And babies came...

I was reading a post on a new blog tonight when I came across this phrase -"and babies came."  As it often happens, it triggered a thought that has led to this post.  The phrase itself seems like a phrase that just states a fact.  A couple got married and then babies came.  It implies the "expected" and the "inevitability" of babies coming into a family. 

For us, things were quite different.  We married and then no babies came.  We had planned on a large family that would be spaced just right, but no babies came.  We cried, and prayed, and wished, and still no babies came.  We sought doctors, and medicines, and procedures, and diagnoses, and still no babies came.  Our rooms and our hearts were empty.  We sought God's wisdom and peace.  We longed for little ones and still no babies came.  We hurt.  Infertility is a unique heartache that can only be known by those who have lived it. 

Years passed by and still no babies came.  We filled our lives with home renovations, careers, and entertainment.  We drew near to each other.  We came to accept that there may never be any babies to come into our family.  Our dream of a large family died a bit more with each passing year. We still prayed, and cried, and tried, and still no babies came.

Just a few weeks after our tenth anniversary, we found out we were expecting.  And then babies came, in God's timing and on His schedule.  Three in less than three years.  First a girl, then 13 months later another, then 21 months later a boy. 

I learned so much about God through our journey through infertility.  I am still learning from it even now.
People assume that we are done, that our family is complete.  I honestly do not know.  The main thing I learned about God is that He is in control.  He alone opens the womb.  He allows us the illusion of control and sometimes gives us what we ask for but He is still in control.  I still have the condition that caused our infertility.  Who knows if I will be able to have another child?  Only God knows.  We gave God our fertility already, many years ago when we had no babies and little hope of having any.  Why now would we change our minds?  If we can trust that He knows what is best when we have none then why can't we trust Him when we have three?

I guess what I am trying to say is that the lessons I learned in the dark, are still true in the light.  Our journey to parenthood forever changed our view of God, unborn children, pregnancy, and birth control.

And then she was 4



Our Big Girl on her Birthday

 Where has the time gone?  It just seems like yesterday that we welcomed our first baby into our family!  This past Sunday, Lyra Kate turned 4.  She has changed so much in the past few months.  She has lost the last of her "babyness" and grown into a little girl. 

On her 3rd birthday

In an attempt to remember this sweet age, here are a few things she is currently doing:

She loves wearing dresses or skirts.  She thinks princesses wear skirts and she thinks she is a princess!
She loves to sing and often sings along with her princess movies.
She still wears a diaper to bed but we're working on that.
She loves a cupcake!
She still steals Sis's poppy sometimes when she is trying to go to sleep.
She wants to have really long hair.
She knows exactly what she wants in her husband already, which is basically someone just like Daddy.
She is obsessed with getting married.
She loves flowers.
She prays everyday for a new puppy.
She loves giving kisses and hugs.

No, that's not Tucker, that's Lyra Kate at 15 months!

She is excited about starting school - even if it's at home with mommy.
She can be very bossy and gets really mad at her sister when she doesn't go along with her.
She talks constantly.
She went around for days telling everyone she was the Birthday girl.
She loves pink.  I mean really loves pink.
She is still obsessed with our neighbor's black car. 
She thinks Tucker is the cutest baby ever.
She is a bit jealous of Lila's curly hair.
She has a temper which we are beginning to see more and more.
She wants a princess bed, really bad!
She always wants a story at bedtime.

Lyra Kate just hours old

Our First Vacation...sort of...

The view from our condo

We were in need of a vacation.  Just us, the five of us, that didn't include visiting family.  Since Lyra Kate came along, almost 4 years ago, we have only taken vacations that were to visit family - many trips to my Mom's on the Alabama Gulf Coast (I mean she does live at the Beach) and one long trip with Scott's parents to visit Gigi and Uncle Larry in Kansas City.  (The trip was long because it was about 11 hours in the car one-way, with a 2 year old and a 1 year old, both who got the stomach bug, and I was 4 months pregnant - not because we were traveling with Scott's parents). Anyway, I was longing to "get-away" for a few days with just Daddy and the littles.  And so we found one week in March where we could make a break for it and headed to the Smokey Mountains. 

This is what happens when you say "give Sis a hug!"

I love it there, in the mountains.  My people had to be mountain people, because I always feel at such peace there.  It was Spring.  Winter had left and everything was green and beautiful. 

Looking at the flowers

We are not much on going to the shows that they have in the area.  In fact, we had planned on doing much more before we got there.  Instead, we only went to the Aquarium in Gatlinburg.  It was our first trip and the girls enjoyed it. 

Looking at the fish

We spent two days in the National Park.  The first day "hiking"!  We actually took a trail behind the Sugarlands Visitor Center that led to a waterfall, which the park ranger suggested would be stroller friendly.  She was wrong.  Scott ended up carrying the stroller more than anything else.  The girls did have an adventure since it was muddy, beside a stream, and included a plank bridge. 

Our wandering child, Lila Grace, about to climb over the edge!

The last day of our vacation we spent in the park also.  We drove toward Cherokee about halfway.  We found access to one of the mountain streams that wasn't too step to climb down to with our 3 littles.  The water was low, exposing the river bed.  Our girls threw a lot of rocks.  And brought a lot of rocks home - something they apparently inherited from their Daddy. 

Rock throwing fun!

We then drove back to Sugarlands where we walked the handicapped trail.  It was a old homesite that the park is letting nature reclaim.

Old homesite - all that's left is the stone chimney

 It was by the stream.  We explored this area thoroughly.  Gracie found a walking stick which now has a permanent residence in our garage. 

Gracie's stick that she found in the woods

After that adventure, we drove towards Cade's Cove.  We were looking for the old schoolhouse, but we missed the turn off and couldn't turn around.  We ended up leaving the park through Wear Valley and coming back into Pigeon Forge from north of the National Park.  It was a beautiful drive.

Mountain steam

We have one rule about food when we are out of town - try to eat somewhere we do NOT have at home!  We did just that eating at Bubba Gump's (YUMMY), Red Robin, The Old Mill, Bullfish, Fudruckers and Calhoun's.  And of course we made the trek to the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg for breakfast one day.  It was wonderful.  Lyra Kate stuffed herself!  What can I say - we are Foodies (well, maybe not Gracie, she just likes chocolate). 

Tucker

We also did a good deal of shopping while we were there.  I love to shop at the Outlet stores for the children's clothing.  We bought most of our spring clothing that we needed.  We also took the children to their first Disney Store.  I didn't tell them where we were going so it was a surprise.  It took Lyra Kate's breath away when she saw the wall of princesses!  Gracie quickly found her guy - Buzz.  We let the girls pick one item each.  Lyra Kate got a Ariel the mermaid dress and Lila Grace got a real Buzz Lightyear.  We had two very happy little girls! 

Our favorite spot

Our favorite part was just driving and walking in the national park.  I could go every year if our budget allowed.  It was renewing for us to spend so much time together.  The children and I are always together but we miss having Scott with us.  This was a fun adventure.  I can't wait until our next one...maybe Disneyworld.