Another iPhone Photo Shoot - V-Day!

Although we don't celebrate Valentines Day here in Brazil I thought it would be fun to put together a little photo shoot with the twins. We do celebrate a similar "holiday" in June, but it is much more focused on couples rather than friendship and love in general, (and less candy which is good!) It is hard to believe that this time last year David took me out for breakfast - long-haired and big-bellied and now my little ones are almost 9 months old!

Anyways, enough sentimentality for now. We have a nice stone/brick wall in our parking space outside and it's a great place for setting up a shoot. I made a simple heart garland backdrop with four colors of cardstock; red, dark pink, light pink and white. Each heart was taped to a string and the strands hung up with masking tape. It was pretty windy so some of the other hearts had to be taped down as well.

Since my last "photo shoot" with the twins in December, they have gotten a lot more mobile! Making it that much harder to get a good shot. Also it's quite difficult to get them in position and then run back, pick up the phone and get the shot before they move. Difficult, as in, impossible. Twin photo shoot tip #1 - have at least one baby-wrangler on the scene!

Attempts...

Props are always a good idea when working with babies. Obviously they thought my backdrop was fair game too. I was hoping the blocks would keep them in one spot, but they kept coming after the "love" blocks I wanted in the foreground. My ideal shot was one of them holding "x" and "o" with the "love" in the foreground. Didn't happen.

More attempts...

More toys brought out to keep them immobile. Finally I resorted to cookies.

This is the best I got! Lisa is just incredibly hard to capture because she is always on the move!

I'm still glad I got to capture them at this exciting stage, because they are growing up so quickly and I can only imagine how much harder a photo shoot will be when they are walking!

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!! Spend it with someone you love. :) 

Speaking Grace

Grace. It's kind of my word for the year.

Do you ever look at your children and feel like you are seeing them with fresh eyes? Almost as though you are seeing them for the first time, again? You notice the curve of their slightly upturned nose, the unique shape of their head. When I consider my children, they are Grace personified to me. I truly don't deserve them. They are not mine, but they are a gift to me. From the true Giver of Grace. And when I am struggling in the trenches of motherhood, feeling unworthy and under qualified, I am reminded of how much I need God's grace in my own life.

I want to speak grace.

I never really saw myself as overly impatient or quick to speak rashly or harshly. That, of course, was before I had kids! Somehow, in a matter of seconds, events escalate and I realize I am not speaking to them gracefully or graciously. Acknowledging that we are all sinners in need of a Savior has truly impacted the way I see my children - yes, they are beautiful, smart, unique, capable of many good things, but they are also sinners. And it is my job to guide and lead them to the only source of true goodness; a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and the work of His Holy Spirit to change their hearts. The way that I demonstrate this is often through my words - I want to speak of His love, His amazing grace. A book that my hubby and I are reading right now has really helped us to frame our everyday conversations (and confrontations) with our kids through the lens of grace. It's called (not surprisingly) "Give them Grace" by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick.

For me to speak grace into their lives, it needs to be working in my heart as well. I find myself mulling over this precious truth of God's grace in my life and praying for it to overflow to my kids. I want them to have a sense of grace in their lives and to see it at work in me.

So what does it mean to speak grace into the lives of my kids? It starts in my heart, receiving God's grace, allowing it to affect every area of my life. I pray for the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in my life; speaking with love, joy and patience. Being kind, gentle and compassionate. Always speaking the truth so that my kids can trust me. Using self-control when situations start to get out of hand. And in all things, good and bad, pointing my kids back to the heart-truth - that only through God's grace can I give grace to them.

Of course, I fail. All the time. I raise my voice, react too quickly, speak without thinking.

And that is what's so amazing about God's grace. He doesn't treat us as we deserve. Instead of seeing the sinful, broken being, He sees Jesus' righteousness and blesses us. This is the kind of grace I want to show my kids. And when I fail, His grace is sufficient for me.

He is working in my weakness to demonstrate His strength.

The 3 E's of Easy* Parenting

Parenting is one of those things you go into without knowing exactly what to expect. An often easily attained title, being a parent is not easy. It's a call to lay down your life for the good of another; to put off selfishness and put on the virtues of patience, grace, mercy and compassion. It's a life-long role you fulfill in creating and guiding the precious lives of your children. And while it is something many, many of us experience, it is also a deeply personal journey; for every family, every child, is different.

When I consider parenting, I think of the commonly used phrase, "it takes a village" - and in our day and age our "village" is considerably bigger than it used to be. For we are not only connected to our immediate and extended families and neighborhoods, but through communities, schools, books, articles, media, news, internet, blogs and videos, we are exposed to so many different ideas and styles of parenting. Rules, tips, projects, schedules - whatever you're looking for you can find in spades!

This is what I've been thinking about as I raise my kids in a foreign country. There are cultural differences in the way we are raising our kids. And there is just so much information available about how to parent that it feels overwhelming. While it is amazing to have the whole world at your fingertips, there is danger as well. Time spent reading or researching can take time away from parenting. How many times have we sat there, scrolling through Pinterest for the perfect project, only to lose the time to actually do it?

As we look for answers to our questions, we can fall into the trap of setting up unrealistic expectations for our family and our kids. No one's life is "pinterest perfect"and we can't expect it to be. Having unrealistic expectations also leads us to compare our lives to others, coveting their apparently immaculate play-room or well-mannered children.

This is not to say we shouldn't use Pinterest, or Google, or participate on forums, or share ideas and tips on raising our kids. We should, however, be discerning when it comes to what we read, and how long we spend online. This is something I struggle with as my mind is always going a million miles a minute and I'm thinking about new recipes to try, projects for the kids, blog posts to write and wondering how many naps should my 8 month old twins be taking? 

So in an effort to simplify my parenting "style" I've been concentrating on three "E" words

Engage - Put everything else down and engage with my kids, in whatever stage or phase they're in. Cuddle my babies while they're young. Create Lego, paint and draw, play hide and seek and invest in my kids lives. Enjoy this stage, because it is going to be gone before I know it. Interact with your kids and invite them to be a part of what you're doing. This is not to say you can spend every minute with your kids, but they need to spend some time with you with no distractions.

Embrace - This season of life is short. Already my five-year old feels so big and my twins, babies no more. Treasure your kids for who they are, love on them and show it! Literally, embrace them each and every day. Embrace your role for this season. It means dirty diapers, snotty noses, potty accidents and lots of spills to clean up. It also means late-night snuggles, reading books with your kids on your lap, watching them discover the world, taking first steps and finding their place in this world.

Evolve - This parenting gig is one you take on with no previous experience. You are learning on the job. It's a steep learning curve which never really ends. Don't get bogged down by "rules" but be flexible in finding what works for your family. If it doesn't work, try something else. You shouldn't need to defend your parenting to anyone else. If you feel defensive, maybe there is something you know you should change.

There is no one "right" way to parent. Be wise with your time and your mind; fill it with Biblical principles, advice from those you look up to and trust. Read good books, find worthwhile articles and spend more time parenting than reading about parenting! While I am far, far away from having this parenting gig figured out, I'm finding that having these three words to think about helps to direct my time and focus my attention on what really matters; my precious kids and this privileged vocation called motherhood.

And now I've got to run as my twins are clamoring for my undivided attention! I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Grace for the weary

It's 8:53pm. The house is quiet. Finally. You couldn't have known that mere minutes ago it was a bustle of activity; the business of getting to bed.

Babies nursed, diapers changed, toys picked up, bottles given.

Teeth brushed, pajamas donned, babies rocking in arms, in chairs.

Lights out, stars shine, fans whirring in the humid summer heat.

Patience wanes, babies lie sleeping while older ones resist. The air thickens with the tension of opposing wills. Abundant energy defies the call to calm down. Voices raised.

Prayers. For mom and child alike. Petitions for love, joy, peace and obedience. Forgiveness sought.

Songs. Lyrics fighting the feelings in the singer's soul. Truth sung over the lives of loved ones. Hope for the next day, new mercies to behold.

Grace.

Received so that it may also be given.

"Goodnight kids, I love you"

...and then there's the planet where Zombies come from...

...and other weird things my kids say.

Elena, sitting on the potty without her shirt on, feeling her long hair on her back: It's wong, mommy!
Me: Yeah, honey, it's growing really long!
Elena: Almost I will be a woman!!

Not sure where she got this idea about womanhood and long hair...or what it says about me right now...

Lucas: Let's call them both Leila! (the twins)
Me: Why, Lucas?
Lucas: Then we'll always know who is who!

In the car after school, Elena sees some graffiti on the walls: (shouting indignantly) Somebody dwawed on the walls! Who was it? Maybe it was God!!

At the dinner table,
Lucas: Mommy! That baby is leaking from her mouth!

And a wonderful conversation between the two of them, in the car, after driving around the block in a vain effort to secure a parking spot:
Lucas: they're not sharing!
Elena: I like shawing,
Lucas: I like cars, but now they're mean, because they're not sharing; the road or the parking lots...
Elena: Dirty cars!
Lucas: Yeah, poopy cars, they're like little disobeying babies!

And just so Leila doesn't feel left out...

What crazy things do your kids say? Linking up with Rosie today.

Quick Takes

--1--
You know you have four kids when a "date" with your hubby means having an hour in the car "alone" (i.e., all four kids sleeping in the back) and you stop to pick up your favorite drinks and snacks to enjoy on the way.

--2--
There's not much point spending half an hour writing out your meal plan and grocery list if you take it to the store and then forget to look at it until you've finished shopping and put everything into the car. Forgot one thing? No way you're going back into the store!

--3--
Lucas: Mommy, your belly is really squishy...
Me: Yes, it is Lucas, because mommy had a lot of babies in there.
Lucas: Yeah, first Lucas was in your belly, and then Elena, and then Lisa and Leila. You're right mommy! That's a lot of babies!
*pause*
Lucas: But how did the babies all get out?
Me: Well...
*pause*
Lucas: Look mommy! Leila's awake!
Me: *phew* dodged that bullet. 
At least he didn't ask how the babies got there in the first place!

--4--
How can my babies be 8 months old already? The time is flying by so fast. They are well over 8 kgs (about 18 lbs), eating all kinds of foods, sitting and playing by themselves, crawling all over the place and already trying to climb up on the furniture. They babble and sing and love to laugh. It is getting harder and harder to get a good photo of them together!

--5--
A few random numbers for ya:
30 - The average temperature (Celsius) this week. It's been hot, folks!
4 - Number of times I was up in the night with the twins. And this was actually a pretty good night! Each was up twice.
3 - Approximate number of times my cup of tea gets re-heated before finally finished.
6:00am - The time Lisa decided to get up for good this morning.
70 - The length (height) of my babies (in cm).

--6--
Lucas and Elena are getting to a wonderful stage where they love to hear stories. Mostly at bedtime as I think they want to prolong the process as much as possible. What are some good books to read aloud to them? They are age 3 - 5.

--7--
I was pretty happy about this Angel Food cake I made for David to celebrate his birthday last week. Not too hard as long as you're careful about any oil, grease or egg yolk that can mess up the rising of the cake. Baked it in a tube pan, then filled the centre with fresh strawberries and "frosted" with whipped cream. So, you know, if you happen to have a dozen eggs lying around, give it a try! Here's the recipe I used.

Happy Friday everyone! 

Two Peas in a Pod

... Or not!

Aside from sharing womb time, Lisa and Leila are as different as any other two siblings. People love to know just exactly how different they are, often asking "who is more happy / sleepy / loud / smiley" etc. We have a tendency to make a lot of comparisons between our children - Lucas did such and such at this age, Elena didn't do such and such like that. Of course we never quite remember exactly  how it was with the older children, so it is quite interesting to be able to compare the twins in "real time" as they are growing up together - going through the same stages at their own pace and in their own way. 

So how similar are Lisa and Leila? In some ways about as similar as night and day! Lisa is our loud one - she was born first with a great big wail of a cry, bringing tears to my eyes. When Leila was taken out she had a small, delicate little cry. This has continued to be the case when they get vaccinations or when they had their ears pierced.

Leila in her favorite toy on the left and Lisa in hers on the right. 

As we've moved past the sleeping-all-day part, we now get to enjoy watching the two of them play "together" - side by side usually, and occasionally one crawls on top of the other. Leila is much more easily occupied by our baby toys, and quite happy to sit on her own inspecting the small details of all our toys and books. Lisa is much happier when she's close to someone (and thankfully Leila helps with that) and is much more intrigued with household objects like spatulas and TV remotes. Of course with the two of them everything also goes into the mouth... As I sit here writing this, they are playing on the floor fighting over sharing a balloon. 

We started our wonderful solid food journey about two months ago, and at the beginning Leila refused to eat off the spoon. So I'd let her experiment by herself with the food on her tray and feed Lisa with the spoon. I would say we do a mix of baby-led eating with finger foods and purees / spoon fed meals. 

Sleeping is where they seem to differ the most. Lisa is a cat-napper, often lasting no more than half an hour in the crib. She prefers to nap in a stroller or bouncy chair. Leila takes good, long naps, sprawled out on her belly in the crib. Lisa needs to be coaxed (rocked, bounced etc) into sleep, Leila gets fussy and we lie her down and within minutes she is sleeping. This has made it interesting to try to get them on any sort of reliable schedule together!

Lisa is our more "high maintenance" baby and Leila is just so laid-back it is amazing. They both love to smile, babble in different ways, play with Lucas and Elena and be held by mommy and daddy. 

With all their differences there is one thing that remains the same; every day we fall in love with them even more. What a surprise it was to learn we would be having twins - and each day they surprise us as they each grow into their own unique little person. Such a privilege to be a twin mommy!