All Things

Today was one of those days when I found a plethora of misfortunes to grumble about. As much as I want to list all those things right now, it occurs to me that perhaps it won't help anyone (myself included).

"Do all things without grumbling or disputing," Philippians 2:14

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:11-13

Oh how this attitude eludes me! I want to curse all the circumstances around me rather than admit the problem is actually within me. I am the one who needs to change. And often times I just don't want to. I want the problem to be everyone and everything around me because it's easier. To face the fact that my sin actually prevents me from experiencing joy in life... It's too humiliating. I like thinking I'm doing "okay." I'm an American. It's not my fault. I don't like free grace.

But that's just it. Grace. Forgiveness. Acceptance. They are free. They're not cheap, but they are free. Jesus spilled his blood, gave His life, took the payment for my sins upon Himself. I deserve the death that He experienced.

Now I can see my sin before a Holy God. I see how ugly it is and how beautiful Jesus is as He washes me whiter than snow. I am redeemed.

I know this will step on toes. It's not popular to tell people they're sinners, even if you lump yourself in there. It's not popular talking about death or what may or may not happen afterwards. But I also know that it is this Jesus who saves. It is this Jesus who gives life and hope and peace. It is this Jesus who strengthens me to be content in all things on days like today.

I pray that some day Paul's attitude of contentment doesn't elude me. In the meantime, I pray that I will live like the gospel actually matters.

Gilmore Good Time

It's true. We have a family theme song. Alice frequently asks for music and then proceeds to explain which music "Ah-ah-ah?" The fun never ends in our abode.

Family Pictures

A very good friend of ours took family pictures for us. For the non-facebookers out there, you can check them out here. Though we did get a small handful of "good" ones, I think the bloopers are quite excellent. Thank you Lauren!

Ten Day Forecast

Shows NO temperatures in the 90s! In fact there are FOUR days with the high in the 70s. SO THANKFUL.

Lately I keep thinking that being a parent (especially of young children-since I don't know what it's like to be a parent of older children) is more about teaching me patience and consistency than it is about actually teaching my children anything. This isn't a new revelation, just back in my mind for the ba-zillionth time. Sure, I'd like to think that on some level they are learning obedience which will some day teach them how to be respectful to any authority God places over them; but really I'm realizing that I still have a long way to go in becoming Christ-like. A. Long. Way.

Why is it so hard to show people that I don't have it all together? What is it about appearing "in control" that is so important? In talking with other moms who are willing to be open about their own struggles, I have yet to find ANYONE who has it all together. There are days that go great, but everyone has those days that they want to pretend didn't happen. It could be the kids were absolute disasters, or it could be that I had a horrible (SINFUL) attitude and took it out on those I love most.

I don't know how to balance sharing my struggles in a productive, please-pray-for-me sort of way. I don't know how to say that it's hard and I fail and sometimes I don't like my kids without it sounding like complaining. I don't want people to feel like they have to tell me to "hang in there" (because, really, what does that even mean?) or "this too shall pass." If I'm honest with myself, I know it won't be like this forever. I want to be able to look back on these times with fondness rather than thinking "Phew! I made it!"

I want to be able to encourage others that are a few steps behind me in this raising-a-family business. I want to listen, really listen, when another young mom is sharing her own struggles. I want to tell her that I've been there and there is a way to please God in the midst of it. I want to remind her to find ways to be thankful and to dwell on the good things. It's way too easy to find things to complain about or make my life seem hardest or to think no one understands. In fact, my life is not the hardest and my God has abundantly blessed me and HE understands.

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor. 10:13).

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

October. For real.

Can't really believe this is October. Maybe it's the 100 degree weather. Or maybe... No, it's the 100 degree weather.

Can't stand their cute-ness in this picture. See the toys in the background? That's pretty tame.

Emma is clapping a lot these days and dancing whenever she hears music. Actually, any time she hears any kind of rhythm she moves. For example, she often starts to bob her head while I'm burping her. Hilarious. She's super smiley, very ticklish, and loves playing peek-a-boo. Though she's not too fond of using her knees to get around, she's got no trouble getting where she wants to go by army crawling on her belly. She will also play by herself forever, unless she gets hungry. But at that point she just crawls over to me and tries to crawl up my legs. So cute.

Alice spends much of her time (when not throwing a tantrum) playing with "Doll" and "Baby" (I get real creative with naming dolls...) and having tea parties with her stuffed animals. Today we made diapers for doll (out of old socks-thanks Mike!) in mommy's attempt to distract Alice. It lasted maybe two minutes. Ah well, I tried. She's also a book-a-holic, like her daddy. When tea parties get old, she'll bring book after book after book for mommy to read. I'd prefer this over watching Elmo sing songs on YouTube, which is perhaps her most favorite thing in the world. This activity, however, is reserved for when mommy needs to take a shower and keep Alice in one place (and doesn't have to listen to Elmo singing songs that have the ability to get stuck in your head for the next month).

Now I go to bed. Hopefully our room has cooled off a bit, even though the thermometer is claiming 80 degrees.

The Temperature Started with a 7

Yes, that's right. Today's high was 79 degrees. Even though we'll be back up into the 90s within a week, it was still really REALLY awesome.

Woke up this morning with a sore throat. After a cup of hot water/lemon/honey, I've been drinking water like it's my job. The girls are in bed. Asleep even! I think the baby crazies have been largely weather related. Good to know what I have to look forward to with the warmer weather making a comeback.

Why does bleach burn in your nostrils? I can still smell it, more than 5 hours later.

Tonight Alice is wearing pants to bed (pink ones with strawberries all over, which she loves) and Emma is wearing footie pjs (size 3-6 months, which are finally getting a little snug on her). These girls are so cute.

It's starting to become apparent that Alice is perhaps leaning towards becoming a girly girl. Every day she wants to wear a dress. To be exact, she wants to wear her fancy Easter dress (pictured here --> ). Once dressed she literally takes two or three minutes (an eternity for a two year old) deciding which shoes she wants to wear. Often she'll get one pair on, then take them off and get another pair to wear instead. Then I need to fix her ponytails. Usually she opts for two ponytails, not just one. Or, she changes her mind when I'm halfway through, exclaiming "Done, done, done, done!" (Translation: "One, one, one, one!") Am I headed down the path of a frilly, indecisive girly girl? Will she love PINK?!?!

I try to comfort myself with the fact that she's kind of a bruiser, frequently sporting bruises, cuts and bumps. This is probably more owing to her being a two year old. I know. I'm grasping at straws. I don't stand a chance.

I made some banana oatmeal cookies and they're kind of delicious. They taste like banana bread, but with oatmeal and cinnamon spectacular-ness.

Sometimes when I re-read my posts I realize how tired I am. This is one of those times. I think I'll go to bed early since it seems I might have the opportunity.

THIS is Autumn?

I've lived in southern California for ten years. (Whoa.) I hear that it's normal for September to be hot. I'm still not used to it. I think last year I broke out my "autumn" decorations on August 31. This year the boxes haven't even made it out of storage. BUT, at least our blog represents what I know and love to be autumn: fall foliage!

That said, I finally uploaded our July & August pictures to the web album (though I did manage to get them on Facebook a few weeks ago).

This may end up being my lonely September post, but who knows? Maybe Alice & Emma will decide to nap at the same time next week. On a good day their naps are almost completely staggered. After this week I'd love to have a "good day" like that next week.

Terrible twos are in full-swing in the world of Alice. She really doesn't like using words, though she does talk. All. The. Time. Right now I can't get much done without listening to whining and crying from her direction. So, not much is getting done. She definitely has the word "hungry" (even though it sounds more like "honey") down, and tells me that she's hungry every moment of the day unless I've distracted her with something else. Then at meal times she doesn't want to eat anything but raisins ("da-deen") or grapes ("bite-ee"). Sigh. At least we're almost halfway to three. Then again, I've been told that it's the "terrible threes" for some. Please, Lord, let that not be Alice.

Army crawling is Emma's favorite thing. She especially likes army crawling to daddy's books on the lowest bookshelf and eating them when mommy's not looking. The cord to the floor lamp is also a popular chew toy.

Speaking of which, I definitely bought my children dog toys from the Target clearance section yesterday. And I didn't even realize they were dog toys (Warning label reading: For Dog Use Only. Not for Children), until I gave them to Alice in the car. So now she has three colorful rubber balls that squeak and a green frisbee which she has no clue how to use. HA. I'm such a good mom :-)

I hope you enjoyed these pictures of my charming daughters. Clearly they will be the epitome of "ladies" as they grow.

Well, it's been fun, but the fireworks are going off (thank you Disneyland), which means I need to get the bedtime routine going before it's 11 and I'm still awake. Good night and good luck.

The Lonesome August Post

Lots to write about, but I need to start with my near heart attack today.

It was time for Emma to eat and take a nap so I told Alice to stay downstairs and play while mommy put Emma to bed. Of course, she climbed the stairs after 10 minutes or so, right when Emma was starting to nod off. Once she reached the top step I started shaking my head "no" so she wouldn't come in and make a bunch of noise to distract Emma and wake her up. At that moment I blinked and saw her feet fly up into the air...

It didn't matter that Emma was almost asleep or in the middle of eating. I gently threw her into the center of our bed and RAN to the stairs to see what had become of my firstborn. All of this probably only took seconds, but it felt like I was moving in slow motion. When I got to the top of the stairs I saw Alice only 4 or 5 stairs from the top, clutching the stair she'd grabbed mid-fall and screaming. She was, apparently, freaked out by the ordeal as well. After a quick inspection I found no blood or bumps and held her until she calmed down, reminding her to be careful on the stairs.

My heart didn't stop racing for at least 15 minutes. In fact, writing the experience out has made it start racing again... and she didn't even get hurt!

...breathe...

Before today's excitement came vacation excitement. We spent 4 nights camping with Andrew's family (sans his youngest brother who couldn't get off work... as John would say, "bummah"). After camping we stayed a week at a friend's lake house at Bass Lake during a serious heat wave, followed by two nights in Santa Maria visiting family. I'll attempt some summaries of each leg of the trip:

Camping: First time with all four of us in a tent. By the second morning wasn't sure I'd make it another two nights. Third morning proved that it was possible. Was really hot during the day and pleasantly cold at night. Slightly concerned with keeping warm the babies who don't stay under their covers.

Bass Lake: Since Alice & Emma were forced to sleep "in the same room" camping, we kept it going. Kind of awesome. Spent lots of time at the lake. Over 100 degrees EVERY DAY. Alice & Emma both loved the water. Started a "Gilmore Buoy Swim" tradition. Yeah, we're that cool.

Santa Maria: Introduced Emma to her second cousin, Miles, for the first time. He's 18 days older and ridiculously cute. Lots of photos (which haven't made it off the camera) were taken. Ate much delicious food.

And now we're home and Andrew started school this morning at 8AM, with his LAST semester of Hebrew. No, not his last semester of seminary, but (Lord-willing) only three more semesters and an anticipated graduation date of December 2013.

Can't. Wait.

The girls have been sleeping in Alice's room since we returned and yesterday we finally determined how we could get all things baby-related into their room. Okay, most things baby-related. It's sort of impossible to contain all things baby in one place. You understand if you have a baby. Even more so if you have a toddler. I spent a good three hours this morning re-organizing clothing: boxing up clothes that Emma has grown out of (I think she's FINALLY past her three month clothes... yeah, she's seven months old), boxing up clothes that Alice has grown out of, getting out clothes that now fit each girl, sorting, folding, sorting, folding again after one of them grabbed a stack and dumped it. But they've both been pretty excellent in allowing me to get things done while they play "together."

Alice had her first real explosion at Emma yesterday. There was lots of screaming (on Alice's part) and a toy was thrown (at Emma). No one was seriously injured. Apparently Emma had shown interest in sucking the wheel of Alice's doll stroller. Not. Okay. I think it was a small taste of what is to come. Ah sisters.

There's probably more to write about. Losing brain power. Pictures might come soon, but they will come eventually. It was kind of nice being away from all technology for two weeks.

Where did June go?

I admit blogging has not been high on my priority list as of late. Not to make excuses but our June was a little busy. One or all of us attended three graduations, seven graduation parties, one BBQ, one bridal shower, one wedding, and one day of paintball. Not to mention the "normal" things on our schedule. AND, Andrew went to Israel from June 19-29. I wasn't home for part of that, so that certainly doesn't help my motivation to blog. I digress...

Here's my attempt at a "quick" update on the last two months!

Andrew finished his eighth semester and did better than he thought as far as grades go. I don't actually remember what they were, so I'll let him share if he so desires. He's busy with summer youth events at church, but we are both thankful for the summer break after a LONG school year. We're anticipating his last semester, Lord-willing, being Fall 2013. SO CLOSE.

Alice is a full-blown two year old. She talks constantly (a few English words now), swims with her "muscles" (arm floaties) all by herself, helps mommy water the garden with her watering can (thank you Grandma!), hugs and kisses EVERYthing and asks for it to sit on her lap, and SO MUCH MORE. She keeps me going all. day. long. She's also mastered the tantrum. I thought she had it down long ago, but no. I was sorely mistaken. It's a fine art and she's got the gift.

Emma is six months old as of yesterday. I found some clay to make her hand print (like the one we have when Alice was six months old) and it came out great. Her hand is smaller than Alice's was at six months. You can tell that Alice had more meat on her bones. I don't have new stats for Emma yet (her next dr appt is on Monday), but at four months she was in the 30th percentile for weight, 75th for length, and 57th for head circumference. I think she was just under 13 lbs and something like 25 inches. She also started eating solids (meaning rice cereal mixed with mommy's milk) a few days ago. So far she's crazy messy and sucks her thumb or hand or fist or all of the above after EVERY single bite. I'm pretty sure some of it actually gets down her throat, but it's sort of hard to tell when you see the aftermath. She's rolling from tummy to back like a pro and getting really close to rolling back to tummy. Seems to be baffled by sitting up. Either she just folds right in half and sucks on her toes or will not be bent in the middle. She'll let you hold her standing. Emma is also quite the talker and I frequently wonder how I ended up with TWO loud girls?! Recently her "singing" has come out a few times as "ma ma ma" and that's pretty excellent.

Amy (that's me) likes being a stay-at-home mom. It seems like I always have a to-do list that's a mile long, but I'd rather play with my girls and let the dishes pile up. That said, I did just spend almost an hour cleaning up the dishes and kitchen. Oi. Worth waiting though. Alice & I had a great day playing together and reading LOTS of books. Her current favorite is a book about farms. She's also loving a recent addition "Little Blue Truck" with lots of animal noises and another book with songs we sing together. She LOVES Itsy Bitsy Spider and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Oh, and of course the Wheels on the Bus. Reading books with Alice helped me rediscover joy in reading (not aloud to her), finally finishing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Then The Princess Bride. Now reading Wuthering Heights. Can't forget... I have a garden too! We've got two different tomato plants, cucumbers, green beans, basil and cilantro (re-planted after the first batch I killed). Check out pictures here.

We celebrated our sixth anniversary on July 8th and were able to spend a night away without children, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa. It was weird at first, but so incredibly wonderful. Even though it was less than 24 hours, it was so refreshing and reminded me how blessed I am to have a hard-working husband who sees the benefit of having his wife home raising their children. I kind of can't believe we've been married six years already! Praying the Lord allows us many decades more!

So, now we're caught up. Here are pictures of May and June!

Verdict on my "quick"ness? Fail. Good night!

Fun Times

Alice is two. Emma is four months tomorrow. Andrew is ten days away from finishing his eighth semester of seminary.

Pictures of April(ish) here.

We made an epic trip to IKEA last week which involved the purchasing of birthday gifts for a certain 2 year old. Within about five steps from the car I felt something splat on my flip-flopped foot. Yes, it was baby poo. Thank you Emma for exploding through your diaper and saturating the strap of your car seat enough for it to drip out the other side. Andrew changed the diaper while I proceeded to use at least 20 wipes to clean off the car seat. I won't soon forget that awesomeness.

The smoke detector in our apartment is in tip-top shape. After our downstairs toilet overflowed (again) and I was sopping up the water from the floor (again), I was reminded of the tortillas in the toaster oven by the distinct burning smell wafting from the kitchen. Upon entering said kitchen I was greeted by smoke billowing from the toaster oven and two corn tortillas completely burnt and on fire. Not knowing if there was grease in the toaster oven, my first reaction was to move nearby papers and blow, hard, to put out the fire instead of throwing water in there. This caused the fire to grow at first, but eventually did go out. I'm not sure if it was my blowing that helped or the fact that there was nothing left of the tortillas to burn. Either way, fire was gone, but smoke was now headed upstairs to the smoke detector and sleeping Emma. Needless to say, she woke quickly. After opening all windows, the girls and their shaking mommy sat outside for a while, enjoying the night air and then a visit to our friend a few doors down. Our apartment smells a bit like a campfire, but the candles are working their magic. And we have a pretty cool smoke detector. It talks to you and lets you know when you need to evacuate.

Alice is officially 30 pounds and in the 86th percentile for weight. Length is in the 49th percentile and her head circumference (shocker) is in the 85th percentile. She's got a big head--for all her brains, of course. On the "Weight for Recumbent Length" chart, she's in the 94th percentile. She in the growing phase I like to call "porking out" before she grows a bit taller.

Emma's four month visit to the doctor is next week, but I suspect she's quite the opposite of her sister. Except for head circumference. Apparently our children have big heads. Emma, however, is mostly petite. Small hands, small feet, long and thin. But we'll have official stats on Monday. She has also now slept until 6 or 6:30 for two nights in a row. This makes mommy and daddy exceedingly joyful.

But now it's almost 10PM and my neck (with a giant knot in it) is telling me to take a hot shower and go to bed. And I will listen.