Cheeseballs!

Keane and Gracie LOVE cheeseballs. They are their favorite snack. They would eat them all day long if I let them. They get totally covered in cheese and love every minute of it. I love to give them to them in the snack trap. I love the snack trap. It is one of the best inventions for toddlers! If you don't have one you should try to get one (if you live overseas I realize that is hard!). What snacks do your children love? I am always looking for good snack ideas.

What's in a name?

Months ago, when Keane and Gracie were starting to say sounds and recognize different things and people, they would say something that resembled mama. I am not sure if that is what it actually was but I loved it. It made me feel so special and loved when they said it, even just to think that they were actually beginning to realize that I was their mama. Since then, in the past few months, they had stopped saying anything that resembled ‘mama’ in fact they were actually calling me ‘daddy’. They were calling their daddy, ‘daddy’ and they were sometimes calling me ‘daddy’. I didn’t get upset at this thinking that they were doing it on purpose or anything or thinking that they really didn’t know who I was or anything but until that point (where they stopped referring to me as anything resembling ‘mama’) I really didn’t understand how badly I longed for my children to say my name. To acknowledge me as who I am: their ‘mama’. It was hard for me to understand how they couldn’t get it. I mean they were pointing to dogs and calling them ‘dog’ and they would point to daddy and say ‘daddy’, juice and say ‘juice’, ball and say ‘ball’. I wanted them to hear them say ‘mama’ so badly. I never thought I would feel this way. I never knew that having my children call me by “my name” would mean so much or be so special but I certainly realized it when they weren’t saying it.

One day I was looking at Keane when he was calling me ‘daddy’ and saying, “say mommy” and he said ‘daddy’ and I would say, “say mommy” and he said, ‘daddy’. It was in that moment that I realized it and it impacted me in a way I never imagined: this happens to God ALL the time. He desires for people to know Him, to call Him by His name, to call on Him and He looks at them and says, “say God”, “say Father”, “say Lord” and people look back at him and say “Buddha”, “Vishnu”, “Shiva”, “I don’t believe in God”, “material things”, “wealth”, “prosperity”, etc. They look God in the face and call Him something He is not. They don’t call Him by His name. They simply don’t call on Him. God desires for His children to know Him. He has created that way so that people (all people, 2 Peter 3:9) can know Him and call Him “Father”.

Just the other day, I was holding Gracie and she looked up at me and in the sweetest little voice she said, “mama”. I cannot tell you what a sweet, sweet sound it was. I still don’t really understand why it is that special to me or why it means that much but all I can say is that it does. Every time she says it, it touches a place deep down in my heart and makes me smile. I imagine that when we, whom God sent His only Son to die for, finally look up at Him and call on Him and say, “God”, “Father”, “Lord” that it is one of the sweetest sounds He could ever hear. Now Gracie says, “mama” all the time and I must tell you that I still love it SO much. Keane also says it some but not as much yet as Gracie. Each time they say it, it melts my heart and makes me want to stop what I am doing and look at them and see what it is that they need or want. It also is a HUGE reminder of all of the people who don’t call on the name of the Lord and how much hurt that must cause Him. People that He loves so much who call on the names of other gods or things. We must tell them about the God who loves them so much and who longs to know them, to have a relationship with them to hear them say, “Abba, Father, my God!”
(Psalm 34:3, Joel 2:32, John 20:30-31, Acts 4:12, Romans 10:13, Philippians 2:9-11)

Praying for our children: Day 14 - Day 31

Well, I am so sorry that I was not able to update these everyday. I really had all good intentions and then time just got away from me. I pray that you and I will be able to use this list (and the ones from my previous posts) to spend this next month consecutively praying for our children in these specific areas. I have prayed for Keane and Gracie in these areas most days this month and it has been so neat to see how my God brings so many other things to mind to pray for them about through these initial prayers each day. My friend Shannon also commented and gave me a link for where to find the original list of prayers so you can print the entire sheet out if you want. Click here to find the list. I hope you all are doing well. Here is day 14- day 31....

Day 14 Kindness "Lord, may my children 'always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else'"

1 Thessalonians 5:15

Day 15 Generosity "Grant that my children may 'be generous and willing to share [and so] lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age'"

1 Timothy 6:18-19

Day 16 Peace, peaceability "Father, let my children 'make every effort to do what leads to peace'"

Romans 14:19

Day 17 Joy " May my children be filled 'with the joy given by the Holy Spirit'"

1 Thessalonians 1:6

Day 18 Perseverance " Lord, teach my children perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to 'run with perseverance the race marked out for [them]'"

Hebrews 12:1

Day 19 Humility " God, please cultivate in my children the ability to 'show true humility toward all'"

Titus 3:2

Day 20 Compassion " Lord, please clothe my children with the virtue of compassion"

Colossians 3:12

Day 21 Responsibility " Grant that my children may learn responsibility, 'for each one should carry his own load'"

Galatians 6:5

Day 22 Contentment " Father, teach my children 'the secret of being content in any and every situation. . . . through him who gives [them] strength'"

Philippians 4:12-13

Day 23 Faith " I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them"

Luke 17:5-6, Hebrews 11:1-40

Day 24 A servant heart " God, please help my children develop servant hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, 'as to the Lord, and not to men'"

Ephesians 6:7, KJV

Day 25 Hope " May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit"

Romans 15:13

Day 26 The willingness and ability to work hard " Teach my children, Lord, to value work and to work hard at everything they do, 'as working for the Lord, not for men'"

Colossians 3:23

Day 27 A passion for God " Lord, please instill in my children a soul that "followeth hard after thee," a heart that clings passionately to you

Psalm 63:8, KJV

Day 28 Self-discipline " Father, I pray that my children may develop self-discipline, that they may acquire 'a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair'"

Proverbs 1:3

Day 29 Prayerfulness " Grant, Lord, that my children's lives may be marked by prayerfulness, that they may learn to 'pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests"

Ephesians 6:18

Day 30 Gratitude " Help my children to live lives that are always 'overflowing with thankfulness,' 'always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ'"

Colossians 2:7, Ephesians 5:20

Day 31 A heart for missions " Lord, please help my children to develop a heart for missions, a desire to see your glory declared among the nations, your marvelous deeds among all peoples"

Psalm 96:3

Praying for our children...days 8-13

Oh the excuses I can give as to why I am posting this so late...but I will refrain and simply say...sorry. I hope that you can "catch up" while I do here!

Day 8: Mercy "May my children always 'be merciful, as [their] Father in heaven is merciful'".

Luke 6:36

Day 9: Respect (for self, others, authority) "Father, grant that my children may 'show proper respect to everyone, 'as your Word commands"

1 Peter 2:17a

Day 10: Strong, Biblical self-esteem "Help my children develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are 'God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus"

Ephesians 2:10

Day 11: Faithfulness "Let love and faithfulness never leave [my children],' but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts"

Proverbs 3:3

Day 12: Courage "May my children always 'Be strong and courageous' in their character and in their actions"

Deuteronomy 31:6

Day 13: Purity "Create in [my children] a pure heart, O God,' and let their purity of heart be shown in their actions"

Psalm 51:10

Praying for our children...day 5, 6, 7

Am I really that behind in posting these days? Time just seems to be flying by! For those of you who are trying to use these prayers daily...I am so sorry that I have not been able to do it each day...I will try to be more diligent about posting them here.

Day 5 Self-control "Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be 'alert and self controlled' in all they do."

1 Thessalonians 5:6

"So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and sober."

Day 6 a love for God's Word "May my children grow to find your Word 'more precious than gold, than much pure gold; [and] sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb."

Psalm 19:10

"More to be desired are than than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings from the honeycomb."

Day 7 justice "God, help my children to love justice as you do and to 'act justly' in all they do."

Psalm 11:7

"For the Lord is righteous,

He loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold His face."

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of

you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?"

Praying for our chidren...day 3 and day 4

Yesterday was a great but busy day so by the time I got home, played with Keane and Gracie and got dinner made and cleaned up, baths finished, I was exhausted and just wanted to watch TV so I didn't get day 3 posted yesterday. Forgive me for the delay but here are day 3 and day 4 of ways to pray for our children. I don't know about you but it has been such a special time for me to set aside just a few minutes each day to pray for these specific things. Praying these specific things makes me think about each one and how I desire so strongly for Keane and Gracie to have these traits and things in their lives. I am so thankful that God hears our prayers and desires to answer them!

Day 3: Love "Grant, Lord, that my children (Keane and Gracie) may learn to 'live a life of love,' through the spirit who dwells in them."

Ephesians 5:2

"And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God."

Galatians 5:22

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Day 4: Honesty and Integrity "May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection."

Psalm 25:21

"May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you."

Praying for our children...day 2

This morning at breakfast, I held both Keane and Gracie's hands and looked them in the eyes (they were looking around a bit of course) and I told that them that I was praying everyday for them. I told them that I wanted to pray for them right now and that is what I did...as they mumbled away and looked all around I held their hands and lifted today's prayer up to God. It was such a special time.

Day 2: Growth in grace

"I pray that they (Keane and Gracie) may grow in the grace

and

knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18

Praying for our children...

Since the moment I found out I was pregnant with Keane and Gracie I have been praying for them. I have been praying most importantly that they would truly know God and His salvation and live a life that glorifies and honors Him whatever it may cost them. I have prayed that I, as their mom, would always encourage them in that. I of course pray for their health, for their safety, for many, many different things as well. Lately, I have felt a need to really have a way to be in constant prayer over them for specific things. I recently came across a document that I think I was given at a women's retreat here in Kathmandu last year. It is called, "31 Ways to Pray for your Children" by Bob Hostetier. I am not sure who Bob is but on this piece of paper is a list of prayers, one prayer for each of the days of the month along with scripture to pray over our children.

He says, "Each day of the month, in addition to my prayers for their saftey and concerns for that day, I also pray for a specific character trait, virtue or fruit of the Spirit to be planted and nurtured in my children, through my efforts (and my wife's), through the influence of others, and through my children's own actions and decisions."

I began praying on day 1 today. I will try to add a new days prayer each day on my blog so that together we can be in dedicated prayer for our children. I want to see God working in their lives. What a blessing it is and has been when I see Him visibly at work. It is amazing how fast Keane and Gracie are growing. I want to make sure that I am intentional each and every day to lift them up in prayer before my God. I am excited to see all of the many ways that God will answer our prayers.

Day 1: Salvation: "Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory."

Isaiah 45:8

"Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down

righteousness;

let the earth open, that salvation and

righteousness may bear fruit;

let the earth cause them both to sprout;

I the Lord have created it."

John 1:12

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Bath Time!

When we were in the states traveling and speaking at churches people often asked us more questions about how we do life overseas with kids than they did about ministry and our "work". I kept that in mind and have decided that I really want to blog more about everyday life here and what makes living here so unique but how we make it work. Keane and Gracie LOVE baths! In America it was SO easy...just walk to the tub turn on the hot water, fill the tub, drop in some toys and let the fun begin! In Nepal we still do bath night every night but there are just a few more steps involved.
1. We don't have a bath tub (most people only have showers here) so we bought an inflatable pool and use that as our tub for Keane and Gracie. We have to move it in and out of our main bathroom each evening at bath time because we only have hot water in one bathroom (it is heated through a portable gas tank, most people here do not have hot water in their home at all. Many people don't even have running water in their home!) and we need to take showers in the same bathroom in the morning. After we put the pool in we fill it with water from the hot water shower.

2. Water that comes out of our taps is not clean though so we have to put iodine in the water in case Keane and Gracie decide to drink some of the water (which they LOVE to do). The iodine kills any bacteria that would be in the water and would make them sick. I have to wait a few minutes for the iodine to work. In the below pictures the water looks a little brown. When it comes out of our taps it is clear but the iodine gives it the brown tint.

3. This picture is out of order but this is Keane smiling for the camera after his bath! He loved it. While I am doing all of this I have another pot of boiling water on the stove that I add right before the babies get in the water because by now the water has cooled off a bit (not cold but too cool for a bath). I add the water and then they are ready to get in and play!

4. To them a bath is a bath and they sure love them. They really are troopers.

5. Once the bath is done and we get Keane and Gracie dressed in their pj's and ready for bed, we dump the bath water down the drain in the floor and store the pool in our laundry room until tomorrow! It really doesn't take as long as it might sound and it is worth it to keep them healthy and happy! Happy bath time!

Desperate times call for desperate measures....parenting!

So lately, I have been realizing all of the crazy things that I have done (some I had to and others I chose to) since becoming a parent in order to care for my children. I thought it would be fun to make a little list of some of the (not so orthodox) things I have done (many of which I said I would NEVER do) since becoming a mom:

- I have chewed up 3 bananas at different times and fed it to Gracie and Keane that way when I have either run out of baby food while we are out or need something to keep them occupied with and it is all I have!

- I have realized that one of the babies has pooped and gone to change their diaper and realized that they only pooped one little nugget and at the same time realized that they were going to get a bath just 30 minutes later so instead of wasting a whole new diaper I have just removed the nugget and put on the old diaper until bath time...I know gross but hey with two in diapers and them costing about 25 cents each...some would call me 'thrifty'!

- I have fed both of my babies in their car seats while driving TWICE...well, I wasn't driving, Ryan was but I was turned around in the car and was feeding them while the car was moving and YES, Kathmandu roads are BUMPY and dirt in many places but you have got to do what you've got to do right? Needless to say, their carseats (and the two of them...) were covered in apples by the end of it but they were full and happy!

- I have eaten and tasted all of their baby foods and formula on different occassions to make sure the temperture of the food was ok or to unclog the bottle. I know it might not seem like that big of a deal but formula is GROSS!

- I have used girl bibs on Keane and boy bibs on Gracie, purple pacifiers for Keane, pink blankets for Keane, blue (obviously boy blankets) for Gracie...It may not seem like a big deal but it was something I said I would NEVER do before having children.

- I have had one of the babies spit up ALL over me after I have been dressed and been ready to go and have just washed the spot with some water or wet wipes and WORN THE SAME SHIRT! Gross...who does that?

- I have caught their spit up IN MY HAND to make sure that it did not land on the couch or my pants.

- I have blocked Keane's pee from getting on me and all over the place with my hand before a bath or while his diaper is off.

I am sure there are a ton more. Right now I can't think of any...I would LOVE to hear some of yours! Please leave a comment and share some the crazy (desperate) things you have done since becoming a parent. I will try to post my favorites on my blog in another post!

Just one of those days...

Yesterday was "just one of those days" not a bad day, just a "blah" day. I felt that way pretty much from the moment I got up. I was sleepy, not feeling 100% and simply "blah". Then Gracie and Keane did not have their best day. They seemed to be sleepy too and we are working on getting them on a different schedule...you know moving from 5 bottles to 4 with more solids. I find it to be a difficult transition right now. Figuring out when to give the milk, when to give the solids.

The entire time that they were on just bottles, it worked amazingly well for us. It was pretty cut and dry, every 3 hours during the day give a bottle and then they would nap between practically every bottle. Even when they began eating a bit of solids it was fine too (see previous post about our schedule then) but now, at almost 7 months, that has changed and it seems to be changing so quickly, everyday I am having to re-evaluate what I am doing (I am sure many of you know what I am talking about). They are still sleepy but don't want to sleep as much because they are now so curious and into everything, they still definitely LOVE their bottles but also LOVE food. They get so excited when they see that little cup and spoon. And, trying to stretch them to four hours, figure out when to give them their solid foods (with the bottles, as a snack, some with, some separate) and figuring out when to carve out the best time for some naps in this new schedule has been tricky. I have been trying different options of schedules that are modifications of the schedule we were on and are ideas from other websites and books I have read.

Today is my third day really trying to nail a new great schedule down. I am finding that this is the first major time that trying to schedule twins has been pretty difficult. In our situation, feeding them bottles every few hours worked well and since they were eating at basically the same time for most of their feedings their nap schedule was also pretty much the same but now, with more components of the schedule to deal with, I am finding that they are more often napping at different times, waking at different times, etc.

I realize that with twins (or even for a single baby for that matter) and adding food and their personalities, that it is never going to be simple cut and dry "3:00 pm on the dot peas and then 4:00 on the dot nap for both of them for 2 hours..." I know that but what I am looking for is just a BETTER schedule then we have now. Now I know generally what is going to happen in the day but I am at a strange point where I am trying to figure out if they are sleepy and need more naps, if they are hungry and want more food, if they are missing that one extra bottle I am trying to drop each day, etc. Before when it was just a bottle every three hours, I knew (95% of the time) why they were crying and what they needed. Now we are in this muddled area that I am not sure what they are upset about because I don't have the feedings and naps down for this stage in their growth yet. They are still sleeping amazingly well through the night (6:30 pm - 6:30 am). I would like to be able to put them to bed a half an hour later or more but with the way things are right now they are SO ready to go to bed by 6:30 which works fine for me but I would like them to begin sleeping a little later in the morning and I know that won't happen until they are going to bed a bit later because they are already sleeping an amazing 12 hours...which I am SO thankful for.

And so, here in lies the dilemma which made my blah day a little more difficult yesterday because I was not in the best of spirits and neither were my two precious babies. I am looking forward to getting a good schedule worked out for all of us. The wonderful thing about having children is that even in the blah days it does not take much effort to find something that makes you smile or makes you thankful. Here are just a few things from yesterday that made my "blah" day a little brighter:

- My trip to run errands with Keane yesterday and having him fall asleep on me in the taxi.
- The fact that Gracie is beginning to crawl a bit and had the biggest smile on her face when she "broke free" from the play area we created for them on the floor.
- The times throughout the day that I would be holding Keane and he would pull my face into his just to be close to me.
-Watching Ryan lay on the floor and play with them while I got lunch made and seeing them smile at their dad.
- That even when they were both upset and crying before their bath we put them facing each other so they could see each other and they began laughing at each other so loudly for a long time.

I am so grateful to God for my family. I desire to serve them and love them abundantly. They are undeserved gifts from Him. Today I woke up feeling more refreshed and ready for the day. Right now Gracie and Keane are napping. We will see how today's "schedule testing" goes. I will let you know when we find one that works! Have a great day and don't forget to allow God to show you the many things around you that you have to be thankful for (small and big) even if today is one of your "blah days".

**Anyone have any advice for schedules that worked for you at this point??? I would LOVE to hear them!

Life with twins...

There is never a dull moment. I love it!