It's Time To Brag!

Good morning all! I just had to share a few pictures. My dad went to France a few months back and saw these little peasant dresses in a window. He bought them for the twins. How precious are these babies??

Here they are just chatting it up:

As you can see, Juliet's bottom teeth have grown in, and Scarlett's smile makes me melt.

This was in the hospital when Scarlett and Juliet came to see their new cousin Grace.

Juliet is a flower child.


Shannon says they are getting into everything now. Her exact quote was: "Scarlett is the opposite of Visa. She's everywhere you don't want her to be".
I adore these little girls and I can't wait to see them again!

Caffiene Deficiency

I'm trying to cut back on caffiene. Yes, me. Jenny. I am trying to drink more water and juices, etc. It's healthier for me. But the consequences have been unpleasant.

I am way too tired all the time. I've been coming home from work and taking naps. I don't have alot of energy. The headaches are HORRIBLE. They start at the back of your head, right above your neck and then move to your eye sockets. Nice.

I haven't had a Diet Coke in awhile, and my body is going nuts. I'm tricking myself by drinking caffiene free Diet Dr. Pepper to make my body think it is still getting what it needs. I'm not sure if it's working. Since I'm used to having a Diet Coke every morning and now I'm not, it has been hard cause I'm not getting my usual morning pick me up. So today I'm eating 2 chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. Because chocolate has caffiene.

I don't think I'm doing this right :)

Moxie

mox·ie (mŏk'sē) noun, Slang
The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.
Aggressive energy; initiative: Skill; know-how.

This is Moxie. He is our dog. Moxie is a Shiba Inu (it's Japanese) and he was born in November. We got him in January. Moxie is a wonderful little boy. He's nice to have around when you're bored or lonely. He is always SO excited to see you. When I get home from work he runs circles around the apartment for about 45 seconds before he will let me take him outside. He LOVES Grant. When Grant gets home from work everyday he runs to Grant and whimpers for about 2 minutes. It's as if he is saying "Where have you been???". We love him.

Alot of people ask where we got the name Moxie. I put the definition above. Moxie means courageous. (Or as my husband calls it, "ballsy"). Our Moxie has a lot of energy and excitement. He is also learning new tricks.

He now knows the word "sit" and will sit upon command. Grant has been trying to teach him how to shake, but apparently in dog language the word "paw" means "LAY DOWN".

He sleeps in awkward places. Now that it's getting hot outside he will go downstairs and sleep on the tile in front of the front door because it's cooler. He sleeps underneath the coffee table.

My favorite time of day with Moxie is when I get home from work. He knows our routine. I get home, he runs laps around the apartment. Then I take him out to pee. We come back inside and while Moxie finds every toy he owns and brings it to me as if to say "This is my rope" or "This is my duck", I get his treats out. Moxie gets a treat, takes it from me and then jumps onto the couch. I join him and we watch Oprah. Usually Moxie will fall asleep on my feet while we watch. It's the cutest.

I love my puppy and I hope you all get to meet him someday if you haven't already!

Words from the Wise

I have a link there down on the left that says "LPM". This is the blog for Living Proof Ministries. Beth Moore is a wonderful Bible teacher and she wrote a post yesterday that made me think. She does that alot :) I took a snippet of it here:

The beauty of finding yourself at a milestone of any meaningful kind in life is not that the journey there was so pretty. Or so successful. In many ways, the mysterious beauty of the whole thing is that the "getting there" was so awkward, wobbly, inconsistent, and even down-right messy that most of the time, you thought you'd never make it. What makes life on this frightful sod so exquisite is God's merciful propensity to perform divine tasks amid deeply flawed people. To paint intricate colors on a torn-up canvass. We can recognize a miracle when we see one because we know that, for God to use us, redeem us, or complete one stinkin' thing of value in us, it would have taken nothing less. That's what He calls getting the glory.

I don't know if you happen to be under heaps of discouragement right now over how messy your trip to any place good - even any place "God" - tends to be but I'd like to clear something up. No one does this life-thing perfectly. NO ONE.

I just really needed to hear that. Sometimes I'm wonder if I'm doing everything right. I'm not. I'm not doing everything right. But that's where grace comes in. I can't be the perfect wife. I can't be the perfect daughter, I can't be the perfect friend. I sometimes get sloppy and lazy and I get upset with myself. I haven't been eating right lately. I haven't done the laundry. My kitchen is a mess. I need to get this and that done. The list goes on and on and on. Sometimes it does seem like I'm just never gonna get there. I am deeply flawed. But that's why this life we live in is a miracle. Despite my flaws, the Lord still does something of value in my life. I have purpose.

Just wanted to share :)

Take a Look, It's in a Book!

It's Reading Rainboooooow!

I think I've recently found my love for reading again. I learned to read at a very young age. I was reading full sentences in Kindergarten and "Chapter Books" by 1st grade. You couldn't get me away from a book! I loved to read. And I think I still do.

School made me stop reading. Forced reading of an "Important" book (aka slow) just slowly took the fun out of it for me. I liked The Great Gatsby, but there is no fun in hurrying through Great Expectations. We had to read alot of books throughout the year, and their was no time for reading just for the sake of enjoyment. In college I had to read Lolita. For those of you who do not know the story, it's about a man and an 11 year old girl who have a full out love affair. I'm not kidding. This was required reading and the entire time I just wanted to throw up. It was disgusting. I guess for years I was just "turned off" to reading.

But now that no one is forcing me to, I'm reading again. Nicholas Sparks novels are easy reads and beautiful stories. Karen Kingsbury's "Redemption" series is captivating. If you haven't read Redeeming Love yet by Francine Rivers, stop what you're doing and go buy it right now.

My current book is The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory. I'm really getting into historical fiction. This book in particular is about the Tudor Dynasty and the mistresses of King Henry VIII. I'm almost finished with it, and I'll admit that it's very hard for me to put it down!

Anne Boleyn was the king's mistress and became queen, but it's a little known fact that her sister Mary was the king's first mistress and she bore two of his children. The book focuses on Mary. I plan on reading the other books by Phillippa Gregory after finishing this one.

"But you don't have to take my word for it!" (Reading Rainbow Awesomness)

Pretty Princess Grace

Here are a few more photos of beautiful Grace. God is so so good! He has blessed my family and I love having 3 beautiful nieces!

Mommy came to the hospital prepared.... every princess needs a pretty pink bow!

I had a wonderful time in Houston. It was nice to see the family and be there for Grace's birth. Gracie went into fetal distress and Jaclyn was immediately taken into surgery. Her heart rate dropped very very low and the doctor felt that he needed to get Grace out as soon as possible. While we were all having minor meltdowns in the waiting room, Jaclyn and Jeremy became parents to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Praise God for keeping everyone safe and healthy. We are so grateful!

I was supposed to fly home Thursday night at 9:00. Joanna and Lindsee took me to the airport where I sat around for a few hours, only to have my flight CANCELED due to bad weather. :( So that was fun! I called my dad and he came and picked me up. The good thing is, because I stayed in Houston an extra day, I got to see the twins! Scarlett and Juliet (Nieces 1 and 2) are getting so big. They are walking and saying little words (Bye-Bye) and have personality coming out of their ears! I was so blessed to be able to see them.

I got home Friday night and Grant and I slept in late Saturday morning. We spent Saturday afternoon on the golf course. Yes, even me! Sometimes I go with Grant and drive the cart. I'll bring my book along and enjoy the pretty day with my husband. Last night we went over to have dinner with our new friends, Matt and Julie Heinz. We met them at church. Julie is due with their first baby, Jacob, any minute now. In fact, her due date is today! We had lunch with them today after church and feel very blessed to have made more new friends.

I've spent most of my afternoon cleaning. It's getting to be allergy season for me so I need to stay on top of the dust situation so it doesn't get any worse for me.....

This week looks like it's going to be pretty uneventful, lets hope it stays that way!!

Introducing.....

Grace Parker Underwood

7lbs, 9oz, 19 1/2 Inches.

Grace made a very dramatic entrance by emergency c-section at 3:26pm. Aunt Jenny and the Grandmothers were thoroughly freaked. But all is well and baby and mommy are doing wonderfully! I will update more tomorrow but wanted to thank everyone for their prayers! Praise the Lord for little miracles!