Vera is 1! Everett is 4!

We had a birthday party for Vera (1) and Everett (4) and it was a blast! We had nice weather and we were able to have a sprinkler and other fun water activities.

 We are so blessed by these two children God has given us. Here is a song that I really love lately and reminds me of my children and what I hope they will always remember in their life. Have faith, hope, love REPEAT! It's so true that life can be very hard but we have a God that is bigger than all our fears. I love my children with all my heart and I can only begin to imagine the love God has for us.

https://youtu.be/NoO8POz2gtE?list=RDNoO8POz2gtE

Vera at 11 months:
-Loves head rubs
-Eats anything! We often feel like we need to cut her off from food before she gets sick!
-Sleeps through the night (finally)

Everett at 4:
- We went to see his first movie in the theaters "Incredibles 2".. when we came out of the movie he thought he was a real life superhero.. it was so cute and funny

Spring 2018

Well it is Spring time in MN which doesn't mean a whole lot :)... There is still snow on the ground and the temps are still in the 20's and a few days even lower!! Tommy has started his new career as a logger and is loving it. He's had some hard days but he is home every night with us and that has been such a blessing. Tommy's job at ITS was very life consuming and we knew we needed a change. We started praying that the Lord would open a door for a new opportunity and He did. It is so clear it was God working out every detail to transition him from ITS to logging... We are so blessed. We are looking forward to having him home more and enjoying our summers! Camping, fishing, swimming..... Oh the possibilities!! Here are a few things happening in our life!

Everett at 3 1/2:

- When asked what his name is he says "Everett Thomas Leaper big boy!!"

- Says "lasterday" instead of "yesterday"

- Finally Potty Trained!!

- Everett was being naughty one day and I asked him "what's wrong?".. he said "I'm angry." I said "why are you angry?" He said "because I work too much!" HAHA

- Everett is very independent and one day I was getting after him because I needed to help him with something and he wasn't letting me and I told him "you are not a grown man! You are a little boy!" And he started sobbing saying "I'm a grown man!"..... At 3 years old..... 

Vera at 7 months:

- 1 tooth

- rolls to get around

9 months: 

- crawling!

- 2 teeth

A sidenote that I jotted down one day::

Thank you to my children.. you changed me... I used to be selfish.. I used to only care about me.. you gave my life purpose.. you filled my heart with so much love it could explode.. you are a gift from God.. I know that so deep in my heart because only God could create such fulfillment. It wasn't always easy for me.. becoming a mom was one of the hardest transitions of my life.. but I knew one day God would bless it.. and I sit here with tears in my eyes because that time is now.. I realize my love for my beautiful kids.. even when things are hard.. and they can be hard!! So my advice to my kids if you're reading this.. Don't live based on your feelings.. Keep seeking God's will and what He wants for your life.. and know that parenting is HARD but so amazing at the same time. Remember we reap what we sow... Sowing life into our kids is hard work but the reaping is a beautiful life with so much love... 

Love you so much,

Stefanie

Throw away the negative

I wanted to share something that the Lord has put on my heart recently. It's something He has brought to light in my life. I speak a lot of negativity and doubt into my life and heart. I ALLOW negative thoughts to invade my heart regularly. I believe it's something that can creep into our lives very easily and I recently saw an activity that made a lot of sense to help with "throwing away the negative" and seeking out the positive. Every day, I have been writing down these doubts/negative thoughts that I have about myself and others. I also take each thought and in my mind "throw them away" and turn it into a positive affirmation for myself. I write "doubts" at the top and list them. Then I write "affirmations" below those doubts and turn them into a positive thought that I can speak over my heart and mind daily. This has been LIFE CHANGING for me! I don't think I was even aware of all the negative things-- big or small-- that I whisper to myself throughout the day. I'm realizing I can have these negative thoughts and get rid of them and not allow them to consume me or change who I am in Christ.