the twins at 8 weeks. our next ultrasound is in 2 weeks.

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today my life changed forever

We obviously knew Tif was pregnant.  We were trying to have our second baby and today was our first ultra sound.  As the nurse started the ultrasound the first thing she says is "uh oh, your having twins."  Haha, funny joke.  I thought, this nurse is funny.  Then I see two sacs as she says "better you than me."  WHAT!!! Turns out that there's two babies in there.  I started sweating.  HOLY CRAP!  Twins!!

Tif and I always said that we wanted two babies.  I never considered having more.  I was good with two.  Well, God had different plans.  This generation of Schaaff's will number 5 just like the previous one.

We're excited, but if I'm to be transparent, I must admit I'm super scared.  I was already a little nervous about waking up all night again.  Now I'm worried about how the heck I'm going to take care of two newborns and a toddler!  

I already know this will be the hardest thing we've ever done, but it will also be the most rewarding.  I'm looking to God for help.  I definitely don't know how we're gonna do it…but I know that we will.    Please send up some prayer for us.  There will be a lot of logistical and personal challenges and we need all the grace we can get.

I'm enjoying the view from our window right now

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@laurenebrockie not anymore:)

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Checking this out @b_moss

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I made the decision...

to stick with the Daniel fast. After praying about the decision last and sleeping on it I have decided to finish with the Daniel fast for perseverance sake. The whole time I was praying, that word perseverance kept popping up in my head. I still am not sure if I will do this particular fast again, but I will see it through to the end.

The Daniel Fast...

Our church is winding down from a period of 21 days of fasting. I had chosen to do the Daniel fast. This fast comes from the passage in Daniel 10 where he obtains from all food but fruits and vegetables. Restricting my food to items containing only fruit and vegetables seemed more attainable than going more than a day or two without food entirely. During previous times of fasting I only made it through 2 days and had become quite sick.

I have now been on the Daniel fast since January 3 and it has been a struggle. Not physically speaking, which has been fine aside from caffeine withdrawal and the worst smelling gas, but spiritually speaking. I have found the Daniel fast to actually be somewhat distracting. I'm still eating every meal, and its been time consuming mentally to figure out what I can and can't eat.

The problem with this is that a fast is meant to be a time of spiritual growth and devotion to God, not merely going without certain foods. During the fast, I have been reading my bible more than any time in recent memory but I haven't been praying much more than I normally would. Last time I did a fast I would pray during the times I would normally be eating. This brings me to my current dilemma. Should I stick out the Daniel fast for the last 5 days for perseverance sake, or should switch to a new fasting mode where I abstain from lunch each day and devote that time to prayer? Spiritually speaking, I feel abstaining from a meal a day will help spend more time in prayer and focus on God. On the flip side, I don't want to quit because of my frustration with the Daniel fast, even though I know its not about the food.

I'm curious as to how the experience has been for any one else who is doing, or has done, the Daniel fast. I don't know that I'll do it again and I'm leaning towards switching to abstaining from my lunch the remainder of the week. Time to pray about it.