triplets

Yesterday I had the privilege of photographing my newest nieces and nephew - Estelle, Betsy and Dane. They are tiny and perfect. They are loved by so many.

Thankful they are in a place with skilled doctors and nurses to help them grow healthy and strong. In awe to watch development that usually takes place in a mother's womb happen right before our eyes. There are big hurdles that these 2lb miracles must overcome as they learn to breathe, eat, and survive without help.



We lean on God for comfort and strength. We trust in Him. He is able to do ALL things.

So very proud of my sister and her husband. Their strength in Christ and their love for each other and their babies is so very evident and speaks volumes for the amazing parents they are going to be. The triplets are so very blessed to have them as parents!

Please pray for strength for all of them during this time. I am confident that babies take a small piece of their mother's heart with them when they are born and to see that piece in such a fragile state is ... well heartbreaking.

God is good. He created these babies, He chose their birthday, and He is ultimately in control.

God has great plans for these five!

Please visit my sister's blog for more pictures and for future updates. Thank you for your support and prayers!

hump day nuggets: dinosaurs

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

Our car dvd player broke a few months ago. At first I wasn't sure how I was going to survive without it, but it's turned out to be a really great thing (at least for around town driving). We talk, the girls look out the window and point stuff out, they make up silly games and laugh at each other. All in all, it's been a good thing.

We discuss our regular landmarks every time we drive by - the pet store where we get Charlie's dog food, the park, Daddy's work, Sam's, the grocery store, etc. I am continually surprised at how much they notice and how aware they are of where things are around town!

In the car yesterday, we had the following conversation as we drove by a preschool (with a playground) near our house.

C: There's a school park!
J: Mommy, some day I will go to school.
M: Yes, you will.
J: Beetles, someday I will go to school. Mommy, will Beetles go to school?
M: Yes, she will. Someday.
J: Yeah! Someday you will go to school Beetles! We will go to school together. And I will hold you for a little bit so you won't be sad.
C: ok :)

Oh, the love between those two. It's strong, sweet, and just continues to grow. Love it.

Here's our 2 dinosaur girls on Halloween.

We had a little joint birthday celebration for Aunt Deb and and Aunt Dan whose birthdays are right around Halloween.

We participated in the neighborhood parade and did a little trick or treating before heading home. The girls really enjoyed seeing other people dressed up in costumes. Corinne woke up the next day talking about a little girl who was dressed as a banana. Kind of funny cause that's what she was last year :)

Here's a video of Corinne shaking her tail. She had us all cracking up!

The pictures I got on Halloween weren't great (lots of blurry ones cause I was trying not to use my flash) so I took the girls over to a field near our house the next day to try to get a few good pictures. They weren't the most willing participants so I have a lot of pics that look like this.

Oh well. I tried! My favorites were the ones I snapped on the way back to the car. They were motivated by the candy that waited for them once they got buckled into their car seats :)

I made their costumes. Once I found the tutorials for the hoodie and tail online, I just had to make them! Linking to the two very talented women who took the time to share tutorials.

I didn't plan this, but this picture does a good job of showing the front and back views of the costumes.

I am most excited about the fact that even now that Halloween is over, the girls can still wear their sweatpants and jackets for the rest of the winter just for fun!

More pics at Flickr.

Not much to say tonight. My pillow is calling my name ...


Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.

hump day nuggets: balance

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

Last Thursday night I was up from midnight to 2 am with one question on my mind: am I in labor? And I guess I'll never know exactly what was going on, but it felt a lot like contractions. There was definite changes in intensity and uncomfortable enough to wake and keep me up in the middle of the night. Contractions happening WAY TOO EARLY. They stopped and haven't been back since, but my 2 hour visit with the potential impending doom of preterm labor sent me into a very different mode from last week.

We had better get ready for this baby. I want to tell myself we have plenty of time, but the reality is, we may not.

I pray we have at least 5.5 more weeks (that would put me at 36 weeks).

So, I've been trying to find a balance between savoring and preparing. Between cool evenings on the trampoline and making a list of baby stuff that needs to be retrieved from the attic and purchased at the store.

I love that these two are so completely unaware of our stress and anxiety. They just live and breathe the very moment they are in.

It is so beautiful to watch. Real joy.

Their joy is pure. Their dreams are big. Unadulterated.

I want them to stay this way forever.

I was reminded this week that some where along the path of life this changes for many. Diminishes. We are told to settle for something lesser. Smaller. More mainstream.

I am unwilling to accept it. Joy is worth fighting for.

We are in a faith stretching season of life right now. A season where we are being challenged to remember and truly believe that our God is a God of big dreams. Seemingly impossible dreams. We believe that our God will deliver. That He desires for us to dream big, remain dependent on Him, and wait and watch for Him to deliver.

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?

- lyrics from Our God by Chris Tomlin

God is so much bigger than mainstream.

And so we have faith for bigger things. We dream. And we wait.




We had family visit over the weekend which is always reason to stop and just be. We savor every hour we have and then spend a lot of time waiting for our next time together.

Our next time together will include two more family members (and four sleep deprived parents) which is exciting. Baby anticipation is so fun.

Cousins are fun :) Annie w/ baby N (34 weeks) and me w/ Luke (30 weeks).

Oh, and just so you're not worried I'm becoming a health food nut or anything, I made these for our visitors. They are amazing. I recommend that you nuke them just a little before eating.

Source: kevinandamanda.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Pretty sure I've gained at least 2 lbs this week due to these babies and their chocolatey goodness.

Here's a play by play of Beet Beet eating her cupcake. Girl forks everything :)

And big news around here. It's open.

Our month dedicated to visiting the pumpkin patch as many times as possible has begun. And our Nebraska family got to go with us for our first visit of the 2011 season.

We likely won't be dong the pony rides again. For Beetles anyways ;)

Juliet sat like a pro.

Beetles spent the entire time trying to dismount the horse. She did say she had fun and announce "I did great job!" once it was all over which was kind of hysterical considering her "Mommy, need off!" pleas during the entire ride.

Till next time! (Juliet getting one last snuggle in with Uncle Jeff before he had to leave).

Our weekend wore me out. Seriously. Kind of pathetic considering we didn't do anything! Just yesterday I felt somewhat normal again. Monday and Tuesday I was beat by noon. Tuesday afternoon I fell asleep on the floor in the playroom during Beetles nap. Not sure how long I slept. Long enough for Juliet to color all over herself with a pen :)



Attempted group shot.



Beet with her My Little Pony hat on. Love those two.

More pictures at Flickr.



Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.

staycation 2011

Apparently here in good ol' Oklahoma, we had the hottest July in the US (average temperature) on record. Ever (well since they've recorded it). I can confirm ... it was hot. And the heat just went on and on day after miserable day ... this past week has literally been our first break from the heat and this pregnant lady has been super happy because of it!

Anyways, I mention the heat because it affected our summer vacay with my family this year. We typically try to get away for a short weekend camping trip before school starts. Since it was pretty much unpleasant to be outside after 9:30 am every day in July, we opted for a little staycation this year the first weekend of August. Camping postponed. Basically we all gathered at my parents for a weekend of hanging out.

For my family, this is perfect. We aren't a group that likes to really do stuff. We enjoy just being. This drives some people crazy. I get that. Well, really I don't ... but I get that everybody's different. A schedule involving much more than eating together, laughing, chasing kids around, and just relaxing seems to be more than anyone wants.

And bonus, it's really cheap :) And for the most part air conditioned during the blazing OK summer of 2011.

Pictures.

Jumping on Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline.

Dancing to princess music with Aunt Dan.

We went swimming and I am sad to say that these will likely be my last swimming pictures from the summer cause I am betting our pool is closed as it's now after Labor Day. And by "our pool" I mean my aunt's neighborhood pool ... but it's basically ours since we are usually the only ones there :)

Juliet negotiating Aunt Dan's distance away from her. This happened every time she swam and always took a while as Aunt Dan was never far enough away ... we are clearly holding her back :)

Play by play swimming pics. Can see a video here. Big girl can swim to the count of 5 or so.

Juliet and Aunt Dan. Can definitely see they have similar face shape here (chin dimple too!).

Eating some fruit snacks poolside. Grandma had painted her nails. About 5 different colors.



Beet Beet had some fun with Aunt Di's sunglasses.



More swimming pictures?

ok ... if you insist. I'd have other pictures, but this is all Juliet did for the 2 hours we were there. Keeping her head above water for more than seconds at a time was next to impossible. Everyone kept looking at me like "make her stop or take a break or something" ... wasn't going to happen.

Negotiating with Daddy :)






And after coming up long enough to take a breath, she'd swim back to the steps again. We definitely got our moneys worth out of swim lessons this year.



Group shot.

All in all, I'd say it was a successful vacay ... I mean staycay!!

NE and SD part 1

We took a week long vacation with Dominic's family and extended family in Nebraska and South Dakota over the fourth of July holiday. How long does that trip take you ask? About 32ish hours with 2 kids and some flooding detours. It was glorious fun :) It was Corinne's first trip all the way to South Dakota and the first time to have most of our immediate Schulte relatives (Dominic's parents, sisters and their families) all together in over a year ... a pretty momentous occasion ... so I took a lot of pictures ;)

Funny thing is that even when I take pictures, I still come back feeling like I missed stuff. But I got lots of good stuff to share and will try to share some of the un-photographed stuff in between.

Road trippin'
The trip was our first in our new (well new to us) minivan. It was so nice to have the extra space. I heart my minivan :) I did my fair share of chillin' in the backseat - in between responding to requests for snacks, drinks, and new movies from the girls.

Girls enjoying lunch at Sonic.

Hair in their faces because all bows had been removed (likely in the first 10 minutes of our car ride). We ended up with about 8 flies in the car after this stop.

I wish I remember which small town this Sonic was in. Somewhere in Kansas ... but in the field behind the Sonic we made a horse friend! The horse was far away at first, but came up to us as soon as we reached the fence. Juliet was LOVING it.

This was our first stop and it set the bar pretty high for future stops. Needless to say, we met no other friendly animals ... only dirty gas station bathrooms ... nothing quite lived up ;)

This was our first trip with a potty trained toddler and that fact made our potty stops frequent. I was so thankful that I had brought a potty chair in the car so we could just pull over and let her do her business rather than having to find a rest stop or gas station!

Cousins
The girls hadn't seen their cousins Paxton and Winston in over a year (except over Skype) so we were more than just a little excited to get the kids together to play. Winston was only a year old when we saw him last.

And now he's a big boy! Sand + shovel + truck = awesome.

Boy loves to sweep.

I took about a million billion pictures of him because he's so darn cute :)

Smitten
So, I've written about Juliet's adoration of her Uncle David on the blog before. Well, Uncle Jeff has the same effect. She was just beside herself ... smitten. His whereabouts were her #1 concern during the trip :)

Stalling
If I've learned one thing about Juliet's routine since she dropped her nap around her second birthday, it's that bedtime is not to be messed with. Even at home, a 15-30 minute delay can cause a major emotional breakdown. Obviously when traveling, schedules are tricky to keep. We did our best and I'm not going to say we didn't have any hour long crying spells or whiny kiddos in the late afternoon/early evening hours, but ... well ... we did our best! It seemed the fun was always still going on when we had to leave to get the girls to bed. And it's hard to leave the fun (for everyone). These pictures were taken one night as we were trying to leave. Pretty sure the kids managed to convince everyone that it was absolutely necessary to do ring around the rosie 10+ times.

One more noteworthy tidbit about bedtimes and schedules and traveling. Even trying to get Juliet to bed as quickly as we could (usually in bed by 8:30/8:45 versus the normal 7:45/8) she still took FOREVER - like an hour - to wind down. So, in bed at 8:30 but not asleep till 9:30 (ok ... one night she was up till 11!). She would just lay there and recount the day to me. Often repeating herself as she does when she's really tired. "Mommy, can we go to Grandpa Bush's tomorrow? Can I have a piece of candy out of my candy bag tomorrow? Is Uncle Jeff sleeping in his bed? We will see Uncle Jeff at Grandpa Bush's ..." It's like her poor tired brain wouldn't let her fall asleep! She's a funny girl, that one :)


The parade
There is a BIG 4th of July parade in Kranzburg, the small town where Dominic's mom grew up. Ok, so it may not technically be a BIG parade, but for the size of the town it's big! Dominic has fond memories of attending the parade as a kid so it is neat to have the girls enjoy this bit of tradition.



The weather was pretty much perfect - sunny in the mid 80s. These would pretty much be the only days of pleasant weather we would enjoy during the month of July as we returned home to blazing hot weather back in OK after this trip.

Winston's face here says it all.

Pretty sure he's thinking "What in the world is that??"

Beetles was trained in the art of candy fetching.

After the parade the girls were able to enjoy a horse ride. One of them enjoyed it a little more than the other!

Since coming home, Juliet has repeatedly brought up the "fourth of goo-lie" parade and the fact that she would like to be a princess in the parade "sometime". I told her that the pageant girls riding in the parade were princesses ... perhaps we will have to take a princess costume with us next year!

Great Grandparents
This is one of the bigger picture taking holes. I have pretty much no pictures of us at Great Grandma Marilyn's and no pictures with her or Great Grandpa Butch! Oooops and a major bummer ... both girls loved getting to spend time with their great grandparents. We stayed at Great Grandma Marilyn's house so enjoyed some quieter moments over there - eating breakfast, playing with toys, watching birds and bunnies out the window, etc. It was always a bustle of activity at Great Grandpa Butch's - or "Bush" - as Juliet referred to him, but Juliet is still talking about going to his house for the goo-lie parade again :)

Here is a video of Dominic and Juliet playing at Great Grandma Marilyn's one afternoon while Beetles napped.

Some other fun pictures from SD. More pictures at Flickr.

Slip and slide fun.

Just hanging out.

Corinne wondering why all she got from Starbucks was a water :)

Jeff, Juliet, and Paxton



More to come ... eventually. This covers the first part of our trip. Lots more to come!