Today marks 14 years!

Today marks fourteen years! 

These years have been short and long, mostly good but sometimes rough, happy and sad and grueling and bliss! Some have been easy, but that was never a whole year. ☺️ Nothing of worth comes easily and I have thought about what makes things stick, other than the grace of God. I will say I have fought for us and I fight for us. Everyday. All uphill some days, downhill others, but with ALL of my heart. The battle to give myself, to be available, to be vulnerable, to be honest, to be the safe place, to be the soft place, to be the helper, to be the lover, to be the best friend, to be the one who defends my man. And sometimes it has been only me. And sometimes it has been everyone but me, but only for a moment, and then, by God's grace, I have pulled close again and bowed my heart to the Lord to tuck myself back under his heart, right by those ribs. Some days are rough, and I have wondered if he's so mad that he doesn't want to forgive me or be forgiven, but I'm so thankful to God for giving us the grace to forgive and be forgiven by Him and one another. The "funny" jokes about always being right are so off target from where we are and must stay daily. I fight for us! He fights for us, and I hope we continue to fight for one another as strongly as I have seen we are so far. I love my man, and I'm so glad that we look to Jesus together to keep our hearts together! I will continue to pray that God keeps our hearts in Him. Counting our years together is more fun than a birthday! ☺️ I love you and I love us!

We had a boy!!! Again!!!

Yes! You read that correctly! We have added another child to our family since the last blog post! I haven't posted since Harbor was born. I'm really disappointed in that, because I really do enjoy blogging, but I hardly find time to update my Facebook status these days much less blog, so hello again. Our youngest sweetheart is Koa Gage. He was born in November 2013 and he was 9 pounds 4 ounces, 22 inches long and he has been the best sleeping baby of the bunch from literally day one! He is 15 months younger than his big brother Harbor. Harbor surprisingly loves him to pieces! He was a very attached baby, and I was quite concerned that the transition would be very hard, but the LORD has given us grace in the fact that Koa has slept at least 5 hour stretches most nights since the night he was born. We are still sleepy, however, but mostly of our own doing! I'm a night owl, and I am doomed to sleepiness because of how much I cherish these quiet nights to myself. 

There are some exciting new things in our family! 

With our newest addition, we upgraded to a new mode of transportation. We are now the owners of a 15 passenger van. The kids love the new ride, and it's not as hard to drive as I had originally feared. The Lord is gracious to us in His constant provisions and His consistent answers to prayers. 

 We now have a 4th grader, a 3rd grader, a 2nd grader, a pre-kindergartener, a pre-schooler, a toddler and an infant! Whew! We are enjoying our curriculum and happily trekking our way through school. We recently changed Math curriculum for our oldest girls and they are actually saying things like "I love Math" like their younger brothers! I am so excited about their newfound love for Math and the fact that they actually come to me and ask if they can do their lesson for the day! Even with the new baby, we are on track to have a summer break. I'm praying that things can continue as they have been! :) 

 I have also recently become a distributor of Young Living Essential Oils and we have been enjoying including them in our family learning! There is so much to learn, but I am loving how much fresher our home already is because of the diffuser, and how much healthier we have been! Even when the kids catch a cold or tummy bug, they have recovered much more quickly! The oils are just amazing! I may have to post a blog about them very soon! 

 Well, I'm praying that I can really get to blogging again! I miss it too much and I have too much to share to lose track of time again. Blessings! Maia