This afternoon we were getting snacks when my oldest son says to me, out of the blue, "I think Heaven has a golf course....where we'll all play for free...and have shiny clubs - very, very shiny clubs that will never get dirty...at least I hope God has one (a golf course)."
He is his father's son! And, I love him!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Growing Up
That title kind of sounds like I should be talking about my kids, but alas I think it's me. I'll be 31 in a few days. I remember last year as I was preparing to turn 30 I set a couple of goals for myself. Don't get your hopes up - nothing life changing - just pure vanity. I wanted to lose the baby weight, grow my hair out and run a 5k. I was well on my way (2 weeks past my birthday) when I began getting dizzy on my runs - which for me means....pregnant! So two of the three goals had to be put on hold. Fortunately, my hair still grows when I'm pregnant.
Well, now almost a year later, I grew my hair - realized I no longer want long hair - and cut it. I have an adorable baby girl - and am once again on the diet train. And, have started walking - but haven't found the desire to start running again - except occasionally when I read about one of my running friends.
Now, I'm approaching 31. Goals for this year? I don't know. But as I look back over the past year, I think I might dub it, "the year I became a grown-up." I still don't feel grown up - and don't necessarily want to be grown up - but it seems like several things that I always designated as "grown up" things happened to me this year - mainly in my likes and dislikes. For example, I started liking green chillis, grapefruit, and coffee. I know for many people these aren't grown up things...it just so happens that my parents always liked these things and I didn't - and of course parents are the ultimate grown ups - so while having four kids doesn't make me feel grown up, eating green chillis and grapefruit and drinking coffee do. Go figure!
Well, now almost a year later, I grew my hair - realized I no longer want long hair - and cut it. I have an adorable baby girl - and am once again on the diet train. And, have started walking - but haven't found the desire to start running again - except occasionally when I read about one of my running friends.
Now, I'm approaching 31. Goals for this year? I don't know. But as I look back over the past year, I think I might dub it, "the year I became a grown-up." I still don't feel grown up - and don't necessarily want to be grown up - but it seems like several things that I always designated as "grown up" things happened to me this year - mainly in my likes and dislikes. For example, I started liking green chillis, grapefruit, and coffee. I know for many people these aren't grown up things...it just so happens that my parents always liked these things and I didn't - and of course parents are the ultimate grown ups - so while having four kids doesn't make me feel grown up, eating green chillis and grapefruit and drinking coffee do. Go figure!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Update
Well here I am updating this blog instead of doing the million things on my list - the list that never ends. I've been on a "getting our house ready to sell" kick lately. I don't actually have a moving plan - you know like somewhere else to go - but I've been hoping for a bigger house for over a year and thought I ought to get ready in case one falls in my lap :) So all those little projects that never get completed like painting the baseboards, cleaning out closets, fixing the crack in the sidewalk, cleaning the light fixture on the front porch have been added to my already extensive list.
Beyond that, Nolan and I have, through much prayer, decided to homeschool our two oldest boys next year. God has quite a sense of humor - I've always pictured myself as room mom not teacher mom. But, we feel certain that this is his desire for us this coming year so I've dived into researching curriculum, getting hooked up with the local homeschool association and learning all about "scope and sequence" - what they are supposed to learn and when. Saying I'm nervous would be an understatement....but at the same time I'm more excited about this than anything I've done in a long time. This also gives me courage that we are indeed hearing God correctly - because I'm pretty sure I would have never had this idea on my own - and been excited about it!
(Kind of like I felt about homebirth too.)
Tonight is the last youth service for the summer - although there will still be plenty of activities. Nolan and I are a little sad to see this senior class go - they've been so diligent and have become our good friends. So it will be a little bittersweet as we pray over them and their future tonight.
SUMMER - Caleb and Isaac's last day of school is in two days. Let the fun begin...along with a little learning. We plan on doing some chore training this summer along with a little concentrated work with some character issues - but nothing to serious.
Benjamin and Willow (our 3rd and 4th) are also doing great. Benjamin loves to play with his brothers, love on his sister and impress us with new words daily! Willow is sleeping through the night and letting us play dress up in all the adorable little girl clothes/bows we've only been able to look at the past few years.
Diet. It's official. It's time to start working on all this weight that has accumulated over the past 6 years and 4 kids. Week one was successful. Now let's see how long I can keep it up.
Well, I think that is my life in a couple of paragraphs. Here's a pic of my sweet babies.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Welcome Willow Rejoice!
Well...so much for blog consistency - September to March - let's just sum it up by saying I was pregnant and taking care of three small children. Anyway, I do want to share our newest addition's birth story while it is still fresh on the brain.
Willow Rejoice! Silvey joined us on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 9:06 p.m. She weighed in at a healthy 9 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 and 3/4 inches long. She'll be two weeks old tomorrow and has quickly found her place in our family.
As many of you know, we chose to homebirth with our 3rd baby (Benjamin) and had a great experience. We also chose homebirth for baby #4. We found out we were pregnant in July. I researched midwives again, and this time chose a mother-in-law / daughter-in-law team from Amarillo. We met for the first time in late August. We did all our our prenatal appointments in Amarillo, because our midwife was also pregnant (due in November). After a little bleeding early on, the pregnancy was pretty textbook.
The main difference came later in the pregnancy, when instead of delivering 2-3 weeks early like I've done with my other children - this one decided to she liked room service a little more and stayed in until 3 hours before her due date (thus the 9 lb 5 oz baby). About a week before Willow actually made her appearance she got us all excited with several hours worth of consistent contractions. The midwives made the trip from Amarillo to Perryton - and about the time they arrived the contractions mysteriously stopped - but we did find that I was dilated to between a 4 and 5. So we were on high alert for the next week.
The following Tuesday (March 10) I had a few (widely spaced) contractions in the afternoon. I called the midwives to let them know - and they were on standby. That evening around 6:30 p.m. Nolan (my husband) and I were on our way to Bible study. We had to drop our kids off at childcare and pick up some friends before heading to our host home (about 10 minutes in the country). I started having contractions that were immediately 4-5 minutes apart and about 30-45 seconds long. I timed them the entire time I was in the car. When we arrived at Bible study (at 7 p.m.), I called the midwives from the car and told them I thought this was the real deal - BUT I wanted to walk around for a few minutes to be sure the change in position didn't affect the contractions. After about 10 minutes I was sure and phoned them and said come on! They knew they needed to hurry. We stayed at Bible study for a few minutes - I didn't want to go home and just sit for several hours - but I quickly realized the contractions were getting stronger fast! So we left around 7:30 to pick up our kids and head home to get ready.
Nolan and I agreed not to tell the kids I was in labor so, hopefully, they would go to sleep sooner and let me do my work. The minute we walked in the door Nolan turned into "Army general man" - telling the kids to get their pj's on and get their heads on their pillows ASAP. Fortunately, none of the boys had napped that day, and sleep came quickly. Then Nolan went to work getting the birth supplies ready. For those of you who are curious about the mess...shower curtains and chux pads (like they use in the hospital) on the bed and floor take care of most of it. It's really not as messy as you may think.
Meanwhile, I was sitting on the couch in the living room working through some pretty hard contractions. About 8:20 I told Nolan I needed to push - he said, "don't," and called the midwives. We found that they were still about an hour or more away, so I went to work on not pushing...not at all easy to do, by the way. Somewhere in there the midwives asked Nolan if we wanted to go to the hospital, or if he was comfortable delivering the baby if they didn't make it. Nolan said he didn't think we'd make it to the hospital...he said if I stood up that baby was coming out - so we stayed put - although I did move to the bedroom.
At this point everything gets a little blurry. I know I continued to try not to push and work through contractions. Nolan continued to talk to the midwives (who miraculously never lost cell phone service between Pampa and Perryton) - and try to make me as comfortable as possible. Suddenly baby got tired of waiting and out she came. I didn't push. Nolan said it took about 3 seconds from when he first saw the head until it was completely delivered. So, with cell phone on his shoulder, he checked to make sure the umbilical cord wasn't wrapped around her neck and told me to go ahead and push. And, that's how Willow joined our family - caught by her dad.
He immediately put her on my chest and got a towel to wrap her up. We thumped her feet to get her to cry and inflate her lunges, then we waited for the cord to stop pulsing and tied it off with dental floss and cut it - and then proceeded to deliver the placenta. Afterwards, I nursed her.
About 20-30 minutes after Willow arrived, our midwives came in - just in time to take care of all the clean-up and important stuff like weighing, measuring, bathing.... The next couple of hours were spent on these details. We wrapped things up around midnight - after our post-partum mother/daughter class - and went to bed.
What an adventure. Not exactly like we planned - but perfect none the less.
Willow Rejoice! Silvey joined us on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 9:06 p.m. She weighed in at a healthy 9 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 and 3/4 inches long. She'll be two weeks old tomorrow and has quickly found her place in our family.
As many of you know, we chose to homebirth with our 3rd baby (Benjamin) and had a great experience. We also chose homebirth for baby #4. We found out we were pregnant in July. I researched midwives again, and this time chose a mother-in-law / daughter-in-law team from Amarillo. We met for the first time in late August. We did all our our prenatal appointments in Amarillo, because our midwife was also pregnant (due in November). After a little bleeding early on, the pregnancy was pretty textbook.
The main difference came later in the pregnancy, when instead of delivering 2-3 weeks early like I've done with my other children - this one decided to she liked room service a little more and stayed in until 3 hours before her due date (thus the 9 lb 5 oz baby). About a week before Willow actually made her appearance she got us all excited with several hours worth of consistent contractions. The midwives made the trip from Amarillo to Perryton - and about the time they arrived the contractions mysteriously stopped - but we did find that I was dilated to between a 4 and 5. So we were on high alert for the next week.
The following Tuesday (March 10) I had a few (widely spaced) contractions in the afternoon. I called the midwives to let them know - and they were on standby. That evening around 6:30 p.m. Nolan (my husband) and I were on our way to Bible study. We had to drop our kids off at childcare and pick up some friends before heading to our host home (about 10 minutes in the country). I started having contractions that were immediately 4-5 minutes apart and about 30-45 seconds long. I timed them the entire time I was in the car. When we arrived at Bible study (at 7 p.m.), I called the midwives from the car and told them I thought this was the real deal - BUT I wanted to walk around for a few minutes to be sure the change in position didn't affect the contractions. After about 10 minutes I was sure and phoned them and said come on! They knew they needed to hurry. We stayed at Bible study for a few minutes - I didn't want to go home and just sit for several hours - but I quickly realized the contractions were getting stronger fast! So we left around 7:30 to pick up our kids and head home to get ready.
Nolan and I agreed not to tell the kids I was in labor so, hopefully, they would go to sleep sooner and let me do my work. The minute we walked in the door Nolan turned into "Army general man" - telling the kids to get their pj's on and get their heads on their pillows ASAP. Fortunately, none of the boys had napped that day, and sleep came quickly. Then Nolan went to work getting the birth supplies ready. For those of you who are curious about the mess...shower curtains and chux pads (like they use in the hospital) on the bed and floor take care of most of it. It's really not as messy as you may think.
Meanwhile, I was sitting on the couch in the living room working through some pretty hard contractions. About 8:20 I told Nolan I needed to push - he said, "don't," and called the midwives. We found that they were still about an hour or more away, so I went to work on not pushing...not at all easy to do, by the way. Somewhere in there the midwives asked Nolan if we wanted to go to the hospital, or if he was comfortable delivering the baby if they didn't make it. Nolan said he didn't think we'd make it to the hospital...he said if I stood up that baby was coming out - so we stayed put - although I did move to the bedroom.
At this point everything gets a little blurry. I know I continued to try not to push and work through contractions. Nolan continued to talk to the midwives (who miraculously never lost cell phone service between Pampa and Perryton) - and try to make me as comfortable as possible. Suddenly baby got tired of waiting and out she came. I didn't push. Nolan said it took about 3 seconds from when he first saw the head until it was completely delivered. So, with cell phone on his shoulder, he checked to make sure the umbilical cord wasn't wrapped around her neck and told me to go ahead and push. And, that's how Willow joined our family - caught by her dad.
He immediately put her on my chest and got a towel to wrap her up. We thumped her feet to get her to cry and inflate her lunges, then we waited for the cord to stop pulsing and tied it off with dental floss and cut it - and then proceeded to deliver the placenta. Afterwards, I nursed her.
About 20-30 minutes after Willow arrived, our midwives came in - just in time to take care of all the clean-up and important stuff like weighing, measuring, bathing.... The next couple of hours were spent on these details. We wrapped things up around midnight - after our post-partum mother/daughter class - and went to bed.
What an adventure. Not exactly like we planned - but perfect none the less.
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