Lunch with Girlfriends

Its hard to move to a new place, without knowing anyone, when you are used to having constant friendship interactions. In Washington, I was very active in my church and had many friends who I would meet up with for coffee dates, play dates for our kids, church activities, girl nights, game nights, pretty much anything and everything!

Then I moved to Utah…

I was lonely for a long time. Whether self-inflicted, or just out of shyness, I’m not sure. My sister Jamie always told me that I just needed one friend: a gateway friend.

I met my gateway friend Lindsey in spring of 2015 when both of our boys were on the same baseball team. Her husband Jeremy was the coach. Aedan excels in all sports, and even though this was his first year playing baseball, he and Lindsay’s son Braxton became instant friends, and the two best players on the team. This led to a friendship between Lindsey and I. She also happened to live in the same neighborhood I did, even though we were both playing at a different cities rec league. Once we found out we live in the same neighborhood, she started inviting me to join her at our HOA pool. We hit it off, and basically spent every single day in summer at the pool together, where she introduced me to many many of her friends. One of her friends, Nicki, had a similar story to me. We had both moved to Utah from out of state around the same time. Lindsey met her, AT A YARD SELL: that’s how friendly Lindsey is!

Anyway, the three of us really hit it off and spent nearly every summer day together at the pool. When September came and our neighborhood pool had to shut its doors for the season, I was really wondering what the heck we could do to still get together often!

Thus our weekly lunches were born. Every week, usually on Tuesdays, we get together at one of our houses for a lunch and girl time. I enjoy it immensely! I look forward to it every week. I highly suggest you start a weekly lunch with your girlfriends too. It doesn’t cost you any money, like going out would, and you get much needed girl time!

So anyway, to get back to the point of this post within the context of my vegetarian week….

It was my week to host our lunch. I made a fresh loaf of bread, and homemade butter. A veggie salad with boiled eggs. And we also ate my leftover Egg Drop Ramen Veggie Soup. Lindsey brought guacamole! We had a fantastic time, as always! Nothing better then a good meal, and good friends! Try it out!

Ciao!

A Vineyard Wedding

Just an hour until sunset, I can no longer see the sun as it’s behind the old growth forest; this gives the sky an orange cast that’s almost too perfect. To the left I can see the endless vineyards rolling …

Summer: a paraphrase

I haven’t blogged since July. That’s so sad. My laptop died a heroic death, but unfortunately it took everything with it. I’ve always had a passion for writing. It gets all my ideas out of my head and helps me keep my sanity. Im not to keen on the desktop though, but I guess I need to get over that. So much has happened since July: So incredibly much.  I honestly don’t know where to begin.

To save all the hassle of writing up all the blogs I should have in the last 3 months, I am going to paraphrase.

JULY: Florida: 4^th of July. Many days at the beach. Mini golf, the kids first time ever. Sam’s birthday. Dave Matthews Band Concert. Art museums, yes I’m that girl. St. Augustine. Gater farm. Clearwater. Incredible white sand beaches. I don’t ever want to leave. Meeting old army friends. Shark teeth. Back to our new home in Salt Lake City: Settling in. MY SISTER MOLLY HAD HER BABY!!! A beautiful baby girl named Zoey. School started so early for the kids. Girls started Kindergarten. Since when is that okay? Pool time with Corah while big kids are at school. She had a hard time adjusting to being without her siblings.

AUGUST: I started training for my half marathon. Intense. In awe with the mountains, every day. Corah turns two. Wait, what?! My lovely friend Tiphani came to stay with me for two weeks! We took full advantage of the Utah sun and outdoors while she was here. Hiking. Beaching. Crafting. And silly drinking game nights. Enjoyed every minute and cried like a baby when she left. Continued to soak up summer sun. Talked with an old friend. Magic. Lavender fields. Still training every day for that marathon. Kayak on the lake.

SEPTEMBER: Football season starts. Are we the only Seattle fans in Utah? Apparently not. Still training. My kids are settled in school and have friends now. Makes me happy. I don’t get to go to Canada to see my new niece, so sad about that.  Flag football starts for Aedan. That’s entertaining. I get some much needed alone time. Heart break ensues. #41.  Sam started a new job at Morgan Stanley. So proud of him! Dave Matthews has his own wine? Why didn’t I know about that? I have too much free time. Grey Street. Fall décor. More Seahawks games. More training.

OCTOBER: Its already October? How? Kids are out of school for a month. We’ve been playing. Reading. Walking. It’s still warm here? This is so weird. Flag football ended for Aedan. He loved it. Sam and I have been having nightly walks together after the kids go to sleep. Works wonders. Sky full of stars. I still have too much free time. Looking into going back to school. My half-marathon is in 3 days!!! I leave for my brother’s wedding in Virginia in 5 days!! Excited to see my family! And to be at a wedding that’s on a vineyard… Wine does equal happiness.

We have packed so much into a short amount of time. Not only was it a lot of activities, but it was a lot of life changes. A lot of heart changes, a lot of up-rooting and rearranging my entire life type changes. Damn it was a summer.

I will write more, I promise. I’ve missed it too much.

Our Beach Day

FINALLY. Beach Day arrived. We deserved to sit on the beach after the four days in the car we endured. We decided to go with a more private beach called Mickler Beach. Not a lot of foot traffic here, but plenty of million dollar mansions and white sand to look at!

Aedan went to Atlanta with my dad to meet up with Sam for the Atlanta Peach Tree Road Race Expo. So he unfortunately missed this trip. But it was fun because it was a girls day! This was the kids first time ever at the Atlantic Ocean, and Corah’s first time ever at a beach of any kind! She hated it at first. The heat, humidity and wind probably didn’t help. She warmed up to it eventually. She loved to watch her sisters play.

The twins were in their element. Seashell picking. Sand castle making. Swimming. Being a mermaid. You know, all that little girl stuff.

Stephani. This girl. I’m just saying, no one has friends like me. This crazy girl signed up for a four day road trip across the country with four children. She is bananas. I am so grateful! So yes, I bought her a Margarita! Love you Steph! Thanks for your willingness to help. I literally could not have done this trip without you!

And who doesn’t love a nap on the beach? That is pure bliss. Corah, you look lovely my dear.

Family Time in Moving Chaos

Family time is important for any family in any stage; however, during a chaotic move with huge looming transitions, I think family time is even more critical. Samuel has had a business trip every weekend for the last 3 weeks, and to have him home this weekend means a lot to us. Every Friday night there is NO social media, NO blogs to write, NO homework to do, NO deadlines to meet, NO calls to make. Our family gathers around the table like every other night, except this night, its PIZZA! I have invented MANY different ways to make pizza. Ever heard of the pizzadilla? Well, it’s incredible. I’ll blog about it later! Everyone looks forward to it all week (Especially me, because it is my cheat meal of the week!). After dinner we play together and chat while I clean the kitchen. After that its MOVIE night! But this isn’t your average family night. We make a fort! We make beds on the ground! Popcorn is always involved. We all cuddle in and watch a movie as a family. Thankfully Corah is getting old enough to hang for most of the movie before she has to go to sleep. A few weeks ago, she even participated in making her own pizza. It was mostly pineapple 😉 We are trying to keep this important family time EVEN while moving. It’s been interesting, but it has really kept us close as a family unit. It also helps us to make sure we always have something to look forward to after a stressful week! What family traditions do you have? Do you have a “family night” once a week too?

San Francisco: Day One

San Francisco! A beautiful city I’ve always wanted to see. Sam and I decided to go for a weekend trip for our 7th anniversary! What a good decision that was! We can’t wait to go back. So without further ado, here is day one of our trip!

I have to say, if you are ever flying into San Francisco airport, fly in during the day. It will make your heart stop! All you see is ocean as you descend and then right as you think you are about to crash into water, BOOM: land. Pretty intense! We landed at 8:15am and caught the shuttle to our hotel. We stayed at the Aloft in Millbrae. We didn’t get a chance to see our room because we were dying to get to the city, so we just dropped off our stuff and went to catch the BART: Bay Area Rail Transport.

In twenty minutes, we step out of the subway system into the heart of downtown! Talk about gorgeous! We walked straight to Union Square. Palm trees greeted us along with an authentic Italian café called Emporio Rulli. We got a mocha to share and took in the California sun!

A REAL mocha.

sipping a mocha in Union Square

the Westin at Union Square

Shopping and palm trees!

After enjoying Union Square, we wandered over to China Town. I loved the Chinese Architecture! We felt like we moved into another continent! The streets were small and filled with bikes, pedestrians, and somehow a few cars. There were hanging red lanterns across the streets between the buildings. We were looking around for a restaurant, and there were plenty to choose from. We settled on a little place called Chinatown Restaurant: original right? Well whatever the name of the restaurant, it was pretty delicious! This place had some fantastic green tea and Kung Pow chicken. Also did you know that Green Tea ice cream existed? WHY did no one tell me this?! Wow. If you haven’t had green tea ice cream, go get some right now. Seriously!

entrance to Chinatown

Chinese lamp post

East meets West

We made our way out of Chinatown and walked towards the Transamerica Tower. You know, that big pyramid shaped skyscraper in the city skyline? Very iconic? Well it looks better in person! Right by the building is a redwood park! I was so excited, you would have thought that was the entire reason we came to San Fransico! I am a Pacific Northwest Girl to a fault, and I do love me some trees. These redwoods were gorgeous!







Following our stent in the park, we got lost to be honest. But being lost in a new city is always an adventure. We ended up wandering for quite a while through the Italian district more lovingly called Little Italy. Once again, I felt like I left the continent! I don’t even have a passport! Gelato and cappuccinos everywhere! We ended up at Grace Cathedral park. Definitely not a bad place to end up! The weather was amazing! California sunshine! We couldn’t get enough. We sat in the park for quite a while acting like two teenagers again. Romantic and exciting! Grace Cathedral was a sight to behold! Reminded me of my time spent in Europe. This cathedral was modeled after Chartres Cathedral in France, one of the many cathedrals I studied in my History of Renaissance Art class. Amazing to see this look alike in person!

We found a bus station! Luckily once we boarded a bus, there was a kind gentleman who told me where to get off to catch the other bus that would take us to the Golden Gate Bridge. It took us a while, but we finally made it! What a sight it was! Larger than life and definitely not camera shy; I probably took 200 pictures of this bridge alone! We spent some time walking the trails and viewing downtown and Alcatraz from the Bridge.

Alcatraz

Downtown San Fran

Being the big Seahawks fans that we are, we of course had to stick it to the 49er’s and wear our hawks gear out there for some photo opportunity! Surprisingly, four people yelled out GO HAWKS to us! 12’s are everywhere I tell you!


We took a bus back down to Union Square. On this bus must have been a million people but let me tell you, public transportation is a million times better than waiting in San Fran traffic and trying to park on these streets. Do yourself a favor and DON’T RENT A CAR.
Arriving in Union Square, where we had started our adventure this morning, we decided to eat dinner overlooking the square at the Cheesecake Factory. Now normally when traveling to other cities I am against eating at “chain” restaurants, but I had a friend tell me that this was one of the best places to see the city! So we went ahead and did it! Lindsay, you were right(Check her out at www.lifebylindsay.com). We had a lovely dinner overlooking Union Square while the sun set. What a beautiful way to end our first day in San Francisco!

view from our table at the Cheesecake Factory

Day two Coming up next!

Talkington Clan 2013 Wrap Up

Talkington Clan 2013

What an incredible year 2013 has been for the Talkington household. 2013 was full of so many exciting and memorable moments in our young family. We laid a lot of ground work for 2014 to be a very good year.

Our youngest daughter Corah continues to provide us with endless amounts of joy and entertainment. Corah literally began running the day after her 1^st birthday and continues to advance accordingly. She is obsessed with her mommy and loves family time. She cries when mommy drops the girls off at Pre School and really loves “melmo” (Elmo). Corah’s personality and determination will continue to take hold in 2014.

Morgan is doing very well for herself in both school and at home. She started preschool 4’s at Cascade Christian. Her teachers describe her as “very intelligent and thinks a lot before making any decisions.” Morgan participated in spring ballet this year and enjoys everything about being a 4 year old girl. Some of Morgan’s favorite activities include riding her bike, coloring, school, and watching Netflix.  Morgan has and will continue to make strides and inspire everyone she is around.

Kenley is still growing at an incredible rate. She has been in the 90^th+ percentile for height since she was 1 and is projected to be 5’11-6’1…. Holy Smokes. Kenley is a fireball that doesn’t stop spinning or dancing. She also started preschool 4’s this year at Cascade Christian. Her teachers describe her as unwavering curiosity personality who loves to be a mommy with her friends. She participated in ballet this past spring and continues to excel and amaze in everything she does.

Aedan is in 1^st grade at Cascade Christian Elementary.  Aedan is a natural born leader taking command of the situation when it arrives both at home and at school. He really enjoys going to school and working hard. He tested extremely high in his 1^st grade math equivalency test and the sky is the limit for this young man. When Aedan’s not in school he is participating in T-Ball, basketball, or watching the Seahawks dominate on Sunday’s. Superbowl party at our house 😉

Jenn is doing extremely well and is the backbone of our family. She continues to be an amazing mother ensuring all our kids are taken care of. She is an artist! I love watching her create things: photography, party planning, crafts, and home projects. She always has something she is working on artistically. She has also gotten very involved in serving at our Church primarily through volunteering in the toddlers-5 year old rooms every Sunday morning. She will never get the credit she deserves and I just want to emphasize that nothing would get done without her handling all the behind the scenes work.  We will be celebrating out 7^th anniversary in 2014! An incredible 7 years with this woman!

2013 was a year that everything in my vision began to really take hold and shape our future. I finished my Junior year at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington–Go Dawgs! I only have 6 more classes and I will have my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance!  The opportunities the University of Washington provides for me and my families future are incredible. In addition to school, my first business venture Strideline-Spokane has really taken off. We are currently being carried in 10 different stores throughout Eastern Washington and Idaho. This year was incredible both academically and professionally and will only continue as I expand my operations into Salt Lake City, Denver, and Phoenix beginning in February.

 

What’s ahead in 2014?

2014 is going to be a very productive and enjoyable year for all of us. Kenley and Morgan will officially finish preschool this year and Aedan 1^st grade.

I will be graduating from UW’s Foster School of Business in June of 2014.

I will also be continuing my Strideline operations in Spokane and Idaho as well as expanding into Colorado, Arizona, and Utah.

Most importantly, we will be moving to Utah sometime in early July shortly after I graduate.

 

Have a blessed 2014!

 

The Talkington Clan

You are my Sunshine!

This time last year as I was in the hospital with my newest bundle of joy, my sister in law Molly took the 3 older kids to the Blueberry Park to fill their bowls full of the delicious berry. We have four of our own blueberry bushes at home so it’s fair to say our family is obsessed with Blueberries. When I was considering places to have Corah’s first birthday party, it seemed fitting for us to have it at the park that her siblings were on the day of her birth. Especially considering her party was ON her actual birthday! That almost never happens!

This sweet little girl has brought so much joy to our family. She is an absolute blessing! So the theme for her party was a no-brainer: You are my little Sunshine. I spent a lot of time on the little details and I thoroughly enjoyed crafting this party all by hand. It turned out just like I pictured it in my head! Gotta love it when that happens! The weather was PERFECT even though there was a rain storm the night before! SO thankful for that!

Here we have Corah’s Cake and Favor table, decorated with her “ONE” banner that I made for her door for her birthday week.

Corah’s Cake and Favor Table

Close up of her favor jars. Each jar (recycled baby food jar) is filled with jelly beans!

Favor Jars

The food table! Photo Frame is holding a graphic that says “You are my Sunshine.” Yes those are empty starbucks mocha drink jars! Me and my hubby drank about 40 of these over about 4 months before the party! That’s dedication!! I wrapped these jars with custom labels!

More food! My favorite things! Veggies and Fruit Skewers! BLT Skewers and PB&J’s.

The whole table on display! Along with her photo banner from Pregnancy to 12 months. My favorite thing I made for this party!

Guest of Honor set up! Hand painted antique high chair, “You are my Sunshine” Banner and tissue pom poms.

Yes, another photo banner! This is of her 1st Birthday Lemonade Themed Photo Shoot.

Easy Peasy Table Centers: Flowers in a vase filled with cut up lemons. How cute!

My sweet Birthday girl!

Another view of my hand painted master piece! Blog post about this High Chair to come!

Rocking Horse gifted by a girlfriend! Also a hand painted piece! SO special!

Corah’s Smash Cake: I made a vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting topped with a beautiful flower!

Cake for everyone else: Same cake as above just bigger and with more flowers. Simple and summery!

Daddy, Mommy and the princess. Happy 1st Birthday my sweet!!

She had a fantastic day. She was all smiles!

So I leave you with pictures of her digging into that cake! Tasty!!

ooo squishy!!

Happiest Baby alive!

Being one is delicious!

The Talkington family year of 2012

Written by my amazing husband in summing up the Talkington Family year 2012:

Looking back, history will probably define 2012 as the year President Barack Obama won re-election, the year the “world was supposed to end,” and the year of the rookie quarterback(s). We had our personal high points and low points throughout the year and before we know it 2013 is here and the cycle continues. 2012 was a great year for us–The Talkington Family– and as we look forward, it is important to remember the steps we took to get where we are.

We were thankful to welcome Corah June Talkington into our family in August. Corah is very healthy and observant of her brother and sisters. This is the first “baby time” I get as I was in Iraq for Aedan’s first year and Afghanistan for Morgan and Kenley’s first year so to say the least; I am enjoying my daddy time. She is such a blessing and melts you away with her smile.

Kenley is very tall for her age (90+% according to growth charts) and is developing a very outgoing personality. Kenley started preschool this year at Cascade Christian Elementary and is enjoying being away from home for the first time. At school, Ms. Debbie reports Kenley as quite the homemaker as she loves to play chef, dress-up and take care of her “babies.” We are very happy for Kenley and the future she has ahead. She is such a spark plug in our lives.

Morgan is doing very well and has had a great year (55% for height and weight) and is developing a very intelligent and confident personality. Like her sister, Morgan started preschool at Cascade Christian Elementary and looks forward to “scool” every week. Ms. Debbie says Morgan is very intelligent and picks up on things quickly. 2012 was a great year for every aspect of Morgan’s life and she has made tremendous strides in all areas.

Aedan started his kindergarten year at Cascade Christian Elementary and continues to pave the way for him and his sisters. He celebrated his sixth birthday in November and is getting so big. He is already a leader and takes responsibility head on. His teacher, Mrs. Shacket, says Aedan is always in charge of who is playing what super hero at recess. He is such a knowledgeable godly young man. He is learning how to read and enjoys math and science a lot. He always comes home full of details of what he learned and the passion in his eyes is very promising. We are very proud of our kids and have high hopes and expectations for their futures.

Jenn is doing very well. 2012 can be summed up in one word: CORAH. She is enjoying staying home and providing comfort and stability to our young family. She is getting more involved in our church and handles everything on the home front. I couldn’t ask for a better woman to raise our kids. God continues to bless our lives and we understand the importance of providing a stable home environment for our children. Jenn is definitely the battery that keeps us all going, not getting enough credit for all she does.

2012 has been the year where everything is beginning to come together for myself and our family. I got my AA from Tacoma Community College and got accepted into the best school in the state The University of Washington—attending both the Tacoma and Seattle campuses. I am pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on finance (Corporate, Personal and Intuition). I finished my first quarter at UW in December and am close to maintaining my honors status with a 3.47 GPA. I only have five more quarters to go! I have spent the last six month’s working at First Command Financial Services which is a company that specializes in helping military and government employees with managing their finances. I enjoy giving back to the Lewis-McCord community and the company treats me very well. Finally, I have gone into my first business venture partnering with two fellow UW business students and helping launch their product into Spokane, WA. I highly recommend you go to Strideline.com and look over the website to get a better understanding of the concept.

2013 Ahead

We have HUGE plans for 2013 and are hoping on taking the next step into society. I am pursuing some very competitive internship over the summer with major financial firms such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Chase, Russell Investments and so forth. These next few months are going to be crucial for me and what the summer holds. Any way you look at it, we are hoping to be moving out of Tacoma in 2-3 years either to Seattle-Issaquah area or the Colorado-Utah area.

2013 is where Strideline kicks into gear being I have product distribution networks set up at Bloomsday, Hoopfest and Black Friday. Big plans are in the works for Strideline-Spokane.

Continuing my education at The University of Washington and at this time next year I will be close to obtaining my BA.

What a blessed year 2012 was and as my former CSM would say “Men, lean forward in the foxhole.”

I will leave everyone with very wise rules Bill Gates put out that we must remember about life:

Rule 1: Life is not fair — get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping — they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

What’s in a name?

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s Juliet says:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as
sweet.”

The meaning of this quote is that we should love the person, not the name. Juliet loved Romeo, but their families were in a long-standing feud. She asked him to refuse his name and be her lover, and so he did. She loved him despite his name.

However, I tend to think that names actually have great importance.

My favorite thing about having a baby is choosing a name! It is such a fun part of being pregnant. The name you are given is so important to who you are. I have had the pleasure of naming four little ones. Sam and I picked each name with a ton of thought, and prayer.

Aedan Grant: Our first-born. Our only boy. Born 11.27.06. While many people have heard the name “Aiden” not a lot of people have seen it spelled the traditional way: Aedan. This is an old Gaelic name (traditionally Irish Peoples) meaning “fire.” When I was pregnant with Aedan, I noticed from the beginning that he was a very active baby! I first felt him move at 14 weeks which is VERY early for first time mothers. From those first butterfly movements to full on kicks, he was always moving. Before we decided on his name, I always thought of him as my little fireball, and so when I saw this name and meaning I knew this was a perfect choice. Little did I know “Aiden” was going to be a very popular name and it shot up in 2006! A ton of people have that name, and I was trying to get away from popular names. OH WELL! I still have not seen it spelled the traditional way. Grant is Samuel’s middle name. I am not a huge fan of juniors so I didn’t want to name our son Samuel, so giving our son Sam’s middle name was a good compromise. Grant is latin for “Great” which works really well with his chosen name meaning of “fire” as he is my great fire! My great passion for life! My beautiful son!

Aedan Grant, 5 years old

 

Kenley Leona: Our first-born daughter. A twin sister. Born 03.11.09. I have never heard the name Kenley before or since our choosing it. I have to admit naming twins was a huge challenge. I didn’t want the names to rhyme or match. While pregnant, the twins were always in the same location, Kenley on the bottom, Morgan on top. Kenley was a lot more active than Morgan, and was quite a pain in the butt—literally. Between the two girls, her personality showed through the pregnancy. She seemed outgoing, as she would kick me back any time I touched her. We thought of her as our little princess! When searching for names, we looked for name meanings that pointed towards princess or royalty. Sam is very English and so we decided to go for an English name. Kenley means “the king’s meadow” or “royal meadow.” It is also a place in England. For a middle name, we decided to keep with a family name as we did for Aedan. Because Aedan was our first-born boy and received his dad’s middle name, we did the same for our first-born daughter. Leona is my middle name and it is Hebrew for “my strength.” This middle name fits Kenley very well because she has a very strong female personality!

Kenley Leona, 3 years old

 

Morgan Elise: Our second born daughter. A twin sister. Born 03.11.09. My poor Morgan was squished her entire pregnancy by her twin sister. She was on top, half in my rib cage! In fact, when the girls were delivered via c-section, the docs had to pull her out of my rib cage! Painful! During pregnancy, Morgan was not very active, but she played nicely with her sister. She seemed quiet and calm. We thought she would be our smart child who enjoyed reading. We had a hard time naming the twins, but one name always kept coming up: Morgan. This Welsh name means “great brightness” and in German, we say “Guten Morgen” to mean “good morning.” Morgan certainly is our sunshine or “brightness” of our life! She is such a happy child even with her challenges (which I promise to eventually blog about!). Her happiness despite her disability is what brings me inspiration; I wish we could all be like Morgan! In keeping with family names as middle names, Morgan got her Grandma’s middle name Elise. This name is French meaning “consecrated to God.” Consecrated to God means that you are set apart for Gods use or that you are special to God. Morgan fits this SO well because throughout her struggles, we can see that she is SO special to God. She was given specifically to us from God to teach us many many things. She was definitely used for God’s purpose and she will continue to do so.

Morgan Elise, 3 years old

 

Corah June: Our last child. Our third daughter. Born 08.10.12. Sam and I took a long time to decide this little girl’s name. We wanted to make sure her name “fit” with our other children. We didn’t want to go out of left field with this one. We really thought this little one was a boy, so we had many boy names picked out in the beginning. When we discovered we had a little girl on the way we were excited, but didn’t know where to start in the naming process. We also discovered some difficulties with the pregnancy during an ultrasound and we prayed to God she would make it through! We started looking for names with powerful meanings. We decided on the middle name first: June. This was Sam’s grandma’s name. She was a beautiful strong woman! Not only did it fit the family names for middle names criteria, but June was the Roman goddess of fertility and childbirth. As we discovered the tumor on the placenta, we agreed this would be her middle name because we wanted her to be healthy and strong. Corah was eventually chosen (although even up to her birthdate, we still were thinking “Claire” might be her name) and it means “heart.” Corah certainly has my heart! She is such a sweet baby, and we are so thankful that God gave her to us.

 

Corah June, 3 weeks old