Hi there, I'm Lauren, the mama bird here at the Valentine Nest. I am a follower of Christ, a wife to Robby, a mother to four little ones, a "retired" Labor & Delivery Nurse & a volunteer RN at a Women's Clinic. We are Texans who returned in 2014 from the faraway land of Central Florida where we lived for six years serving alongside others at a church plant. I love crafty projects, Blue Bell ice cream, snuggles with a baby (or two), cheese & wine date nights with the hubby & relaxing in the great outdoors.
Let me introduce you to those who reside in our nest and share a bit of how it came to be:
The lovebirds circa 2003....
We met while attending Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas in Fall 2002. Robby was leading a church based small group that I was a part of in my years of pursuing things other than God. Early in 2003, I was made more fully aware of my sinful state, was brought to a deeper understanding of the perfect work of Jesus & began a life of learning what it means to treasure Christ above all else. Us two lovebirds started dating in late March following a Mission Trip to Los Angeles. A couple nights after our first date (pictured above) we both said "I feel like I could marry you!" By the end of the summer, Rob had purchased an engagement ring & talked to my dad...in that order. He was pretty sure there wouldn't be a problem. You might guess that a proposal & a wedding came next but instead, Rob moved across the globe to Brisbane, Australia where he lived for the next 10 months. He worked with a church while I started nursing school back in Lubbock.
In May 2004, I hopped on a plane & spent a month with Rob & his (now our) Australia family. He proposed at the home where he was living in the place where he prayed for me every day we were apart. Here we are in front of the Sydney Opera House, newly engaged on my 21st birthday.
He was finally back on American soil in July & wedding preparations were in full swing! December 18th came much faster than anticipated thanks to a busy school semester for each of us. It was an incredible day celebrating the commitment we were making to one another within 24 hours we were headed to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for a week in the mountains as husband & wife.
The following summer we graduated from college & started a new nest in the Dallas area. We had added two rambunctious American Pitbull Terriers, Bennett & Bella to the mix. We got settled, started our first jobs & made some life long friends.
Fast forward to Fall of 2007. The opportunity arose for us to consider moving to the Orlando area to be a part of a church plant in Celebration, Florida. After a visit & much prayerful consideration, we loaded the big yellow truck & were on our way. Life in the land of the mouse started in May of 2008 & was fast & furious from that point forward.
When we arrived, we had already passed the two year mark of desiring to grow our family. We decided to meet with a new doctor & begin to explore a possible cause for infertility. In the Lord's perfect provision I became pregnant with our first child that fall without any medical intervention. We were surprised & filled to the brim with joy. Little did we know that the new nest we were making in central Florida would be QUICKLY filled with four little ones!
Our little brood from oldest to youngest:
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Charlotte Grace was welcomed into our family in July 2009. She is God's grace to us after waiting for the Lord to fulfill our deep desire to be parents. She is sweet, silly, helpful, smart, careful & observant. She is my sidekick & I'm pretty sure I would not have survived the first year with the twins without her assistance. Charlee can be found drawing, looking through books, leading her sister on an adventure or entertaining her baby brothers.
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Eloise Hope was welcomed in May 2011 and is a delight! She is spunky, carefree, loving, predictably unpredictable & is basically our little firecracker (with a short fuse). There is never a dull moment with this girl! She can be found jumping off furniture, pushing chairs around the kitchen to assist in cabinet climbing, following her sister around or "loving" on her baby brothers.
We were enjoying our two little girlies when we got the surprise of our life! A positive pregnancy test led to an appointment with my doctor & at a routine ultrasound it was discovered that there were not one, but TWO babies growing in my womb! We welcomed identical twin boys into our arms in March 2013.
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Anson Ellis is the official baby of the family since he was the last born child : ) He outweighed his elder brother tipping the scales at 5lbs 13oz. This fella is laid back, laughs a lot & loves to be close to mama. Handsome Anson can be found crawling onto the fireplace, pulling things out of the kitchen cabinets, scaring his sissies with his loud growl or watching Bella eat very, very closely.
and speaking of Bella, we must include her...
She has been a part of the family longer then the Fab Four. Sadly, we said farewell to Bennett when I was pregnant with the boys. He is still spoken of frequently & we certainly miss him. On a lighter note, Bella is enjoying life in her old age & tolerating plenty of petting & "rides" requested by two certain little boys. She is grayer with each passing day, loves the sunshine & sometimes gets enough energy to take off after a squirrel in the backyard.
The fab four (plus that pup) are a joy to care for even on the hardest of days....and there are more of those than not right now! Following a seven year stent of a work from home, IT consultant husband, Robby is headed back to the office. We miss him dearly but he is pretty sure he isn't missing the daily racket of four rambunctious kids plus a dog that barks at the wind ; ) Each day is filled with ups & downs, LOTS of messes, much laughter, plenty of crying, kisses, hugs, punches in the gut, apologies, snuggles, time outs....you name it! Most importantly, our hearts are filled with thankfulness to the God who made us, gives abundantly & causes us to persevere.
Our newest adventure that we are trusting God will help us persevere through is homeschooling! We enjoyed a laid back Pre-K year with Classical Conversations & minimal work at home but kicked it up a notch for the 2014-2015 school year. We have continued with a nearby Classical Conversations group & have almost made it through the kindergarten year for Charlotte. Much like our days at home, there have been ups & downs & I still don't "have the hang of it" but by God's grace we have a new reader that happens to find math simple.
I blog to document the daily happenings at the Valentine Nest. I want to look back & remember the funny stories, the milestones & the ways God has proven himself faithful time & time again. Sometimes I'm wordy, sometimes I'm not...but most of the time I am ; )
I'm glad you came upon this blog. I hope you stay awhile & I pray you find encouragement to trust the Lord no matter where you are in life.
Those same lovebirds 10 years later....
