Category: children

New schedule and Update

R started nights on his job, which means he was working from 10pm til 6am. He went on job interviews and such immediately after he would drop the girls off at school. He was hired at several places. He actually took the job that was closest to our home. He now gets to ride his bike to work. He no longer works swing shift. He was a stable second shift job and make 1 dollar more per hour than he made at the job he started in August. So of course he quit that job. We were spending  almost half his paycheck on gasoline for the van. We were happy he had a job, but it really was a strain driving so far daily and I felt like I practically lived in the van. It is nice to be able to not drive all day.

Last week D. came in second in the school race against Pine Lake Prep. It was a first time in a long time. He just looked green that day. I think the pollen got to him? He did great despite not feeling well. I am proud of my tough,strong son for sucking it up and doing what needs to be done even when not feeling well. He is NOT a complainer and works so hard at everything he does.

Kl is working at our local grocery store. Usually several days per week.

The 3 little boys are doing great so far with home school. We are doing Classical Conversations. We are having lots of fun learning.

Kr continuing to heal from major surgery last December. She is doing well at school.

DJ is really into reading lately. So I am trying to keep him well supplied with really good books.

Praise and Reflection

I have definitely been super über busy. I want to document this time in my life so I may remember how God moves in HIS timing. Also seeing how things look so very odd from the outside, even to me, I see HIS hands in our lives. Everything isn’t easy, I do have peace in the midst of it all.

R has been working a few weeks now I think for an agency as a contracted temp to hire. We are still behind in bills, but at least we have a chance to catch up with income coming in. He works a swing shift. It is now 2 weeks on a shift before switching. Next week is night shift.Since we have one car….

( his died….their is an entire ordeal surrounding his car that makes me to angry to detail… short version.. his/our nephew took it apart to pieces and sold them. The carcass sat in our driveway a few weeks before I called a junk yard to haul it away. We could have gotten a few hundred dollars had we sold it a junk yard originally. Instead of giving much-needed money away when R wasn’t working and causing an eyesore to our neighborhood. I felt sick every single time I went outside until I  had the thing removed!)

I have been on the road a lot. I have had lots of time to pray alone and quiet times with God. We are spending too much on gas and putting lots of miles on the van. R HAS A JOB!! PTL!! YIPPEE SKIPPEE!! So I can not complain. I just count on God to get me through the day. Some times I am so tired. It has been great to have 2 weeks worth of meals preplanned. I religiously use my crockpot. I have found some wonderful recipes online for healthy meals.

My current life is a series of notes and notebooks. My little boys are officially in Classical Conversations. I felt led to join or try knowing at the time R had no job and we are in dire circumstances. When praying felt led to join anyways. I thought maybe we would be able to officially join by Christmas and told the Director this.  God laid it on the heart of an anonymous donor to pay for the two little boys to join now! I have started unofficially teaching the older boys at home. I could not even imagine what God had in store for our family. I just knew that this is where he wants us. The same with staying home with the children. I have felt bad for months even though I felt a sense of peace in my decision. R agree also. That I belong at home with the children. Some people no longer speak to me because of my choices and feel I have taken this have faith thing a little too far.

I am finding a sort of freedom in being alone. No pressures from the outside.

I have a collection of notes I will peruse and decide if they are post worthy.

Happy Birthday Kara and Kayla!!

Today we as a family celebrated Kara and Kayla’s 19th birthday. They spent a good part of the day working at church,helping prepare for this year’s Worship Arts Conference.

They came home to a huge spaghetti dinner, their own cakes, sherbet ice creams they requested and presents.

I found out they also received cake at church during the preparations for the worship arts conference.

They were doubly blessed today. Total three cakes for their nineteenth birthday.

I feel doubly blessed. My pregnancy with the girls was super easy the first six months. I experienced no morning sickness. I did throw up several times, but only when I attempted to eat meat. I basically ate a vegetarian diet while pregnant with them and survived well.  I had not gained much weight, which was okay at the time, because we thought I was only carrying one baby. I had an ultrasound at 16 weeks and 20 weeks. Our “baby” looked strong and healthy. I didn’t even look pregnant. People thought I was joking when I said I was.

It was almost overnight I went from wearing my normal clothes and having a flat belly to having a basketball belly. I went to my regular obgyn appointment two weeks after my other appointment. Every commented how I “blossomed” since last visit. Someone even said I must be carrying twins. I laughed and blissfully awaited my appointment time.

My appointment time comes. I stepped on the scale. Weird I actually gained some weight. I believe it was seven pounds in two weeks. I had not gain much more than five pounds up to this point. So that explains the belly. Okay… I thought. Dr. D does a fundal height measurement. “Hmmmph”, he sighs. We need to do an ultrasound right away. Your fundus is measuring 36 weeks when it should be right at 28 weeks according to your previous measurements. He told me to go sit in his office and call my husband, while we wait for ultrasound to be available. Okay. I go to his office and call my husband from Dr. D’s office phone, I believe we had a cellphone at the time but hubby had it. So, I spoke with hubby and he was on his way. Ultrasound became available, with in a few minutes, but I awaited hubby’s arrival.

Twenty long minutes later, he practically runs into the office, where I was waiting. Dr D, R and I go into the ultrasound room. I lay on the table lift my shirt above my belly, roll my pants below. The ultrasonographer tucks a towel in my pants squirts warm gel on my belly,rolls the scanner over my belly, and smiles and says, “Can you guys see this?”, pointing at the two wiggling babies on the screen. They appeared to be fist fighting at the time. There were four hands moving around together. I did not understand that there were two babies. My overactive imagination pictured some monstrosity of a child. Dr D said,”Congratulations you are having twins!”. I start crying because I thought something was wrong with my baby to have so many hands. I was a wee bit relieved before I realized exactly what he was saying. Hubs grabbed my hand and squeezed it. We were both in shock at the news.

Dr. D set me up an appointment with a perinatologist for my next visit. He said I needed a higher level ultrasound to thoroughly examine both babies. Okay.

Hubby returns to work and I go straight to the library and check out every book I can find on twins and multiple births. I bring a bag full of books  home. I also get online at home on our laptop and search for every thing I can find about twins. I practically print a book from all the information I copied and pasted into a document.

The rest of the pregnancy was uneventful for four more week. At that time I was 32 weeks pregnant and experiencing preterm labor. Dr D puts me on bedrest, and brethine(tertbutaline). When labor appears to be halted, Dr. D send me home on the brethine, a home tocos monitor and bedrest. Home health arrives later in the day after I was discharged from the hospital to set things up.

At my 36 week visit Dr. D said babies are doing well. I believe I was given a shot of steroids to help with lung development. I was told I no longer needed to stay on bedrest and anytime now would be safe to deliver. They would not interfere with labor if it started now. I believe a couple of days later hubby and I went shopping for last-minute baby stuff. That night I was in full labor. We arrived at the hospital around 8pm. Dr. Jones was on call because Dr. D had been at the hospital all day and did a lot of deliveries. Dr Jones had ultrasound come and scan us. He said,”We need to do a Cesarean section, Baby B is transverse. This being your first delivery, I don’t feel it is safe to attempt your planned vaginal delivery.” So Dr Jones schedules me an “emergency c-section.”

I was delivered of the girls at 10:06 and 10:09 pm on the twenty-fourth of July 1992 exactly 3 weeks after my twenty-first birthday.

Life has been fun and interesting with those two. They had their own language for many years and would laugh for hours at night when I put them down for bed. There have been times they would fight but they are always the best of friends. Both girls are very strong, but also compassionate. They have been on mission trip and believe in helping less fortunate. They are fashionable but also very sensible. They don’t believe in being wasteful with money. They are currently working hard on their associate degrees and plan to transfer to university shortly thereafter. I am quite proud of my girls and very grateful that God has blessed me with them!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARA AND KAYLA!!!

LOVE ALWAYS MOM!!

Pool Party

A friend from church, one whom the girls often babysits for, threw the girls a pool party on Saturday to celebrate their 19th birthday. She bought the cake,chips,watermelon,snacks for the littles,sodas,decorations, and paid for our party to swim at her members only pool.

The day was so hot. Perfect day for a pool party.

VBS stirs up a mixed bag of emotions.. miscellaneous post?

The children Sam and Noah have enjoyed their week of VBS. Friday concludes the week with a fun family filled event. I shall upload soon pictures of the decorations and some of the boys 🙂
The girls enjoyed volunteering to teach and such. The little boys enjoyed the festivities.

We have been praying for the children who attend. We found out on day 2, many of the children who attended were starving. Their parents work,full-time minimum wage jobs, all day. These sweet young children attended VBS starving. They practically inhaled their food and looked for more. We packed food and sent it home with them. Our church runs a food pantry, I’m am not sure if it is because of hard times or vacations, our church’s food pantry has run low. I feel a wee part responsible for this.
R hasn’t worked since May, so I have not bought any extras or contributed to the food pantry.
I have a fear of running out of food and worried my kids are starving. I have also feared becoming homeless. I am trying to believe, God will really take care of us, HE promised He will in HIS word. God sent us to help provide for these hungry children. He has someone, who will give my husband a job, or provide for us in some way.
I became really desperate one day. I have been filling job applications and having job interviews also. For me to return to work as a registered nurse, I must first take a refresher course (roughly $600), due to the amount of time I have been away from working in the hospital. I must also retake classes for my advanced cardiac life support certification. I let those expire years ago because of the cost and also, I had no plans to return to work with small children. I found out I can teach a classical conversations class to help me pay for my children’s enrollment.(Our classical co-op) I need to work nights so I may teach the children during the day. Doing non-nursing work will make it difficult. Requiring me to work more hours to make enough to pay the bills and catch up on payments.
I am contemplating making a page to list ALL of our school curriculum books,that we are not using, for sale. I will take pictures of them with a description and maybe IBSN’S. I will try to figure out paypal and set up a link for book payment and mail books via media mail, unless other specifically requested. All of the books are not current editions.

I also need to revamp my resume.

I feel like a displaced, misplaced homemaker, I am going to try and stay encouraged.

Maybe some people are praying for us.

God will meet our needs!

This one handed typing is irritating, going to lay sleeping Jesse in his bed right now!

Ahhh much better.

Well I guess I should go to bed also.
A friend from church, whom one of my girls babysits for,gave us an invitation to throw a pool party for the twin’s 19th birthday. So I shall be waking in a few short hours, to get things done Friday morning. I will need time to get all the little boys cleaned up and ready for the VBS festivities Friday evening.I am unsure if my husband or older boys are coming with. So I will have my hands full. I will set my coffee maker to brew at 7am and start my crock-pot shortly thereafter.

Mitchell Baldwin Basketball

All of last week,July 11th through July 15th, I spent my mornings working at Mitchell Baldwin Basketball.

Mitchell Baldwin ran an all day, week long, summer basketball camp at Charlotte United Christian Academy.

Mitchell Baldwin is the Owner and Founder of Mitchell Baldwin Basketball. Mitchell is a former starting point guard for the Charlotte 49ers. He had a staff which consisted of current and former professional basketball players and coaches. All having years of experience helping and developing today’s youth.

Mr. Baldwin teaches group and private lessons year round. Visit his website at MitchellBaldwinBasketball.com

SonSurf Beach Bash VBS

Yesterday,Sunday, began our week of Vacation Bible school at our church. Resurrection Church. Sam and Noah went and the girls teach there. Jesse wanted to go but he still has mishaps in the potty department so he has to wait till next year to go. Tonight was dress up in blue night. Noah won a prize. I failed to get a picture of him, he came home a bit wet from jumping in water, and changed his clothes lickety split! The girls brought Jess some crafts home and worked on it with him. He was pretty sad about not being allowed to go to VBS.

Tomorrow night is coloring contest. The boys brought home coloring sheets to work on. Winners will get PRIZES!!! So the boys are excited.

Today is Noah Luke’s 5th Birthday!

I sat and reflected today about how Noah and I were almost not here. It is such a blessing today that he is even  having his 5th birthday.

Noah holding a garter snake, if I remember correctly?
 
I had a rather eventful pregnancy with Noah. I had severe  Hyperemesis gravidarum.   It lasted well into my seventh month. I tried anything an everything.  Treatments  for morning sickness and nausea and vomiting in general. I even was prescribed Zofran. The Zofran helped some with the nausea. I would still vomit out of the blue. I’d feel it coming,no warning!
 
 
The day I had Noah, I did not feel any labor pains. I had a weird feeling(sense) for about an hour before I told my husband, we  really need to get to the hospital. I felt besides myself, but I was not in any pain. Kind of a panic attack feeling.
I did not call my doctor, yet. I had hubby take me straight to the hospital.  Halfway to the hospital I called my doctor’s office. I found out that my doctor is out of town and there is a doctor on call. I was sad for a moment and wanted to return home. I had a deep, sinking feeling “Something isn’t right”. I had pinching pangs in the front of my belly. It did not feel like labor. I felt really scared.  
We arrive at the hospital, they were waiting on us. We were given a room and I was immediately put on a fetal  monitor and a contraction monitor. I was told baby looks good and that I wasn’t having any contractions yet. I told the nurse, “Something is really wrong”. She tried to assure me that everything is okay and pointed to the monitor. I had started bleeding on the way over to the hospital and told her so. She told me this is normal with multiparas( women who have had many children). I told her, “I don’t bleed until I am pushing the baby out.” She told me that I have had a lot of children and that things in your body change drastically from baby to baby. “This is normal”, she tried to reassured me.  About 30 minutes later,I began having severe stabbing pains in my belly. It was as if someone was stabbing me with a hot sword or rod. I told my nurse. They( two nurses were helping me at the time) checked to see if I had dilated any. I was 3 centimeters when I arrived and only 4 when checked this time. She said, I hadn’t dialated much and my contractions are not being picked up by the monitor. She asked me if I want an epidural and then leaves my room. I screamed, YES, PLEASE!.     I grabbed her arm and told her,”Please help me something is very very wrong!”  I was on the verge of a panic attack or something. I knew I was going to die soon.  They get my epidural in,my legs are numb and I cried to the nurse. “This stabbing pain is still there and I feel intense pressure. I emphatically stated,”If someone doesn’t help me, I am going to die soon!” I am quite sure I offended the nurse. After all she did get the good anesthesiologist in. I had a “GREAT” epidural. She even said to me that she could not understand why I was being such a big baby. “You have 5 other children. Why are you being so difficult?”, she said to me.
 
I think about 5 minutes pass. My heart feels as if it will beat out of my chest. I hear my heartbeat in my head,ears,throat. I feel really hot  and cold and clammy. I know I will pass out or something. I call my doctors office pager number for labor calls. I left a voicemail. “I am dying and I would appreciate it if someone would not let me suffer like this! Please put me out of my misery RIGHT NOW!” Next call in my series of three, “Please help me. I think I am bleeding to death and this stabbing pain won’t go away even with this STUPID epidural!” Last call, “I don’t have any strength left. I can’t take the pain anymore! PLEASE SHOOT ME!”  I don’t think it was a minute later. The doctor on call was sleeping in a spare room down the hall from me. She did not know that I was here.  My nurse had been following standing orders on file.  The Dr. on call walks in my labor and delivery room. She sees blood everywhere. The nurse had just checked me about 5 minutes before and I was 6 centimeters at that time. Dr gloves up and said to my nurse,”Call every nurse you can get in here, we need to get this baby out and now! The baby,at that very moment, heart rate could not be found. She checked me and said you are only 8cm  and the baby needs to come out now. No time for a c-section. She has me push and she has 4 or 5 nurses pushing on my belly to push him out and she suctioned at the same time.  Four minutes later he is out. I am hemorrhaging and he isn’t breathing. They work on him and they work on me. I think I passed out a few times. I remember a nurse telling me to wake up a few time and he still wasn’t crying. I just wanted to sleep. I felt my bed flip, they put my head down feet up. They were pushing meds in my IV. Three nurses were massaging my belly trying to get the bleeding to stop. I heard Noah cry a very weak cry. The room got really quiet, I heard a series of weak cries, then stronger ones. They suctioned him A LOT. He had inhaled or ingested lots of blood. I think they laid him on my chest for a moment. I was too weak to even lift my hand to touch him. The doctor wanted to see if we could get baby to nurse a few minutes to help stop my bleeding. I don’t remember much. I was too weak to open my eyes and things just happened around me. I think I was in a deep sleep for at least 5 hours.
When I awakened my entire family was in the room.  I don’t remember much after his birth just bits and pieces, here and there.  Like I remember waking up the next day,my birthday and telling my new nurse that I am so hungry. It was 2am, she brought me a turkey sandwich on white bread with a slice of lettuce,a slice tomato and mayonnaise. She also brought me some cranberry juice and pain medicine. She looked at my belly and I saw all of these hand prints and bruising and I told her I thought I was dreaming the entire thing. She told me I lost a lot of blood and need a transfusion but I had requested previously not to have a transfusion. (I was afraid of AIDS. I REALLY SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE TRANSFUSIONS!)
 
I fell asleep. I am not sure if Noah was brought to me or not. Sadly, I really do not remember. I do know,when my hubby came to visit , Noah stayed in the room. When he left, he returned Noah to the nursery. I felt to ill to handle him alone.
 
I remember eating lunch and holding Noah, shaking, afraid I would drop him. I let everyone hold him who entered my room. I insisted. After lunch, the nutrition ladies, there were two of them, came in my room singing Happy Birthday to You. I start crying, It was so unexpected and I had forgotten that it was my birthday. They continued singing I said thank you and looked at my huge cake. It was a one layer cake chocolate. A bit bigger than a bread/salad plate. Covered with strawberries and whipped cream. I had my nurse put my name label on it and put it in the refrigerator.
I sat and held Noah for about an hour. I know it was the longest I had held him since birth. I thought he was a beautiful petite little boy. He was born 7 pounds and 6 ounces and 20 inches long. He was a dark baby. Dark hair and dark blue eyes and olive skin. His hair was a natural Mohawk.  He had a tiny pointed nose and tiny feet. His newborn sized booties were too large. He stared at me with dark blue,piercing eyes. I sent him to the nursery a couple times so I could shower, and another time  so I could walk with the nurse a bit. I was told they would not send me home if I could not walk without passing out, which I did twice. So I practiced getting up slowly and hanging out on the edge of furniture until the room stopped spinning, before standing.  Poor Noah, I was told, cried the entire time he was in the nursery. I think when he stared and glared me while I talked to him, he figured I was mommy. He knew they were not and he cried until he was returned to me. We went through one heck of a delivery. God saw us through it and lead that Dr. to my Labor and Delivery room at just the right time. One minute or so later, I know, we both would have died. I am thankful that the doctor really heard me and came running.
 
I was later told the nurse, in charge of my care, was fired that shift.  The hospital did not send me a bill for his delivery or anything. They sent Lactation Consultant to visit me several times and did not charge me for her either.
They sent me home with a months supply of diapers and wipes and flowers and balloons, and cards, They gave me an “It’s a Boy!” sign for my yard. Several people came to my room and apologized profusely. Even the doctor that delivered us, apologized for my care prior to delivery. She apologized for all I went through. She gave me a hug.She did everything short of encouraging me to sue the nurse for neglect. She never told the doctor entirely what had occurred.The nurse had not called the doctor or informed her I was even there. Her excuse, no pattern of labor established yet. She would have sent me home.I would not have left. I had to be dealt with.
 
What happened medically was;when I felt weird, I had a partial placental abruption. When they were unable to pick up Noah’s heart rate, I had a complete abruption, I was hemmorhaging behind the placenta,where it had completely detached from my uterus and Noah was without oxygen. The severe pain I experienced was from the placenta prematurely separating from my uterus. Had I not followed “my instinct”, the Holy Spirit and that weird feeling, I would have reduced our chances of survival.
Noah is my miracle baby. We were too close to death together. God has a plan for this little man.
 
If you are still reading this novel of my Graphic Noah experience:
Noah is a busy boy. He doesn’t sit still well, but he is always listening if he is moving, and he can remember, verbatim, anything. He draws a lot. His pictures are so detailed. He loves bright colors. He is gregarious and funny. He loves order and will neatly stack anything. He will happily sort like items for you also.
Noah is not a big eater. He happily lives on crumbs and air. He is still so very petite.
He attended preschool this past year. This fall he will be home schooling with his brothers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Happy Birthday to my Noah, My Miracle!
Noah's Cake

Handsfull

I really needed to read this, inspired by Jen B.; Handsfull Tuesday; blog today. I have had much time to ponder lately about how we are raising our children. My husband was laid off last year and has worked various odd and temp jobs. Everyone tells me to go to work and let my husband stay home and raise the kids. This is not his calling to be a housewife or should I say house husband. Neither is it my calling to be a fulltime breadwinner. I do not currently have the physical stamina to handle those 10 to 12 hour shifts away from home then come home to do my work. My husband helps with things around the house sometimes but it is not his gifting. Planning meals, shopping for groceries,sticking to a budget, making sure the little kids are eating at least 3 balanced meals and several snacks,bathes,storytime and going to bed at a decent early hour. Even when I work part time, my children suffer, our relationships suffer. I am just to tired to care after having such a physically and mentally demanding job and come home and have anything left for my family.

It was a blessing for me to read Martin Luther’s works “Treatise on Good Works.”   I really need to read a see sometimes what my job really is. Why I feel peace at home, even though it is a really hard job and people accuse you of doing nothing. I take seriously raising these future citizens up in the admonition of God. I have only read half today but I plan to reread this weekly as a reminder of the importance of raising these children properly.

Classical Conversations

“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves
throughout their lives.” ~~ Robert Maynard Hutchins

 

I attended a 3 day parent practicum in the Huntersville Area last week. It was the best thing that could have happened, at the right time. I have a renewed drive to follow a calling that God put in our family. I have listened so long to negative and I have needed help. I did not have the right kind of support to do it. Now I have a list of people who are praying for me and a list of people of  whom I may call when times get hard, who will remind me of things and give practical support.

I know homeschooling “isn’t for everybody”, even though I feel anyone can teach their own children.  I made some mistakes with my oldest twin daughter graduates, but they can wear the t-shirt that says, “I survived homeschooling!”  My  sons are different and learning looks different. I have permission for that to be okay. I used to be so hard on myself because we were not doing what everyone else is doing. Now I realize that we are learning differently but we are learning what we need to learn for a good solid classical education.  It’s is okay to accommodate your child’s need, for example; I have a child, he bounces while he is being read to, or he sits and turns.  He has to be in motion. That is not okay for public school or even private schools. It is okay for home, I have learned that when he is moving, he is listening to me. There was a  time when my focus was making him sit still and looking at me or my direction. He would mentally leave the room, you could see a blank look on his face. He could not answer questions. He just was not there. Do what works to teach your children.  However they are made, God made them for a purpose. Work with who you have, instead of spending time focusing on something that is really not that  important, but things others may look at and think you are clueless, like you child not  sitting  still. He is listening and he is learning, be happy and content.

I never wish hard times on any one. It feels good when you know you are not alone. Finding other people, who have survived trials, gives you a feeling that you can survive a trial too. I am now a big believer, that we need a support group of like minds.