Introducing Brennan Michael...

Thanksgiving bump.

Today our fourth child is one-month-old!  Hard to believe, but true.  I suppose that means I should introduce him on here and post a birth recap, for posterity's sake at least!  Poor #4, barely mentioned on the blog. 

I had a feeling that baby would come early, and not a week or more late like his previous two siblings, but I really had no idea what to expect from this one.  After all, his very existence was a surprise, and then I was pretty sure he was going to be a girl, so his gender was a surprise, too.  Why wouldn't his entrance into the world be a surprise as well?  It was.

Thursday, December 7th... I noticed that getting in and out of the car and moving around in general was more trouble than usual, but I just shrugged it off as "getting close."  I had a midwife appointment that day, but didn't see my usual midwife (Lisa) because she had been sick with stomach flu.  I went to the ECCHO monthly board meeting and got back home around 945pm.  We got everyone ready for bed, and I chatted online with Amazon customer service because they had sent me the wrong Alexa cord replacement.  I stood at Michael's computer and got really frustrated with them because they weren't understanding what I needed and tried to send me the wrong cord again.  Once it was finally worked out, I laid down in bed next to Michael and felt something... odd.  My water never broke on it's own with my first two babies, and with Josie it broke RIGHT before she was born, after I had been pushing for a long time... so my water breaking was new to me.  But that's what it was I discovered - it happened at 1125pm.  I was excited and nervous as I texted my birth team (midwife and two students) to let them know that my water broke but I wasn't even having contractions or any other sign of labor.  I texted my mom so she would know what was going on, and Michael called his boss so he could be off work.  When I didn't hear back from Lisa very quickly, I called her to see if she was still sick or what the plan would be regarding who would come for the birth.  She said she was well and would be coming.  She said it sounded like it would still be a while before delivery because I wasn't having contractions yet.  She wanted everyone to try to get some rest before things heated up, so we all laid down and tried.

I could not get comfortable because almost instantly the contractions started up, and they were strong and intensified every few minutes.  She had said to call her back when contractions were about 12 minutes apart, but they STARTED at 4 minutes apart.  Michael fell asleep but I just laid there feeling the waves getting closer and stronger until I just wanted to get things ready.  I called Lisa again around 1am and told her I would like her to come now because the contractions were strong and close.  Also texted my mom and dad to head this way.  Michael and I tried to start prepping labor stuff... gathering trashcans, towels, etc.  I had most things gathered in the corner of my room.  But pretty soon I couldn't take it and laid back down and tried not to cry.  The contractions were so intense and close, I was already telling Michael that I couldn't do it, and that I was stupid for not wanting to pain medication because it HURT.  I was so scared that it would be like Josie's birth and I would have to endure this pain for hours. 

My contractions were right on top of each other when the senior student, Rachel, showed up at our house a little after 2am.  She was like "oh!" when she saw me go right into another contractions after breathing through one.  I said I would get up so they could prep the bed for delivery, and I made my way to the bathroom because I felt like I needed to go.  I sat on the toilet and immediately felt like baby was coming, and I started screaming "HELP!"  Rachel and Michael came running down the hall and I was like "I feel pushy!"  Rachel started getting ready to deliver him right there... she called Lisa on speaker phone and we found out she was just minutes away, her GPS had gotten her turned around a bit!  About then the other student, Emily, came running in and threw on some gloves.  They asked if I wanted to deliver him there in the bathroom or try to make it to the bed.  I decided to head for the bed between contractions.  I made it into my bedroom and beside the bed and I was like "No, he's coming now!"  Rachel said if I felt like pushing on the next contraction to go ahead, so I did - standing there beside my bed!  As I started pushing, Lisa ran in the door and his head was born.  I pushed again and he was out - Rachel caught him with a little assistance from Lisa who had just enough time to slip on some gloves!  It all happened so fast, it was insane. After he was out, I turned around and laid on the bed and they tried to bring him up to my chest, but the umbilical cord was so short they just got him kind of on my lap.  His head was really coned the first glimpse I got of him, but it returned to shape really quickly and he was just beautiful and perfect.  From the moment my water broke (no contractions!) to him being born was a total of 3 hours!  It was the absolute perfect birth I had been praying about (except the part where the midwife almost wasn't there!). 

My mom and dad called as they were coming into town to see how I was, and that was when I was on the bed and Rachel had just got there.  They asked if they had time to go to the store to get snacks in case we were all there a long time (because that's how the last one was, who knew!), and we had no idea at that point...so they went ahead and ran into Walmart for a few minutes.  Because of that, they arrived at our house just a few minutes after he was born!  When my mom walked in I said "I'm sorry, I couldn't wait!"  Lol.

Hello World!

Brennan Michael arrived at 229am on Friday, December 8th, 2017.  He was 9 pounds, 1 ounce and roughly 22 inches (the team measured him at 23 inches, and then a few days later at the doctor's office, they measured him at 21... so I'm going with 22, haha!). His due date was December 11th, so just a few days early.  He is a great baby... sleeps pretty well, nurses well (still a bit sore, but working on latch adjustment), and now that he is a month old, he's starting to be more awake and alert for parts of the day.  His siblings adore him, especially Josie.  She is constantly hugging and kissing on him.  On occasion, she gets jealous and tells me to put him down so I can hold her, but for the most part, she's been a great big sister so far.

Here are a few pictures we took for Christmas cards and such...

My 4 kids!!!

This was MY Christmas outfit, 1980

Family of SIX on Christmas!

A comparison of my babies...

Introducing Josephine Lilly Clark...

I have done a poor job of blogging about anything in a long, long time, but especially about the new kid on the block!  I'd hate to look back at this blog with her years down the road and there be such little about my pregnancy.  Especially since I was such a detailed blogger for Preston and Callen's pregnancies and early years.  :( 

So, a super quick catch up...
We found out she was a girl, and could barely believe it!  Over the months leading up to her birth, we stocked up on all things purple (ok, and some pink), kicked Uncle Daniel out of her room and turned it into the sweetest little nursery for her, and eagerly awaited her arrival.  I had severe morning sickness until about half way into the second trimester.  Lost at least 20 pounds and had many days were I could barely function.  I had what seemed like a gallbladder attack a couple of times, and my iron count was very low - causing the midwives to ramp up my iron intake in hopes that it would allow me to have my planned home birth.  I took all kinds of supplements by the handful, drank chlorophyll and black strap molasses by the buckets.  Ugh.  Finally, right towards the end my level reached "fine, good enough!"  Woo hoo!  Now, if we could just settle on a name!  We went through every list possible, and just could not pick one together.  I came up with Josephine and instantly felt like that was it... Michael, not so much.  He still isn't completely thrilled with it, lol, but Josie it is!

Josie's ultra-abbreviated birth story...
She was due August 25th, but that date came and went with no hint of her arrival.  Finally, on Sunday, August 30th, I started having contractions that were about 30 minutes apart.  We decided to go to church anyway, because maybe staying active would get things going.  They stayed at 30  minutes apart until that evening, then moved closer and closer.  My parents came over and stayed for a while, then my dad took the boys home with him.  Things progressed slowly, and around 1am, I finally asked the midwives to come.  They showed up at our house around 2am, and by then contractions were 3-5 minutes and strong, getting stronger.  Apparently, her head was a little crooked and wasn't descending as it should, and that's what caused the hold up at the end.  It felt like she was ready to come, but she just wouldn't.  I know that if I was at a hospital I would have caved in easily to whatever they offered me, I was so tired and in so much pain.  But the midwives, Michael and my mom kept encouraging me and cheering for me, and after what seemed like forever of pushing and laboring, Josephine Lilly Clark arrived with a burst (lol, my water didn't break until right as she was coming out) at 7:17am on Monday, August 31st, 2015.  The cord was wrapped tightly around her neck, though I wouldn't know that till later, but she was great.  She was placed on me, let out a tiny cry, and was perfect.  I couldn't believe how beautiful and tiny she was, but turns out she was nearly 8 pounds (just as Amy, the midwife, had estimated she would be the week before).  7 lbs, 14 oz, 21.5 inches long. 

She is now 5 days old and doing wonderfully.  She wakes up a lot at night and sleeps most of the day, as most babies do.  She is nursing like a champ, which is good!  My tail bone is badly bruised from labor and changing positions is still excruciating at times.  The boys are adjusting to life with a baby in the house... trying to be quiet and calm (though I'm sure you know well that works).  They both enjoy gazing at her.  Unfortunately, they both came down with colds or something the day after she was born, including fever, cough, snot and all that fun stuff.  Michael was able to take Monday-Thursday off of his daytime job, but had to work Monday and Wednesday evening at his teaching job (yes, the night she was born!).  My mom and dad have been over several times, and Aunt Leah came to visit yesterday.  Jill will be coming on Wednesday and spending a week in town to see her grandkids.  We are settling into our new life as a family of FIVE!

I Kind of Forgot to Announce This Here...

I was pretty sure I had already posted about this specific topic, and yet... when I looked, I couldn't find it.  Um, oops.  That's rather embarrassing.  So, the news is...

We're expecting Baby #3 towards the end of August!  Yep, another Clark on the way!

We found out on the morning of Christmas Eve.  I had been sick the week before (like allergies, cold, not morning sickness) and was just feeling "off" and hadn't had my cycle in a bit.  That's normal for me though, being irregular and all.  But for some reason, I felt like I should take a test.  I had taken tests the previous months fully expecting a POSITIVE and not getting one.  This time I fully expected a NEGATIVE and yet... it was POSITIVE!  I was so shocked!  I ran in and woke Michael up, telling him "Christmas Eve Gift!"  He didn't know what to think and ended up trying to go back to sleep, lol.  I wanted to tell everyone right away, but we agreed to wait and confirm more and give it a while.  It's funny, because about half a dozen of my friends made Big Announcements on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... and then New Years, too... and I was just over here, like, ME TOO!  Lol.

I started feeling bad pretty quickly after finding out we were expecting.  We announced to my parents and Michael's.  We told Jill and Steve in person because they were in town staying at the Ranch in Ennis for the Winter.  We told my parents by meeting them at Jason's Deli.  We didn't tell the kids right away, though.  When I went on my Leadership Retreat to Branson, MO, I had to tell the gals I was riding with in case I ended up being sick (I was nauseous a lot, but hadn't hurled at that point).  I also told Candi and Regina around that time, I was just too excited to keep it to myself.  Haha. 

We finally made our big announcement by posting on Facebook, and received a ton of likes and comments from friends and family.  I was so glad it was out.  We also told the boys... Preston seemed kind of excited and Callen pretended to be a cat, so we weren't really sure what his opinion was.  I commenced being really, really sick around that time.  There were days I couldn't keep anything down and could barely get out of bed.  This was different for me because as much as I felt bad and hurled with the previous two pregnancies, I would hurl and then feel better... it didn't last all day long like this.  Finally, around 17 weeks, the nausea faded and I haven't been physically sick since (knock of wood!).  I am still tired a lot and feel funky quite often, but so much better than the first trimester.

In about 3 weeks, we get to do the sonogram and find out what we're having.  I am so excited.  I feel like it's going to be a girl, but who knows... I am a "boymom," after all.  The other thing is that we are using midwives this time and will either use the birthing center or have a home birth.  We are still undecided at this point, but leaning towards home.  I'm nervous about that, but also extremely excited.  My previous births weren't horrible experiences, but they weren't what I wanted.  I ended up being induced both times, and I would prefer not to go that route.  So... hoping for as natural as possible, and what's more natural than at home?!

Ok, so there.  It's officially on the blog.  I can't believe I hadn't posted before.  Sorry Baby#3, there just aren't enough hours in the day, apparently.  But I promise you'll receive a lot more attention when you're here!

A Most Eventful Weekend...

On our way to ALR!

Two of my upline and I headed off on a road trip on Thursday (Jan 8th) to Ridgedale, MO (near Branson) for the Advanced Leadership Conference with our company, Usborne Books & More.  Our trip up was nice, trouble-free.  Stephanie and Holly had made the drive the year before in a dense fog and kept joking about how they almost died because they could not see... and there are a lot of high, mountain passes and twisty curves, so, yes... they had been in danger!  Our drive was fine, though.  We made it to the beautiful Big Cedar Lodge and had a wonderful first evening and full day of training the next.  The boys were staying with my parents Thursday evening, and Michael picked them up on Friday after he got off from work. 

Well, very late Friday night Michael started having what he thought were bad heartburn pains, and then coughing up blood.  He called me at 3am saying, "I think I have an emergency."  I tried to calm him down and figure out what was going on, but I'm not good at anything medical, so I didn't know.  When I hung up with Michael after that call, I didn't know what he was going to do... and since I didn't hear back from him, I figured it must have passed and he went back to sleep.  I didn't sleep much myself wondering and worrying, but got a text from him about 7am saying "I'm not dead yet, but at the ER.  Running tests!"  I didn't realize he had driven himself and the boys to the ER (and apparently Callen put up a big mean fuss about being woken up, yikes!)  Thankfully, Michael's parents are down for a two-month long visit and staying relatively near by, so Steve came and got the boys from the ER and brought them back to our house and they went back to bed.  I called my mom and asked her to go to the house and take over for Steve so he could go back up to the hospital to be with Michael.

After going back and forth through text with Michael and Steve, turns out the tests pointed to Michael's gallbladder and it needed to be removed ASAP.  SURGERY!  I was so upset that I wasn't there and was having a really hard time deciding between staying where I was and rushing back to Texas by myself.  Everyone told me to stay where I was, so I listened.  Michael was in good hands at the hospital, his dad was there, my kids were with my mom... there wasn't much I could do.  I tried to continue with a full-day of sitting through training, but I had a difficult time concentrating.  The word spread quickly and everyone was coming up asking questions and offering prayers and and nice words.  I even got a hug and a few words of encouragement from Randall White, our President/CEO.  I remember crying a lot, praying a lot and blowing up my phone with texts and calls all day long.  Michael's surgery kept getting pushed back, till finally about 5pm, he went in.  I could have been there had I left that morning.  The surgery went well, and this gallbladder was full of stones, according to the doctor.  He had 4 holes poked into him.  He stayed over night and was released on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday morning was the day we were supposed to leave Big Cedar Lodge and the girls riding with me agreed we could leave at 6am, so we jumped up and got in the car (in our PJs and all!), intending to miss a storm that was coming in from the Northeast.  Well, turns out we ran smack dab into the middle of one that was in Arkansas.  The main freeway was shut down and there was about a 2 hours standstill reported, so the GPS offered an alternate route, which LOOKED like it bypassed the mountains completely.  That seemed like a good idea at the time.  Well, we soon found out it steadily went right up a mountain and was far less traveled, which is NOT a good combination.  We passed many cars spun off on to the sides of the road and kept going.  Then we got to a part with a sign that read "Steep Slope Ahead."  Uh oh.  Indeed.  The entire highway was a giant sheet of ice, and there was absolutely nothing I could do anymore.... there was no way to accelerate so we just kind of came to a slow stop, and then the car started sliding sideways.  We slid, almost in slow motion, into a guard rail on the side of the road.  It was pretty much a straight drop down the other side of it, but luckily we just struck the guard rail a little.  We tried to get out, but the highway was, as I said, one giant sheet of ice, it was impossible to cross or walk around on.  We didn't see any other civilization, no real houses or businesses.  So, we sat there for a while, charging up our phones, calling 911 to let them know where we were exactly, letting our loved ones know we had a bit of delay, lol. 

Just slowly slid and stopped there.

Solid sheet of ice!

We sat on the side of the road there for about an hour and a half.  We got periodic calls from the 911 dispatch saying they couldn't come to us because all of their resources were stuck, too.  The firetruck had slid off into a ditch, the two sheriff trucks were off the roads, the wrecker was wrecked, etc.  REALLY!  We pretty much made it the farthest up the mountain out of anyone, and no one could come for us!  At one point we saw some hope!  A sand truck was making it's way up and around the corner, but then before our very eyes, it slid off the road, too.  Thankfully, the fireman who had the firetruck off into the ditch a little ways down came to check on that guy, and saw us!  He was able to make his way over to use and ask us if we wanted to come down to where he and a bunch of others were gathered in some warm work trucks.  My car wouldn't start at that point, I had ran the battery down charging the phones and such, oops!  So, we decided to take him up on that.  We gathered some stuff and blankets and headed along the guard rail with him down the mountain.  A little ways down I noticed a house across the street, and having to go to the bathroom pretty badly by then, wondered out loud if those people were home because it'd be nice to use there bathroom!!!  The sweet Fireman, grabbed his phone and goes, "Let me call them!"  We then realized we were in a town of 399 people, everyone knew everyone in Winslow, AR!  Thankfully, they were home and we could come use their bathroom, but we had to figure out how to cross the highway, which was solid ice.  Fireman Shane said he had witnessed a lady walk along on her blanket for traction, so we tried it and worked.  Was a very interesting experience shuffling along across a highway on a blanket (IN MY PJs, mind you!), but it worked. 

These sweet older couple let us into their home and we used their bathroom, they offered us coffee and cookies and said we could stay there as long as we needed.  Stephanie asked if they were football fans and they turned on the Cowboy game for us, lol.  They served us lunch and everything.  We had a wonderful time getting to know these people who saved our lives.  At this point I hadn't told Michael what had happened because I didn't want him worrying about me, so when I found out he was finally home with his mom, I called and told him the story.  We tried so hard to get up early and get home as fast as we could, we ended up with an extra 5-hour delay.  Finally, it rained a bit and warmed up a little, so the sand truck was able to drive backwards, sanding himself up the mountain.  We jump started the car and got it off the guard rail and everything looked fine.  The sweet couple escorted us all the way back down to the mountain and over to the main freeway again.  And we were on our way home at last.  I got home about 9pm on Sunday.

Whew.  What a weekend to remember!  Thankfully, Michael is doing much better now, he is healing very well and back to moving around and working and all that.  The dent in the car popped itself out pretty much, which is awesome.  And good grief, I learned my lesson about Arkansas back roads!

Christmas, New Years, Gone Already!

I can hardly believe we are sitting on this side of 2015 already.  I know once we hit Preston's birthday, time just rushes past... and yep, happened again.  We celebrated Preston's birthday, then mine, Christmas and New Years all in a whirlwind!

Michael was off for a week and a half so it was really nice having him home and all to ourselves for that long.  We put together two of the Thomas Kinkade Disney Puzzles, checked out the Whistle Stop Christmas display in Cleburne (and had some yummy BBQ there), watched our own little home town parade of lights, enjoyed time with my parents on Christmas Eve, had a lazy, quite Christmas Day, celebrated New Year's Eve by popping balloons every hour from 6-midnight, watched lots of movies, read books, slept a lot, and who knows what else.  It was wonderful!

My guys decorating the tree.

Ready to start our first puzzle!  Those faces!

Christmas Eve.  Can we open presents yet?

I am so proud of my boys.  This year, instead of asking for big gifts from Santa, they only wanted little things in their stockings and we spent time giving to others instead.  We took yummy treats to our neighbors, and Preston donated his brand new Razor Scotter to a local boy who wasn't getting much of a Christmas.  They were so kind and not at all upset about not getting a big Christmas morning surprise!  Love their little hearts!!!

Halloween 2014

We had a pretty easy-going Halloween this year, as I just was not in the mood for much.  I was being a bit of a humbug, and the boys couldn't decide on what they wanted to be.  We purchased a Bilbo Baggins Hobbit costume last year on clearance for Preston to wear this year, only it was STILL too big for him.  And Callen kept saying he wanted to be "a Wolf again, no.. Mario, no... a wolf," etc.

A few hours before our little town's Trick Or Treat Around the Square began, the boys finally decided.  Preston would be Clark Kent - not Superman, mind you.  And Callen would be Fireman Small (one of our favorite books!).  Easy enough!  We had all the stuff to put Preston's costume together, and Callen wore an old costume from when Preston was 3 years old, haha.  And they ended up looking great!

Clark Kent

Fireman Small

Posers.

In front of the firetruck!

Even Daddy got in on the dressing up while working on the yard!

We spent the rest of the evening watching Garfield, Charlie Brown, etc.  Didn't get a single trick or treater at our door this year, even though we were prepared!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

While it's still pretty warm around here, we're doing the best we can to take advantage of the fall!  My mom and I took the boys to Country Critters Farm in Alvarado today.  We had a lot of fun petting animals, doing a maze, picking out pumpkins from the patch, bounce house, hay/tractor ride and such!

Rough Week, But Not Entirely Bad

This has been a strange one, y'all.  Started off with me sleeping on my arm funny and then being in excruciating pain for two days.  Like, can't move my arm without gasping in pain and sobbing.  I cried while trying to wash my hair in the shower.  Never had that issue before.  After some prodding from friends, I went to the AMAZING Dr. Taylor at Crossroads Natural Health in Grand Prairie, and within 12-hours of her magic touch, my arm was 98% better.  I could move without crying... yay!

Preston's skin allergies had a nasty flare up.  We have been having problems with it a lot lately.  We went to the Asthma/Allergy doctor a while back and he was put on two rounds of antibiotics because the doc thought it was infection, possibly staph.  It got a little better... but it would flare up here and there.  Well, on Wednesday night it was so bad Preston could NOT stop scratching at it and crying, and he certainly couldn't sleep.  Michael and I tried everything we could think of to soothe him, but no luck... he finally passed out from exhaustion.  We broke down, and thanks to my parents, purchased some super expensive cream the doc has suggested (and we had used in the past) and we tried it yesterday.  His legs are less itchy, yes, but ... right before dinner, he started throwing up and continued well into the middle of the night.  I mean, really?  I don't know if it's related to his skin allergies, or something completely different.  I am just praying that when he wakes up this morning, we can be done with all of it.

In the middle of all this going on, I found a huge brown tarantula in the bathroom.  Hear that?  IN THE BATHROOM.  Now, I've come to be somewhat at peace with them burrowing their holes into our yard (Michael is NOT at peace with that), but when I find them IN my house, NOPE.  No, no, nuh-uh.

Callen is "rawring" at the approaching storm.

The highlights of the week have been getting to spend some good, quality one-on-one time with my friends Regina and Nadia.  Also, sitting and having a real, uninterrupted conversation with my husband on some serious things we needed to discuss.  Obviously, nothing bad or it wouldn't be a highlight, would it?  And, I dunno... the week wasn't entire wretched besides the overwhelming number of 'gahhhhh' that happened.  Here's hoping now that it's Friday, we can catch a nice break and enjoy the weekend!

Michigan Vacation 2014 in a Glimpse...

Click image below to be taken to full slideshow.



A quick recap of our trip to Michigan and back!

Left on Friday, August 1st, as soon as we could after Michael got off work. Drove FOREVER to get to St. Louis, stayed with Sarah and Benjamin for the night, left early.  Arrived in Michigan by dinner time on Saturday.

Sunday was church, lunch at Pekadill's with Aunt Laura, saw Jason, swam in the COLD water at Duck Lake and Lake Michigan, played at a park.

Monday, rested, played outside and at the park, Jill hosted a book party with friends, guys went for mini-golf.

Tuesday, we hit three lighthouses on the West Michigan lighthouse tour (Silverlake, White River Light Station and Little Sable).

Wednesday was Michael's birthday. We hit the farmer's market, boys went out on the fishing boat, Jill and I went shopping, met up with Laura and Sarah, had tacos and birthday cake.

Thursday we went back out to finish the lighthouse tour with Big Sable Lighthouse, visited Pentwater and Hart for actual "authentic" Mexican food. Amazing!

Friday, blueberry picking, visited Grandma Kathy, Michael and I went to Unity Fest (saw Hawk Nelson, Britt Nicole and Matthew West), the boys spent time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Saturday we had breakfast with Brittany, Michael's neice, had lunch with Grandma Kathy and Aunt Laura, visited some of the old parts of town, including the cemetary. I stayed with the boys to prepare for our departure, while Michael went with his parents to see Phil Keaggy in concert.

Sunday, we left early morning and drove to Regina & Kevin's house, had dinner, met Layne Rogers for ice cream, slept. Got up and returned home on Monday evening!

Whew. I'm tired all over again just recapping that adventure!

We all have a job...

I saw this image posted on a family-friendly company's facebook page.  And it got me a bit riled up, and instead of posting a crazy long comment on FB, I decided to bring it over to the long-forgotten blog.

I honestly don't know which way the person who created this card intended it to be read, nor do I even know which way the company who posted it intended it to be read.  Or, perhaps, the point was to leave it open for interpretation... because the comments below the post were cuh-razy, y'all.

Some women got all hyped up amen-ing it, reading it as sarcastic.  Like, I do ALLLLL this stuff because my husband has a "job." Look at what all is required of me, isn't that a job?  I deserve more recognition, he just sits at a desk all day while I blah blah...  He gets off easy "going to work" while my job is here 24/7, blah blah. Stupid stereotypical man's work vs. women's work, so old fashioned, blah bah.

I kinda giggled when I read it because I had literally just come in from mowing the rest of the yard after getting home from working most of the day at Power FM.  Now, I don't normally do yard work and I don't normally "go to work" much anymore.  While I DO take out the trash (y'know, man's work, har har), he is great about taking care of the yard stuffs.  Well, yesterday, he came home from a full day of work, and as he was getting out of the car, I was getting in mine to head to work at Power FM for the evening, so there was barely a "hello!" between us.  It's one of THOSE weeks.  So, after getting home from a full day of work, he was suddenly in charge of the children, had to make dinner for them, started mowing the yard and then they had to leave for AWANA across town (daddy chauffeur and chef, hmm).  He didn't finish the yard.  The next day (yesterday) was one of those days where he is gone before the sun comes up and gets home long after it's down, so he wasn't going to be able to finish then either.  He asked me to do it.  I admit, I pouted a tiny bit (that mean 'ole lawnmower hates me), but I did it.  I came home from MY work day, attended the kids, got out there mowed the lawn, made dinner, finished up school with Preston, etc.  And, you know what?  This morning I got out there and used the spreader to lay down bug-b-gone junk.  Boom.

All this to say that a family is a team.  You take on the role you need to.  Single parents have to do it ALL.  There are lots of amazing stay-at-home dads while the wife works and supports the family.  There are families, where (gasp!) BOTH mom and dad work.  What?  Then, there are lots of traditional-looking families where the man works, the wife stays at home and takes care of kids and house.  SO WHAT?!  Why is "tradition" so bad anyway?  If that's the way you and your spouse decide that your family is going to work, ROCK ON!  No one should shame you for being a stay-at-home-mom or a housewife, geez.  Yes, a mom's job is HARD, no one should ever deny that.  A dad's job is just as difficult.  I know my husband feels the pressure of having to provide for his family, and that's why he works 2-3 jobs at at a time.  It isn't ideal.  And it isn't because he WANTS to be away from his family so much.  It's because the economy sucks, and he can't work one job that pays him enough to make ends meet.  And we want to make ends meet, don't we?  His job is to bring in income, and my job is to make that income stretch as far as it can, and occasionally add to it with my little jobs.  We are a team.  He watches the kids while I work and I watch the kids while he does.  We have made the decisions together and we are happy with it.  And while sometimes I wished I was the one who was away from the house ALL DAY LONG (mama needs a break once in a while, right?), I truly love being here with my kids and being the one in charge of their learning and being.  I know that my husband appreciates me and recognizes it for what it is, my job.  And I love and respect him for being willing to do what he does for us so that we can be in this position.  My husband is wonderful, and while it does put extra pressure on me to do a few things that are considered men's work... OH WELL. 

Dear Dad...

Hi, Dad!  I'm pretty sure you are the only one that checks here any more for updates.  Sorry for the lack of them.  Someday I'll find some time and motivation to post again.  Hopefully.

Love you!

Jade =)

Callen Turned FOUR...

I realize that I skipped a post about Callen's birthday back in March.  Oops!  Sorry, kiddo!

I asked him what kind of party he wanted, and he chose Jake & The Neverland Pirates.  Then I asked him who he wanted to invite to his party, and he said just his family... "like a family reunion."  Since Michael's parents were in town and staying with us, this made for a super easy birthday party! 

Got to open a present when he woke up!

Walked to the Donut Place for birthday donuts!

Jake cake and all his booty!

Arghh, matey!

A couple of scallywags!

Mmm, birthday pizza!

Christmas 2013 Recap

We had a nice Christmas holiday.  Jill and Steve arrived from Michigan a few days before Christmas.  The kids adored having their grandparents in the same house for a while, and promptly wore them out.  Michael was off the whole week, too, so that was great.  The weather was pretty nice for the most part, boys got to go to the park several times with Gpa Steve or Gma Jill.  We ate lots of yummy food.  Regina and Kevin were in town from Tennessee, so we got to meet Teagan.  What a sweetie!

On Christmas Eve, we attended Grace Fellowship and came home to Midlo with my parents for snacks and gifts.  The next morning, Santa had come and brought the boys goodies for their new, cool Superhero themed room.  Later, we exchanged gifts and had lunch with Jill, Steve and Daniel.  Mema was going to come, but she wasn't feeling up to it. 

Here is a smorgasbord of pictures from the holidays...

Yay, Gma and Gpa are here!

Our Jesus Story Book Advent Branch

Preston reading the last chapter of the Advent.

Some inside decor.  Love this built in shelf!

Michael not amused at V-Day stuff out on Dec 23rd.

Christmas Eve, ready for presents!

Oh, there you are, Perry.

Loved having Daddy home for a week!

Visiting with Teagan, Regina & Kevin!!

Christmas shopping was tiresome.

Preston Turns EIGHT!

Preston's birthday completely snuck up on me this year.  We managed to pull off a party on the evening before his actual birthday and he had some sweet friends come.  He wanted a Nintendo-themed party, but it ended up being more Mario than anything, and barely at that.

I'm this many now!

My attempt at 1-Up Mushroom Cupcakes

Gma was opening a remote control car.

Kids playing in the boys' room.

Eight hasn't hit me nearly as hard as 7 did last year.  I think I haven't really had much time to think about it because of the move and all.  I dunno, I'm ok with it for now.  Lol.