Tis' the season...

As I sit here in the settling dust of a post-Christmas day with 3 small children, my mind is full of thoughts.  I think of the YouTube clip of the 5yr old boy who had just gone to the dentist, "Is this real life?"  I laugh as we bustle through breakfast and presents and family and colds and thoughtless Christmas movie quotes run through my head.  I rest in the solitude of Clark Griswold's "It's all part of the experience" as he responds to the news of his daughters eyes beings frozen after searching the frosted wilderness for the perfect tree.  It's hard to imagine 5, 10, 15 years down the road when the innocence is gone and our traditions change as the boys grow up.  That's why I choose to embrace these moments and experiences as we walk through this life we've been blessed with.  I think back to 4 years ago when we were in the middle of fertility treatments and trying desperately to have a family of our own.  Do we really have 3 kids just 4 years later and the fertility doctor told us that a natural conception wasn't "looking good"?!?!  That thought leads me to God's faithfulness amidst our distrust and disobedience.  Imagining the God of the universe coming to us in the form of a helpless child so many years ago is just I unfathomable.

This Christmas I am thankful for my faith, my God - the unshakable rock that provides us with peace in the middle of an uncertain world.  I am thankful for my wife, Liz and the commitment she makes of raising our boys as well as the love and support she shows to me.  I am thankful for my boys - Matthew, Wyatt and Greyson.  They teach me to love more and more every day and they teach me the art of patience.  I am thankful for my parents, Mary Grey and Derrick.  I think about the Christmas traditions they established of enjoying family and celebrating faith.  As a parent now,  I laugh at the countless hours spent on finding the perfect gift and making every holiday extra special.  I am thankful for my brother as he steps into establishing his own family and traditions.  I look back on all of the Christmases we spent as children getting so excited about what waited under the tree.  I am thankful for my godparents, Doug and Susu.  There's not a Christmas I can remember when they weren't an integral part  of our experience and I am forever grateful for their involvement in our lives.  There are a number of additional names that come to my mind - great friends and examples that have shaped and molded me up to this point.  Folks that have shared the ups and down, the highs and the lows.  If you're reading this and thinking , "I wonder if that's me?"  That's a yes!

I wish everyone reading a very Merry Christmas and the best 2013 that up can imagine.

Beautiful Words from a friend

This post is from a childhood friend who is a beautiful writer. I was not gifted in the subject of writing so I admire those who can do so. Here is her post, which will be prayer. God bless her sweet soul.

Come to Behold

Beneath the clamor of the season, I hear the faint cries in the quiet.  Above the noise of the hustle, I sense a new stillness beckoning in the night. While I hurry and plan, do and make, the truth of God so loving this world lies swaddled in a blanket, waiting.  I hear the cries and I sense the stillness.  I desire the awe and I crave the wonder.  But my lists are long, and my calendar full, and my own blanket of holiday drapes over the truth of advent, muddling the gentle cries of invitation.  

I work to create traditions and memories, recipes and beauty, when all the while, Beauty rests in the dark of night calling me to come and adore.  My eyes are fixed on my family, these children for whom I long to know of God, and all the while, God waits in a manger.  I need only to bring them with me to come and kneel.  But I want it wrapped in color.  I want it to smell freshly baked.  And over all of it, I want the shiny glitter of perfection. 

But it has never been my job to create perfect.  For Perfect has already come. Perfect calls in the quiet coos of a Father become Child.  Perfect waits for me to stop running, and to start crawling, slowly and steadily by the side of Love, to come and behold. 

Yes, I hear it, the gentle cries, the soft coos, the quiet invitation to come and adore.  Yes, I see it, the light in the night, the star in the sky, the flesh of the Love.  But will I come?  As I rise in the morning and fall in the night, will I come?  In spite of the noise and the activity, the calendar and the lists, will I come?  Will I come to kneel, come to be stilled, come to behold? 

Celebrating their 1st!!

Wow.. hard to believe it's been a year since we sat in the NICU at New Hanover praying over Wyatt and Greyson. Born just shy of 35 weeks, they spent 4 weeks in the hospital. We are so grateful for all the nurses and doctors that gave them EXTRAORDINARY care and helped them grow strong before we brought them home. We are celebrating them this weekend with a party at our neighborhood clubhouse. Pinterest inspired(of course) we are doing the thing1 thing 2 theme from dr. seuss' cat in the hat. Super pumped about their party and all the decorations and food!
They checked out awesome at their 1 year check! Dr said let's not even use the premature scale that most preemies are compared too. Both measuring above 50% for weight and height! Go figure:)

Numbers are:
Wyatt-21.6 lbs
          29 3/4 in
           A+ developmental

Greyson- 22.2 lbs
                29 3/4 in
              A+ developmental

Praise God for healthy, big, almost walking boys!  

                                                       Matthew says congrats!

Whew... the election

I wasn't one to put all my emotions out there on Facebook about the election, nor did I stay up until midnight to hear the results, but I will blog it here that I am so disappointed to hear the results this morning.  I already knew the world was corrupt and that as a nation we had become really greedy. But deep down, I hoped that people would vote for the man who stood for more conservative and religious values. As a believer, I live by the motto "if God created life, he should get to define it"...so I tried to filter all social and economic policies through what the Bible had to say about them.  And it was very black and white when it came to which president stood for those values. I am a giver at heart... and I won't stop giving. I will do my best not to judge the people of this nation but to pray for them. Even friends and family that voted opposite me...my first reaction is to be like...what?! I can't believe you would vote for..... but God calls us to love and pray for them. My hope still rest on the UNSHAKEABLE ROCK of Jesus... and I will pray that as a nation we will turn from our greed and state of entitlement and surrender the One who created us.

Big Birthday, crawling babies, building a house...lots going on!

Sometimes I find myself checking other blogs in my few minutes of spare time and the non-writer that I am, doesn't feel compelled to write or blog on my own very much.  Sorry for the lapse, as if you cared!

So what's been going on with the Ham Fam! We have one very active and very smart little 2 year old, who is doing so good in school. The first few weeks were rough, but he is adjusting and doesn't even cry anymore.  Matthew is the youngest in his class, but the kid is a little genius:), so he seems do great with the other kids.  You can brag on your kids right?! He is still so stocky and built like a rock- probably pushing 36-37lbs now. Wearing a 4T-ha! He's so heavy that my back aches so bad at the end of the day. Oh, maybe that's because I have 2 crawling 11 month olds too- that are fast as lightning.  Don't blink or they will be climbing the toilets in the bathrooms, the trash in the kitchen and crawling opposite ways. Both are sweet boys, but starting to develop different personalities! Wyatt is a bit calmer, not quite as active, doesn't cry unless hungry, plays by himself quite well and loves to be silly in his crib when he is tired. He like dive-bombs into the side railing and bumper pads and laughs the whole time. Greyson has a contagious laugh, yet has learned to throw a fit with a reared back and all. He also seems to buddy up with and fight with Matthew more than Wyatt does. He is into everything and fusses a bit more than the others. Granted they have all been battled colds- we just pass them around- should expect that huh? The twins also just got dedicated at church- it was such a special day!

What's up with Matt and me? Well- we celebrated my 30th bday with a weekend with just US! We hit up our favorite restaurants, went paddleboarding, napped, showered, dinner with friends, church, you know- the things people do before they had kids!! And our big news( that isn't quite a done deal) we are under contract with a builder, Jimmy Doster, to buy a lot and build a house in Autumn Hall. It's so very excited, yet a bit stressful. Our architect drew up beautiful plans and I hope and pray it will pan out how God intends it to. We have really tried to take it slow and make wise decisions- so we'll see! I will keep you posted. Hopefully I can upload plans soon- but until then I will give you one secret about the house- it will be designed so we can have a half court basketball court and goal in the backyard. For me or the kids?  I'm not sure:)

 Not sure how we got everyone to look and smile- but I'm not complaining!

Sweetest!

                                                          Sweet boys getting dedicated!

                                          The big 3-0!  It's the only pic we took all weekend!

Beach week and craziness

We just returned from a week at the beach (Matt won a week at Wrightsville Beach) and we did have a good time. I won't lie, vacation is not  'vacation' anymore.  It was nice to get out of our house for awhile  but goodness gracious, I  thought we were going to destroy that place. It did rain quite a bit too, so we were stuck inside a lot! Now that we are back home, I can't decide if my days are getting harder or just busier! We are definitely getting sleep- which is awesome but the daytime is a circus act juggling meals, bottles, naps, etc. I mean seriously, their are babies everywhere and moving very fast! Thank goodness we bought a gate for our playroom.   I have to lock those suckers in there or I lose them, haha. We are having so much fun watching Matthew interact with Greyson and Wyatt.  We are blessed with 3 sweet boys and 3 really good night sleepers, but life is just very stressful and draining during the day. I never want to wish away the present but I do look forward to the days when my back isn't aching after a day with the kids:)

Here are some cute ones from the beach!

W & G

                                                      Duke and Meme playing with the boys.

                                                    Visit from our sweet friend Tilley Gray!

                                                                    Kisses from my firstborn

Look alike, wow!

                                  Did I mention the highlight of my week- a visit from Cham!!

                                                       Those brown eyes are too cute boys!

What really matters

I have been following a blog that has really inspired me lately. It's amazing how God is speaking through these families that have been through such a tragic event.  It's a blog about 4 young girl's that live in Raleigh that were in a bad car accident.  I stand amazed at the strength of the mom of Janie(who is writing the blog) who almost died, has just come out of her coma and off the ventilator.
It is so evident that God has his hand in this situation and is changing lives and hearts to glorify Him!
If you would like to be encouraged- read here... http://solideogloria-emily.blogspot.com/

I have truly dropped to my knees recently thanking God for my 3 amazing, healthy boys. I am blessed to be able to stay home and have a husband who works so hard for us. I am blessed beyond words to have incredible HELP with these boys, my mom who has made the way-boring drive down from Raleigh on I-40 about 25 times since they were born, my in-laws who show up to my doorstep- every time  i need them, Matt's God-parents who sacrifice one evening a week(if not more) to help us at dinnertime, and our amazing God-loving nanny Megan who makes my life so much easier!!
The list could go on of people who have showered us with love during this difficult last year!
We continue to pray that God will humble us by his presence and not by our circumstances. We are truly blessed and I'll end on that:)