40 Odd Things

40 odd things about me . . . 

Borrowed from Facebook

1. Do you put ketchup on a hot dog? 

Yes

2. Choice of soda? 

Diet Coke... and La Croix

3. Do you own a gun? 

I plead the 5th... and the 2nd.

4. Can you swim? 

Yes!  Very well.

5. Hot dogs or cheeseburger? 

Cheeseburger

6. Favorite type of food? 

Chinese food, Southern Food -- or food someone else cooked

7. Do you believe in ghosts? 

The Holy one!

8. What do you drink in the morning? 

Water and Coffee! 

9. Can you do 100 pushups? 

Probably not simultaneously -- but throughout the course of the day, yes.  Actually, now that I think about it, 2.5 months postpartum, probably not -- and definitely not the "good" pushups.  Mine would have to be on my knees until I get my strength up.

10. Summer, Winter, Spring, or Fall? 

I usually love the season I'm in, and am looking forward to the next one around the corner.  Right now is no exception, I am loving winter and especially enjoying all these snowy days... and I'm beginning to get excited for Spring in a few months.

11. Your favorite hobby? 

My children are my hobby.  Other than caring for them... breastfeeding is my hobby (and I get to watch Netflix when I do), and blogging.  Driving could also be my hobby.  I drive a lot -- both in motherhood and for work.

12. Tattoos? 

I plead the 5th again.

13. Do you wear glasses?

Only sun glasses.

14. Do you have a phobia? 

I am afraid of spiders and snakes... I'm not really a fan of many reptiles to be honest.

15. Do you have a nick name? 

Mama, and Babe -- once upon a time, Brookie

16. Three favorite drinks? 

Water, La Croix, Coffee

17. Biggest downfall? 

I really like sweets -- too much

18. Rain or Snow? 

Snow

19. Can you change a tire? 

Yes, but not without consulting my car's owner's manual, and maybe watching a youtube video as I'm doing it.

20. Favorite flower? 

Daisies and Roses

21. Can you drive a stick? 

Yes, but it would be a very rough ride.

22. Ever gone skydiving? 

No

23. Kids?

Five in less than six years.

Girl, Boy, Girl, Girl, Boy

24. Favorite color? 

Purple

25. Employed? 

Yes - full time teacher of the blind

26. Can you whistle? 

Yes 

27. Where were you born? 

Florida

28. Siblings? 

Two half siblings (that does not equal one whole sibling)

29. Surgeries? 

Oral surgeries in middle school

30. Shower or bath?

Shower daily - Bath rarely to relax

31. Last song you listened to? 

Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music

32. Broken bones? 

Nope 

33. How many TVs are in your house? 

Four

34. Worst pain? 

Childbirth

35. Do you like to sing? 

Yes

36. Are your parents still alive? 

Yes!

37. Do you like camping? 

Yes -- in a camper.

38. What do you enjoy binge-watching? 

Netflix shows while breastfeeding.  So far since Hunter was born, I have watched the new season of The Crown, the new season of Fuller House, Mad Men, and I'm almost finished with Grace and Frankie.

39. Pumpkin or pecan pie? 

They are both very delicious... but I'll have to go with French Apple

40. Someone who will play along? 

No one I know

 

 

 

Shrek the Sheep

This is Shrek the sheep.  

He became famous several years ago when he was found after hiding out in caves for six years.  Of course, during this time his fleece grew without anyone there to shorn (shave) it.  When he was finally found and shaved, his fleece weighed an amazing sixty pounds.  Most sheep have a fleece weighing just under ten pounds, with the exception usually reaching fifteen pounds, maximum.  For six years, Shrek carried six times the regular weight of his fleece.  Simply because he was away from his shepherd.

This reminds me of John 10 when Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd, and His followers are His sheep. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I think Shrek is much like a person who knows Jesus Christ but has wandered.  If we avoid Christ’s constant refining of our character, we’re going to accumulate extra weight in this world—a weight we don’t have to bear.

 

When Shrek was found, a professional sheep shearer took care of Shrek’s fleece in twenty-eight minutes. Shrek’s sixty pound fleece was finally removed - enough wool to make suits for 20 men!  All it took was coming home to his shepherd.

I believe Christ can lift the burdens we carry, if only we stop hiding. He can shave off our ‘fleece’—that is, our self-imposed burdens brought about by wandering from our Good Shepherd.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Hunter Birth Story Part III

If you missed Hunter's birth story part I, or Part II feel free to catch up before this next part.

This is Part III, picking up where we left off in the afternoon of November 15, 2019.

...

 

Hubby had texted me several times to ask for an update and to let me know he had met the baby-sitter at home and the kids were settled in and they were excited to see her.  I texted Hubby with what the midwife had told me, and is soon as he heard 6 cm, he relaxed, stopped rushing, and asked if I wanted anything from home and if I wanted him to bring me any food.  

 

We both knew we could be in for a long evening and night of labor ahead of us.

 

I texted Hubby a few things I asked him to gather from the house, and I knew he would be making his way back to the hospital in the next little while.

After about 20 minutes on the electronic fetal monitor, which is standard practice, the midwife was pleased with how the baby's heart rate was doing with the contractions, and they let me get off the monitor and out of bed and move around during labor. During this time, I was in and out of the restroom, and also found it comfortable to labor with a big balance ball. I would be on my knees on the floor and I leaned my head and my arms over the balance ball and sort of roll back-and-forth during intense contractions.

Eventually, I found myself alone in my labor and delivery room and found myself mentally preparing for a long intense labor.  In between contactions I liiked up at the progress board they had on the wall.  They had a diagram with 10 circles showing the diameter for dilatation from 1cm-10cm.  I looked at how large 6cm was and how far I had to get to 10 cm.  I calculated if I could increase 2 cm every hour, that would have me delivering around midnight.  That seemed like a really long way off.  I started praying, "Lord, just help me hang in here for the long haul."  Then I would have another contraction, and I prayed, "Lord, could I just have this baby maybe by 7:00pm?"

 

As I was hanging in through each contraction, I was really missing Chris and wishing he was with me.  About 5 o’clock I texted him that I really wished he would kind of forget any of the items I had asked for and to just come and be with me as soon as he could. Chris walked into my room about 5:05 PM.  I was so glad to see him and we talked about logistics for our older kiddos.

 

He and I made the decision to call my parents up in Vail and ask them to come drive back to be with the kiddos because the babysitter could not spend the night and we all agreed by that point, I probably wasn’t leaving the hospital anytime soon. 

Chris called my parents and shared what was going on around 5:08pm.  He was pretty coy on the phone and had fun sort of calmly and casually mentioning that the baby was on the way and we were at the hospital.  While he was on the phone, I had a contraction and I specifically asked him to wrap it up and get off the phone and come over and be with me.

There were two nurses in my room around that point, a nurse and then a nursing student. The nurse overheard me say to Chris that I felt like I needed to use the restroom but it was not at all comfortable to sit on the toilet during these contractions and I know it was too early to try to push so I was just sort of uncomfortable. The nurse, specifically tuned in to my saying that to Hubby and she said you it might be the baby getting lower -- not the need to use the restroom but the baby.

With that, I think Chris asked her a question about that and the nurse said something about since I had had babies before, I might find that with the right contraction, my water could break and the baby could be here pretty soon. I definitely wasn’t getting my hopes up.  I had heard more stories about lucky moms having fast labors and thus far, mine had always gone longer than I expected.  I needed to mentally be prepared for a long, hard labor.

 

I was in the restroom standing over the toilet, with Hubby next to me listening to the nurse and about 10 seconds after the nurse outlined the possible scenario (that with the right contraction my water could break and the baby might soon follow), my water broke, and a second later a contraction began where I had to push, and I pushed out the baby's head.

 

I was standing up, over the toilet, with Hubby holding me up, and a wide eyed nurse lunging toward us to catch the head, while directing the nursing student to alert the medical staff that the baby was coming immediately.

I pushed out the babies head, and within moments, the midwife was there, without gloves, apparently removing the cord from around the babies neck (I found out later), and then telling me to go ahead and push again.

A moment later, the baby had been delivered, there in the restroom of my labor and delivery room, with my standing up, over the toilet. Once the baby was born, I said loudly "Nobody tell me the gender," because I didn’t want a nurse or midwife to tell me the news forgetting our birth plan that Chris was the one who gets to tell me. With the chaos of how quickly the baby was born and in the restroom at that, I wanted to make sure that no one forgot that Chris gets to share that news.  

With that, Chris said in a nice loud voice, “It’s a boy!“ 

I then, went ahead and just sat down on the toilet and the midwife handed me our baby boy, and we all just kind of took a minute to breath.

A few moments later, I delivered the placenta into the toilet, and Chris cut the baby's umbilical cord and then I moved back to the bed where we could all sort of recover from the very quick arrival.

 

One nurse commented that I had the cleanest hospital bed following a birth she had ever seen.

I texted Hubby about 5 o’clock asking him to come and be with me as soon as possible, Hubby got to my room at 5:05, and our baby boy was born at 5:15.

 to be continued...

Visit from Uncle

Uncle Trent came to town over MLK weekend and here were some pictures from his visit.

 

Dolly Challenge

Dolly Parton posted this picture on Instagram earlier this week with a caption, 

"Get you a woman who can do it all."

Then other celebrities began playing along...

So I took my best shot at the Dolly Challenge and realized I have no pictures of myself from work except one of myself in a school bathroom when I liked my outfit...

 

 

Best Selfie!

I think I'm technically a millennial based on my birthday, but I don't feel like one.  That being said, I will take the occasional selfie... but I do not take them daily and I do not take dozens at once trying to capture the perfect angle or pout-y lip.

That being said, the other day, I took my best selfie ever!

 

Seriously!

Seriously!

 

Happy 6th Birthday Tracey Ann!

Our energetic and exuberant Tracey Ann turns six today.

Brand new

 Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

Age 6

 This child is so brave, so adventurous, and such a leader.  She is happiest when she is in charge of her siblings (or friends), directing their play, or organizing a show.  While she frequently finds herself the example for four younger siblings, she is not afraid to go off on her own, make new friends, and face new challenges.

She started kindergarten this year at a brand new school, and she handled that transition with bravery and confidence.  She loves music, singing, and being active.  Some of her favorite activities include jumping on the trampoline, PE class, yoga, swimming independently, wrestling with Howard, and basketball (in the family room) with Howard.  She also loves art and says she wants to be a painter when she grows up.

This year she has loved learning math skills, addition, reading, and writing.  She enjoys that she can now sound out letters and write words and sentences.  She has her hands full learning to spell the names of all of her siblings, but she is determined.

Her favorite people are her siblings and her cousins.  She is growing in kindness and empathy and will often offer to rub my back or ask what she can do to help me.  She loves helping with Hunter and Lee Lee -- but less so with Caroline and Howard.  I'm pretty sure she views Lee Lee and Hunter as her little sister and little brother -- and Caroline and Howard, just as her sister and brother -- they shouldn't need her help.

Tracey has a flair for the dramatic and she feels things very deeply.  Disappointments are the end of the world, and excitement sends her over the moon.

She loves makeup, jewelry, sparkles, nail polish, rainbows, unicorns and princesses.  She is also such an animal lover, enjoys church, and loves the Lord.

Happy Birthday, Tracey Ann!  

I hope and pray this is your best year ever!

10 On The 10th

10 (or more) photos from January 10th

Cold morning

Chilling while his siblings get ready for school

Lee Lee is not excited about getting up

Hugging Daddy goodbye before he goes to work

In the car and off we go

As we were in line to drop Tracey off at school, we saw one of her schoolmates cross-country skiing to school.

Catching snowflakes on their tongues while unloading at school

Happy girl at drop off

Pumping milk in the car

Hunter finally gets my undivided attention when the big kids are at school -- at least for another few weeks until I'm back to work

Squeezed in a workout

Got some work done

Fun after school -- sorting colors to make a headband

Puzzles

A little family tv time

Tacos for dinner -- one of our favorite meals

 

The Look

The look on my kids faces when they realize we've already celebrated 3 January birthdays, been eating cake for weeks, and we still have another birthday at the end of this week...