Splishy, Splashy Baby Bathy!

When we all moved into our house together, we knew that having one bathtub would require a baby bathing schedule. We also knew that it was inevitable that Lily and Jancsi would soon end up in the tub together. Little did we know that the time would come while we were up in the mountains. It was such a cute time, that I had to devote an entire blog to it. PRECIOUS!



The mountain tub was tight, but it fit these precious wet babies just perfectly. Lily loves to stand at the side of the tub and Jancsi is fast wanting to do everything that Lily does. Between Grace holding Jancsi up, Bob snapping pictures like crazy and Sebron and I laughing and adoring our babies we had a regular party in the bathroom.




When the kiddos were bathed, pjed and snuggled in their beds we all got to thinking about how special those brief bathtime moments were and how that memory will be stuck in our minds all of our life. In fact, Lily and Jancsi will probably get tired of hearing the bathtime story! It just serves to remind us how fast our babies are growing up and how special each little moment is!

Patchwork Majesty!

The Fall is such a BEAUTIFUL season out here in North Carolina. The lush foliage turns into an exquisite color palate and just engulfs every view around.





I also love it because the leaves stick around for a good month and a half so we get to enjoy the colors for a long time. It was an especially wonderful weekend this past few days because we got to head out to Boone and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sebron and Grace took us out to his Mammy's house just outside of Boone and we had a fantastic time!

The mountains of North Carolina are somewhat different than the Colorado Rockies, but so beautiful. Once we made it up to the house, we got settled and then headed to the Cascades for a quick and chilly hike. The Cascades are an exquisite waterfall and you actually get to hike all down the fall.




We borrowed a backpack from one of our friends. It was so cool because Lily got to piggy back on me which kept me warm too. What a cutie! The 4 of us love having kiddos that will go wherever we go. We just bundle them up and pack them along.


The next morning, after a long baby nap, we headed further into Boone towards Grandfather Mountain.



The traffic was crazy to get up the mountain so we decided to head around the back and hike up the less known trails. We ate a little Picnic lunch before we headed up the hill. Lily was loving her graham crackers and Jancsi was mesmerized with everything.



The hike was beautiful and covered with leaves and big trees. We passed by this beautiful waterfall and took a few moments to enjoy the scene.





Lily enjoyed most of the time in dreamland on her Daddy's back. After a couple of hours we headed back down the hill, stopped at a roadside jammery (jelly shop?) and took a tour of the Mast General Store.


It was such a step back in time. The General Store is over 100 years old and has been turned into a massive store offering everything from kitchen accessories, clothes, shoes, candy in barrels and old fashioned coke in a bottle.



What a great experience. Jancsi got to be the town sheriff for a couple of minutes and Miss Lily got to be her new favorite animal. HOO, HOO, HOO, HOO!



Once we made it back home we all had a scrumptious dinner, bathed the babies (check back soon for that story!), put the babies to bed and spent an evening around the Settlers Board Game. What fun!



We ended the week with church on the hill. Before church we ate at the amazing Dan'l Boone Inn for breakfast. It was an all you can eat (on a turntable) breakfast with everything from baked apples, cinnamon buns, bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes and country grits. YUM!



Lovely, beautiful and majestic weekend!

Our Family of 3

As Lily Grace's birthday fast approaches, I cannot help but think about our journey and how far we have come. Our precious little girl is the greatest most unbelievable gift that we have been given. I am amazed to think that 2 years ago Bob and I were feeling so overwhelmed with our infertility and our dear friend Armondo's passing. Truthfully, life felt dark, and we felt stuck in the valley with no end in sight. I remember thinking so wistfully about the idea of a baby, hoping that someday I would hold our precious little one, desperately trying to hold the mountains of negativity and "impossibility" at bay. What a hard time. In fact I can remember thanking God for trials at a Thanksgiving dinner. You know you are in a valley when trials are what you are grateful for.

That was then, and this is now........




Oh I just cannot believe that this moment, this day and this baby girl are here, real, tangible and BEAUTIFUL. God is so good and He is so faithful. His mercies are new every morning and He has delivered us from the valley. Great is His Faithfulness!!




Lily is a perfect example of the grace given to us.



She is a gift, undeserved, but given freely. Look at her beauty. She mirrors the image of a Perfect God who knit her together and who knew her even before time. She was planned and purposed even when Bob and I sat in the fertility clinic listening as the doctor told us that our chances of conceiving naturally were less than 5%. Her frame was never hidden and He knew her unformed body. I am so humbled, honored and blessed to have been given the gift of this precious little life.





As we get closer to her birthday we cannot help but reflect on every moment of the past 11 and a half months. Yes there have been sleepless nights and frustrated days, but we have cherished every moment of loving our Lily Grace. She is a Divine Joy sent to remind us that we serve a Powerful and Magnificent Creator. One who makes the impossible, POSSIBLE!

Ramblin' Rose Half Marathon!

Since I have had a baby, getting back into running shape has been a big goal. My ultimate goal is of course the Disney World Marathon in January 2012 and I can't believe that it is only 3 months away! Lily and I run at least 3-4 times during the week and then we always run on Saturday with Bob. It really has become a great routine! So in an effort to get myself in shape and set some distance goals for myself, I registered for the Inaugural Ramblin' Rose Women's Half Marathon! I have had it in my sights for a long time and I was etra excited when my sweet friend and running partner Grace decided to sign up for it too! We have had it as a goal for ourselves and we feel so good being able to run the distances with a 6 and 11 month old waiting at the finish!




So with all of the running that I have been doing, I could not wait to run the half. You can imagine how upset I was when I woke up on Friday to excruciating pain in my hip joint. We are talking couldn't walk up the stairs pain. YIKES! I have no idea what I did, but it was miserable! I went to the chiropractor and she instantly recognized it as the periformis(sp?) muscle. Basically it runs through your behind and around your hip. When it is inflamed it causes pain literally all down your leg. Awful! On Saturday I stretched and iced, took advil and iced, stretched and sat and iced all the while praying that I would be able to run come Sunday. I woke up Sunday to my hip feeling "better" so I headed to the start line. So long were my goals to run it under 2 hours, I was just going to finish.......I hoped!

We all are officially MILA sponsored athletes, so we all donned our apparell, bundled up the little babies and headed up to Durham! Sebron was on Baby Duty and turned out to be excellent runner support as well!



Bob ran the entire race completely barefoot. He was one of only 50 guys registered for the half and led the pack with ease.


Grace and I started together, but separated in the middle when I had to stop and stretch the hip. I felt really great through the first half, but I angered my hip in the last half of the race. So I had to slow way down. To compound the hip was the fact that the entire race was hills. There were literally no flat parts, you were either going up, or down. All I can say is that it is a good thing I push a baby up the hills around our house. WOW. I pushed through the pain and crossed the finish at 2:02. Just can't get below 2 hours. Someday....


We all finished strong and grabbed our medals with pride!




The kiddos were awesome, but very hungry and tired by the time we were all done. The race really was spectacular and quite an accomplishment to be sure!