The Girls' Baptism Birthday and Reflection

Today is the girls' second baptism birthday.  In the last year and a half my husband and I have been attending a Lutheran church.  This change has been a struggle for me in many ways because I grew up in a Baptist church.  Although my big turn around was realizing that, for the most part, the way I grew up and what I am learning now are two completely different points of view in many different ways.  Take baptism for example.  I grew up with the view point that you are baptized with full immersion after accepting the lord as your Savior, because it is what the Bible tells you to do.  It is a symbol of being buried in Christ and born again a new creation.  I also grew up with the point of view that baptizing infants was completely ridiculous because they cannot "repent and be baptized" as in Acts 2:38. Oh, and how dare they only sprinkle them!  When I married my hubby we would visit this topic about once a year for a week and then agree to disagree.  However, when we were pregnant with the girls, we had to actually make a decision on how to handle this for our household.  It took me a year of research and study to realize I couldn't find anything in the scriptures to say that baptizing my babies would send them to hell.  Baptizing them was also really important to my husband and being head of the household, he got the last say anyway.  So, I told him we better schedule it before they turned one and were no longer infants. :)  So, on March 27, 2010 our girls were baptized into Christ at Bethel Lutheran Home.  However, my interest in the subject has not waned.  The big turning point for me was when I read (sorry, I really don't remember where) that by saying He was not capable of giving a helpless infant belief we were doubting God's power.  This is where I really started to understand that it was a complete change of perspective.  To a Lutheran, we are all completely depraved and helpless like an infant.  The fact that God gives any of us belief is as unconprehensible as giving an infant belief.  We are the ones who put worth on our knowledge and age.  To tell you the truth I am still trying to balance the way I grew up with my new found information.  But I have to say, I think the Lutherans have a point.  Who am I to say I can understand God's will any better than my girls can understand mine at times.  I mean really, they think they are big girls too.  However, they still don't understand why I say no to a snack when they are hungry, even though I know it is because dinner is in 20 minutes.  I really don't know where I fit anymore, I think I am somewhere between a Baptist and a Lutheran.  However, I gotta say I really like the reasoning behind sprinkling.  Because how much do you really need for baptism to count? :)  Happy baptism birthday girls!

Thoughts On Being A House Wife

Hello again! I apparently have an off again, on again (mostly off again) relationship with blogging.  I get ideas on what to put down, and then all of a sudden, it has been several months.  My husband keeps encouraging me to put my thoughts down and I decided today was a good day.  Today I have been thinking a lot about my life.  I should premise by saying I never ever, ever in my previous life wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.  I had decided that I paid all that money for college and was not going to "waste my time" at home.  This didn't change until after my girls were born and I went back to work.  I missed them, and being involved in daily activities.  My husband switched jobs and we moved to MT for many reasons, one of which being that we would have more time with the kids.  It has been a big adjustment.  We used to share most of the household duties pretty evenly.  We both cooked and cleaned, and it made sense because we had the same work hours.  I have had to adjust my thinking about not expecting him to do as much at home.  Don't get me wrong, my husband is a GREAT helper.  However, this is now my job and I had to get used to the duties.  It isn't always easy, but I don't want to sit here and complain.  Today I want to reflect on the good things.  I realized today that I am actually gratified by this.  I have enjoyed being with our children, but I didn't recognize that I relish the whole package.  I love being home with the kids, cleaning, cooking, and attending activities.  I have become one of "those moms" I never thought I would be.  I do dishes to relieve steam when I am angry, love teaching my children little things throughout the day, and experimenting in the kitchen.  In the last year, I have learned how to make homemade yogurt and bread and improved A LOT in the kitchen.  This is what I was thinking about while shaving a pork roast on my mandolin slicer for lunch meat.   A year ago, I would have eaten it for 3 night in a row and forgotten about it in the fridge.  I am proud to be a person that stays home and it is in no way a waste of time.  But I also need to acknowledge that I am unbelievable impressed by the role models in my life.  My mom and grandma still amaze me, they reached all of these milestones without technology.  I must confess, with out Google, my family would probably starve to death and we would all be going insane!  I know this was a lot about me, but I had to write this down while I was thinking about it.  Hopefully, this blog will be slightly better kept up in the future :)

Adventures in Potty Training

As the mother of twin 2 year old girls, my life is now nearly totally consumed by potty training. I am really starting to wonder if I should take up residence in the bathroom. As I finally got to shower at 2pm this afternoon, I was thinking about the things people never tell you about having toddlers. So I've decided to compile a list of a few that have taken me by surprise.

~Even though my kids are toddlers, a successful day may include feeding everyone AND getting a shower.
~I may get covered in poo
~I never thought I could be so proud of someone going potty in the potty chair
~I know the inside and out of the Disney Junior lineup
~I will get covered in poo
~Just because one twin is ready to potty train, doesn't mean the other one is interested
~Potty training with a pregnancy gag reflex is not smart
~I am not the only thing that will get covered in poo
~Children are amazing to watch
~They learn things even when I don't realize I am teaching them
~I didn't realize how many questions I could get in one day

I have also realized that I don't mind these things as much as I thought, because along with the "drop everything" bathroom runs and being a human jungle gym, I get to watch my beautiful girls grow, learn, and love.  I have this precious chance to admire how amazing God truly is!

Wow, I need to get better at this!

Ok, so I haven't posted for about 3 months. I'll try to get better. Of course a lot has happened since my last post. I went to MO and brought my husband home, the girls have had a birthday, and we are now expecting our third. It has been so nice to have my hubby home, he even started the potty training process on his own this weekend, with some success! We now need to start the process of cleaning out the unneeded things to make room for the "new kid" and all the stuff that accompanies a new baby. I hope to post again soon!

Leaving soon

I am so excited! I am scheduled to leave in 1 day and 9 hours. (I could go into the minutes and seconds because I have and app for that :)) I have my clothes packed and most of the girls things taken care of. Now I just need to pack my entertainment bag and clean the house! I get to see my husband soon! He has been in Missouri for CMI training since mid January. All three of us went out once with another family. That was quite an adventure! But this time I am going alone on the train. Family will be trading off the girls while I am gone. I am a little nervous about being away from the girls this long. However, I know it will be ok and I just keep praying for peace. I am also excited though to be alone for a little while. Sometimes a mom just needs a little space. But the best part about this trip is that I get to come home with my hubby and he will be done in MO! We are pumped to have him home! But alas, I am being called away by two very lovable one-year-olds.

Back after a year

Ok, so a lot has changed since my first post. I thought this would be a great way to chronicle our life. Which it will be, when I get time. My problem was trying to blog, teach, keep house, and have twins under 2 all at the same time. I actually knew it had been a long time since blogging and my husband had been asking me about it. I did not realize however, that it had been over a year. We have moved back to our hometown in Montana and switched careers. We are now doing ministry work. My husband has been gone for nearly three months for training in Missouri, and I have been in Montana with the girls (our choice) so I could take care of some other things in our life. Life has been crazy, but gone pretty smoothly with all the help. My parents and my husband's parents live here and we have a great church family. I also attend MOPS and get to visit with many great ladies. I have gone from a working mom , trying to balance home and work. To a stay at home mom, trying to balance home and ministry. But that will have to wait for another day!

A Revelation

I should probably start by introducing myself. My name is Kim. I am a wife, teacher, and mother of twin girls. I was in the living room when my husband, Leif, got a phone call. He handed me the twin I wasn't holding and ran up the stairs. While trapped on the couch with two 7 mo olds I looked down and Sig urpped up all over Bryn. I couldn't get up to grab the spit-up rag and just had to laugh. After Leif came back down I went over to switch the laundry and realized that I had just ran an entire load of laundry with stain remover and no soap. After my hubby suggested a blog, I decided this would be a good way for me to chronicle our life to keep for the girls. Hopefully this will be a place to write and vent about our crazy life in small town North Dakota as a new family.