and all I need is a little squeeze or a slobbery kiss all over my face from him to know that things are really great. This little boy has my heart in a special special way and I just know that he will do great things in his life.

Happy 18 months my adored little buddy!

Here's some pictures from the last 6 months:

And of course a little video of him signing with me that just melts my heart - excuse the annoying singing of myself :)

life lately

Seems blogging has been on the back burner lately as our life is just easy and good. We're actually enjoying these cold days indoors, quiet mornings reading books, drawing on the easel, painting, playing with play dough, dancing to loud music, and making food color potions. Our routine often leaves our kiddos in their PJs until noon, which seems to be just fine with them :)

I am working on getting myself up hours before them to get my workouts in, get laundry started, start my day with devotion, and that seems to just give things a better start in our home. When I have some time to myself first thing opposed to be awaken by a crying toddler or one pulling on my arm at the side of the bed, things are just better. And it seems I'm finally getting that, you know, it just took 12 months or so!

I find myself looking for pre preschool learning activities to fill my one-on-one time with Lily while Preston takes his morning nap, and I'm amazed at the things she knows. Of course I'm particle to thinking my child is a genius but seriously - she knows a lot for a 2 year old! Things like spelling and writing her name, her ABCs, counting to 20, all her colors and most of her shapes - I think she got her daddy's brains! It's unreal to think she's old enough to start preschool this fall, that's still a conversation in our house as to whether or not she's going but that she could is crazy! She loves loves music, dancing, and singing - oh my child, she is a free spirit!

And then there's Preston, be still my heart, seriously. That boy just does something special to this mama's heart. He is pure joy. He literally smiles and it tugs my heart, every time. His sweet little giggles and gentle hugs make me so sad that he's growing so fast! He's learning lots of words, he's starting to play alone with Lily, he carries his blankies everywhere, and he will eat whenever you're offering! He still naps twice a day and is so easy to lay down - he literally walks into his room with a paci and blankie when I tell him it's nap time - Lily was never that easy to get to sleep!

And then there's me. I love my days with these sweet kiddos. They are fun to be with, of course stressful at times but lots of fun, for the most part. I am cautious of the time I spend with them because I hear so many friends that are in that next stage, school age, that tell me how fast it really goes! So I try really hard to leave my phone where I'm not so I'm not tempted to check it all the time, turn the TV off for the majority of the time they're awake, and get on the floor and play with my kids. And then during their nap time I work like a chicken with its head cut off - switching laundry, prepping for dinner, making grocery and to-do lists, and doing things for Twirl!

I have mastered optimizing that 1-2 hours of alone time during the afternoon, that's for sure! And now of course my oldest seems to be phasing out of her naps - ugh! But honestly nap time for me is busy and it's when I get most of my work done. I love sitting at my desk with a cup of coffee and working on my to-do list for a new business! Twirl has been a God send for me and I am so thankful for the opportunity to do it and work with my mom at the same time. It's absolutely fulfilling a dream for me and offering me something to challenge my mind and utilize so many of my skills, I am loving it!

And lastly there's Jimmy. His work has not slowed down much but he seems to be prioritizing differently. This past year was a hard one for us so we made some decisions to do things differently this next year. He's consistently been coming home earlier and communicating with me about when he is leaving or when he may be a little late. We are ending each night together instead of doing our own thing, no matter if we go to bed at the same time or not we are spending time in prayer at the end of the day and I can already tell the difference. He is my #1 and I'm learning how to put him before my kids, and sometimes that's hard for mom's. But he's there, he will always be there, and he's the man that loves loves loves me no matter what.

So my heart is full. My marriage is in a fantastic place with hopes for our best year yet! My kiddos are healthy, happy, and fun! I have a business that is growing and finally figuring out how to have some time to myself, yet enjoying being with my kids every day! Times aren't always like this and that's why I wanted to write a reflection of where I'm at for now. Life and health is a blessing and I am really realizing that it's all about how you look at things or how you choose to change that really reflects the life you will live.

its a new year

I love this time every year. A refreshed outlook on life as one year comes to a close and another new year trails in behind it. Blame it on my corporate work experience but I've always been one that believes in goals. For me its a tangible way to see something, do it, and feel good about accomplishing it. So ever since Jimmy and I have been together we take some time during this week to document our goals for the year. These goals have evolved and changed from our time of singleness to newly married, to new parents, and now a young family.  We create family goals, marriage goals, and individual goals. And this year business goals were added to my list - wahoo!

Now I know that the gyms are bombarded with extra people, the health section of the grocery store is completed wiped out, more people begin each day in prayer, and more families vow to end each day around the dining room table for dinner instead of the living room. And sadly for most this lasts just a few weeks or months, and then things begin to fizzle and we resort back to old habits. But I'd argue that setting goals as a family and posting them in a place that is seen daily offers that extra reminder, and incentive to stay on track. I type out our goals and hang them inside our pantry door, a place that is opened and closed several times a day and seen by everyone. Now granted 2 of the 4 members of our family can't read yet but luckily the 2 that can are the ones that make changes happen anyways :)

So I'd challenge you to really spend some time reflecting on this past year - what was good, what was not so good, what was a struggle, what was a triumph? I make our next year's family calendar during this week as well and I love looking back through all the pictures from the year. It's crazy how quickly you can forget about a little trip you took, or a special day at home together that was just fun, or how quickly your kids change in just a years time! When I reflected on this year it honestly was a year or struggle for me. I felt discontent during the first part of the year having moved to a new place, left my job in the corporate world to stay home full time, had another baby, ate when I was bored, worked out less than ever, felt lonely because my husband worked long hours, bought too many new things, and the list goes on and on. But when I began to look at that list and feel pity I thought about the year differently. I thought about the new business my mom and I started, I thought about all the milestones my son has achieved in the first full year of his life, I thought about the incredible blessing it is to be the one seeing my children's daily lives, and I was quickly reminded that God's blessings always always outweigh the hardships. That life is completely about the attitude you take and so for me this year is going to be a year of change. A change in perspective, attitude, forgiveness, grace, and growth and I can't wait! Cheers to 2014!

Here's some of our family goals and my goals for the year:

• End each day in prayer together.
• Spend more one on one time with each of the kids by taking one child on a special outing, dinner, lunch, etc. each month.
• Take away the pacifiers.
• Be an active family.
• Enjoy our time as a family in the evenings more by not using our phones or iPad during the time between dinner and the kids bedtime.
• Have a kid free weekend away.
• Take 2-3 family weekend getaways.
• Take a family vacation with the Davis family.
• Volunteer in the church nursery at least twice.

Jenna

• Show Jimmy more grace on days when he has to stay late at the office, make home be the place he wants to come home to and me the person he wants to be around most.
• Take a 30th birthday trip with girls.
• Strive to achieve weight loss and fitness goals.
• Focus on my marriage relationship goals to make this the best year of our marriage.
• Start each day with devotion and prayer.

twirl

My apologies for the prolonged absence on this blog. I have been completely consumed with something new that has been a dream and passion of mine for quite some time. Some of you may have heard that my mom and I are taking on a new business venture in the likes of a boutique. A women's and children's boutique that we have named Twirl Boutique.

Our official launch is going to be a holiday open house back in my hometown in a few weeks and we are tirelessly working to have everything ready by then - I just can't wait!

A little background on the whole idea. I'd say as long as 5 years ago my mom and I began dreaming of someday opening a clothing store together. We've always envisioned it to be located downtown Cedar Falls (my hometown) and thought about all the creative things we could do/offer to make our business unique. We actually met with a few local business owners to ask questions, and ultimately lay some ground work. We visited a boutique here in Des Moines that we liked and got to know the owner of it as well, who has since become somewhat of a mentor to us. And then things kind of got put on hold. No doors were really opening and so we just tabled the idea for the time being. 

There were a few small windows of opportunity between then and now but nothing eye opening or clear answer to prayers, until now. The past few months God has literally opened the doors wide open for us to clearly see His vision for this business. And so we are following. A little hesitantly and a little consciously but following.

We lost the opportunity of our "perfect" rental space a few months ago but with the encouragement of a mentor we decided to proceed anyways with some unique business avenues until our space is available again. So for now we will be holding open houses showcasing clothing we have bought for the store. We will be hosting the open houses in both the Cedar Falls and Des Moines areas, we then hope to develop an online retail business later this winter/early Spring, with the ultimate goal of moving into a rental space next fall. 

Lots has to happen between now and then for that to come to fruition but we are excited and hopeful. We are super busy planning for our first open house and there are so many unknowns that make us nervous and excited at the same time!

So that's what has been keeping me busy these days - lots and lots of ordering, tracking, setting up bank accounts, tagging inventory, etc etc. This is such a good thing for me and something that I absolutely love to do. It feeds that passion for business and fashion that is so exciting and makes me feel fulfilled in ways I haven't been since I left my job so for that I am incredibly thankful!

our first piece of inventory!

lily checking out our signage

first delivery of inventory

unpacking inventory

preston's dedication

I'm a little behind in blogging but so it goes, right?!

At the end of September we had Preston dedicated. What a special day it was! We decided to do it at we consider our "home church" even though we absolutely love our current church, it just felt right. We got married in this church and Lily was dedicated at this church as well, so I opted to have our son dedicated their as well. 

I asked Doug Tensen, a family friend, an awesome pastor, the man that married and counseled us, and a wonderful man of God do our private ceremony and it was perfect.

We invited our immediate family and grandparents and that room was sure full of love. Doug shared some verses with us about the promises of God, the blessings of children, and our role as their parents and providers. He asked us to affirm our faith and publicly share that we promise to raise Preston in the truth. And to us that's what this whole deal is really about.

When we first had Lily and talked about the differences between baptizing, dedicating, or doing nothing until they could decide from themselves we surprisingly both felt passionately about the same thing. It was incredibly important for us both to publicly profess our faith and our desire and commitment to raising our child/ren in a home that will know about Jesus. We want our children to see love through our actions, words, and service. My heart longs for them to find their own faith and come to know the Lord as their own. What a responsibility that is as parents, but what an honor! And then our vision for our children is that they will make the decision to be baptized on their own - when they have accepted Jesus into their heart and fully understand what being baptized really means. And what a day of celebration that will be!

So happy dedication day sweet James Preston - our prayer for you precious son is that you love Jesus with all his heart. That you will learn about Him through us and come to know Him as your own. 

jimmy & preston

LOVE this picture of our family surrounding us with their support

how quickly our lives can change

Two weeks ago we had quite a scare. We spent the afternoon sitting in an urgent care on pins and needles as we waiting to hear if our son was alright. So so scary and something I hope to never live through again, but as parents I'm sure we will.

It was a Wednesday and we had spent the beautiful afternoon having lunch with a friend and playing at a park. We came home around nap time, 2ish, and I quickly wanted to finish a few chores before putting the kiddos down for nap. One of which included changing the clothes in the washing machine to the drier. Simple and quick task - right?! Well my littlest was whining at my feet because he was tired and wanted picked up. So in an attempt to occupy him I handed him the closed container of Tide laundry pods that I use in our washer. I proceed to switch my clothes from the washer to the drier and glanced down at my son to find white soap on his hands and dripping from his mouth. Slight panic but I quickly scooped him up and headed to the sink, doing my best to rinse his mouth out and he begins to SCREAM.

I quickly read the back of the container to see that if ingested I should give them milk or water and call poisoin control immediately. So I do, in the meantime he throws up. The posion control lady tells me to go the ER immediately. After a little further discussion she decides Urgent Care may be the better option, because it's much closer, and we hang up. I rush around to quickly change Preston's and I's clothes, as they are covered in throw up, call Jimmy, call my sister to see if I can bring Lily there, and hop in the car. I call Jimmy again once in the car to let him know which clinic I'm going to and then Preston starts throwing up again, alot. So much so that he begins choking in his carseat. I barely get the car pulled over, hop out of the car, and begin scooping it out of his mouth. He has soaked his clothes, the two blankets I had given him, and his entire carseat. Jimmy yells from the bluetooth phone call to go to the Urgent Care immediately, bring Lily along, and he will meet me there. 

We jump out of the car and arrive at the Urgent Care - they were waiting for us. He's taken back almost immediately and they begin to check him over - looking in his mouth, listening to his breathing, and just examining him. They of course ask me several questions, all of which I could thankfully answer because I was right there. And then they scare me deeply. The Dr proceeds to tell us that ingesting these laundry detergent pods kill children. That because the soap is such a concentrated amount it can burn the child's mouth when swallowed, and then creates legens on the inside of their body/organs that cannot heal, and consquently causes them to suffocate. Crazy, insane, completely freaked out, so scared. He proceeded to tell us that they had an ambulance ready and that if at any point he wasn't comfortable with what he saw, he would be ambulanced down to Blanks Children's Hospital downtown. And then I completely lost it. How could this have happened? How could I have been so stupid? How did I not know how bad those things are? How could I have given him that container to play with?

They told us that we'd be staying awhile and that they wanted to continue to monitor him for a few hours. And so they did. At first Preston seemed out of it, which I don't know how much of it was just due to him being tired and how much was because of the soap. But then after an hour or so he began to play with Lily. They read books and discovered the room we were in and I started to relax a bit, but not entirely. What if something happened when they sent us home? How do we know what to watch for? How do we know he's ok?

After a few hours the doctor told us that he thought he was in the clear and that we could go home. He told us that in the majority of these cases they see the signs within the first hour. I was still nervous to go home unsure of what the night would bring. However, he gave us clear instruction on what to look for and advised us to check on him every hour. Needless to say I didn't sleep much that night. But morning came and he was fine. He's been fine ever since. Amazing.

So crazy to think about how differently that day could have gone. How our world could have been flipped upside down. When I think about those possibilities it literally breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. He is such a gift to our family - what in the world would I do without him? Children are so fragile, God entrusts us to protect them and keep them safe and what a good reminder that we should never take that job lightly. There's no doubt in my mind that God was watching over little Preston that day and only allowed him to ingest some of the soap. May we always remember how small we are and how powerful and BIG our God truly is.

northern michigan

We just got back from an awesome trip to Northern Michigan for my cousin's wedding. We left Thursday after work, drove through the night and arrived in Petosky, MI early Friday morning.

After a failed attempt at getting our kiddos back to sleep we got our room settled then headed down for breakfast with family. It's so fun seeing family we don't see that often, some of my cousins I hadn't seen in over a year! We spent the day Friday exploring the awesome downtown, walking along the Lake Michigan harbor, attending rehearsal lunch, Jimmy golfed with the men of the wedding, and then after pizza in the hotel we hit the town for the night. One of the bummers of traveling with small kiddos is one of us always seems to miss out on something - Jimmy stayed back with the kiddos that night while I caught up with several of the ladies and enjoyed some yummy appetizers and drinks at a local restaurant.

Saturday was wedding day! We spent the morning at a park and a fun coffee shop on the pier before heading back to get ready for the wedding. We had previously decided that just I would go to the wedding and Jimmy would stay back with the kiddos. That worked well because it was a 2pm wedding - aka nap time - and then they'd be well rested for the reception - so we thought. Funny how things never quite go as planned :) Turns out Lily didn't nap and Preston didn't sleep long. So sure enough by the time we drove the 20 minutes to the reception site they were both tired! Turns out Preston really can sleep through anything and slept a good hour in the corner in the stroller while we ate dinner and visited. Then before the dance even started Lily switched him places and slept the entire rest of the reception asleep in the stroller as well. Preston was a party animal and stayed up dancing with us until the last dance!

Sunday we took our time getting packed up and hitting the road and took a scenic drive back to Grand Rapids, MI where a few of my cousins and aunt and uncle live. We were able to see both of their places, the kiddos were able to play and run around with my cousins kid, have dinner with them, and then load back into the car for the drive home through the night Sunday.

Last stop was Monday morning to spend the day at the farm. It timed out perfectly that Jimmy's dad was ready to harvest our field so Jimmy actually did that himself this year and ran the combine all day Monday, while the kiddos and I spent the day at Grandma's! Both kids loved riding in the tractor with Aunt Jissy and in the combine with daddy. Such fun memories being made. Then one last time in the car Monday night to drive the last few hours home to Ankeny.

It felt like we spent days in the car but it was well worth the trip! I don't think we've missed a family wedding yet and I love that. Sometimes it's the only time you see some family that lives far away and marriages are such a big celebration. 

Congratulations to Brett and Biz - may you experience the blessing of marriage in a real way and work daily to follow Christ through your marriage.

Lake Michigan harbor

Great Grandpa Dieken playing with Preston

sisters

babies & grandma

ready for the wedding

brett & biz

they're married!

their wedding site

mom, dad, cinda & i

party time!

ready to get in the combine

harvest

preston & daddy

northern michigan