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I never thought I'd be married to my childhood crush, the mother of five children ages five and under or have a stay-at-home career as a photographer and blogger. In my former life, I was a Type A, first born, A+ student who became an art teacher as an adult. And now here I am.

If it seems like we have a picture perfect life, don't be fooled, though. During the past couple years, my husband and I almost lost one of our sons, our marriage and our financial stability. My story is one of intense pain, personal growth and a determination to focus on the positives in life even when it's lemons at every turn. And my story is far from over.

Being mother to our children is one of my most prized roles. Parenting is my passion. I have other passions, too. Like loving my husband, being sold out for Jesus, living in the Frozen Tundra, breastfeeding and babywearing my children, photography and all things colorful, homeschooling, natural living, traveling, living with no television, cloth diapering, advocating for small government, speaking German, sponsoring children in developing countries, vaccination delaying and straw bale gardening.

I am not perfect in any of these areas, though. I am proud to admit that I am very much a work in progress. A mother who is just trying to figure out life, one day at a time.

I met my husband when we were infants in the church nursery and had a crush on him during our adolescent years. He was too busy being a superstar athlete, running a 4:26.0 mile and being Mr. Popularity to pay too much attention to me until after college. We realized we loved each other and got married six years ago. As our focus has turned from outward inward, I've seen my husband grow in so many ways.

He is an amazing father, a spontaneous daredevil, has a passion for the Lord and for truth, is transparent about his struggles and not willing to be someone he's not. He is patient and kind, funny and forgiving. When he is not wrestling with our children or mowing the lawn, my husband is a general contractor, loves to fish, watch Netflix, swim laps, read, camp, listen to NeedToBreathe and blog.

Our commitment to each other in "the good times and bad" has already been tested. We're definitely in this thing together!

Big Mac is our multi-faceted son K. I was pregnant with him for 42 and 1/2 weeks; now he is 5. Our firstborn handles his role of biggest brother impressively well. Big Mac cares for his siblings intensely, is astonishingly independent and amazes us with his deep thinking and sense of humor.

He is thoughtful, creative, patient, inventive and interested in how mechanical things work. He loves to build and construct and is relatively obsessed with his mother, who is very similar to him in personality. You can often find Big Mac digging in the sandbox, dressed in homemade costumes or eating carrots and hummus. He will be starting Kindergarten at home in the fall.

MckNugget, our second son C, is nothing short of all boy. Free-spirited, emotional and goofy, our 4 year old Nuggey has a spunk and zeal for life some only dream of. He is an emotional clone of his father and is a big time Daddy's Boy. He is the only one of our children to have freckles like Mama.

MckNugget loves jumping hay bales, all things creepy crawly and is the fastest runner of our MSC. MckNugget sleeps with his soft blue blankie, sometimes sports a Mohawk and calls Big Mac his "bes' friend." He can usually be found with dirt under his fingernails, holding a snake, a mouse, a toad or a beetle.

Small Fry is our spirited little 2 year old daughter M. To our otherwise masculine brood of offspring, she adds a touch of feminine sweetness. Our blue eyed beauty loves to wear her baby dolls in a sling, help her mama, rough and tumble with her big brothers and mother her little ones. She's sure that getting a new little brother this year was the best thing that has ever happened to her.

You can often find our only daughter changing her clothes numerous times a day, asking to hold MckFlurry and chewing gum. She puts bows in her hair when she is supposed to be resting and has great fashion sense. Small Fry loves the outdoors and learning German. She sleeps in a raspberry colored bedroom with her knit baby doll, Ruby.

MckMuffin is our 1 year old miracle son Stellan. When I was 22 weeks pregnant with him, he was in heart failure. He had SVT, Hydrops fetalis and heart block. At 24 weeks we were told there was no hope for our son, whose heart would not respond to medication. Stellan would be stillborn. We embarked on a journey of faith like nothing we could have ever imagined.

God blew us away with Stellan's miraculous recovery. He was born alive, healthy and with no sign of SVT! His doctors were sure he had outgrown it and we took him home.

When Stellan was 4 months old, he began to suffer from SVT again. Our faith walk deepened as we clung to God. Stellan was hospitalized for 6 weeks and had a risky, unsuccessful ablation performed in Boston. Between then and when he turned one, Stellan had a hospitalization in the ICU every single month.

When Stellan's SVT got so bad that we nearly lost him a few times, once when he coded on the table mere days after he turned 1, he had another emergency ablation. Although the outlook was grim and the hope for complete success was slim, we put our son in God's hands again.

Why God chose to heal our son on earth is something we cannot fathom. But He did. Stellan's second ablation was a rip roaring success and he has been free from SVT since November 9, 2009 with no permanent damage to his heart.

Stellan is the light of our lives. A dimpled darling, he loves to cuddle, giggle and be doted on by his three older siblings. We have vowed to never stop praising God for the miracle that Stellan is.

MckFlurry is our darling newborn son, L. He already has cast a love spell on his mama! We are completely smitten and so very thankful to God for our fourth son.