Morgan Grace and Carah Joy

My sweet twins are nine years old today. I know it is cliche, but I really can't believe it! It is so true that they days are long, but the years are short.

Humor me while I reminisce...

When Chad and I were first married we often dreamed about having five children. We both talked about how fun a large family would be. These crazy talks would even lead us to imagining how many grandchildren we might have someday if we truly ended up with five kids.

Then Esther came into our lives. We thought maybe we were a bit idealistic and decided four kids may be a better fit for us.

Kyle was born a couple of years later. Even though he was a very easy baby and a total joy, he still required so much effort from us as parents. Naturally, Chad and I decided we better just parent three children.

When we found out we were expecting our "third and final" child, we were overjoyed. I had gained waaaay too much weight when I was pregnant with Kyle, so I decided to continue to teach my fitness classes and live as healthy of a lifestyle as I could. I watched my diet, exercised, and kept busy with investing in college women. One of my frustrations during the pregnancy was visiting the doctor. Every time I went to see her, she would bug me about how much weight I was gaining, telling me to be careful, lecturing me about the importance of health and fitness. I cried every time I left her dumb office.

Then came the routine 20 week sonogram...

"I wanted your nurse to be in the room with us when I told you that you are carrying TWO babies!"

Chad instantly started laughing.

Esther kept saying, "Two babies?" over and over and over.

I burst into tears and confessed all the fears I constantly struggled with as a mom.

The crying didn't stop for about two weeks because I was soooo scared.

And then my heart settled down and I began to see the amazing gift I was going to receive in two precious girls.

Nine years old is a big kid. Morgan and Carah do so many things for themselves. We have wonderful conversations. They are inquisitive, smart, funny, beautiful, secure, and growing to be young women who really love Jesus. I'm so so proud of them!

And, I'm so thankful God didn't allow us to have just three kids. I can't imagine life without either one of them! They are so uniquely different from each other. Morgan is artistic and incredibly compassionate. Carah is a leader and loves to help and serve. Carah is so tall. Morgan isn't. Morgan has blue eyes. Carah has brown. They each have their own fashion tastes, senses of humor, and organizational systems.

Even in all of their differences, they are most certainly twins. They hold hands all the time. They can see when the other one has some heartache and are fiercely defensive for each other. It is definitely true that they have their own twin language, a way of communicating. Even as nine year olds when they sleep together in a twin bed, when I wake them up in the morning they are the cutest little cuddle bugs that you could ever imagine.

I'm praying big things for them. I pray they will be consistent in their love for Jesus, that they will never choose to walk away from their faith. I pray that they will be leaders who take Spirit-led risks, that they will consider how their decisions affect others, but not be paralyzed by pleasing people rather than God. I pray that they will live radically obedient lives and that Chad and I will never get in the way of what God has for them. I pray they will live each day with intentionality, joy, love, and obedience to the glory of God.

Happy birthday, sweet Morgan and Carah! I'm incredibly thankful for my beautiful twin girlies!

Nine Years Old

Four Years Old

Three Years Old

So Stinkin' Adorable!

A Million Dollar Smile!

One Year Old

Sweet Babies... No matter where I put them in their crib, they always managed to scoot right up next to each other and lay in the same position. I love these sweet girlies!