This Year, October Brings.....

October is a significant month for me and my husband. God seems to bless our lives with new adventures that are forever life changing this time every year, which seems fitting since October is already representative for change. 

October calls forth a changing of seasons. It brings with it the crisp cool air of fall with changing colored leaves that express God's glorious creativity. October also has it's festive fun that can't be found in any other season. I'm talking about pumpkin carving, hay rides, corn mazes, orchards and apple cider, trick or treating, etc. Yes to all, please! 

We also seem to have a theme of October associations in our family. Pumpkin Pie is a favorite here in the Adam's household. Kyle and I eat it no matter what time of year it is. We love it. We make a date night out of it. A good classic movie and pumpkin pie making! Kyle has also given me the pet name, "Nangua," which means 'little pumpkin' in Chinese. It started out as a fortune cookie joke that stayed. We also call our twin baby girls, 'punkins.' We have an obvious love of pumpkins around here. 

So what has been so life changing for us in this fabulous month of October? 

It all starts on October 24, 2009. Kyle and I met for the very first time at a Haunted House at a group gathering from church. He gave me his sweatshirt since it was freezing outside and I was unprepared for any other activities other than dinner where Kyle had previously laid eyes on me and knew I would forever change him. ::ahhhh, sweet romance:: We got carried away in a discussion about a zombie who was in a group entertaining the lines of people with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance. We went on to have our first date together on Halloween. 

Kyle took me out on a real blind date on October 29, 2010. I mean, I was actually blindfolded as he took me to a special location set up for a proposal. And, of course, I said, "Yes!" 

Before our twins were delivered a few weeks early, our original due date was October 13, 2011. Unfortunately, Esther had to stay in the NICU for some time, but we were finally able to bring her home on October 5, 2011. Mommy was finally at peace and in love with both of her babies home. 

Kyle would also go on to take his Professional Engineering exam just a couple weeks later after about 100 hours of studying and 4 years of engineering in training requirements. He passed and obtained his license! We are so proud of our Kyle! It was definitely a career changer and would later come to be in our favor for Kyle's new job. 

So, what does this year, 2012, bring in the month of October, might you ask? 

Well.....

 New Baby Makes 5! 

After this year's October blessing, we can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the October to come! Lots of new chapters and new adventures to come for our still very new family! 

The Moon? Throw a Lasso Around It!

If you were one that attended our wedding, you heard my sister give a very memorable but sentimental toast at the reception. Her toast described how I have always loved Disney. When I was a child, it started with all the fairy tales: Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Cinderella, etc., but then as I grew up, so did Disney. I moved on to guilty pleasures like the High School Musicals, Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, etc . The point was I always had a dream of a fairy tale romance. It almost seemed like an impossible dream or that my expectations were to the sky. In short, her toast was describing that I had finally found my fairy tale romance that I had always dreamed of. Kyle romances me to the moon and back and I love it! It makes our relationship exciting and spicy.

This dream of a fairy tale romance was not given completely by those Disney tales, although they do fill a girls head with all the right ideas! Ha! But it was inspired by God who created me with the dream and desire to be swept off my feet not only in a dating relationship but in my marriage too. He knew the plans He had made for my life and only drove me to crave it until I found it- Kyle. It wasn't easy believing that dream could come true and there was a time I forfeited it altogether, but God restored me to that privileged dream.

This week God began awakening me to start dreaming big dreams with Him. I don't know yet what these dreams may be or what they may even look like, but they have me eagerly seeking out the Father's heart. They are dreams that seem bigger than I am. Ones that leave me feeling intimidated, apprehensive, but yet intrigued and anticipated all in the same breath. I feel like they will push me out of my comfort zones, but only to find even bigger joy and double portions when I get there. It is hard to reach down inside yourself to find what you or I are really capable of doing/being....to push myself straight into God's big plans!  

I feel like Genesis 15:5 when ^"the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” 

I'm not speaking of descendants here. Haha! God is figuratively speaking like George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life." "What is it you want, Mary Ashley? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary Ashley."

God's taking me under the clouds of the day, under the starry night sky, and wanting me to dream dreams with Him. That is just indescribably exciting!!! I am aligning myself with Him, His Will, and His big Dreams. I get to be part of God's plan! And then see them fulfilled!

It is only when we align our dreams with God that those dreams can really come true! Not by our own works, striving, strengths, or selfish aspirations. It's when we submit entirely to God and His prosperous plans for our lives. Dreaming Big Dreams with His Heart!

In order for those dreams to be fulfilled, He is calling me to have faith, childlike faith, to believe in Him so that we can take hold of those dreams that are in store. To have faith that only He, the Almighty, can do. The anything, everything, and the impossible.

Now that might seem easy, but I look at Abraham who was 100 years old, and think....I would have to dig deep to find that faith in believing God would give me a son at that age. But Genesis 15:6 says, "And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith."

Are you inspired to dream dreams with the Most High? He wants to dream enormous dreams with you! The easy ones... that husband you're waiting for, that job you're anticipating, a captivating romance, a restored marriage, missions, or the impossible ones that our hearts have yet to dream with Him or ones in the process of being fulfilled by Him. 

I look at where I am now compared to just years ago. I have undeserving favor and living dreams I never knew could really be obtained, better ones than I could have ever imagined, and God's calling for more... more dreams, more joy, more of His heart and less of mine! There's always more dreams to be dreamed. We don't just have so settle with current aspired dreams. I don't want to become complacent in the dreams God has already and is fulfilling in my life. There's so much more to God and His heart to be shared with us!! 

Babies Growth Update

It's week 2 of turning 1 years old and our little Anna and Esther think they need to leave all things baby behind to become toddlers. My little heart has been sad for the past couple weeks. Don't misunderstand, it's so exciting to watch them grow and learn, but it is going all too fast for me and my heart has not had time to catch up. ::tears:: Here's a little bit of feats and 'goings on' just in this past week:

Anna signed for the first time on Sunday. She signed, "All done" at lunch when she was teething and didn't want any more food since her gums were hurting, poor punkin'. Her 3rd tooth popped through the next day.

On Tuesday, I made mac & cheese for Esther and I to share since she has been picking up foods on her own, but she not only wanted to feed herself, but she also wanted to feed Mommy too! I think she made more of a mess trying to feed me than herself. Haha! It was super cute! 

Wednesday, we got our 2nd little set of pitter patters around the house. Esther officially started walking! Yay! She surprised us on this. I thought it might be a little longer for her as she hasn't seemed interested in walking at the sight of Anna walking at 11 months old. Anna was determined and kept trying over and over, but not Esther. Esther just wanted to get up and do it without all of the hard work. Walking seems to definitely be all in her mindset as she thinks out every step. I shouldn't have expected anything less. She is my little observer. She watches everything closely and tries to figure out how everything works. You may think she is sitting and doing nothing, but you're wrong. She is processing everything; another reason she can find her way out of almost anything.  She is currently trying to figure out how to undo the seat belt on her high chair. She watches us very carefully each time we unbuckle her and then she tries to investigate the belt and imitate.

We also had our 12 month checkup and vaccinations on Wednesday. This was the worst visit yet since they were so much more aware of what was going on compared to all the younger months. They did not like their shots one bit and definitely showed the nurse that they no longer liked her after each getting 4 shots and blood drawn. :( However, we have two super healthy babies! And the doctor did say that we could finish up our last can of formula and switch completely to whole milk. If you have seen Kyle's recent Facebook statuses, in which he has calculated out how much our babies drink a day plus the cost comparison since I quit nursing at 7 months, you know there is a bit of excitement in this for us!  

Anna at 3 Months / Esther at 12 Months getting weighed at the doctor

Thursday, we found Esther had a 2nd tooth that had come in on the bottom gums. Boy, I thought we were never going to get teeth and now they are popping up like crazy in both of the girls! Essie also ate her first lunch as all solid foods. We are super proud of her! Our babies have been very attached to the baby food so much so that I still can't get Anna to take any bites of table food and I try almost every day. Esther has been interested for a few weeks now by taking over my meals and snacks, but never in her chair until now! Yay! We are finally getting somewhere!

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure Esther tried to say "Anna" when she was trying to get her partner in crime's attention in the tub that night too. "Mama" and "Dada" are obviously not the first, but I will let it slide. It's just so darn cute that it's her Sissy instead. 

We also went to the Library for "Wiggles & Tickles" Storytime. It's story time geared just for their age group. They absolutely love it! I can't help but love it too! Esther started squealing in the parking lot with anticipation! It was so funny! This week the interactive song had shakers, so of course, Anna and Esther were in their strong element of shaking along with the song. The librarian also pulled out the parachute for a couple songs, which they loved! Anna kept wanting to get on top of it as we were shaking it and making it go up and down. I could hardly get them out the door to go home. They were having so much fun!

What a week of accomplishments for my little punkin's! We are so proud of them! Now if I could just take in these last few baby moments a little longer! Mommy is not quite ready to watch them grow so fast! 

Just in case you were wondering facts.....

Anna and Esther each eat 18oz of baby food per day,

drink 25oz of milk each per day
(that's 3 gallons of milk together per week),

have approximately 7 diaper changes each per day
(that's approximately 14 diapers per day, 100 diapers per week),

and we go through a pack of wipes almost every other day. 

First jacket weather of the season this week!