Hailey and Jackson 101

There are so many times that I've wished that my kids had come with an instruction manual and I'm sure these two in my womb aren't going to be any different! Why is it that kids are all so different and that we have the hardest time figuring out what makes them "tick" and how to motivate them and what the best way to discipline each one is?? Those are a few questions that I'm just gonna have to put on my list for when I get to heaven...if I even care about it anymore by that point! ;) Lord willing, by then I'll have figured them out, made a bunch of disciplining mistakes, motivated them the wrong ways and done as much as I could possibly do with the tools that the Lord has given me.

Someone once told me that Korey and I are the perfect parent's for our children and that God placed them specifically in our family, because they needed to be raised just how we were going to do it...but, there are times where I honestly wonder what God was thinking! I feel completely and utterly unequipped with how to deal with the two children I have, let alone throw 2 more in the mix! I feel like I loose my patience too quickly, I don't say I love you enough, snuggletime and book reading time are often last on my list of things I'd like to be doing at that minute, I forget to pray before we eat, I don't always want to read Hailey's bible story at the breakfast table, I get irritated when I have two little tag a longs in the shower and tonight I let my daughter cry so hard she threw up all over me when I finally went and got her out of her bed!

What makes me qualified to be the mom to these four babies that I've been given??

I guess, the only answer to that question is- NOTHING!! I am not qualified for anything. I am a sinful, hateful, evil human being with no good qualities on my own and apart from God I would not be a good Mom at all! Good thing that God promises to supply us with all that we need for "life and godliness"! I'm feeling a little tired and overhwelmed today and I'm definitely clinging to that fact...and to the fact that no matter what life throws at me God already has, in place, the grace that I need to meet and conquer that situation!

(and, good thing these two sweet babies have their Grandma K and their Nani to pray for them, to love them, and to give their mom a break) :)

"they grow so fast"

When I was pregnant with Hailey I remember an older, much wiser woman telling me, "your kids will grow so fast, so make sure that you take all the time you can with them- rock and cuddle your babies, read books to your toddlers, take your little ones to the park and push them on swings, have tea parties, go out on dates- just enjoy the years, because before you know it they will be moving on and too busy for you". I've really tried to not forget it. But, there are days when the day in/day out mundaneness of life gets to me- the kids are crabby, I'm crabby and it seems like this stage of life is going to last forever and I can't wish it away fast enough...those are the days when I look at pictures like these and almost cry tears of joy that I'm having another set of babies to love on and snuggle, because soon these two won't have anytime for that "silly stuff", they 'll be too busy rollerblading away with friends and jumping on the trampoline to care about their boring, old mommy!

I'm so thankful for that dear lady who knew I'd need to remember that these kiddos grow fast and knew that I'd need the reminder to cherish every moment that I have with them!
And, really, how could I not- these two are just plain adorable, even if the antics they get into are less than that at times! :)

pregnancy...

looks good on everyone- even this cute little girl pregnant with a ball! ;)

"That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But, the longer we wait, the larger we become and the more joyful our expectancy." Romans 8:25

"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him." Lamentations 3:25

I couldn't say it any better than my friend, so I'm just going to steal her words from our Bible study:

"Just as a pregnancy progresses and the mother gets larger with the growing baby, so should our expectancy as we wait for the Lord. We are promised so many spiritual gifts while we wait. the greatest of these is the gift of Jesus Christ himself. The listed promises...should excite us to wait for the Lord, for His hand, His voice and His work in our lives!" K. Duran

I am excited for what the Lord has planned for us and for our family with the birth of these sweet babies. It's so amazing to see what He has already been doing in each of our lives through the pregnancy and I can only imagine what is to come!!

growing twins...

...is a lot more work than I'd imagined it to be!

Not that I really had spent much of my life imagining what carrying twins would be like, but in case you have-

it's double the exhaustion (or maybe that's just having Hailey and Jackson this time, as opposed to just Hailey and then just work)

it's double the morning sickness (or afternoon, or evening, or nighttime sickness)

it's double the belly

(here's me this morning- only 14 weeks 1 day and already sporting a little belly)

but, most of all

it's double the stress of carrying just one baby!

I've never been a worrier by nature and I've generally left all the worrying up to my husband, because that seems to be a vice that he enjoys- ok maybe not enjoys, but he's always been the worrier in our family- up until now, that is!

I think I've always sort of "skipped" over or skimmed accross the sections of the Bible that talk about worrying and God taking care of us- or read them thinking- "yes, what a good thing for us to do," but never have I really come accross something in my life that was completely and utterly out of my control- like this pregnancy is! Even when we were trying to get pregnant and it seemed like a hopeless situation I always had a "backup" plan of adopting or foster parenting- I just knew I was gonna be a mommy one way or the other.

But, there's something very debilitating for me about carrying these babies. I know that I can do whatever I can, I can take breaks, I can gain all the weight they recommend, I could go on complete bedrest starting now, but there are no gaurantees that these babies are gonna make it. (yikes-I can't believe that I finally said it outloud...) It's not even that I've always wanted twins or that I'm even really that excited or that I'm dying to meet my little ones, it's just that I can't imagine life without them, anymore! I'm almost afraid to buy anything for them or to talk to too many people about them because I just have this nagging voice in the back of my head saying, "what if neither of them make it...what if one makes it and the other one doesn't...what will you do then??" In my heart I know that there are no gaurantees, ever, when you're pregnant and that any baby who makes it alive into the world could suffer problems, could die in their sleep and that at any moment my life, Korey's life, Hailey's life and Jackson's life could end, but it seems so much more real and threatening where these babies are concerned.
I know in my heart of hearts that stress and worry have no place in the christian walk and that as believers we should not waste any of our time worrying about tomorrow, when we know the one who holds all of the tomorrow's in our hand, but it's so much easier to just say that outloud than to really believe it and to live it!
So, God, in His great mercy led me to these verses in Isaiah this morning:

(I was actually looking up verses on the friendship of the Lord and just "happened" to be drawn to these verses instead) :)

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strenghten you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my right hand." (Isaiah 41:9,10)

I am clinging to these verses and when an ounce of panic steps into my heart or I find my thoughts going towards worry or stress, I pull my card out of my pocket and remind myself, again, that God will take care of me- that no matter what happens to my babies or me (even when I do end up bringing them both home I know I'll need these verses again and again in the days to come) that He will uphold me and give me the strength to carry on! But, mostly I can cling to the fact that God chose me to be the mother of these twins and if all i get to do is carry them, that's more of a blessing than He has given many people- carrying twins is a great and mighty calling and I am blessed and honored that He gave me this job! My only prayer is that I can do it well and honor and glorify Him in the process.

If you could pray that along with me, I would be incredibly grateful!

I know I will need all the prayer I can, as my spirit is often willing, but my flesh is weak!

it's amazing-

what a difference a little passage of time brings...

I went to the bank where I used to work today and it got me thinking about how crazy it was that when I started working there all I wanted was to have a big family, but wasn't sure I'd ever be able to concieve! (that was May of 2008 and now, 3 short years later I'm anticipating the arrival of my 3rd and 4th babies...God is pretty amazing, isn't He?)

As I pondered God's faithfulness to me in that situation it really brought a few other things to the forefront that have drastically changed, in just a few short months or weeks! And made me think about how different I would respond to life if I just kept in mind that God's perspective is the one that matters, not mine, and He doesn't see life as times and dates!! But, as a tapestry all woven together to bring the most honor and glory to His name!

for starters-

*about 6 weeks ago I found out I was pregnant and never in my wildest dreams did I think that 6 weeks later I'd be recieving these books in the mail and voraciously devouring every word they said

* a few months ago when I parceled out all of my maternity clothes I never imagined that I'd be asking for them back so quickly

*about 3 months ago when the doctor's started noticing that Jackson was pretty small for his age and that he was having problems gaining weight I thought for sure that I'd fight tooth and nail and do whatever it took to continue nursing him the full 12 months and possibly more- never did I think that I'd be the one to wean him

*3 weeks ago when I told Korey that I thought this was going to be my "skinniest" pregnancy yet, never did I imagine how far from the truth that was and how in just a few short weeks I'd be weaning Jack to put on more weight, be adding extra butter, cheese and bacon to my baked potato in an attempt to coax a little bit more weight gain!

The biggest change of all is that last summer, I spent a good amount of the summer crying and worrying about how I was going to love two children at the same time and how Jackson was going to fit into our family, but in just one year my whole attitude has changed (and, consequently, so have my circumstances)! I had no idea that those things God taught me after Jackson was born would be put to such good use! And, instead of crying and whining this summer, I am dedicating this summer to spending time learning the art of prayer and memorizing Bible verses, so that when the twins are born I will have filled my whole summer full of "waiting, hoping, and expecting" for and with worthwhile and God honoring pursuits that I will be able to rely on in the crazy and tumultuous fall and winter that we have ahead of us!

We started a new bible study this summer and I am so excited about it. It is such an opportune time for me to be doing it and since it will probably be my last study for quite some time I am thankful that it is such a good and applicable one! I am sure it will be one that I will come back to time and time again. I already learned so much from it and hopefully will be able to apply it to my life this summer! :)

a sad day and a happy day...

Today was this little boys last day nursing and it was definitely a day of mixed emotions for me.

It was a happy day, because I have the freedom that I haven't had for the last 9 months and now that this little guy is done nursing, his little siblings have more access to the nutrients that they need.

But, it was also a sad day. As Moms I think we always know that there is going to be an end to nursing and sometimes that is the very thought that gets us through those first few weeks of constant feedings, and it may be just me, but I really enjoyed nursing and had a hard time giving up the sweet closeness of snuggling with my little boy a few times a day and feeding him!
Jackson has always been a great little eater and has LOVED nursing from the moment he started, so it wasn't an easy transition for either of us, but we managed to go from him not taking a sippy cup or a bottle (for a whole 9 months) to him saying no to nursing and wanting the bottle in a little more than a week! All pretty much thanks to prayers and my Mom who kept Jackson and fed him his morning bottle two days in a row!
I know it seems silly to miss nursing when I'm going to be nursing my twins in a little less than 7 months, but it's hard not to feel sad when I give my little boy a bottle!!

"a picture is worth a thousand words"

at least that's what Korey and I thought on Tuesday morning, when we saw this picture...

Yes, you did see that correctly...I did have an ultrasound on Tuesday and we did find...wait, count them again...yikes...2 babies on the ultrasound!!!


It's a good thing that sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, because at that moment there were no words that could come out of my mouth- I was physically rendered speechless!


So, just in case you need a recap of what just happened...
the Konietzki's are adding two more little babies to their family!

The twins due date is December 16th, but we're not expecting to get that far- just, Lord willing, sometime around the end of November!


If you have time or feel the inclination- please pray for our family.
This will be a big transition for all of us!!
The babies and I definitely need some prayer for a healthy pregnancy that will end in a healthy delivery and us being able to bring home two beautiful, healthy early Christmas presents!!

Happy Wednesday!!

Yay!! The week is half done! :)

Have you ever seen a cuter kid?? I submit not!! (but, I may be slightly biased in my opinion) ;)

4H Fun Day

Today our bank hosted mini farm days and allowed the 4H club to come and show off all their animals. Needless to say, Hailey had a blast!

She looked at lots of things and laughed a lot with her Daddy

she got to pet a sheep

and some bunnies- the baby ones were definitely her favorite (and everyone elses...who doesn't like a cute cuddly baby bunny??)

But, the grand finale and the biggest highlight of Hailey's day was going for 2 horsey rides!

Yup, you did read that right...Hailey convinced her Daddy- the guy who hates horses and hates spending $ to pay for her to go on a horsey ride twice!! (she definitely has him wrapped around her finger, doesnt' she?!) ;)

It's so fun to have Korey home this weekend and able to just play with us and do fun stuff like this with us...we all really missed him last week, when he was working a crazy amount of hours!!

there are days...

that make me fall more and more in love with my kids and being their mommy!!

and, today was one of those days!

We didn't really do anything too special- but, we did go meet my sister, Felicia in Eau Claire and do a little bit of shopping and playing on the toys...then, we got home and played outside for the rest of the evening!

We even ate our dinner outside-

and, Hailey had sooo much fun feeding Jackson and making a HUGE mess of him!

can you see this messy face??

Isn't this little girl adorable?? I just LOVE her soo much and she makes me smile all the time!

I really do love every day with my kids, but there are just some days that are SUPER special and hopefully will linger in my memory for a while- sweet days with sweet smiles like this! :)