Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift

Alright, I tried to be all creative and come up with something that dealt with the Fast and Furious movies, since I used them in G-baby's birth...turns out, the names of the F&F movies are boring.  But I'm part Japanese, so I'm gonna use this one ;)

Here is baby Aidan's birth story...not as dramatic as G's for sure, but faster, if at all possible!

Sunday, October 6th:

Earlier in the week, I had created a list of "honey-do's" for J.  The list ranged in the small (sweep) to the large (organize the garage) - and there were no less than 35 things on the list.  Slowly, but surely, we were making our way through the list.  The weekend of the 5th and 6th, we decided we would not make any plans, other than get through as much of the list as possible.  Fun weekend, huh??

I was in the back bedroom putting clothes away, and J was in the garage. He desperately wanted to be able to put my car in there -- easier to wrangle children when loading them up for school in the morning if they are in the garage as opposed to the driveway!  But I was not ready for HOW he was going to do it.

I walk out into the living room, and J has moved half of our garage to our living room floor.  My heart rate started to speed up and I couldn't look at the room.  I busied myself by meticulously cleaning the kitchen cabinets...while J kept bringing stuff in.

After about 15 minutes, J comes in triumphantly and announces that my car is in the garage!  I roll my eyes and give him a thumbs up and walk away.  He follows and shows me the "baby's room" - aka the closet.  He has placed everything in a pile on a shelf; I tell him it looks messy.  He asks, "Okay, how do you want me to reorganize it?"  No exaggeration, that question put me over the edge.  I had a full on panic attack.  Hysterical crying, couldn't breathe....I had to put my head between my knees.

Do you have any idea how hard that is being 8.5 months pregnant???

After I calmed down, I decided I would reorganize my 6 purses ;)  J joined me and let me know he had reorganized the closet and the living room was now empty.  While that calmed me down, I knew that I was too overwhelmed still to go to small group that evening.  I decided to stay home and clean/rest while J took the kids.

Everyone came back home around 7pm.  Kids ate dinner and we put them down for bed.  Before we left Reagan's room, I asked her, "Sweetie, if I go into labor tonight, do you want me to wake you?"  After some thought, she said yes.

We came out into the living room, ate dinner, and I did some data entry for work.  Around 9:45pm, I started to feel some contractions.  I had been having Braxton Hicks for WEEKS, and I really thought that I had just overdone it with the cleaning and the freak out.  We had prayed for a clear sign though, and we didn't think like we had one.

I texted my midwife, Donnellyn, at 9:50pm to let her know what was going on.  She told me to drink 2 glasses of water and get into the tub (a warm bath will stop Braxton Hicks, but do nothing to real labor).  By 10pm, I was miserable...not because of the contractions (which weren't any better), but because I really hate baths!  Luckily, Donnellyn texted me right about then and told me to come to the birth center anyway...just to be sure.

We packed up our toiletries and moved everything to the car.  J went and woke up the kids and got them in the car.  I called Christy, our birth photographer, and let her know what was going on.  I told her I didn't know if it was labor but she should probably come just in case.  She agreed.  Then, I called Judy, a family friend, and told her what was going on, and asked her to meet us at the birth center to watch the kids since my sister was out of town.  She agreed as well and said she would be there shortly.  By the time the phone calls were done, I was drifting more and more to the realization that this was probably it!

To be continued...... ;)

Things I learned today....

Well, it's been awhile blog.  Maybe I'll get better at this one day, but I wouldn't hold your breath ;)

Today was day three of my baby girl's 2nd grade year.  While I miss her like crazy while she is gone, it is definitely easier to get things done around the house with only two kiddos.  Might as well enjoy it, since it's going to last another seven weeks....

So, here is what I learned today:

1. Mornings, are not my friend.  Especially the first week of school.  We kept Rea in her old school, and so I have a seven mile drive each morning.  I left this morning 30 minutes before the tardy bell rings.  It took me 10 to get out of my neighborhood, and another five to get past the train.  Although, a better start than yesterday, when I had six miles until my gas tank was empty...when I left the house.  Oops.

2. While 2.5 hour naps are great for growing baby brains, they are not great for getting anything done around the house.

3. Nolan loves green food.  I have him convinced that is how he grows big muscles.

4.  Rea wants to be in the Olympics as a swimmer.  But if she can't, she wants to tape paper to the bottom of her feet and practice her ice skating in the living room.

5. Cleaned the bathrooms as my one deep clean thing today.  My conclusion?  Boys are gross.

I have a feeling this will be a season of learning for me.  As I learn to navigate how to be a wife, part-time employee, and mother of FOUR (which is crazy), I know God will be working on me big time!

Here's hoping I am better at sharing, so other people can help direct me in this new journey!

James 3

During worship this evening, I prayed that even though it was a marriage series (and I am currently doing marriage long distance) that the Lord would speak to me clearly about this season that I am in.

Man...sometimes, you have to be careful what you pray for!

Pastor Jeff and Brandy spoke tonight on marriage...the key piece they believe is needed for a successful marriage (UNITY) and what can cause disunity and a division of house.

Rewind to the last week, and a little lot of truth time. For the last 7-10 days, my tweedles have been causing me to want to rip out my hair, hide in a corner, and eat chocolate all night.  There has been fighting (literal fighting...pillows, toys, feet...anything), yelling, tattling, disobedience, sass...the list could go on, but some of you might totally tune me out.  Others of you may be nodding your head, because I could very well be describing your house.

I know, I know.  You're thinking, Stefanie, I thought THIS was your reality:

Awwwww......

But what you are describing to me, sounds a lot like this:

Yep...clearly not my kids...but they could be...

And, going with the honesty, because we all know it's super easy to be honest when you're behind a computer, I have been super selfish these last couple of weeks.  I am tired...so I nap; but complain that the house is a mess.  I am hungry, but I refuse to grocery shop...because I'm lazy.  I miss my husband...so I eat chocolate and ice cream for dinner to drown my sadness.  I am frustrated by the behavior of my children...so I yell and lecture.

I, I, I, I......Selfish.  And the Holy Spirit convicted me of that big time tonight.

Brandy, while answering one of the questions posed to her, mentioned the verse James 3:16.

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, 

there you find disorder and every evil practice.  (NIV)

There it is.  Because I am being selfish, and filling my days with garbage, my home is in disorder.  My children don't want to behave, because I don't want to behave.  Why should they listen to me, when I won't listen to what my Father is trying to tell me?  

Sometimes, when you ask for truth, and you have been ignoring it for so long, it hits you like a freight train.

And sometimes, that is just what you need to realize you need a change.

Terrible Blogger

Who could I be speaking of? Oh yea...me.   Ya'll, I am awful at this.  Life catches me, and I have no time to sit and pour out my heart to you, all five of you.  But I'm going to get better.  Watch ;)

As many of you know, Jordan has been in Oklahoma for 5 weeks now, training for the FAA.  And just like this blog, I had high hopes of tracking the days as he was away and creating a book of sorts for him to read when he returned.  How far did I get?  Day 1.  But here are some excerpts from that day:

January 7th:

Today started like any other winter day, with three kids, during flu season.  Jordan and I were woken up at 3:30 am to the sound of screaming.   J rushed in to check on Nolan, and tried to calm him down so he could understand what was wrong.  It took about that long for me to come out of my deep sleep, realize (without being in the room) what was wrong, run to the bathroom, dump out the trash…and hear the sound of vomit hit the bedroom floor.  I run in, all three kids are staring at me; two of them are crying.  Thus starts the longest day of my new season.

When our alarm does go off (8:15am), we both gingerly get out of bed and get ready for the day.  I let Jordan know I will need to run to the store, because of clearly do not have supplies to take care of three sick children.

After running my errands, I return home to a husband who is ready to hit the road, two children who are writhing in pain, and one who is asleep.  Watching J say goodbye to the kids was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.  Both refused to let go of his neck; both asked him not to leave; both left tears on his shirt.  J gets into the car, and I watch him pull away.  Tears are streaming down my face as I wave and blow kisses; turns out he was doing the same.

Then the doubt settled in.  

How am I going to be a single mom?  People do it all the time, but can I be one of them?  How are we going to pay all of our bills?  Emotionally, am I strong enough to be without Jordan for 4 months?  What if I don’t spend enough time with my kids?  Can I be a good mom while still working?  Will I be able to keep working? 

The list went on and on right up until I watched our little Honda Accord disappear around the corner.  Then I didn’t have a choice.  I had to confront all of those questions and how I walked back into the house was going to set the tone for my household for the rest of the day; that day would turn into a week; a week into a month. 

I picked my head up, wiped my tears away, asked for strength for the kids and myself and opened the door.

That was all 5 weeks ago.  We are all still alive, bonus!  The house is a disaster, there is a mouse somewhere in the kitchen, and I desperately need to do laundry.  But my children are happy and loved. They still miss their daddy, and tell me all the time.  But we are surviving, growing and learning in this season...and I pray that whatever season you are in, you do the same.