Busy busy days

It has been way too long since I have posted. Things have been busy in our household here in the last 2 months. After months and months of searching, Chris was finally offered a preaching position. We didn't go north like we had hoped, but it is a great opportunity to gain experience. We are now farther south in Arkansas. We packed up and moved on Nov 15 and have been busy since then trying to get settled. The hardest part has been moving with a newborn. It has been hard to get much of anything done. But, we are doing the best we can. It has been absolutely fantastic to finally be living in a house! It is almost twice as big as our apartment was, it has 4 bedrooms, and it is on almost an acre of land. I think the kids are just used to being in really tight quarters though because they are having a hard time spreading out. Even when they are outside. Yesterday was the first day they started venturing off the patio. We have been really enjoying it though. The weather down here is something to get used to. I'm not used to it being in the 60's in December!

Chris has been settling in in his new position as well. He is technically only "supposed" to have office hours from 8-12 (which he set) but he often goes back after lunch for a few more hours just because there is so much for him to get done. We live less than a mile away from the church so really it isn't a big deal and to be honest I rather enjoy having some time to myself again. It has also been really nice getting back into routines again. We took a break from schooling for a few weeks just because there was just so much to do. One of the first things we did when we moved here was get our library cards and we were able to start back in their curriculum just in time for Thanksgiving. Faith has been doing really well in her reading. She can read pretty much anything with a short vowel now and we are finishing up consonant digraph endings. We will probably work on reviews the rest of this week, do "NG" endings (-ing, -ang, -ung, -ong) next week, and then start long-vowel words the week after that. Have to admit I'm a little nervous at that one! This year Faith told me what to write in a letter to Santa, I wrote it on her paper, and that is what she did for her copy work. It was our first attempt at copy work and she did an excellent job. She is so proud of herself for writing her letter all by herself. From now on we will either be doing copywork using scriptures, or it will be to write a letter to her new penpal (who is one of her best friends from church).

Samantha has been doing really good in her reading too. She hasn't started the actual blending yet, but we are working on word recognition. She either points to a word in a sentence, or she is given a picture and the last 2 letters of the word and she has to figure out what the first letter is (ie has a picture of a cat and __at, and then is given 4 letters to choose from). I tried started the blending with her but she just wasn't getting it and was just getting mad, so we decided to put that part on hold for a little longer. It has been a little more of a struggle with her because she has an "I can't" attitude when given anything new to do and before even trying.

Everything has been different with Elijah. The girls both started talking so early but with him he still doesn't say much. Some things are more clearer, but when he does say something it is still pretty unrecognizable. I don't know if he is just having a speech problems or what. Chris and I have really been working with him on saying things and when we read books to him we ask about what the different things are in the pictures and make him tell us or have him repeat after us. He is by far more physical than the girls were. He is constantly climbing on anything and everything and is always swinging things like a bat or throwing balls, and is always wanting to wrestle around. He loves to be read too which is wonderful since we read a lot! He is also a little whirlwind. I can't keep up with him and the messes he makes. He is always into SOMETHING. I'm not exaggerating! The other day he got into a box which had the fuchsia dye we used to dye Faith's hockey gloves. He had it absolutely everywhere and he was covered from head to toe. Surprisingly it came off of his skin pretty easily, his hair was a different story. His hair is still tinted pink. It is a full-time job just keeping up with him.

Sweet little baby Carrie is getting bigger by the day. On the 10th she will be 3 months old. She is already fitting into some clothes that are 6 months. She is a big baby! At her 2 month appointment he was 13lbs 9 oz (95%) and was almost 24 inches long (90%). She is definitely a healthy baby! All of our breastfeeding woes are behind us now and we have both been doing wonderfully. Our saving grace is when the lactation consultant called me in a prescription for All Purpose Nipple Ointment. This stuff was just simply a miracle. It healed me up in no time and we have had no problems since. When I told my OB about it at my 6 week check up he said he has heard good things about that stuff. Which, honestly made me angry that he never thought to get me some and which also probably would have saved my breastfeeding experience with Elijah. I know I can't change anything about the past, but still. Carrie is more of a high maintenance baby like Faith was. She isn't too into sleeping and wants to be held all. the. time. And not just by anyone. By just me. The second Chris tries to hold her she will start throwing a fit. The second I take her back she is fine. Faith was the same exact way. It makes getting things done very very difficult! She just loves to smile though and it lights up her whole face. Today when I was playing with her she giggled at me for the first time. Such a beautiful experience.

Well, I think I have written enough for today and there are things I need to try to get done. Now that we are getting more settled though I will write more!

And not so blissful times

In less than 2 weeks I have had mastitis twice and have a case of thrush. I am currently trying to fight my second bout.

Breastfeeding is an art alright, and it looks like I'm failing art. I had none of these problems with Faith or Samantha, and then had tons of problems with Elijah. Looks like I'm starting off where we left off with Elijah.

I don't know what I'm going to do if I continue to have problems. The first time I had it with Carrie I knew I was to blame. I think my bra was too tight and I was wearing it all the time because I couldn't stand for anything to touch me, and then Carrie was sleeping for several hours through the night and I was so happy to get some sleep that I didn't wake her up, causing me to get engorged.

BUT since Sunday I have been going braless unless I go out, which isn't often and I wake her at least every 3 hours at night. So I have no clue what went wrong this time.

She is quite the eater though. She usually wants to eat during the day every 1 1/2 hours. Then, it takes her 30 minutes to eat. So I am pretty much feeding this girl around the clock.

Sweet bliss

Carrie Elaine was born on 9/10 at 9:27 am, weighed 8 lbs even and was 19 1/4 inches long!

The labor was definitely short. They started pitocin at about 6:30 and I had my water broke at about 8:30. When he broke my water I was 4-5, which was impressive seeing as how the contractions hadn't been bad at all (I was a 3 when I came in). So he breaks my water and I go ahead and get an epidural even though things weren't bad yet. The epidural obviously took a little while to get placed and the contractions were still not bad at all the whole time. They had it in place at about 9:00. When they got the epidural in, she checked me again and I was a 6. Unfortunately it wasn't taking in part of my right side though and there was a spot that I really felt the contractions in, and it really was hurting bad. They had me roll over to my side for awhile, which didn't work either. They were finally able to fix the problem, though I'm not really quite sure what they were doing. I told the nurse that it was a lot better but there was still a lot of pressure in my bottom during contractions that I had to breathe through. I didn't think anything about it but just figured it wasn't working again. She went ahead and checked me again, and low and behold I was an 8! Now mind you this was only 10 minutes since she had checked me last. I was just in shock. She ran out of the room to call the doctor. He was there within 5 minutes and there was already every nurse in my room and my bed being broke down. My doctor didn't even have time to get completely dressed. He sat down and I guess was waiting for a contractions. I thought he was doing some pulling down there and seriously if I had been able to feel my legs I would have kicked him. Turns out it was the baby's head coming down! The next contraction they had me push. A whopping 3 pushes later and our little Carrie was born. So um yeah, went from a 6 to complete in 20 minutes.

I was in complete shock and wasn't ready at all for delivery time, mentally. Chris kept waiting for me to break down crying, like I always do, but I just sat there in shock that it was all over. I was expecting it to take at least a couple of more hours! I just sat there looking at her and trying to figure out if all of that really happened. I tried nursing her before they took her away to the nursery but she just sat there with my breast in her mouth and she was just like um, why is this here and what am I supposed to do. I was afraid she wasn't going to get nursing down very well. Needless to say, I was completely wrong. When they finally brought her back to me a few hours later she was starving and latched on right away. From then on out she nursed at least every 2 hours for 30 minutes at a time.

Unfortunately Chris had come down with a stomach bug that I suffered from that previous Monday. He didn't have a fever and was able to be there for the labor and delivery, but he only held her for a second after she was born, just as a precaution. He also went home as soon as they took the baby so he could get some rest. He called me that afternoon and unfortunately had woken up with a slight fever and so he obviously thought it best for him to stay home. I was completely bummed, but also felt the same way. The kiddos were able to meet their new baby sister on Saturday and they have all been doting on her ever since. Even Elijah! Every few minutes he will have to come by and touch (lightly!) her head and sometimes will give her a little kiss. It is just too precious!

Now onto the name. We really liked the name Anya and were planning on naming her that. After she was born though it just wasn't right. We then went through many more names and just couldn't find one that seemed to fit her. So nameless our baby girl stayed. On Saturday we thought it would be Claire. I really love that name. But when Chris came back that evening Claire didn't seem to fit either. Finally, about 15 minutes before we were discharged on Sunday we seemed to have found the name that fit her. I don't know how many times my nurses kept asking what her name was, and I felt horrible that we hadn't come up with anything yet. I don't know why it was so difficult this time.

Needless to say, we are in love. Completely and totally in love. Again.

Today is the day

It's about 3am and today is the day I will be meeting this little one. I have to be at the hospital at 5am where they will start the induction. Obviously not exactly the way I wanted to do it but it is what it is. Maybe if I lived an hour away from the hospital again like I did with Faith and Samantha then I would have gone into labor on my own, so I have to suffer in the car with contractions. Instead with Elijah and this one I live about 5 minutes from the hospital and so of course I have to be induced. Sigh.

This girls are just over the moon excited though and can't wait to find out if they will be getting a new brother or sister. This pregnancy has been so exciting for them. It's odd to think though that this is more than likely our last one. I say more than likely because we absolutely will not be trying for anymore, but I know sometimes God's plan is different. I am mentally done with pregnancy. So it's just strange every time I feel this baby move just thinking it will be the last time I feel a baby move inside of me. To me, it is the best part of being pregnant. But I won't lie. This pregnancy has been difficult for me. I have been exhausted throughout most of it and for the last 3 months have been hurting pretty bad (in the hips) and it has been really hard to move. And the heartburn this time! Oi! In the last few days the itching has been unbelievable too, and I have never itched before.

I won't have any computer access while I'm in the hospital and so I won't be able to update everyone probably until Sunday or Monday. Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers!!!!

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting!

That's about all that has been happening here in our happy little household!

Needless to say, this little one is refusing to come up. Big surprise seeing as how the other 3 didn't want to come out either and were all late. There is an end in sight though. If I haven't had it by Friday I will induced Friday morning. With Elijah I was pretty upset about this, but honestly this time around I am just ready to be done. It is unbelievable how hard on my body this pregnancy has been. It hurts to move. Plus, add in the job search and Chris not being able to go out until I have the baby, and the fact that my mother-in-law has been staying with us in our little 2 bedroom apartment for the last 3 weeks until I have the baby, and yeah...definitely ready to have this baby!

We are still waiting on jobs too, of course. It's funny how it seems to go in spurts. Everyone seems to call for tryouts at the same time, and then you go a month or two without hearing a peep from anyone. Granted, there hasn't even been any jobs posted since August doesn't help. We have heard about a couple of jobs through the grapevine and he has applied for all of those, so again it's just the waiting game. He also applied to one in a beautiful, touristy area up in Michigan but let's just say we aren't holding our breath on that one! Chances are slim to none that it is a conservative congregation so we aren't expecting to hear back from them. Still, it would be nice! lol

So that's where we are so far.

Seems like it has been forever since I have posted pictures. I will post more as soon as this little one decided to come into this world!

Sorry for that

Sorry for my little break down the other day. I obviously have a hard time dealing with things when I'm pregnant! By the next day I was much better. Yes, I'm still really worried about finances, but I don't feel quite so defeated now. Obviously that congregation is not where we were supposed to be, and while it still stinks that we have no plans to move, I know God knows much better than I do about where we need to go.

Chris is in talks with one congregation so we will see how that goes. The only tricky part is going to be if they want him to come and try out, and if they do when that might be. Trying to schedule around the baby has been difficult. While I don't want to be induced, that might have to be the option. We will deal with that bridge when it comes.

I went to my doctor appointment on Tuesday and I am now 3 centimeters. Still only about 50% effaced which stinks, but I thought I would still be 2 centimeters like I was the week before. For the last 4 days I have been having tons of contractions and a lot of pressure. I've never had it like this before. HOPEFULLY that means things will get started any day (or tonight...not I'm wishful thinking or anything! lol). My due date is Sept 3rd and so tomorrow I will be 39 weeks.

While my last post might have come across that I wasn't thankful for anything, because at the time I was acting like a spoiled brat, the contrary is true. I am blessed beyond measure and while things might be a little rough right now I know there is a purpose and learning experience.

The big black cloud

It just continues to loom over us. Why can't things just be easy for us, just once? Chris finally wrote the congregation he went to a few weeks ago. Before he left he asked if they knew when they would have a decision and he was told they would let him know in a couple of days. It has now been 2 weeks and he hadn't heard anything. He wrote them this morning and just got an email back saying they were still reviewing applications and they would let him know. Um yeah, can you say that would be a big fat no?

I am so over all of this. I am just so shocked at all the games that are played. I'm tired of some of these places making it sound like we all but have a job, just to be told weeks/months later that we didn't get it. Why the false hope? We just want to go somewhere and get settled. Limbo stinks beyond belief.

I laugh thinking about how optimistic we were back in May. We heard so many times how Chris shouldn't have a problem at all finding a job that we actually believed it. And now, here we are almost in September without even so much of a glimmer of a job. Our financial support is obviously not coming in anymore. We are so very gracious that we have gotten it for as long as we have. Obviously it could have stopped at the end of June but several congregations decided to continue supporting Chris through this month to try to give him time to find work. We are about to be a family of 6 with no money coming in. Chris is trying to find any work at all but obviously in this economy he is even having a hard time finding secular work.

Yes I realize I have done nothing but whine lately, but quite honestly, I'm scared. I'm really scared. And it doesn't look likely that things will be looking up any time soon. You can't help but question what is wrong with us that no one wants us.

Sigh

I am a complete grump today. I am just so worn out and overstressed.

Chris's brother passed away on Wednesday evening and so Thursday we packed up and heading up to his mom's. We knew it was coming as he had cancer in his pancreas, lung, and liver. He was 5'8 and was barely over 100 lbs. He was only 54 and he looked like he was over 70. Chris knew he wouldn't make it through the summer. So on Saturday was the funeral, which Chris officiated. Some people may think it was a little strange for him to officiate his own brother's funeral but he wanted to make sure it was heartfelt and personal. Since he didn't go to church (though Chris was able to get him to repent and come back to the Lord as he was baptized when he was younger) he had already been sick and wasn't able to get out at all and so while we could have found someone else to officiate, they wouldn't have known him at all and it would have been really routine. It was the first funeral he had done and he was really nervous, but it went really well and he did a wonderful job. He definitely gave his brother a great send off. He said it was really strange to only have 2 living brothers now, as one of his other brothers was killed about 10 years ago when he was hit head-on on his motorcycle when a car crossed over into the other lane going around a curve.

I have also not been feeling really well. Just lots of contractions and really really hurting, which makes sleeping not very easy. Add that to all the traveling we have been doing and I am just one worn out girl.

Oh yeah, and still nothing on the job. We were told they would let us know in a couple of days. We are now going on over a week. I'm taking that as not a good sign. They asked him the other day to fill in some blanks on his resume and asked for job information going back to 92. He did the best he could, but that was almost 20 years ago! During a time when he wasn't even a Christian. He was in his early 20's and was pretty much a bum. So who knows. So it is quite stressful around here. No job, no money, and a baby who will be here soon.

Sigh.

Trying to hang on and trust the Lord and not get caught up on when I think things should happen.

Motivation at last

There is nothing like having constant contractions all night while your husband is 1300 miles away and you are home by yourself to kick your butt in gear and get motivated. I absolutely cannot wait until he gets home on Tuesday morning (well Monday around midnight). Just the thought of delivering without him being here makes me cry. I really was getting scared last night though. I usually don't start feeling this way until about 38 weeks or so, if that. So it has come as quite a surprise that I am having these types of contractions, having this type of pressure, and having this type of crampiness so early. I'm trying to really take it easy until Chris gets home, after that it's game on! lol

So, the first thing on my To Do list: Pick out names. How sad is that?

I have a list for the hospital bag, for things I need to buy, and for things I need to do. I imagine I will go out on Tuesday after my doctor appointment to pick up the things on my Need to Buy list. Hopefully, Chris will come home with a job so I won't feel guilty for having to buy some things!

He said it is really beautiful up in Montana. Tomorrow he will be officially trying out and meeting everyone so please keep him in your prayers. I always get so nervous for him! He tends to get going a little fast when he gets nervous so hopefully he will be able to slow himself down.

I am so not ready.

So lets see...tomorrow I am going to be 36 weeks. Which means in 4 weeks, plus or minus, this little one will be coming. Do you know what we have ready? Absolutely nothing. Not one thing.

All of the baby clothes are still sitting in storage. The crib is in pieces in our bedroom. I have nothing washed or sterilized. I haven't bought any going-home outfits. I haven't even THOUGHT about a hospital bag let alone get one started. We don't even have names, whether it be a boy or a girl.

Am I just in denial that things are getting close or what? What in the world is my problem? I just cannot get motivated to do anything. I feel absolutely no urgency.

I honestly think a part of my problem is I absolutely did NOT want to still be here, living in this apartment when the baby came. I didn't even let myself think about the possibility. I hoped and prayed that Chris would find a job before August hit so we could get moved in plenty of time. Well, obviously the beginning of August has come and gone and we are still here, jobless. And now we have passed the deadline. We both said that if he hadn't found anything by the first of August we would be cutting it too close to move anywhere until after the baby is born. And it is. There is no way I would feel comfortable moving anything now before the baby comes. Which is depressing.

I hate being here. Have I mentioned that??? I have no clue where I am going to put anything for the baby, which is probably also part of the problem. There is just no space left.

Chris is flying out tomorrow for a tryout in Montana and will be gone for 4 days. He has to leave here about 5 am and won't be back until just before midnight on Monday night. I hate that he is going to be gone that long. I don't think we have every been apart that long, and it's kind of creepy to be home by yourself at night with just the kids. We are obviously hoping he gets the job, but most of all we are hoping we get an answer one way or the other quickly. It's wishful thinking, but hopefully before he leaves there on Monday afternoon. Although, this is Chris and I you are talking about so we probably won't hear anything until September.

Sorry about the whiny post. I'm thinking I probably shouldn't have written tonight. Stress levels and emotions are at a max. And I now think, just in writing all of this out, that the hormones are starting to kick in because now all I want to do is go cry into my pillow.

My dearest hubby:

When I just happen to mention certain ice cream blizzards that just happen to sound really good, it is advisable NOT to reply with, "you do realize it doesn't get any easier to lose weight the older you get, right".

It's 90+ degrees out and I am almost 9 months pregnant. I have a built-in heater growing inside of me. I'm hot! AND, just because I said it sounded good doesn't mean I was going to go out and get it...it just SOUNDED good!

Baby update

Sorry for the delay! Really though, there wasn't much to say. It was just your normal boring routine. I will have the Strep B test at the next appointment and he will start checking me at that appointment and every appointment afterwards. Things are getting close! So my next appointment is next Tuesday and then they will be every week after that.

I am definitely ready, though I fully expect to go over my due date. Still though, I'm ready! I am just such a grouch and my patience level is nil. It hurts to walk, it hurts to sleep, it hurts to get up. And it is HOT! Being pregnant throughout the summer has definitely been difficult to say the least. I don't go outside unless absolutely necessary, which I think has been a part of my mood problems. Loved being pregnant throughout the winter...throughout the summer, not so much.

As a positive though, Faith absolutely loves feeling the baby move. She had her hand on my stomach at church tonight and had a huge grin on her face when it would move. It was just too precious and completely melts the heart.

Burnin down the house

I am just going to throw it out that one way to NOT impress a congregation is by almost burning down their lake house. Not that I would ever do that. Ahem.

Chris and I and the girls went back to Kentucky for a tryout with another congregation. The couple had a lake house that we stayed at, which WOULD have been really cool had we not had a one year old. A 16 month old + lots of breakables everywhere = one very stressed mama and daddy. One of us had to be right there with for the entire time. We seriously could not turn our back. We somehow left without having anything broken.

As mentioned in the title, I did, however, almost burn down their house. I was ironing my shirt Sunday morning. I had about half of it done when I noticed it wasn't really getting any wrinkles out anymore. I noticed that the light wasn't on, and then I touch the bottom and noticed that wasn't all that hot either. I grabbed the plug to pull it out and it started to pop, like it was shorting out. I pulled my hand away and 2 seconds later there are flames coming out of the cord. Talk about freaking out! I just stood there for a second horrified and then just yanked the cord out of the outlet. It fried half the cord and the outlet was completely black. Ah yes, nothing like having to tell your host that you fried their iron and almost burned down their house. Nope, I didn't feel like an idiot at all!

It was a really strange tryout though. The men didn't meet with him to talk about goals, expectations, what have you...absolutely nothing. In fact, the only ones we saw outside of actual service were the couple who owned the house we stayed in. When we were on our way home we were just kind of like...ooooookkkkkay. It felt like he was just doing fill-in preaching. So not really sure what to think about that.

While we were in Kentucky Chris got a call from 2 other congregations. One of which was from the congregation I talked about below. They had emailed earlier in the week and had explained that they had spent a lot of money earlier in the year to try preachers out, had one hired, he was supposed to start in June but had to turn it down at the last minute. They were therefore seriously considering just doing a telephone interview and then hiring from there. Well, they called Saturday and said the men had talked and they wanted to FLY Chris out there. Gulp. I'm really hoping that if they are paying for him to fly out there (because it wasn't cheap) that that is a really really good sign. So in 11 days he will be heading out. Obviously I can't fly and won't be going. Nope, not jealous at all! We are pretty sure he is the only one they are flying out though.

He also got a call from a congregation in South Carolina. Unfortunately though it doesn't seem like he will be able to go there. The only time in August they could have him there is at the end of August. Chris explained that he would love to come and try out but that is just too close to my due date. And they were wanting me to come too. And they wanted him to drive, even if he did end up having to come by himself. So yeah, a 13 hour drive, by himself 1-2 weeks from my due date. Not so good.

It is obviously getting really really hard to be able to schedule tryouts seeing how we are just about 5 weeks to my due date. Chris doesn't want to travel too far after this trip to Montana. Will I go earlier? hehe, um, history tells us no. Still, he doesn't want to risk it.

Hopefully we will hear something soon from someone. We are really really hoping he gets the job in Montana! We still aren't quite sure what we are going to do in August financially wise. So keep the prayers coming.

And can I just say, I absolutely can't believe I am almost 35 weeks pregnant! I have an OB appointment tomorrow and so I will update more on that tomorrow. I know, I know, I have you on the edge or your seat. How will you sleep tonight! lol

Ring...

Ring...

Ring...

Ring...

Man, I am obviously NOT a jedi.

Trying to will Chris's phone to ring isn't working.

We are waiting on news for a tryout. On Saturday they said they were interested but they had to meet Sunday on when we would come up. We are still waiting word.

I refuse to think of it as an option until a date is scheduled.

In other good news, Chris has another tryout in Kentucky. On Saturday he had 2 calls from churches before he even got up. The one in which I'm trying to will our phone to ring, and the one in Kentucky.

Please keep up the prayers guys!

Sex Ed

I ran across this article and it made me chuckle thinking about that guy who told Chris we need to teach our children about this by the time they are 8 (aka 2nd grade). Tell me, is this what you want your young child learning about? When I had sex ed for the first time in 5th grade it was about different body parts...not about actual sexual intercourse. Since when did this become the responsibility of the school system?


Anger Over Sex Ed Proposal to Teach First Graders About 'Gay Love'

A proposed sex education program in a Montana school district that teaches fifth-graders the different ways people have intercourse and first-graders about gay love has infuriated parents and forced the school board to take a closer look at the issue.

Helena school trustees were swamped Tuesday night at a hearing that left many of the hundreds of parents in attendance standing outside a packed board room. They urged the school board in this city nestled in the Rocky Mountains to take the sex education program back to the drawing board.

The proposed 62-page document covers a broad health and nutrition education program and took two years to draft. But it is the small portion dealing with sexual education that has drawn the ire of many in the community who feel it is being pushed forward despite its obvious controversial nature.

Parents appeared most worried about pieces of the plan that teaches first-graders about same-gender relationships, fifth-graders that sexual intercourse includes "vaginal, oral, or anal penetration," and high school students about erotic art. The curriculum would also teach kindergartners anatomical terms such as penis, vagina, breast, nipples, testicles, scrotum and uterus.

"They made this more controversial by adding in all this stuff like same-gender relationships to small children, teaching body parts to kindergartners, and teaching erotic art to ninth through 12th-graders," said Mikal Wilkerson, who has five children in the school system and a husband who sits on the school board. "They even teach about anxiety about sexual performance in high school."

Supporters say the proposed health education curriculum contains honest, science-based information on wellness and allows students to make better decisions.

The board takes the issue up again next month, and the outrage suggests that members could alter the plan to deal with all the complaints. One resident said parents may have to consider impeachment of board members or a lawsuit if it goes forward.

Marianne Rencher, a lawyer who will have a second-grader and a kindergartner in the school system next year, wants certain aspects of the sex education program taken out, particularly the fifth-grade curriculum about intercourse. She said the rest of the health program could go forward while the sex education is recrafted.

Trustee Terry Beaver said he thinks much in the policy is favorable, but believes the public backlash means they should carve out the sexuality elements and deal with them separately.

"It appears to be a strong divisive issue. I think when the community is that strongly divided we need to take a further look at it," Beaver said.

Beaver said his issue with the plan revolves on whether certain components are being taught too young.

"I don't know that anything needs to be taken out," he said. "Some of it might be age inappropriate. We are going to have to consider how we teach it and when we teach it."

Done

Well that book is closed.

They called today and told Chris they hired the other guy. The elder said he did what he said he wouldn't do and hired someone without a family. Even though I think it was for the best, it still stings a bit. I guess no one likes rejection though.

One of my biggest problems was as we left Sunday evening they made it sound like the job is ours but that they had already invited the other guy to try out. The strange thing is is the deacon who had the biggest problem with us homeschooling never said a single word to me. It felt like he didn't want us there from the get-go. I think it is telling of the church when some of the women told Chris that Sunday that it was so nice to have our children there because it brought life back to the church.

Financially I honestly have no idea what we are going to do. Obviously Chris is also having a hard time finding a secular job. There are just not many jobs to be had. We have 1 more support check coming and then that is it. I have asked for more work, and have gotten a bit more, but no where near the money we need to get by on. So yeah, scary times ahead. We could use some prayers!

Suspicion has been confirmed

Well, at least we are not just paranoid.

Chris talked to the elder that he tried out for a couple of weeks ago today. There are a couple of men that are hung up on...yup...us homeschooling. Which still honestly has me fuming.

I can understand if they wanted someone with more experience, someone who teaches/preaches better, or whatever the case may be. But homeschooling, seriously? Apparently they think we won't be involved in the community at all. Seriously, that's what he said. But you know what is even funnier...the other 2 people who have tried out, both are older, one has (from what I understand) children who are grown and out of the house and who won't be coming anyway, and the other has no children and is widowed. Yeah, makes no sense to me either.

It's not the elders fault, he really seems to want to hire Chris. They are still undecided though and we haven't been given a yes or a no. We are pretty sure who is having a problem with it. The same one who gave Chris trouble about us being qualified to teach them. Chris told me today this same gentleman also got on Chris in the meeting telling him our children need to learn sex ed by the age of 8. Not really sure what business it is of his on when we teach it or how that was even appropriate during an interview. And for the record, Faith would only be in 2nd grade when she is 8 if she were in public school. Sorry, but my child is not going to learn sex ed that early and there is no reason why she needs to know about any of that yet. I didn't start sex ed classes until 5th grade, and even then I was pretty clueless about what all was involved. I went to public school yet was completely and truly innocent when it came to that subject. I was fine with it, I grew up just fine, and I wasn't sheltered. So 8 years old, nope, not gonna happen. And if they were in public school I would opt my children out of the class anyway.

I went ahead and typed up a long letter to the elder explaining what all we have been involved in with the children and what we plan to be involved in, with sports and clubs and whatnot and asked that he shared the letter with the congregation. In it I explained the activities in our community that we have already been involved with as well as activities we hope to get the children involved in as they get older, and said it did depend on their interests as they grow. I asked that they not judge us based on preconceived notions nor on what they have known others to do, but to judge based on our own merits. Not sure it would help, but it made me feel better. Although, I know I said a lot of what was in that letter while I was there. But at least they have it in writing.

And just to add...I know most people don't know what all is involved with homeschooling. I have no problems with people asking about it (ok...depending on their tone! lol). I have already done over 2 years of research and know the most common preconceived notions. I have prepared myself for all of the ignorant comments that can be made and have prepared myself for what some may automatically think of us for homeschooling. I never once was prepared though that our decision to teach our children ourselves would ever prohibit my husband from getting a job.

But you know what, I'm ok with that. If he doesn't get the job because of that reason, it is definitely not a place we will want to be and a better job will come up!

I love Swagbucks

You may, or may not, have noticed my sidebar with some Swagbucks information added to it. I was introduced to Swagbucks just a few weeks ago and I am so happy to have finally jumped on the bandwagon. Just by using their search engine, you have chances to win what are called Swagbucks. Usually I just win 2 or 3 times a day whenever I need to do a search. From what I understand, no matter how often you try to search, you will generally only win a few times a day. Usually anywhere from 7-12 bucks a time. But hey, it all adds up. I also qualify for surveys from time to time and I have won several hundred Swagbucks by doing these, which take about 20 minutes.

So in just 2 weeks of doing this, not spending much time at all, I have already accumulated and redeemed enough Swagbucks for 2 $5.00 giftcards for Amazon.com. For doing practically nothing. And hey, I am definitely one who likes free money! It's actually legit. You can redeem your swagbucks for a lot of other things, but I like to buy books on Amazon and so that is what I redeemed mine on. And I am already more than halfway to getting another one. This was honestly the only reason I even joined, was for the Amazon gift cards that my friends kept saying they were winning. And now, after a couple of weeks, I thought I would share it with you all too.

Want to join in the fun too and earn yourself some nice prizes. Just click here: SWAGBUCKS sign up, and start doing the normal searching you would use yahoo or any other search engine for.

Sorry to sound like an advertisement, but it really is nice to win giftcards for doing nothing so that I don't have to spend my own money on Amazon!

"The" phone call

You know what I'm talking about when I say "The" phone call. You know...the one in which the person on the other line tells you you would be perfect for the job and can't wait for you to move there. Yup, that one. For the record, we are still waiting for that call.

We went to Kentucky for a tryout last weekend. Although it was quite difficult having 3 kids in 1 little hotel room, we had a wonderful time there. Everyone was just so nice and we really felt like we fit in there. Faith and Samantha totally hammed it up and walked around and talked to all the women, which is completely UN-Faith-Like. Faith even sat with one of the widows during the dinner they had for us, which was no where near where we were sitting. (And I would just like to add how amazing this woman was...she was 92, she was married for 63 years, she was still driving herself and was one spunky lady...and she seriously looked amazing for her age and would have never thought she was in her 90's).

After the dinner all the men gathered together to hammer Chris (ok ok, they were pretty easy on him). He said there was one question though that threw him off and made him a little mad. One of the men (who was older) asked if he really thought he was qualified to teach our children. It threw him off because it had absolutely nothing to do with the job and just with the way he said it. I tried to explain to Chris afterwards though that he will run into that quite a bit. Maybe I'm just already used to the snide comments about us homeschooling from people who really don't understand what it's about. Chris hasn't dealt with any of that yet. I tried to explain to him that we will run into that a lot, especially in smaller towns that just aren't used to anything other than public schooling. I told him to look at the town we came from and what his thoughts were on homeschooling before we had children.

Still though, everything we really well. From the comments everyone made to both he and I at separate times, it really sounded like they felt the same way we did. That they really wanted Chris to be the preacher there. The only thing was that they had already asked another guy to come this past Sunday to try out as well. He was an older gentleman, his wife was deceased, and he had no family. They made it sound like they were just having him try out since they had already asked him, but Chris was still "the one to beat" so to speak.

But it is now Monday afternoon and we still are waiting for "The" phone call. We both really thought we would have heard back from them this morning. With each passing hour we turn a little more pessimistic. We are trying to remain hopeful, but it's hard. Waiting is hard. Waiting is even harder when you are all but told you have the job, you just have to wait for the official word. Because you don't dare get your hopes up after being battered down by "the process".

So, I guess all I can say is you will hear when I hear.

List of things

I have been meaning to write, things have just been in overdrive lately. I thought things would slow down after last week, but I find myself trying to get caught up on things that have been put off for a long time.

First and foremost...Chris is DONE with school! He is no longer just a preaching student but is now an official preacher. An unemployed one, but one nonetheless. I don't think I have ever been more proud of him. It has definitely been a tough 2 years but he stuck with it.

Some more good news is he will be trying out for a congregation on Sunday. It's not north like we wanted, but if everything is right then that is better than going north into a church that isn't sound. We leave on Friday and I admit I'm a little nervous. It's our first tryout and I'm not sure what to expect.

I had my GTT this morning and got a call from my nurse this afternoon. Thankfully I PASSED!!! I am so glad I don't have to do the 3 hour GTT and even more happier that I don't have GD. Though it wasn't a big concern as I have never had it. I am, however, anemic, and have to go back on iron pills twice a day. I'm so bad at remembering to take pills.

Some really bad news is Chris's brother's health has not been good and he has been battling lung cancer. They thought everything was getting better. He got a call from his mom last night and she said that he now has more spots on his lungs, and has spots on his stomach and his pancreas as well. I had a feeling after she was down last weekend that things weren't good. She was telling me that he hasn't been wanting to eat and is down to 108 pounds. I didn't tell her what I was thinking, but I was hoping I was wrong. Things are not looking good at all. I am so worried about his mom. This will be the 2nd son she will have to bury, if he isn't able to fight it. It will also be the 2nd family member who she will have to watch succumb to cancer. The first being her husband, who died of bone cancer the day after Chris and I were married (like just past midnight that next day). What makes it even harder is that he is still not right with God. Chris is going to try to talk with him again to get him to come back, but every attempt he has made so far has been shot down. He could definitely use some prayers.

4

That would be the number we are now up to of churches that have wanted Chris to come out to try out. That would also be the number of churches Chris has had to say no thank you too because they were not sound. Not only were they not sound, they were not sound on the exact same issue. Number 4 was tonight, which was the church we happened across that I mentioned a few posts below.

Moving up north doesn't look like it will be happening.

What's even more frustrating is it has all been on the same issue. It wouldn't be quite so frustrating if we could just talk to/try out for a sound church at some point. Right now it's not feeling like there are any out there, well that are hiring at least.

2 would be the number of churches that have recently emailed him back to let him know that they received his information but that they had a huge response to the job ad and so it will take a little while to go through. Which I'm sure when you have had that many people apply that someone fresh out of school with no full time experience will be real high on the list.

It's not looking like we will be going anywhere anytime soon.

Now the question is...how do you fit 6 people in a 2 bedroom, apartment? And yes that thought makes me want to cry. I can't even tell you how bad I want out of here.

Another one bites the dust

We were close. So very close. To getting a try-out that is. A church called and told Chris they wanted him to come try out. I thought it was kind of strange that they wanted to take the time and money to fly him out without talking with him more. Luckily Chris started asking some questions. Let's just say I'm finding our hopes of going north to be just that, hopes. I can't believe we are having such a hard time finding a conservative congregation.

I told Chris there is some good news to this though. At least someone wanted him to come tryout! At least he finally got some kind of answer. Hopefully now that he is closer to graduating we will hear more back from people. And yes, he did decline to go out there to tryout.

I did find out something about myself today though. I have realized that I am indeed afraid to fly. Well, sort of. You see, the church obviously wouldn't have been able to fly us all out and were just going to fly out Chris and I (and I would have taken Elijah since he flies free). Just thinking about that though seriously made me start freaking out a bit. Chris and I, together, on a flight. IF something were to happen with us on the plane and our children not...ugh, I think I will start crying again. I know I have talked about it before but since we have no one in our family who we would trust to raise our children in the Lord, it is a huge HUGE fear of mine that Chris and I would both die. HUGE. But I guess that is another post in itself.

Oh, and this was a different church than I had mentioned in my last post. Don't want any confusion there.

To sign or not to sign, that is the question

It's that time...time to deal with our lease. Something we were dreading if he didn't have a job by now. Our lease is up at the end of July and they want our lease renewal, like now. Apparently you have to give a 60-day notice if you are moving. I never noticed that before. So by June 1st we have to give notice if we will be moving. I told Chris though that if we have to tell them by June 1st if we are moving, then we don't have to have our lease in until then as well. We are going to hold off and see what the next few weeks bring.

Here's our options. We can sign another year lease, and then if we end up having to move before the end of that year (which I certainly hope we do!) then we have to pay 2 months rent for breaking it. We also have the option of renting month-to-month and only having to give a 30-day notice. The downside to that is our rent would go up $75 a month. If Chris doesn't have a preaching job and has to find a secular job, 75 bucks is huge, because we will be broke. So we aren't sure what to do.

Chris at least got a phone call today, which was encouraging. They let him know that they got his stuff and were impressed by it and that they would be meeting tomorrow to discuss it. They said they would give him a call back. They also apologized for the lack of communication. He just sent his stuff off to them at the beginning of the week! If they call THAT a lack of communication then that has to be a good sign! Our experience has been most people don't send anything back or call, at least until a month later. We don't know much about the position though so it is still way up in the air. We don't know if they are sound, what they pay is, what their expectation are, nothing. Guess first we will see if they are interested in going any farther.

It's kind of interesting how we came about the position. Chris saw an ad somewhere for a congregation up north looking for a preacher. He applied for it but didn't know how old the ad was. Turns out the ad was really old...like 2 years old...and the position was obviously filled. The guy who contacted him back said Chris sounded like a sound preacher though and would let us know if something happened to their preacher (their preacher has ads out that he is looking to move back down south). A few days later though he sent Chris an email and told him that his aunt and uncle were just at his house visiting and said they had just let their preacher go and were looking. The guy then sent Chris's stuff on to them, which is how the ball got rolling. I know we would be happy in the area it is in as it is a beautiful area, and up north like we wanted, it just depends on a lot of things. They had apparently JUST let their preacher go and were just starting to the process going, and don't even have it advertised yet. Still though, if they have already called him and they are meeting about it tomorrow, hopefully we will hear something within the week one way or another. Fingers crossed!!!

Homeschooling

Our homeschooling is going great so far. Faith's reading is really picking up and she is learning more and more. Just seeing the look on her face when she reads a whole sentence is just priceless. With Samantha she is still working on letter sounds. She is really doing good too. She is actually younger than Faith was when I started with her, but she really wants to be included with the reading. I just don't push it with her and we just do a little bit a day.

We have really been picking up our nature studies since spring has hit and we have been learning about different insects.

And we are of course still doing our daily devotionals. I am amazed at how easily Faith remembers her memory verses. She still remembers verses we did last month.

I couldn't be happier at our decision to homeschool. It is so much fun to be able to teach the girls and watch their faces as they learn different things, and then seeing how well they recall the information later on in the day or even a few days later. It has been such a great experience, and we haven't even "officially" started yet!

Since Faith doesn't turn 5 until October we don't have to officially start until next September. She is more than ready now though and so come August I am going to start her on a kindergarten curriculum. She is going to be starting on the Heart of Dakota program and I am going to supplement what we do and learn with books from the library and with our little field trips. I want to keep it fun and light and don't want to do a "traditional" classroom learning style. I have been really impressed with the Charlotte Mason style and will continue to do my research there. While we are using a curriculum to keep me more on track, help with different ideas, and give me some kind of structure, I want them to really learn a lot from reading books and from being outside.

It's funny but even now I can tell a huge difference in the girls' attitudes when we start letting up on the learning (like when I was in the 1T). They just absolutely love learning!

21 weeks

It's hard to believe today I am 21 weeks. There are times I get so busy with the kiddos that I forget I'm even pregnant. Today I had my "big" ultrasound and everything looks wonderful so far. The baby is right on target and luckily it was a 3-vessel cord instead of a 2-vessel cord like last time. That means I won't have any extra appointments! I think I would have a nervous breakdown if I had to go back to 2 appointments a week for the next 19 weeks. I feel I can actually take it easy this time and I really think that will help with the stress level. I was a mess during Elijah's pregnancy because I was having to go in twice a week for monitoring and the girls weren't allowed in the specialist office. It was really difficult trying to set things up so someone was here when I had to go in. So yeah, HUGE relief!

So you are probably wondering what this little one will be...



...It's a baby! lol Sorry guys, didn't find out the sex! We will find out in about 19 weeks. =)

I'm never going back to church again

That's how it feels anyway.

All fevers were broke. Some still have a bit of a cough, but the girl's had really calmed down, for Elijah is mainly just his nose running so I was going to keep him with my in class. I am still coughing with the Bronchitis, but with some medicines it has calmed down a lot.

It was about 9:00 pm and I was going to get some clothes ready for the kids to wear to church tomorrow. I went in Faith and Samantha's room, was just giving some extra kisses while they were sleeping and was pulling their blankets back on. Kissed Faith on the forehead and what do I feel next? Why, she was burning up of course.

Seems it has come full circle and we are starting back at the beginning.

Church is off, again. I haven't been in 3 weeks. I was really looking forward to traveling with Chris tomorrow to a place he was preaching at. He preached there last week but we haven't been yet. I enjoy going to new places. Looks like instead I will be staying home. Again.

It's also going to be a beautiful week. In the 70's, either sunny or only partly cloudy. We haven't been anywhere in 2 weeks because someone has been sick. We WERE going to get out this week, even if it wasn't anything too big. Just going to the nature center to spend some time outdoors, anything. Nope. Looks like we will be home all week, again.

I want to go and have some fun with my babies. I want us all to enjoy our time outside like we usually do. I want my babies healthy again. What in the world is going on in our house?

The sickies

We are just full of the sickies here. Last weekend Faith came down with a cold. She wasn't too bad but was coughing for a few days. Then last Wednesday Samantha had a fever but nothing else. At nighttime she would cough, but during the day she was just sick with a fever. She still had a fever on Friday and so off to the doctor we went. Everything looked good with her, but since it is so hard to get a little child to breath in and out while the doctor checks their lungs, the doctor couldn't tell if she heard any rattling or not. So, off to x-ray we went. Samantha was really scared since I couldn't stay in there with her since I'm pregnant, but she could still see me behind the wall. She really listened to the guy and did exactly what he asked her to do. Then we walked back to the doctors office (can I just say I LOVE having this all in the same building!). The doc came in and said she had pneumonia but she didn't know if it was the contagious type. Luckily she seems to be doing much better. She was put on meds, her fever broke, which is when she would have been contagious, but she will have a cough for the next couple of weeks while it all breaks up.

Then, on Saturday Elijah got sick. He hasn't had a constant fever like Samantha did and so it seems as though it is just a nasty cold. His nose is like a faucet and he is really stopped up, just in the last few days he started with a bad cough. Since he isn't able to breath well he isn't sleeping well, AT ALL. With being coughed on, sneezed on, wiping everyone's noses 50 times a day, and then not getting any sleep taking care of Elijah I was just waiting for it to hit me. Since I'm pregnant I couldn't take any precautionary meds like I normally would (can I just say I absolutely LOVE Cold-Ez. Man does that stuff work good to shorten a cold, and it's just like a cough drop). Yesterday it finally hit me. I woke up and it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. As the day went on, I started coughing more, and then my whole body started to ache. I have had a fever but luckily it has been a really low-grade one. Still, it's hard to take are of kiddos, 1 still being really sick, when you are feeling like poo yourself. All I wanted to do was get some rest last night, but alas Elijah wasn't sleeping well and I was up most of the night with him.

Since Chris knows I would never ask him to stay home from school, he made sure to tell me to let me know if I needed him home, that it would be all right, and to not push myself. I'm doing so-so right now so I told him to go ahead and go but I'm guessing as the day goes on the worse I will get again as I start getting wore out. I told him I would probably give him a call sometime today then and have him come home, as much as I hate to do that.

So, needless to say it's been a fun week. Usually the kids will pick up a cold here and there but they are generally very healthy kids. In fact, when I brought Sam to the ped we have have been using since Elijah was born, they hadn't ever seen her. And that's been over a year. I think the last time she was at the doctor was for a well check visit when she was 18 months, since she turned 2 right after Elijah was born. Faith hasn't been in to see her either and I don't remember the last time I've had to bring her in to a doctor for being sick. I am definitely very fortunate! Once everyone gets better I'm going to be bring Faith and Samantha in for well-checks though. I didn't want to bring Faith in right when she turned 4 because all of the flu stuff going around over the winter. I knew she wouldn't need shots and so I thought we would put it off until this spring.

The story

Guess I should explain.

We pretty much had the job. There was just one little problem. Ok, not so little. Their stance on marriage/divorce/remarriage was different than ours, which is a pretty big deal. Not so much that you can divorce and remarry under any reason under the sun, but they thought that if you were divorced for any reason other than your spouse cheating and you were remarried, and then you became a Christian, then that relationship is suddenly ok and you are free to stay in that current marriage. Chris equates it to stealing a sports car before you are a Christian, then at a later time you become a Christian, is it still right to keep that car that you stole before you became a Christian, or is it ok for you to keep it since you are now free from that sin?

Unfortunately this is a big deal for us because we have been through a congregation that differed on opinions on this topic. Only it was a prominent member trying to teach that you can divorce and remarry for any reason. Still, we saw the damage it does and the struggles when the preacher is on different terms with other members regarding this. Every other thing they agreed on, just not this one.

The good news, if there is any to be had, is that the elder did say that he is willing to sit and do a Bible study and study this topic more. He explained that that was the decision they had come to just doing their own private study between the 3 elders and that he knows they aren't perfect. Chris is going to talk to one of his teachers to see if he would mind doing the study over the phone with them. I don't know if it will do any good, but we feel we at least need to try. Not for a job, but for the congregation.

So, for my own sanity I have shut the door. I can't keep that hope in there that they may, at some point in the next few months, change their minds on this topic. Tuesday was hard. I cried, a lot, all day long. I had mentally and emotionally seen us raising our family there. That is a hard thing to get over. Especially since they didn't say no. His response was that he thinks WE would have a problem coming there, since Chris talked about the previous congregation during his interview.

It's also hard because there haven't been many jobs being posted. And we are at just about the 2 month mark. Seeing how long it took us to get this far with that congregation, I have zero hope that we will be able to find something in the next 2 months. In 2 months we will have no income coming in. In 5 months we will be welcoming our 4th child. If we still haven't found a preaching job by the time this little one comes into the world, we will be a family of 6 in a small, 2 bedroom apartment. Chris said we would have to find a house to rent. I told him financially that would be impossible. Rent would be higher and we would be responsible for the water/trash/sewer bill as well as the internet bill (I do very part-time work from home). Cable would obviously be a no-go. All of this is included in our apartment rent. And we would be doing this on less income than we are bringing in now.

It just stinks because this was where we really wanted to go. And we had the job. And it's just really hard to just get over. I am thankful though that we found out about this before we moved there. That is a huge blessing. What I need to keep in mind and keep reminding myself is that God is in control and He WILL take care of us. My feelings keep going back and forth between peace at knowing He is taking care of us and panic when I start letting my own worries get the best of me. It's a struggle for me, to be honest.

It's just scary not having a single prospect.

Comments

Apparently my comments section hasn't worked for quite some time. Not sure why. It should be working now though.

When something seems too good to be true....

...it usually is.

=(

Nervous energy...

Does wonders for a house. We have been expecting a call, or hoping to get one soon I should say. I could have killed Chris though when I got home from my preachers wife classes last night to see his ringer turned off, in the basket, and that he had missed a call. Sure enough it was the call we have been waiting for. The guy said he would call back later as he was having to turn off his phone. So yeah, lots of nervous energy while we just waited around for the return call. My house is now really clean though! Although Chris had a really hard time concentrating on studying for his final today. Needless to say, that return call never came last night. Frustrating and disappointing...um, yeah.

Now today I find myself kind of twiddling my thumbs, which is why I am finally getting to blog! My house is clean. I am caught up from all of my work. The notes for Chris that I have to type up were done Wednesday. I do wish I could take a nap though. Little mister thing had ideas other than sleeping last night. Well, other than sleeping in his own bed. He slept great when I brought him to mine. Me, on the other hand, did not. I sleep terrible when there is a wee one in bed with us. I tried to put him back to bed every hour or so but nonetheless he would always wake up before his little body touched his bed. I looked this morning to see if he was teething, as this is how he acts when he teethes, but I didn't see anything that looked suspicious.

Well, talking about suspicious, I smell something a little suspicious. Guess I now having something to do! Nothing like changing diapers to start off the day's fun! =)

Debbie Downer

That's what I feel like today.

Chris was asked some more questions from one of the elders who interviewed him. I don't know why, but all of a sudden I had a feeling that he wasn't going to get that job. Which is fine, really, if their are scriptural problems. I would much rather find out now than after we get there.

Still, just doesn't feel like it will work out and there is really no reason for it.

Maybe it's the fact that I've been dealing with this crummy pregnancy insomnia. I mean, I've been awake since 3:45 am today.

Maybe its the weather because it got so cold again and because it's raining.

Hopefully it's all my imagination.

First interview

Well, Chris had his first phone interview on Monday! It was with the place we really want to go to so he was really nervous. The elder said the call wouldn't last long but he was on with them for an hour, and it would have been longer but their battery was going dead. It was so nice to finally get started instead of just wondering when they will start the hiring process. Now, we just wait. The hardest part is over. At least the hardest part of the wait for me. They said they would let us know soon if they want us to come up to try-out but I have learned that "soon" could be a month or more. Hopefully we will hear in a few weeks.

Chris is the only one they interviewed and so we are hoping it will speed things up a bit. There have been other applicants but we were told they just weren't what they were looking for. We want to think that they really want to hire Chris but just need to go through the process, but then we don't want to get our hopes up either. It would really be an amazing opportunity though. It's in a community and area that we love, the people are so nice and friendly (not just in the church but in the area), they are offering a home, utilities, health insurance, and still a nice salary, they are a sound congregation and have elders. I'm HOPING they will talk about it tonight on when/if they want Chris to come up but I think that is wishful thinking. I know their elders meetings are on Monday evenings so maybe we will hear by next Tuesday. Or maybe next month. lol

Like I said, just wait and see!

Time doesn't slow down

Sorry I've been MIA. I didn't realize it had been this long. There has just been so much going on in the last few weeks, and couple that with a complete lack of motivation to blog, and before you know it time gets away from me.

On March 6th my sweet little Elijah turned 1 year old. It is so incredibly hard to believe that a year has gone by. I wish we could have spent it with just me, Chris, the girls, and Elijah but my family all made plans to come here. It was not without it's stresses let me tell you and my mom never ceases to surprise me. But alas, the party went on, I fed a heard of people many meals, and on Sunday everyone finally went home. Elijah had a lot of fun though and the girls just loved playing with their cousins. One thing I don't understand though is when people ask you what to get them for birthdays, you tell them what you need and what you don't need (toys) and they go out and buy toys anyway. I understand sometimes pj's or summer clothes aren't the most exciting things to buy but it's what he really needed. Instead, every single person bought toys. If you want to buy something more fun or if you just want to buy toys, then don't ask me what to get! Sorry, it was just frustrating.

Elijah's 8th tooth popped through the day before his birthday which definitely put him way up ahead in the tooth category from his sisters at that age. He has been walking for over a month now and rarely crawls. And just watching him learn and grow is so amazing. He figures things out so quickly just by watching you once. He saw me unlock the safe yesterday to get something. Later that evening I let him have the keys to play with and he went right into our room, pulled out the safe, and tried putting the key in. It's funny how the smallest things amaze me with these kiddos. He already takes direction really well too. I can hand hims something and tell him to take it to daddy, who is in the other room, and he will actually do it. He doesn't say a lot yet. He says dada, hi dad, and book. That's right folks, he will NOT say mama! It drives me batty. I say mama to him, he says dada back to me. He is such a daddy's little boy. None of the girls were that attached to him at this age, though they are now. Up until they were a year and a half they would always go to me over him. Elijah will actually leave me to go to daddy. It is really sweet to see.

At his 1 year check up he was 20 lbs, 14 oz which put him in the 25th percentile and was 30 1/2 inches, putting him in the 75th. I was really shocked he wasn't heavier. He looks like such a chunk. And then add to it that he is tall, he should look even thinner. Guess him being tall explains why he has already outgrown some of his 12 month clothes. I think most of it right now is in his torso because it's his shirts and onesies that don't all fit.

Hard to believe but Samantha will be 3 on March 26th. Every time I'm out with both girls now I have at least 1 person ask me if they are twins. They are getting really close in size. Faith has had a growing stoppage and Samantha hit a growth spurt. Though Faith has been complaining about her legs hurting so I think she is going to sprout back up again.

And the newest little one? I will be 16 weeks on Wednesday. I have never hit that infamous 2T energy burst, but I guess what can you expect with 3 other little ones! The morning sickness luckily went away though just past 13 weeks, and just in time for Elijah's birthday. And the best part? Last night, in the wee hours of the morning, I finally felt the baby kick. It is such a glorious feeling and one of the best part of being pregnant. I can be sick, achy, tired, and just plain miserable, but to feel your baby moving and kicking inside of you is just such a surreal feeling. My next appointment will be at 17 weeks but I won't have an ultrasound until the appointment after that, when I will be 21 weeks. I don't think I want to find out the sex though. I'm going to try to see if there is a place I can go besides the maternal specialist for it because they don't allow children back in the ultrasound room. I really really want the girls especially to be apart of it. And, if they can't come, Chris will have to stay home with them.

So, that's the update on the kiddos!






(And yes, that would be a pink hat on Elijah. He loves this thing and I figured it would be great for blackmail when he gets older. Chris said that's it, we are finding him a cowboy hat!)

Goodbye 1st Trimester!

Today I am officially out of the first trimester. I also go to see my OB today. Am I nervous? Uh YEAH! I always hate my appointments during the 1T. I have no reason to be nervous, but you just never know. Maybe something did happen to the baby and my body just isn't registering it yet. I've known plenty of women who went into an appointment thinking everything was fine and dandy and then boom, they can't find the heartbeat. You would think after having 3 beautiful, healthy children that the fears would go away. Not so much. My appointment isn't until 1:00 too so lots of time to think about it. At least I'm bringing the girls to a gym to play with some of their friends though. That will hopefully take my mind off of it.

My morning sickness has started going away which I am so thankful for. I still don't feel great for about 30 min in the morning and I'm still feeling bad later at night when I start getting really tired (about 9pm) but that is a walk in the park compared to how I've felt the last 8 weeks. I have so much cleaning to do in this apartment now though. It's been pretty neglected the last 8 weeks and I've been doing just enough to get by. Yesterday I got the kitchen scrubbed pretty good, except the fridge and the floors. Today I won't be able to get much done.

Granted I have pretty good motivation. I have family coming over next weekend for Elijah's first birthday. I'm trying to do a little bit each day. Our bathrooms need a major cleaning, floors need to be washed, fridge needs to be cleaned, things need to be dusted, food needs to be made. Ugh! Not sure if I'm feeling THAT much better yet.

Still waiting

It has been almost 4 months since the church we really want to go to contacted us to let us know their preaching position would be open. We are still no closer to finding out anything. He wrote us at the beginning of February and let Chris know that he would be contacting us soon as they wanted to set up a phone interview for this month or the beginning of next. After 3 weeks Chris finally emailed to let them know this week would work great as he is out of classes. He just wrote back to let him know that they aren't quite ready yet. I'm really really working on my patience as I know it is a weakness of mine but I just don't get it. How are they not even ready for a phone interview yet, after 4 months? The elder has said it will be just a quick call to just talk about basic doctrinal questions. I could understand more if they weren't ready for him to come up there yet to tryout. But not even ready for a phone interview? It's just so incredibly frustrating. It is so hard to be patient when I have thought about this place literally every day since they day he told us they would be hiring. It's just driving me nuts!

We are getting down to about 3 months until Chris graduates too. Time is ticking by and it is so scary to think about him not having a job by the time he graduates. I mean, come September we will be a family of 6. I don't even think it's legal to have 6 people living in a 2 bedroom apartment and if he doesn't have a job we can't afford to rent a house.

So yeah, just lots of emotions and restless nights. I am just ready to be done with it all ready. I'm just ready to know something instead of being in this limbo land. I know it will all fall into place. I do. Just sometimes the worries come through. And like I said above, right now it is just more about the frustration.

We know we have a huge advantage. We also know that as of right now Chris is the only applicant. And they haven't put the ad up anywhere besides their church page, and it isn't even on the first page, you have to click through some things. Just makes me want to scream JUST HIRE HIM ALL READY!!! lol

Patience, patience, patience, and trusting God. That's what it all boils down to.

Down to 1 car.

A few weeks ago, while we were getting some snow, Chris had to run to Wal-mart to pick up a few things. He just drives a little GEO Metro. As he was on his way home there was a firetruck going through the intersection, very slowly, and he didn't see it until it was too late. He was going less than 25 MPH because the roads were terrible but when he hit his brakes they locked up and he went skidding and ended up clipping the back end of the firetruck. Shouldn't have been a big deal at all but it tore the front-side of his car up. It definitely made me think about how much worse it could have been if he was going faster. The car is like a little tin box and if that little of an accident ripped the front end apart what would have happened in a slightly worse situation. Makes me shudder.



(if you look close, that is his front panel that is wrapped around the tire)

Oh, and he got a ticket for failure to control his vehicle. That's the part that really gets me. If the city would actually do their job and keep the major roads cleaned off it wouldn't have been an issue. He stopped in plenty of time, he just doesn't have anti-lock breaks and with the road conditions the way the were, it was really slick. Isn't there such a thing as a no-fault accident anymore or have our cities just become so greedy that they will write out a ticket for everything? I told Chris now I understood why they didn't clean the roads off right away. Personally I think they hope for accidents during this time so they CAN make money off of tickets.

Anyway. We have been down to 1 car for the last few weeks and boy does it stink! Not that I have really felt like going anywhere and not like the weather has been nice, but still when you have no other option but to stay home it's not so much fun. We called the Credit Union we have belong too for many many years, but they don't consider the income we bring in through the churches while Chris is at school to be verifiable income, and so they don't count it. Even though we have had loans through them pretty steadily for the last 6 years, and currently have our van payments through them, and I have never been late, they would not give us a loan. He was talking with one of his instructors who told him to try a certain place as he knew the guy and he would give us a loan. Chris went there yesterday and found a pretty decent little $2,000 car. Needless to say, he said the same thing about our income and wouldn't finance us. We would have only needed financing for $1,000 of it but it was a no-go. Once our taxes come in we would have the extra money, but Chris said the way the car was he doubted it would still be there even in just a few days. What a huge bummer! I hate being without a car, especially once the weather turns nice and we want to get out and about.

I told Chris though that I was thankful it was his car he got in an accident in and not the van. Had it been the van we really would have been in trouble. So, while inconvenient and takes a bit getting used to, I feel very blessed that 1) no one was hurt and 2) it wasn't the van.

It is kind of sad though. He bought that car for just $600 about 4 years ago and we never had any major problems with it. When something had to be replaced the parts were always cheap. It will be going to a good home though. He is giving it to his nephew so he can work on it as time goes on and eventually be able to drive it.

New Layout

Thanks for the heads up on my layout! It worked just fine on my PC but when I checked on the Mac it was completely messed up.

The downside to changing templates? It completely wiped out my blog list. =( I was able to go threw and find some of them, some of them I have saved, but I just always went to my blog list and didn't save them all to my computer. I know there are a few I am missing but I can't find them anywhere. So...if you were once on my blog list and now are not, please let me know so I can re-add you!

I seriously need to update the pictures of the kiddos on the side, and I noticed I haven't updated Eli's growing stats in, well, a long time. Details, details, details. Someday I will have the time.

On the job front

Well we had quite the surprise email when we got home from traveling on Sunday afternoon. There was an email from one of the elders at the place we really want to go to saying they are ready to talk with Chris sometime this month or the beginning of next month. I had just talked with him last week and he said they really hadn't gotten much further in being ready to interview. Since it has all ready been 3 months, I was expecting it to take at least another month or two. It was so great to hear that we are finally going to be moving forward on this and have some plan for an interview. Just to know one way or another on if he gets it will be so much better than this limbo we have been in.

AND we also just found out they also have a house for the preacher. We didn't know that before so that is a huge plus! Fingers crossed we will get the phone interview scheduled soon!

Looking back

I took this picture for a card I was making for Chris for Father's Day in 2008. He still has it hanging up on his wall in front of the computer. Above the picture it has Forever Your Little Girls. Chris told me awhile ago what the picture and caption means to him and ever since when I look at it it makes me tear up. He said it makes him think that even as they walk away, into life, they will always be his little girls. When I took it I just thought it was cute and he put a beautiful meaning into.