What are the odds?

My brother Greg married my fabulous sister-in-law Susan 15 years ago this July, and when he did so, he ALSO lucked out by marrying a girl who shares my big sister Jodi's birthday, which is today.  

Then Greg and Susan went on to have their oldest, Scott (turning six), and their youngest, Ashley (turning one) on the SAME DAY!  So happy birthday to Jodi, Susan, Scott, and Ashley!

These are from some beach playdates this week...

Charlotte, Abby Jane, and Campbell

Jaxon bringing a bucket up to show the girls the softshell crab in it...

Jaxon's mama, Trisha, asked Abby Jane if she would like to touch the crab (like the other children).  Abby Jane: "Nnno."

Carrie and Mihret came to play yesterday, and the girls had a great time at the beach!

"What, it's funny when I stuff multiple bananas in my mouth?"

Jake's polishing off the shotgun...

Because we are going to have THREE LITTLE GIRLS!!!  We had our first ultrasound today with our perinatologist, and they very definitely saw two baby girls in there!  Both girls looked perfectly healthy and developing right on schedule, so we are beyond thankful for that blessing.

We are so excited to have three precious girls, and bless Jake's heart for all that will come with three little ladies!!!!  We'll have to get him a boy dog someday to help even out the ratio...

Chasing Birds and Playground Bullies

We met up with Lesley and Sammy at the Country Mart this morning.  Someone had thrown some pieces of bread in the grass, and these two were making after those birds like it was the best thing ever!

As we were packing up our things, this older little boy at least three years old came over and started playing with one of Sammy's trucks.  After we took the truck back so we could go and complimented him on the balloon he had, he promptly gave Abby Jane (who was just standing there) a hard shove.  She didn't fall and didn't seem to care, but I didn't want to wait around and let him have another go at it.  I totally under-reacted and didn't say anything, but just scooped Abby Jane up and we left.  But after we left, I got all defensive.  Big three year old boy better not run into me in a dark alley! :)  Not that Abby Jane has never hit anyone before... but he was so big and she was so much smaller!  Little punk. :)

15 months

Abby Jane turned 15 months on Mother's Day weekend!  This girl is a mile a minute these days.  She mostly runs around when we're outside and a big explorer- walking on walls, "hopping" off curbs, preferring to walk up and down stairs- it's a fun, busy time!  

Other highlights of 15 months...

-gets excited when she sees her little friends

-LOVES flags- points them out everywhere and says "fwag!"  

-likes to count- or have me count and she chimes in especially on 2, 6, and 8.  We count when we're driving down the hill on campus because there are several flags at the base of campus- so we get in the car and she says, "Two, fwag!" so I'll remember to count

-enjoys the pool, especially when Daddy is there to throw her much higher than I'm comfortable with! Which is one of the things daddies are there for, right?

-loves ANY water- this is at a great pond area at a nearby shopping area- it's really fun for her when it's hot out and I let her get soaking!

-loves fruit, is not into veggies, and here she is having a smoothie for breakfast one day

-don't give her a bite of something she may like unless you're prepared to share it until it's gone

-is trying to lose her morning nap but still has quiet playtime in there as of right now

-points at my belly and says, "baby!" Which sounds brilliant until she points at her tummy or Jake's and says, "baby!" So now baby and belly are apparently interchangeable in her world!

-understands SOOO much more than we realize, which we keep forgetting until she responds to what we're saying!

-has had more bouts of separation anxiety recently, but is always easily distracted by a question or suggestion of something else to do; is also learning to exert her independent spirit in not always coming when called- so we're working on that!!

We went to the zoo as guests of Carrie and Mihret last week, courtesy of the annual pass Mihret got for her 2nd bday.  It was a great, great time, and so nice to not feel like we needed to pack it all in one day since it was free and we can go back for free!  The chimps were fed while we were there, and I think that was her favorite part, as you can tell by this face she made...

Can't you just eat Mihret up?
The gorilla is right in front of them!

Looking at the giraffes...
And that's the end for now!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all!  Hope it was a great weekend of celebrating!

First and foremost, thank you each and every one for your KIND, PRECIOUS words of excitement and encouragement.  It makes huge life events seem more real when shared with dear friends.  We continue to be so excited and feel so at rest in the Lord's perfect provision for our little family!  

I apologize for having not responded to many emails or phone calls in the last week.  Right after I made that post, I used any free time to get us ready for the camping trip we went on last Thursday through Sunday.  I do look forward to getting caught up this week and next!

We had a trip planned to camp at Lake Cachuma for this last weekend, about 30 minutes from Santa Barbara.  We thought we may have to cancel due to the wildfire, but were so thankful that the air quality at the lake was still just fine as the winds blew the smoke out to sea.  This is what it was like as we passed through Santa Barbara on our way to Cachuma.

Abby Jane had a great time on this second camping trip for her.  She LOVED the tent, or "toot" as she called it, and has been asking for it ever since we got home yesterday!  She thought it was great fun to run around inside, jump on our thermarests, crash on our sleeping bags, throw herself onto the side of the tent and fall back onto the cushy bags/ thermarest combo!
Morning sippy cup by the fire
Sitting in her new little camp chair- she's saying "seat" as I'm taking the picture.  We think that orange will make the chair perfect for her to use at tailgates, too!
I think discovering how to throw rocks was one of the other highlights of the trip for Abby Jane.  We went on long walks in the mornings that included a little trail to this spot.

We had planned to go on several hikes, but it turned out to be pretty hot in the afternoons, and I just wasn't handling the heat well enough for a hike.  So we took an afternoon trip our second day to a cute nearby town named Solvang, and we even got to read books under a shady tree in a park while she had her afternoon nap!
We did have some issues with some marrauding birds and squirrels while we were gone one morning on a long walk.  We were also chased out of our campsite by a much-to-brazen skunk who proceeded to go through our trash that we had not hung up yet after dinner.  Jake made fun of me because while it was there, I was saying, "Let's just get in the car!" because it was NOT "just going on its way" like Jake said it would and kept coming closer and closer the more we backed away... and  Abby Jane was safe and sound in the tent, so we didn't have to worry about her!  Then after it left, I was talking trash about how it better not come back and what I would do, etc.  What can I say- I'm just not into animals that should be skittish and are NOT! 

But other than those run-ins with nature, it was a precious weekend of being away, unplugged, and being able to process the newest development in our lives!

Two for One

We received the biggest surprise of our lives yesterday at my first ultrasound appointment when we were shown TWO BABIES!!!!!  

NO I am not kidding and NO we have NO history of twins on either side of our families!!  

The tech thought we already knew and just casually said, "So there's twins there."  We thought she was kidding and she had to say three times that she wasn't until she finally said that she "wouldn't kid around about something like that!"

Jake and I broke into hysterical laughter that lasted about five minutes.  I'm not sure if I have ever laughed so hard in my life.

The tech started laughing so hard at us that she started to cry as she said, "I'll just give you two a minute!"

So if you do the math, we will have THREE children under the age of TWO come early November!  My due date is now the 10th.

That would be their TWO heads below...

One on top of the other sideways (because there are TWO babies)...

"Baby 1" (labelled as such because there is MORE than ONE)

"Baby 2" 

We are absolutely overjoyed and shocked and thrilled and nowhere near close to grasping what is about to happen!  Our God has SUCH a MIGHTY sense of humor, and it's beyond exciting to see that He has a plan for our lives that is NOT what we could have ever guessed.  My adventure-loving Jake who has the gift of adaptability said over and over on our way home, "I love life!!"  I have never felt so in the middle of the Lord's hands as we are entering into this crazy new stage that only He could have miraculously chosen to bring us to.  

As we are trying to absorb all of this, we talked about how we really want to keep forefront in our minds how we felt those first five minutes and "Choose hilarity!" Because this is a great demonstration of a great God who works "outside of the box" and has all kinds of things up His sleeve that we could never imagine!

There is a lot more I could share but one last thought that we love is how God created Abby Jane perfectly for this role.  That girl's independence and knowing of her own mind and total confidence in marching to the beat of her own drum is the PERFECT recipe for the only-slightly older sister for twins.  She will effectively rule the roost and not come anywhere near getting trampled down by the younger two.

Please do join us in praying for the babies' health as there are all kinds of extra factors that come into play with twins.  But everything looked great yesterday and we are at total peace and rest in the confidence that the God Who created those TWO babies did not forget any of the details that will come along with them, including their health!  

A welcome weekend

Jake finished most of his work before this weekend, so we had a great time enjoying acting like a "normal" family (is there such thing?!)  We bought her these glasses on Saturday morning and here's also a clip of Abby Jane "jamming" as she frequently does when music comes on...

We all went to Will Rogers State Park for a picnic and some flag football on Saturday...

And to the beach on Sunday afternoon!

Daddy Time

Jake has had a ton of schoolwork recently that has kept him out studying and writing papers to all hours.  But somehow in the midst of all that, he has made time for this...

In defense of Jake's back, I must say they had been doing this for a few minutes before I got out the camera.  (No, he did not make me say that- he's actually not home right now!)

In watching this video, I remembered that the two things my daddy and I did every night when I was little was read stories and "do tricks, Daddy!"  Do you remember doing tricks with your daddy when he came home from work?  I remember asking to be thrown up in the air in the den where we had vaulted ceilings as soon as he came in the door from work.  Abby Jane's obviously going to asking the same thing as soon as she knows how!